ZOOM talk: Pagans and Puritans: the story of May morning in Oxford
Speaker: Tim Healey The talk discusses the history of the Oxford tradition of gathering at 6 am to celebrate May 1st. Tim is a broadcaster, musician and writer. Talk postponed from April 2020 Meeting report
ZOOM talk: The Oxford of Inspector Morse
Speaker: Alastair Lack The Inspector Morse novels, by Colin Dexter and the popular television series based on them are set in Oxford. Alastair read history at University College Oxford. He then had a career at the BBC, mainly working for the World Service. He is a Green Badge Guide and member of the Oxford Guild of […]
ZOOM talk: Spitfires over Oxfordshire
Speaker: Nic Vanderpeet The Spitfire, the famous British fighter aircraft of the Battle of Britain, later played an important role in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Nic is a learning and outreach officer for the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Talk postponed from June 2020 Meeting report
CANCELLED: The Great Stink! Engineers, sewerage systems and the Victorian battle against dirt
Speaker: Tom Crook Tom is a lecturer on modern British history at Oxford Brookes University. His talk discusses the notorious ‘Great Stink’ of summer 1858 in London, its causes and the approach adopted to combat the problem of vast amounts of untreated human waste and industrial effluent entering the Thames.
‘Professors of Rowing’: the early Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races
Radley Church Church Road, Radley, Abingdon, OxfordshireSpeaker: Mark Davies The talk details the early history of this famous and competitive event, highlighting the unusual alliance of Town & Gown in the crucial role played by the Thames’ watermen and boatbuilders in equipping and training the early Oxford crews. Mark is a local author and guide specialising in the history of non-university […]