Speaker and Open evenings – all are welcome to attend. The first visit is free and after that there is a charge of £2 for non-members, payable on the night. Open evenings are for everyone to get together over tea/coffee and chat about events, share information (perhaps some old photographs), and discuss matter of interest to the Group. Meetings are held at St Joseph’s Church Hall, Devizes Road Wroughton, SN4 0RZ from 7.30 to 9pm.
Programme of events
2024
February 15th Speaker – Darwin Turner “A Talk on Metal Detecting”
“I was a teenage mudlark, then an amateur archaeologist in my twenties, a smallholder and potter in my thirties, a college lecturer in my forties and fifties. Since retiring I have spent my sixties and seventies as firstly the chair of a fly-tying club then as the chair of a metal detecting club”. Darwin is a member of Wroughton History Group and a mad keen gardener.
February 29th Open Meeting
March 14th Speaker –, Dr Mike Pringle Director, Richard Jefferies Museum “150 Years of Wild Life”
Wiltshire’s Victorian nature writer, Richard Jefferies, was once a household name, forever linked to the wildlife that lives around us, alongside us, and under our noses. Now, a century and a half after his writings, his words mean more than ever, as we increasingly realise that we need to pay more attention to our relationship with the natural world, just as he told us we should all those years ago.
March 28th Open Meeting
April 11th Speaker – Bill King “Toast Racks and Egg Cups”
This talk examines the background and social history of a unique British institution in place from the time of Alfred the Great until the present day. Illustrated with images capturing the development of two iconic items of tableware.
April 25th Open Meeting – AGM
May 9th Speaker –David Dawson, Director, Wiltshire Museum “Gold from the Time of Stonehenge”
The Wiltshire Museum is the home of the best Bronze Age collections in Britain. The talk outlines the remarkable craftsmanship and stunning objects found with the burials of the chieftains, important women and priests who used Stonehenge for their ceremonies.
May 23rd Open Meeting
Saturday June 1st WHG Outing – to be arranged – save the date
June 6th Speaker – Tony Strafford “The Ladies of the Tower”
The Ladies of the Tower tells tales of courage, tragedy and believe it or not, even romance. But there’s more, what about the men? All will be revealed.
June 20th Open Meeting
July 4th Speaker – Captain Alan Smith “Reminiscences of a Concorde Test Pilot”
In the late ’60s and ’70s Concorde was the most tested civil aircraft of all time. There were three French prototype aircraft at Toulouse and three British at RAF Fairford until the aircraft went into airline service in 1976.Our speaker Alan Smith now in his 90s, is the sole survivor of the eleven test pilots based at Fairford and his talk is about the test flying he personally flew and took part in.
July 18th Open Meeting
Summer Break
September 5th Speaker – TBC
Sept 19st Open Meeting
Oct 3rd Speaker – TBC
Oct 17th Open Meeting
October 31st Speaker – TBC
Nov 14th Open Meeting
Nov 28th Speaker – TBC
December 12th Christmas Crimble