Warning: The nature of running a programme of events and publicising it, often months in advance, has its dangers such as a change of venue, change of lecture etc. Prior to any event, please check here that the details you have are up to date. If you are a member or have requested information emails and we have an email address for you then the Society will email a reminder a few days before a meeting.
Click here to join the Society or click here to sign up for information emails.
Current Programme
Click on the event below to see details
- 22-10-24 What has the Norwich Society ever done for Norwich?
- 26-11-24 The remarkable life of Thomas Fowell-Buxton
- 28-1-25 To be added
- 25-2-25 To be added
- 25-3-25 Exploring Norfolk’s Deep History Coast
Start Times
The times quoted below are the start times for lectures so please arrive about fifteen minutes before or login to Zoom at least five minutes before the start. Some other websites list our events. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information they provide so please check here.
Zoom Meetings
Talks sometimes appear on Zoom as well as live. If so, you may receive invites to Zoom meetings by joining the BAHS or signing up to receive our information emails by clicking here.
Free Entrance… but donations requested
Whether attending in person or on Zoom the Society currently doesn’t charge for meetings. With hire charges, speakers’ fees and equipment costs meetings run at a loss. If possible please make a donation to help defray these costs. At meetings you may make a donation by card, cheque or cash. Otherwise, please pay by bank transfer. Details are TSB Bank, Account Blakeney Area Historical Society, Sort code 30-94-34 and Account no. 18327968.
Tuesday 24th September 2024 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
The Meaning of Geese – a thousand miles around North Norfolk on a creaking bicycle
Nick spent Covid lockdowns observing Arctic geese as they overwintered in the county. Over seven months, he cycled 1,200 miles around Norfolk on his mother’s 42-year-old bicycle, watching brent and pink-footed geese, writing up his observations in a diary.
Nick’s experiences led to a book, ‘The meaning of geese: a thousand miles in search of home’ which was the 2023 Book of the Year at the East Anglian Book Awards. It was described by The Guardian as: ‘a gorgeously observed paean to the beauty and complexity of these birds, and the landscape of North Norfolk.’
His topic for BAHS is a playful rewording of his book title: “The Meaning of Geese – a thousand miles around North Norfolk on a creaking bicycle.” While his extraordinary journey is recent history, his observations on the geese, whose abundance in North Norfolk is threatened by, amongst other things, climate change, are an important historical record for naturalists of the future.
Nick Acheson, is a Norfolk born naturalist, ambassador for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and grandson of a Blakeney doctor.
Nick Acheson
Tuesday 22nd October 2024 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
[Please note this is not our normal last Tuesday of the month]
What has the Norwich Society ever done for Norwich?
The decision to demolish Bishop Bridge was the catalyst that brought the Norwich Society into being in 1923. This is the story of how they managed to save this part of our Heritage. We then take a virtual route around Norwich which also covers many of the other successful campaigns to protect Norwich’s heritage, (as well as some failures). Without the Society’s activity, Norwich would look a lot different today. The route follows the river to Wensum Street and then moves into the City via Tombland before ending outside the Assembly House.
Jonathan Hooton is a past Chairman of the Norwich Society (2016-18) and was involved in their centenary celebrations in 2023, which resulted in the publication of “Norwich 100: How the Norwich Society has supported Norwich for 100 years”. He has since devised a guided walk around Norwich to point out the many places that owed their survival to the Society, which has been developed into a virtual tour of Norwich.
Jonathan Hooton
Tuesday 26th November 2024 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
The remarkable life of Thomas Fowell-Buxton
On the wall in a side-chapel of Norwich Cathedral a modest plaque reads – ‘Remember Thomas Fowell Buxton Bt. Member of Parliament Whose Efforts led to the Emancipation of 700,000 slaves on 1st August 1834.’ These simple words commemorate a towering Norfolk hero whose courage, compassion, bravery and tenacity helped change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. This presentation will bring to life the story behind this inscription. It will look at the life of Buxton himself and the Norfolk and Norwich community that inspired him and supported him though the brutal, decades-long Parliamentary battle that led finally to the end of slavery throughout the British Empire.
Dr Alison Dow was formerly a GP in Mile Cross, Norwich. She was born and brought up in Northern Rhodesia—now Zambia, the country where David Livingstone died and is still revered because of his strong anti-slavery stance. Alison is not the first in her family to undertake research on Africa-related topics—among her relatives she counts some eminent academics specialising in colonial and African history. She is particularly happy to play her part by researching the life of this local historical figure whose role in history has been much overlooked.
Dr Alison Dow
Tuesday 25th March 2025 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
Exploring Norfolk’s Deep History Coast
Dr John Davies