2022-2023 Lecture Programme

Please note that our lectures are now being held at the Elim Church, Waterside Park, Ashbourne DE6 1DG. Meeting room opens at 2.00 pm and the speker commences at 2:30 pm. We hope to provide the talks both in person at the venue and via Zoom – please see individual entries below to see if they are available via Zoom. Where applicable, please use the Eventbrite link associated with the talk to receive the Zoom joining details: the cost to non-members will be £5.00. 

To register for lectures and receive the Zoom links, if not posted below, and for any further information, please email ashheritagesoc@gmail.com

2023

Friday 27 January.

The History of the Harrier Aircraft

Friday 24 February. Also available via Zoom

Anne Kniveton, Dame of Ashbourne d.1505.

John Titterton

Visit -Tuesday 21 March (in advance of next lecture).

The first visit of 2023 is a guided tour of Buxton Crescent (90 minutes) and the Buxton Pump Room (start at 2 pm). Please contact ashheritagesoc@gmail.com for more details.

Friday 24 March.

Buxton Pavilion Gardens

Ros Westwood MBE, Derbyshire Museums Manager,

Tuesday 4 April: commence at 2pm

Organised walk around Leek Town.

Friday 28 April.

Transforming the Trent Valley Landscape

Dr Mark Knight

Friday 19 May.

Recent Investigations at Hardwick Hall.

Dr Adam Menuge

Wednesday 31st May:

Visit to Hardwick Hall; Leaving at 10.30 am from Waterside Park

Cost of coach £15. Admission, if not already NT member, to be paid by Society. Please contact Secretary to register your interest via email victoriagottschald@gmail.com. (Hardwick Old Hall is not open to visitors at present.) Fully booked.

Friday 23 June.                    

Annual General Meeting, walk and social event:

The AGM will be held at St Oswald’s Church Hall at 14:00

It will be followed at 14:30 with a guided walk to see Georgian Ashbourne starting from the church gates and along Church Street to the Town Centre. This will be led by Geof Cole, a local town guide.to discuss Georgian Ashbourne.

Then, at 15:30, participants can enjoy tea or coffee at The Little Shed in Compton (AHS paying) .

Non members welcome to attend all the event but will not be allowed to vote at AGM.

Tuesday 4th July 2023 

Visit to Uttoxeter Museum, (Redfern Cottage)

Visit to Uttoxeter museum, or Redfern Cottage, and guided walk followed by tea with cake. Meet at the museum at 10.30 am. (The museum opens at 10 and closes at 2). Attendees are to make their own way there.  Contact Vickie to register interest and receive directions. The cost for the guided tour of the museum and walk is being met by the Society. Those attend are aske to meet the cost of refreshments, tea and cake about £3.00.   Max number is 20. We will be split into two groups of up to ten in each. One will do museum while the other is on the walk.

Friday 22 September

The Life & Times of a Delinquent Cavalier, Sir Aston Cokaine

Alan Cockayne

Just before Christmas in the year 1608, Sir Aston Cokaine,1608 -1684, Royalist, poet and playwright was born. His parents were Thomas, the heir to the senior line of the Cokayne family of Ashbourne, and his wife, Anne, the eldest daughter of Sir John Stanhope.

Aston was christened on 20th December at St Oswald’s Church in Ashbourne. His long life was to see many changes; his country divided, his fortune lost, but a reputation gained that lives on,

Friday 27 October

Captain Cook: his life and voyages

Phil Philo

This illustrated talk tells the story of the life and voyages of Captain James Cook (1728-1779), considered to be perhaps the greatest maritime explorer of all time. His fifty years saw his humble birth to an agricultural labourer’s family in Marton, now part of Middlesbrough, to the ten years in which he led three epic voyages of exploration and scientific discovery in the Pacific Ocean. From the first, probably best known expedition aboard the Endeavour to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia; the second, probably greatest voyage aboard his ship Resolution and the first recorded crossing of the Antarctic Circle; and the third fatal expedition in search of the North West Passage and his early demise in Hawai’i.  This talk will consider his achievements and legacy and conclude with some surprising links with land-locked Derbyshire.

Phil Philo, museum curator from 1980 until 2017, was Senior Curator of the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Marton, Middlesbrough (2002-17) where he  organised exhibitions, curated collections, delivered educational programmes, talks and publications to a wide range of visitors. He has experienced sailing as a crew member of the replica Endeavour and is a member of the international Captain Cook Society. He and his wife have lived in Ashbourne since December 2020. He is a volunteer at the Ashbourne Historical Centre and is a Trustee of The Battlefields Trust.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Friday 24 November 2023

St Oswald’s Church and Sir Gilbert Scott

John Titterton, FSA

John Titterton, a church guide, will outline how St Oswald’s church’s interior, and to some extent its external appearance, changed from being almost derelict at the start of the reign of Queen Victoria, through to the splendid result (some will say) of the work of Sir Gilbert Scott on the Chancel completed in 1878.

Some of the papers to do with Scott’s work have survived and help to illustrate his work. This was one of his last commissions.  He died a few months before the ceremonial service to reopen the chancel in July 1878.  The final payment to his estate for this work (in total over £3,000) was made to his executors in 1880.

Friday 15 December

Christmas Social at Elim Church 2.00 pm til 4.00 pm

You can also find us here:

Facebook      @ashbourneheritagesociety

Twitter          @ashheritagesoc