2024/2025 Programme
Monday 7th October
John Rainer
Lidar and its use in revealing the Hidden Landscape
The presentation will be illustrated with a variety of local and national examples, ranging from Roman roads to medieval moated house sites, castles and Civil War earthworks. No technical knowledge is required (but knowing how to use maps helps).
Monday 28th October
Kate Jewell
Scaffolds and Stage Devils: Medieval Drama in Bury St Edmunds and Beyond
It is easy to forget that England had a very rich tradition of plays and drama before Shakespeare came on the scene. And Suffolk had one of the richest traditions of all – Suffolk playgoers wanted plays to be big, bold, explosive and spectacular! This talk will explore how plays were put on, where they could be seen, what plays were about and how far people would walk to see one. Warning- you may hear a rude song in Latin and meet a stage devil or two…
Monday 2nd December
Terry O’Donaghue
The Gathering Storm – How Bury prepared for and changed with war.
Even as early as 1935, the storm clouds of war were gathering over the town. This talk looks at Bury’s preparation for war in the months preceding the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939. The talk focuses on the impact on the town at the outset of war and the first 3 years of conflict. This includes Civil Defence, the widespread and realistic air raid exercises. The evacuees and refugees which the town welcomed at the start of the war, and also organisations such as the Women’s Land Army. The town was also classified as a ‘town of last defence’ which took detailed planning and could have resulted in severe hardships for both the town and surrounding villages.
Preparations in which the Guildhall itself was a hive of activity, and then played a central role in the protection of the town, and through the efforts of those townspeople manning the Royal Observer Corps Operations Room, the defence of the wider region throughout the six years of total war.
Monday 6th January
John Saunders
Time on Your Hands
Time is part of our everyday life – we need to know what time to eat, sleep, work or turn up for appointments. John will talk about the timepieces that have over the years given us the answers and as we make our armchair tour of the town we discover some that we pass every day but maybe fail to notice.
Monday 3rd February
Kevin Pulford
Regency Low Life Bury St Edmunds
The Borough Quarter Sessions were held in the courtroom of the Guildhall. This talk gives an outline of how the courts were run and examples of some of the cases from around the Regency period. It provides a rich tapestry of fascinating stories that reveal the prejudices, foibles and needs of daily life in 18th-century Bury.
Monday 3rd March
Annual General Meeting followed by Robert Halliday
AN A TO Z OF BENCH END FIGURES IN SUFFOLK CHURCHES
Local historian Robert Halliday will be known to many members of the Past and Present Society for his long standing interest in Suffolk churches. He has recently been engaged in a personal project to study and photograph the wooden carved figures that can be found on benches, stalls and pews in these buildings. Some are of animals, some are of legendary beasts (who that can also be encountered in The Chronicles Of Narnia and Harry Potter) some are of people going about their daily lives, some are of saints, some are of devils. They are all fascinating, and often very amusing. In this fully illustrated talk, Robert Halliday plans to share some of the discoveries he has made across the county.
