All members are welcome to our Monthly Meetings. These are usually talks given by external speakers, normally on Monday afternoons at 2.00 pm in the Barley Room at the Maltings and lasting about an hour.
The room capacity is 100 and admittance is on a first-come, first-served basis.
| Date | Speaker | Title | Description |
| 28 Sep 2026 | Bobbie Darbyshire | A Beginning, a Muddle & an End | In an entertaining, informative talk, prize-winning author Bobbie Darbyshire explains how ideas formulate in the novelist’s mind. She has worked as barmaid, mushroom picker, film extra, maths coach, cabinet minister’s private secretary, care assistant, volunteer adult-literacy teacher, plus in social research and government policy. |
| 26 Oct 2026 | Hilary Roberts | Manipulated Reality: The Camera at War | Hilary presents a new perspective on the role of image manipulation in war photography over the past 170 years, exploring the consequences for our understanding of historic and contemporary conflicts. |
| 23 Nov 2026 | Jonathan Jones | Memory: Tricks & Techniques | In this informative and amusing talk, Jonathan will let us into the tricks and techniques used by participants in the World Memory Championships to accomplish seemingly impossible feats.
Their memories are not superior to ours, but they do spend many hours honing these skills. |
| 7 Dec 2026 | Colin Butcher | Colin Butcher | Colin who is bringing his tuba will talk about orchestras and bands from an insider’s point of view, explaining some of what’s happening during rehearsals and performances. The intention of this talk is to help people get a little more out of going to live performances. |
| 25 Jan 2027 | Lorraine Spindler | Mud, Money & Marvels: Secrets of the Thames Foreshore | Once the desperate work of London’s poorest, riverside scavenging has evolved into a remarkable way of uncovering the city’s past as each find tells a story. Lorraine explores the history, rules, surprising treasures and some recently discovered objects which you can see up close. |
| 22 Feb 2027 | Susan Purcell | Crosswords | Crosswords are not just about leisure and enjoyment; the intelligence services have always taken a close interest in them. Susan will look at their history and regale us with anecdotes. The talk is light-hearted and aimed at everyone – those who do and those who don’t. |
| 22 Mar 2027 | Andy Thomas | The Crop Circle Mystery | With stunning visuals, Andy explores this extraordinary phenomenon appearing in fields yearly around the world and still defying total explanation. He reveals their fascinating history up to the present and explores both the amazing designs and the many varied and imaginative theories to explain them. |
| 26 Apr 2027 | Andy Richardson | The Aviator Hall of Fame | An illustrated biography of a selection of Aviation’s greatest pioneers, Influencers and heroes as chosen by Andy and concluding with an audience vote as to who should head their Hall of Fame. |
| 24 May 2027 | James & Christine Rowley | Henry Mayhew’s London Characters | During the 1840s journalist Henry Mayhew interviewed hundreds of street vendors and characters. Discover many strange professions and how they survived. The story is brought to life with readings, music and illustrations and covers his colourful life and his influence on Dickens and others. |
| 28 Jun 2027 | Kathryn Harkup | ‘A’ is for Arsenic | ….and also for Agatha Christie who revelled in using poison, carefully chosen to kill off unfortunate victims. We will look at howdunnit but whodunnit is for you to discover. Kathryn is a former chemist. Her interests are anything gothic, gory and geeky – preferably all three! |
Use the buttons below to see the 2026/27 events programme
Key Dates Theme Meetings Monthly Meetings Social Events Events Calendar