In 2023 our programme was:
22nd February: “Flags in Britain” by Commander Bruce Nicolls OBE.
22nd March: “Thirty Years of Bother on the Hover” by Brian Lavercroft-Smith.
26th April: “The Bayeaux Tapestry” by Imogen Corrigan.
24th May: “The Titanic” by Eddie Asquith.
21st June: Summer Outing to the Wildwood Trust near Herne.
27th September: “Hampton-on-Sea, For the Want of Five Shillings a Village was Lost” by Geoff Turner.
25th October: “The Old Vicarage” by Toby Spanier.
22nd November: “Tom Crean, unsung hero of Antarctic Exploration” by Michael Smith.
In 2022 we were able to run a full programme:
23rd February: “50 Days in a Red T Shirt”, by Jon Hill
23rd March: “Anti-terrorism at Scotland Yard”, by Geoff Lewry
27th April: “A Policeman’s Lot can be an Interesting One”, by Neil Sadler
25th May: “Medical Detection Dogs” by Bridget Wood and Millie Harries
22nd June: Summer Outing to Provender house.
28th September: “Hopping in Kent and the Hartlake Disaster”, by Geoff Doel.
26th October: “All about orangutans and why they are endangered” by Alison Bristo.
23rd November: “Sentinels of the Sea, the Amazing History of Lighthouses”, by Mark Lewis.
The 2021 Programme was limited by COVID and did not start till September:
Wed 22nd September: “The story of Captain Oates” by Michael Smith
Wed 27th October: should have been “Punch and Judy” by Jacqui Sparks but she was unable to make it as the A21 was closed.
Wed 24th November: “Marden Wildlife” by Ray Morris
The Programme for 2020 was very limited due to the COVID lockdown and there were only two meetings
- Wed 22nd Jan: AGM and Social
- Wed 26th Feb: “Back to their Rootes” by Steve McArragher
The Programme for 2019 was:
- Wed 23rd January: AGM and Social
- Wed 27th February: “English Sparkling Wine” by Nick Hall
- Wed 27th March: “The Darker Side of Dickens” by Geoff Doel
- Wed 24th April: “A Schoolgirls War” by Mary Smith
- Wed 22nd May: “History of the Red Arrows” by Guy Bartlett
- Tues 25th June: Medway river trip with afternoon tea and tour of Allington Castle. cost £30
- Wed 25th September: “History of Canals” by Chris Woodward.
- Wed 23rd October: “The Four Minute Warning – What would have happened” by Guy Bartlett covers the post-war threat of Nuclear war.
- Wed 27th Nov: “Don’t Sneeze at the microphone” by Wilf Lower
The Programme for 2018 was:
- Wednesday 24th January: Annual General Meeting.
- Wednesday 28th February: Cancelled due to bad weather
- Wednesday 28th March: ENSA or “Every night Something Awful”
by Delia Taylor
- Wednesday 25th April: “Walking the Saxon Shore Way” by Ian Balmer.
- 23rd May: “The Bits that Don’t Fit” by Steve Hopkins, a miscellany of items.
- Wednesday 27th June: Summer Outing. A 45 minute afternoon trip on the Bewl Belle, followed by a cream tea.
- Wednesday 26th September: “The Life of Edith Cavell” by Melanie Gibson-Barton.
- Wednesday 24th October: “Handbells Talk and Demonstration” by Mary Douglas.
- Wednesday 28th November: “The History of Mote Park” by Simon Ginnaw,
The Programme for 2017 was:
- Wednesday 22nd February – at the Village Club – My Life as a Tillergirl by Jackie Simmonds
- Wednesday 22nd March – at the Village Club – The Wars of the Roses by Keith Beckford
- Wednesday 26th April – at the Village Club – A Walk in the Clouds by Kevin Reynolds
- Wednesday 24th May – in the Vestry Hall – The Wealden Iron Industry from the Iron Age to the Early 19th Century by Jeremy Hodgkinson
- Wednesday 28th June – Summer Outing – Little Mill Farm; Afternoon Wildlife walk and cream tea with Peter Hall
- Wednesday 27th September – in the Vestry Hall – Teston and the Anti Slavery Movement by Dawn Page
- Wednesday 25th October – in the Vestry Hall – Ordnance Survey Ancient and Modern by Colin Brown
- Wednesday 22nd November – in the Vestry Hall – Why is Shale Gas Different – and will we see drilling rigs in Marden? by Peter Kershaw
- The programme for 2016 was:
- Wednesday 24th January – Annual General Meeting
- Wednesday 24th February – Finding a Family – Tony Farnham Tony was adopted as a child and this is the story of tracing his birth parents.
- Wednesday 30th March – The Vikings are Coming – Imogen Corrigan Their conquest, art, culture and much more about these feared warriors.
- Wednesday 27th April – The Coal Mining Industry in Kent – Jim Davies Jim was a miner in the East Kent coalfields.
- Wednesday 25th May – The Huguenot Museum – Amy Dimmock A brief history of the Huguenots in Kent, why they came, where they settled and what they did.
- Wednesday 22nd June – Summer Outing – visit to Lullingstone Castle and the World Garden
- Wednesday 28th September – Medway: Tales from the Dividing River Wilf Lower returns with tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things on the River Medway
- Wednesday 26th October – Gavelkind – Imogen Wedd Imogen is a local speaker talking about the medieval practice of inheritance.
