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
Unfortunately this meeting was cancelled due to restrictions in place to combat the Covid-19 virus.
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
Tuesday 28th April 2020 7:30pm
Unfortunately this meeting was cancelled due to restrictions in place to combat the Covid-19 virus.
Blickling Belles – The Georgian Daughters of Blickling Hall
Kate Barnes
Tuesday 29th September 2020 7:30pm
Imagined Coasts – The Medieval Port of Burnham
Click here to view the recording of this lecture.
Jonathan Hooton
As a result of being invited to join the imagined Land Project on Burnham Norton Friary I became involved in examining how the north Norfolk coast had changed over the last millennium and how that affected the development of the ports, in particular the port of Burnham.
This talk is based on the results of that work. It is really in two parts the first part looks at how the north Norfolk coast has changed and secondly looking at the development and decline of the port of Burnham.
Tuesday 27th October 2020 7:30pm
Roman coins from rivers and wells in Britain: hoards or gifts for the gods?
Click here to view the recording of this lecture.
Roger Bland
Among the 3,300 coin hoards known from Britain, there is an interesting group of finds that come from rivers and wells, such as the more 12,000 coins found when the baths at Roman Bath were drained in the 1970s, seen here. Other large groups are known from the river Thames at London Bridge, the Tees and Hadrian’s Wall. Why were these groups of coins deposited in these watery places and are they hoards? The talk will look at this intriguing group of coins as a case study of research into the huge number of Roman coin hoards known from Britain.
The talk was preceded by a short AGM
Tuesday 24th November 2020 7:30pm
Dereham and its vicar in Victorian Times
Susanna Wade-Martins
Click here to view the recording of this lecture.
The Revd Benjamin Armstrong was vicar of Dereham from 1850- 1888 and throughout this time he kept detailed diaries describing the ups and downs of his family life, social changes taking place in Norfolk towns and countryside as well as the turmoils within the Church of England. Susanna Wade- Martins is the author of a new biography of Armstrong and her lecture will explore his life, his attitude to these changes and the role he played in the life of the market town of Dereham.
