Musings of a miner – A glimpse of life in County Durham a century ago

The life and times of my great grandfather, as gleaned from his notebooks, family photos and a bit of family history research.

A talk by Michelle Howes - social historian

Any member of SIHG or SyAS who would like to receive details about joining one or all of these meetings and don't already  get details sent to them should send their name and e-mail address to :-  meetings@sihg.org.uk

Water is essential for human existence and this talk  will outline how we have obtained drinking water and dealt with the problems of waste water since the earliest of times to modern times. These issues became more urgent with the increase of urban living and particular problems faced by London are used as an illstration. This talk will be given by Doug Irvine, Civil Engineer.  

The River Wandle has long been an attraction to individuals and their families. Some have come to work and have  their business on the banks of the river others have decided to live by the river. This talk tells the story of some famous names and those lesser known people who have lived and worked in the Wandle Valley.  This talk will be given by Mick Taylor, Volunteer/General Manager at the Wandle Industrial Museum.

This illustrated talk looks at the Home Front in Surrey during the Second World War and includes defensive positions, munitions production, the Home Guard and Canadian troops, air raids and aircraft crashes, Civil Defence, the Women's Land Army and transport.  The talk will be given by David Rose, Local historian and writer.

The talk looks at the massive construction programme needed to build what was then the world's largest free standing reservoir and its supporting infrastructure, as well as the village that was partially destroyed to make way for it, and its Royal opening. Along the way we look at the surprising use to which it was put in the second world war. This talk will be given by Nick Pollard, Curator of Spelthorne Museum in Staines.

Ships like HMS Victory remained in active service for more than 50 years. Battleship development was so rapid post HMS Warrior most battleships were obsolete after only ten years and few had a service life of more than seventeen years. This talk will be given by Bob Bryson, Chairman SIHG.

Any member of SIHG or SyAS who would like to receive details about joining one or all of these meetings, and don't already get details sent to them, should send their name and e-mail address to:-  meetings@sihg.org.uk

This meeting has been CANCELLED

Dr Philip Smither, Finds Liaison Officer for Berkshire, has offered to talk to us on the subject of his PhD thesis at the University of Kent, the Roman site at Richborough. Hear about Philip's research - ‘Army Communities at Roman Richborough: An Analysis of the Roman Military Assemblage.' and how this has altered perception about this important Roman site. 

This  talk will  take place on Zoom and is open only to RSG members. If you would like to join RSG you can join for £5 (see RSG page) if you are already a member of SyAS.

Emma Corke, Site Director of Cocks Farm Abinger, will be updating us on findings from the 2023 season on the hill adjacent to the Cock Farm Roman villa. This is part of an ongoing series of excavations related to features identified in magnetometry surveys, done as part of a villa estate research project.

This  talk will  take place on Zoom and is open only to RSG members. If you would like to join RSG you can join for £5 (see RSG page) if you are already a member of SyAS.

Dr. Tim Young is a Teaching Associate at the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff Unversity. His research interests include Archaeometallurgy and Geophysics.

Following on from a successful Surrey Roman Rural Settlement Project a Roman Road Group has formed. David Calow will lead the feed-back on geophysics and excavations which have confirmed part of a previously postulated road in SW Surrey.

This  talk will take place on Zoom. Whilst attendance is restricted to RSG members, if you are already a SyAS member you are welcome to join the group at a cost of £5 (see RSG page).