All meetings start at 7:30 PM and will last about an hour. Unless otherwise stated, they are held in the Lecture Theatre, Grosvenor Museum, Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DD (See map) Tel: 01244 972 197
Members admitted free on presentation of Membership card.
Non-members £5.00 each
Students £2.00 each
Children U12 free
2022 September 29th We start the session with Andrew Lound who presents one of his favourite shows To the End of the Earth in which he re enacts the drama of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his four companions Edward Wilson, Lawrence Oates, Henry Bowers and Edgar Evans in their race to be the first men at the South Pole in an attempt to reach it before the Norwegians led by the famous polar explorer Roald Amundsen. It is a story of hope, disappointment and the tragedy of their return journey. It is a classic of the heroic age of polar exploration and Andrew’s brilliant portrayal captures the tragic drama as it unfolds.
2022 October 13th Next we have a light hearted presentation by a local entertainer, Pete Turner. Pete is a well known magician and will talk about the psychology employed by magicians to ‘fool’ their audience. He will also demonstrate some of this art and challenge us to spot the trickery. His talk although serious at times is delivered with Pete’s irrepressible humour. It’s a good one to sit back and be entertained, but we asked him if he could keep us on the edge of our seats for an hour and he said that he most certainly could, so you’ll definitely be entertained.
2022 October 27th We have a presentation by Keith Holmes entitled Beguiled by Bridges in which Keith uses his skill as a photographer to capture the photogenic and interesting aspects of some of Britain’s more iconic bridges. Bridges have always featured in our landscape from the time when we simply wanted to cross streams and rivers without getting our feet wet right up to the present time when huge and complex structures have been constructed to improve our transport infrastructure. A bridge crossing was almost always associated with a settlement, either before, or after its construction and in many areas of large populations there are multiple crossings, such as the Thames bridges in London. It’s an intriguing subject and we will have to wait and see which of our thousands of bridges Keith has chosen to show us.
2022 November 10th This is our last presentation before the Christmas break and Ken Pye from Liverpool will regale us with some curious Christmas Stories and Traditions some of which you may recognise, or wish to incorporate into your own Festive celebrations. Ken has been to us before and is an excellent speaker with a good command of the subject. A good topical one to finish on for Christmas!
2023 January 5th A fast start to another year when our member David Cummings will take us Around the World in 80 Minutes. Stand aside Phileas Fogg! This is David’s latest presentation visiting cities, temples, tombs, wildlife, markets, mountains and more on a grand World tour. His skill as a photographer and speaker is well known and this will be a good start to 2023.
2023 January 19th This presentation is very topical as, if we are to eliminate the use of fossil fuels, there isn’t a really a definite answer to the question posed by our next speaker When the Winds don’t blow and the Sun doesn’t shine……..What do we do? To attempt to answer this question we have the distinguished Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Richard Coackley CBE. In this evening’s talk Richard will describe how we have got to where we are now and the developing technologies that are taking place in our search for alternative energy storage systems.
2023 February 2nd A subject which affects us all to a greater or lesser extent is the affect of Natural changes and Development to coastlines of Cheshire and Lancashire, in the past, the present and the future. Michael Blackburn a retired Ordnance Survey Surveyor with a keen interest in photography is well qualified to discuss and illustrate the subject with almost four decades of experience with the Ordnance Survey. Michael will use photographs from his large collection to illustrate his talks.
2023 February 16th Our next speaker is Tony Bostock a Cheshire historian and the author of several books. He is going to present a lecture about The Chester Earls and their Barons. From the time of Domesday until the 1230s Cheshire was in the hands of the powerful Earls of Chester who were very much involved in the politics of the Kingdom and northern France. The Earls had many estates across the country, from Cheshire and North Wales across the midlands to the East coast, as well as across the English Channel in their ancestral home of Normandy. At the height of their power they owned and controlled about a third of England and Normandy. This illustrated presentation will tell something of their lives, their landed possessions and their power and influence upon English medieval politics.
2023 March 2nd This is our Members Evening and you are invited to bring friends along. There will be presentations by Members and refreshments are available. It is intended to be more of a social gathering and we hope that all Members will try to come and join in. Please note that the evening starts at 7.00 pm to allow for the AGM which should be over by 7.20pm