- Wednesday 23rd November – Our County Regiment – Col. Peter Cook Peter is another local speaker reviewing the history of Kent’s Regiments.
The programme for 2015 was:
- WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY – Wilf Lower – “Lost Empires” The last days of Music Hall & Variety
- WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH – Simon Ginnaw – “Wildlife of Mote Park”
- WEDNESDAY 22 APRIL – Chris McCooey – “Despatches from the Home Front WW2”
- WEDNESDAY 27 MAY- Tom Whittle – “The PLUTO Pipeline” A section of this passes through Marden
- THURSDAY 25th June – Summer Outing – 3 hour Medway Cruise on Kentish Lady
- WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER – Victoria Golding “ Kent’s Coronation Meadow”
- OCTOBER – Brian Rance – –“Walking Through Kent and East Sussex”
- WEDNESDAY 25 NOVEMBER – Steve McArragher – “Seashells in Bearsted” The life of Sir Marcus Samuel
- ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2016 WEDNESDAY 25 JANUARY
The programme for 2014 was:
- 26 FEBRUARY – Mike Apps – “Fingerprinting” Its development and uses
- 26 MARCH – John & Peggy Scott – “Pearly Kings & Queens” All there is to know about the traditions!
- 23 APRIL – Dr Ann Knief – “The Bevin Boys” How they were enlisted for war service in the mines
- 28 MAY – Kevin Reynolds – “Best of Kent” A talk on our historic County of Kent
- 25 JUNE – “Outing to a local place of interest”
- 24 SEPTEMBER – Gillian Ellen – “A Talk about the MEDWAY QUEEN”
- 22 OCTOBER – Angela & Mike Cartwright – “Being an Olympics Volunteer” A talk on their experiences as Volunteers
- 28 November – Edith Davis – “In the steps of the Ancient Greeks” – A Cruise
- 28 JANUARY 2015 – Annual General Meeting
The programme for 2013 was:
- Wednesday 27 February – Dr Roger Eltringham on “Safe Anaesthesia Worldwide”. The history of the Charity in developing countries
- Wednesday 27 March – Rod le Gear on “Underground Kent”
This interesting speaker is paying a third visit
- Wednesday 24 April – Paul Hal on “The White Cliffs and Samphire Hoe”
- Wednesday 22 May – Helen Allinson on “The Story of Toys”
- June – Outing to Brattle Farm Museum
- Wednesday 25 September – Ian Porter on “East End Murders – 1811 1911”
- Wednesday 23 October – John Reuter on “Bugs, Plagues and Pestilences”
- Wednesday 22 November – Maureen Clayton on “The Story of Charity”
From Piety to big business and glitz
- Wednesday 22 January 2014 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Followed by Cheese & Wine Social
The programme for 2012 was:
- 25th January: AGM and cheese & wine social
- 29th February: Robin Ambrose on Pendenden Heath : Executions, punishments, rebellion meeting point – the history of the Heath and some local inhabitants and well known rogues or dignitaries.
- 28th March: Peter Ewart on Smuggling in Kent : Heyday of smuggling in 18th and 19th centuries. Methods adopted by these ‘honest thieves’
- 25th April : John Buckingham on “Birds of Southeast England”
- 23rd May : USS Richard Montgomery : Why was it wrecked on Middle Sands off Sheerness? Why is the current cargo a potential danger as the ship deteriorates.
- 27th June : Outing to Horlands Farm
- 26th September : Albert Glanville on The Mary Rose : Historical background and the time in history. His own personal involvement in its salvage.
- 24th October : Peter Golding on “The Maidstone Dinosaur” : The world’s first semi-complete dinosaur skeleton was found in Maidstone.
- 28th November : Norman Hopkins on Reformers & Martyrs in Kent : Sir John Oldcastle of Cooling, a Lollard in the 1380s. John Frith of Westerham, a Reformer. John Rogers of Riverhill, a translator and martyr. Edward Dering of Pluckley, a Puritan.
The programme for 2011 was:
- 26th January 2011: AGM and cheese & wine social
- 23rd March: Chris Doel on ‘All round the year – customs’
- 25th May: Anthea Bryant on ‘Canterbury – the hidden city. Saints and pilgrims including the sailing of the Mayflower’
- 28th September: Chris McCooey on ‘Kent scandals – sensational, salacious and sad’
- 23rd November: Colin Breed on ‘Zeebrugge – the story of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster of March 1987, including the police investigation and Old Bailey trial’
The programme for 2010 was:
- 27 Jan: Annual General Meeting
- 24th March: D J March on ‘The story of English cheeses’
- 26th May: Ted Hobday on “The Brogdale Fruit Collection”
- 22nd June (Tuesday!): Tour of the Marden vineyard and winery
- 22nd September: Angela Mutana on ‘Benjamin Harris – Ightham grocer & archaeologist’
- 24th November: Chris Wade on ‘A walk around the Saxon Shore Way’ (part 2)
The Programme for 2009 was:
- ? March: Graham Johnson on “Kent – an Unusual view”
- 27 May: Chris Wade on “A Walk around the Saxon Shore Way”
- 23 September: Shirley Thomson on “The World of Bats“
- 25th November: Richard Filmer on “Old Ashford”
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