Next Meetings

February 15 2019  Postman's Knock

"Postman's Knock" shows the development of the postal service in England from the 16th to the 20th century, using examples from Warwickshire including Bidford on Avon.  The talk follows the history of the post from the Merchant Adventurers in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, to the mail coach era and the postal reforms of 1840 and subsequent impact of improved communications in the early 20th century. 

Our speaker, Alan Godfrey is an accountant by profession,until his retirement in 2016. This has allowed more time for his two main interests: local history and philately. He has been a member of Alcester & District Local History Society for thirty years and it's chairman since 2013. This year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.

March 15 2019  Discovering Charles I

An introduction to Charles I attitudes to kingship and his behaviours. As King, Charles exercised poor judgement, was unable to compromise and was out of touch with his people. An early indication was his attempt to impose the Book of Common Prayer onto the Scottish church, in defiance of the Covernantors. This ensured scottish military support for the Parliementary cause when the Civil War commenced.

The talk will outline the false world in which Charles lived, his blindness to others views and how he precipitated the civil war, with Edgehill (our September talk) being the first skirmish.

Our Speaker is Professor Richard Cust, Dept of History, Birmingham University. Richard has specialised in the Sturat period and members may have seen him contributing to a Lucy Worsley programme.