TALKS
The Society arranges talks at fortnightly intervals during the months of October to April.
The venue is the assembly hall at
Hythe Bay C of E Primary School,
Cinque Ports Avenue, Hythe. CT21 6HS
All talks are on Tuesdays: Doors open
at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
Visitors are welcome.
Donations are invited: £1 from members, £2.00 from non-members.
Many of the talks have a particular relevance to Hythe, the local area and the county of Kent, but our programme is pretty eclectic and we try to cover most categories of interest such as the arts, biographies, technology, etc.
Talks last about an hour with an opportunity for questions at the end.
Talks Programme 2018-2019
Amended 29th January, 2019. See News and Notices for details.
2018
9th October
Peter Osborne
The Mirrors
A forerunner of radar, acoustic mirrors were built on the south and northeast coasts of England. The ‘listening ears’ were intended to provide early warning of incoming enemy aeroplanes and airships. With the development of radar and faster aircraft which would be within sight by the time it could be located, the mirrors were finally rendered obsolete.
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23rd October
Andrew Ashton
The Crystal Palace
The History of the Crystal Palace and the Great Exhibition.
The Crystal Palace was, for a while, the largest glass structure in the world. This talk looks at the fascinating, often incredible history of the Palace from its creation to its tragic end.
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13th November
Dr. Juliette Pattinson
The Liberation of France in 1944
This talk examines the Liberation of occupied France from the Nazis. It considers the triumphs as well as the darker side when old scores were settled.
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27th November
Len Howell
The Cinque Ports
A description of the privileges and duties of The Cinque Ports in their heyday, their rise and decline, their structure and officers.
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2019
8th January
Patsy Erskine-Hill MA. MSc.
The Fire Takes Hold
Printing, literacy and bookselling in early Renaissance Venice,
book capital of the world for a hundred years.
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22nd January
Chris McCooey
Smuggling on the South Coast
The ‘Infamous Traffick’ began with ‘Owling’… the illegal export of wool to the continent. High taxes on tea, tobacco and spirits etc meant that importing these commodities made the risk involved worth while.
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12th February
Gillian Rickard BA,Dip.Loc.Hist.
The Lives of Vagrants, Gypsies and Travellers in Kent
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26th February
Geoff Hutchinson
Rudyard Kipling … His Life in Verse
With his enthusiasm for local historical characters and his passion for drama, Geoff Hutchinson’s talks are always informative and entertaining. He will take us back to 1933 and invites us to spend some time with Rudyard Kipling with tales of his eventful life through his books and verse.
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12th March
Melody Foreman
Women Pilots of WW1
This talk examines the role of women who flew military aircraft during WW11 from the Air Transport Auxiliary to the ‘Night Witches’ of Russia……
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26th March
Bronwen Sadler
William Wilberforce and the abolition of Slavery
How William Wilberforce M.P. and a group of like-minded people set out to abolish slavery in the British Empire…thus leading the world.
PLUS
A short talk on why the Californian did not go to the aid of the Titanic.
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9th April
Imogen Corregan FRSA
The Cathars
Who or what were The Cathars? Why did the Church not just treat them as heretics but persecute them?
The unhappy tale of an extraordinary sect.
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23rd April
Dr. Marc Morris
Castles, the most popular and prominent monuments in Britain.
Although castles are always associated with sieges, battering rams and boiling oil, Dr. Morris, a specialist in medieval studies, explains how they had a much broader range of functions.
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A review of last season’s programme can be seen Here
