Meetings 2019 - 2020
Lyme Park, former seat of the Legh family
You would think we all should know the story of our local aristocracy but, just in case we didn’t, Neil Mullineux was invited to summarise 600 years of the Legh family. When he explained that the eldest son was invariably called Peter and the most recent Peter was Peter XIII it looked as though we were in for a long evening. Fortunately he was limited to an hour so we only got the highlights (and several low lights.)
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Read more: 17th February Neil Mullineux – The Leghs of Lyme: How to join the aristocracy
For her latest talk Judith Wilshaw took on the broad sweep of history, showing how, since ancient times, our infrastructure has changed to suit our requirements and the type of transport available. It was most certainly a broad sweep but she made it more relevant by showing many examples from our locality and from the Peak District.
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Read more: 20th January 2020 Judith Wilshaw – From Ancient Tracks to Modern Highways
We knew something was going on when people started arriving for the meeting at seven o’clock. By the time the meeting started at 7.45 there were over 120 people in the hall, waiting in eager anticipation. So what was the attraction? Swizzels of course! Fortunately our speaker, Nici Matlow, had had the good sense to arrive early bearing gifts. Drumstick Lollies, Parma Violets, Fruity Pops, Banana Skids, Love Hearts, etc.etc. The audience sucked contentedly on their Fun Gums and waited for her to begin.
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Read more: 9th December: Nici Matlow – 90 Years of Swizzels-Matlow
Abel Heywood - Radical Mayor
They don’t make mayors like they used to! Joanna Williams took us through the life of one of the most important figures involved in the growth and development of Manchester. Abel Heywood was Manchester through and through; his life paralelled the history of the city, but it was hardly an auspicious beginning. Born to a poor family in Prestwich, his father died when he was very young and his mother moved to Angel Meadow. We know all about Angel Meadow, thanks to Mike Nevell’s talk on the subject in 2016 and it was certainly not a good start in life for anybody.
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Roy Murphy gave us a wide-ranging talk about James Brindley and the canals which he pioneered. It’s nice to think of him as a local boy made good but that is not quite correct. He was born in Tunstead, which is halfway between Whaley Bridge and Chapel, and only about ten miles from Marple, but there is no record of him having anything to do with Marple or Mellor though he must have been to both places. Instead he was more focused on places to the west and the south. He was apprenticed to a millwright near Macclesfield and showed exceptional skill and ability. As the name suggests, the original function of a millwright was to construct and operate mills powered by wind or water, and this developed in scope as the industrial revolution gathered pace.
Bridgewater Canal
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Read more: 21 October 2019 // Roy Murphy – James Brindley – the first canal engineer
Monday night was for the map aficionados. But not just for those map nerds, among us, because Paul Hindle’s Ordnance Survey talk brought a light touch introduction to an array of topics. However, deep down, it allowed us all to wallow in maps, maps of all sorts and all varieties.
First Paul explained the origins of the Ordnance Survey. The name gives us a clue. “Ordnance - guns, ammunition, a branch of the military dealing with weapons.” It was established to protect these islands from invasion. The Jacobites posed a very real threat, even after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, so the army was assigned the task of producing a map of Scotland under the chief surveyor, William Roy......
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Read more: 16th September 2019: Paul Hindle – Ordnance Survey Maps
