SIHG hold regular short talks at Leatherhead and by Zoom between September and April, and also occasional days out. Membership is FREE until the end of 2024.
Our programme covers a variety of topics from wide-ranging talks on railways, air transport or canals, to talks on very specific (usually local) industries, to talks with a strong element of social history, often focussing on the lives of industrial workers of days gone past.
Many, but not all, of our talks pertain to Surrey industry, which has included aviation, brewing, automobile development, brickmaking, glassmaking and iron working – and many others.
Our talks cover all eras up to today, but the majority of our talks relate to the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and 19th century, when the introduction of steam power transformed England from an agricultural to an industrial nation- indeed, the first industrial nation.
SIHG grew out of an adult education course on industrial archaeology in 1975. It differs from other groups in the Surrey Archaeological Society (SyAS) in that, because of the nature of SIHG's activity, it is not necessary to belong to SyAS in order to become a member of SIHG.
SIHG is a founder member of the South East Region Industrial Archaeology Conference (SERIAC) and is affiliated to the national Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA).