We are looking for short (20mins max) presentations from members. If any member wishes to have a practice session please make contact with me (Philip): nocerous@ntlworld.com Note 8th not 1st to avoid New Years Day. Zoom meetings avoid travelling in the dark winter months and allow us to enjoy speakers who may not have…
Dr Charlotte Coles describes Victorian funeral practices, the planning of cemeteries, early crematoria, and London’s Necropolis Railway. Although Victorian culture embodied many traditions and practices that may now seem unusual, they also introduced innovations that are widely accepted today. There is no charge to SIAS members, guests are welcome at £3. At Silver Street…
Speaker: Dr Richard Marks
Bracknell is well known for being one of the ‘new towns’ built after the Second World War to relieve the pressure of housing and industry in London – but the history of Bracknell goes back much further than that. Early hunter gatherers, Iron Age people and Romans have all called Bracknell their home. Hidden in…
Dr Barrie Trinder explains why the main mill at Shrewsbury Flaxmill/Maltings is a landmark in the history of construction. It is the first building in the world to have a structural frame of iron, and is the ancestor of all iron and steel buildings. Completed by 1800, to spin fibre from flax plants into thread…
Our speaker Dr Julia Elton, an engineering historian and honorary member of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers. John Smeaton is widely regarded as the founder of the British civil engineering profession. His career included pioneering work on lighthouses (most notably the third Eddystone lighthouse), canals, harbours and bridges. There is no charge to…
Speaker: Nicholas Weedon
Part 1: Before World War 1 Colin Bird will give us the first of his talks about how the railways impacted the Bracknell Forest area. Non-members are welcome for a small fee of £3 to cover hot drink and biscuits.
Dr John Tanner asks how England will choose to remember its coal mining heritage. Once the demand for domestic coal started to fall in the 1950s the number of pits declined sharply. Nevertheless, at the start of the 1980s the National Coal Board still employed some 250,000 workers, but the UK has now moved away…
A talk by local Huntingdonshire historian Bridget Flanagan, and Keith Grimwade. They will describe how the local Geology affected the location and operation of the Watermills. Incidentally one Mill is still in operation, and is owned and operated by the National Trust. It is situated close to the village of Houghton, Huntingdonshire. (PE28 2AZ)
The SIAS Annual General Meeting, which is usually very brief, followed by a light-hearted test of your knowledge of industrial archaeology. There is no charge to SIAS members, guests are welcome at £3. At Silver Street there is also a free-of-charge Book Exchange and SIAS publications are on sale at reduced price for members.
