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Programme for 2019/20
Summer Break: May to August
Tuesday 24th September 2019 7:30pm
This lecture replaces the previously publicised lecture “Snowdrifts and burning gods: Travels in the footsteps of artist James Baillie Fraser” by Ben Cartwright.
Hidden Faces
Dr John Talbot
An introduction to the beautiful and sophisticated art on pre-Roman East Anglian coinage, and an overview of what the coinage was used for and who was responsible for its production.
The lecture will present the results of an extensive study of the coinage of the Iceni focussing in particular on the complex imagery used on the early silver and gold issues. The lecture will also discuss how hard evidence arising from the study of coinage has been used to examine economic and social practices in East Anglia during the hundred years or so before the Roman conquest.
Dr John Talbot is affiliated with Oxford University and has spent over a decade studying the coinage of the Iceni. He is the author of “Made for Trade, a new view of Icenian Coinage”.
Image 2: The horse on the reverse of the Bury D, a very early unit, that is discussed in the talk.
Venue: Harbour Room, RBL, High Street, Blakeney
Tuesday 29th October 2019 7:30pm
Captain Marryat & the Langham Connection
Jim Ring
Best known for ‘The Children of the New Forest’ Captain Marryat was actually a man of many parts.
He was a distinguished naval officer who saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and thrice saved the lives of fellow seaman who had fallen overboard by diving into the sea; he was an inventor whose work earned him the fellowship of the Royal Society; and he was one of the first novelists of the sea, whose work put wind in the sails of CS Forester and Patrick O’Brien.
In this talk, Jim Ring – local author and award winning naval historian – pays tribute to a great man who lived and died in Langham.
The talk is preceded by a short AGM
Venue: Harbour Room, RBL, High Street, Blakeney
Tuesday 26th November 2019 7:30pm
Aylsham Roman Project
Peter Purdy
Venue: Harbour Room, RBL, High Street, Blakeney
December 2019
No meeting planned although there is a lunch organised on Tuesday 10th December at the White Horse, Blakeney. Details to follow.
Tuesday 28th January 2020 2:30pm
Talks By Members
Early Norfolk County Maps 1574-1703 ‘A Collector’s Journey’
Richard Jefferson
A Surrey man, I married a Norfolk girl in 1966. To have a map of each of our counties to hang on the wall was a great idea. Within five years of being married I had purchased 90 Norfolk maps, and have yet (2019) to acquire a Surrey one.
My talk, with many illustrations, is the story of my map collecting journey.
Cromer – A Georgian Seaside Resort
The English seaside holiday is usually perceived as a Victorian invention, with Brighton the only exception to that rule. In fact by 1800 all English counties with a coastline had at least one seaside resort, although the holidaymakers then were far from the enthusiastic Bank Holiday crowds of workers and tradesmen who flocked to the coast after the railways came.
Cromer was a provincial resort from at least 1750, despite its “mediocre buildings and foot-piercing streets”. Visitors were lured to Cromer for its humble but homely and affordable lodgings, its beach and the sea views from the cliffs, which inspired one author to a ten-page poem – “Hail wonder-teeming element! From Albion’s cliffs I greet you!” and gave followers of the Romantic movement great satisfaction.
This talk will place Cromer amongst such well-known resorts as Brighton, Margate and Scarborough.
Louise Allen
Venue: Cley Village Hall, The Fairstead, Cley-next-the-Sea
Tuesday 25th February 2020 2:30pm
Binham Priory and development of Village
Binham Priory, founded in 1091, with the nave of the Priory Church the only building to remain after the dissolution of the Priory in 1438. View of the south façade.
The talk will explain the history of the Priory and its influence on the development of the village
David Frost
Venue: Cley Village Hall, The Fairstead, Cley-next-the-Sea
Tuesday 31st March 2020 7:30pm
Tales of Wells Harbour
Robert published the book Crossing the Bar: Tales of Wells Harbour after being inspired by the faces and places around him. He was made an MBE in 2016 and said the aim of the book was to take people on a journey of discovery “encountering the drama, tragedy and dark days of Wells harbour”.
The talk is about some of the stories that have been passed down through generations of the author’s own family, who have been residents in Wells since at least the early 1800s. While other stories are from the harbour archive and the memories of local people, many of which have never been in print before.
Robert Smith
Harbour Master of Wells next the Sea
Venue: Cley Village Hall, The Fairstead, Cley-next-the-Sea
Tuesday 28th April 2020 7:30pm
Blickling Belles – The Georgian Daughters of Blickling Hall
Kate Barnes