2018
| 15/02/2018 | St David’s Church Reredos | / talk by Martin Horrell |
| 14/03/2018 | Newtown and its history. Walk | / walk with Jackie Holdswoth |
| 11/04/2018 | Building of Exeter Cathedral | / talk by John Allan |
| 09/05/2018 | 3 churches in Heavitree including tiny St Clare's Chapel | / walk |
| 13/06/2018 | the Fight for Votes for Women, 1866-1918 | / talk by Julia Neville |
| 13/07/2018 | Guided Private tour of Powderham Castle | / visit |
| 08/08/2018 | Dr Lovely and the Workmen’s Dwellings Company | / talk by Richard Holladay |
| 12/09/2018 | Ashclyst Forest from medieval times to WW2 | / walk |
| 26/09/2018 | Ashclyst Forest from medieval times to WW2 | / walk |
| 12/10/2018 | Building of Exeter Cathedral (cont from 11 April) | / talk by John Allan |
| 16/11/2018 | Cricklepit Mill and the leats supplying the power | / visit |
| 12/12/2018 | A Tudor Christmas | / talk by Jill Kemp |
Tudor Dancing
on Wednesday, 12 December 2018
at Jurys Inn, Exeter
An opportunity to learn all about life in Tudor times and how they celebrated their festivities, particularly at Christmas. There were dancers both to entertain and to explain. The poor were not discussed - we left their sad lives to another day !
Cricklepit Mill and the leats supplying the power
on Wednesday, 16 November 2018
On 16 November 2018 - and again in December (due to the number of people wanting to join this event) - we met for coffee on the Quay and had explained to us the history of the Higher & Lower Leats.
We then visited what remained of the leats before proceeding to Cricklepit Mill where the millers explained everything to us in great detail.
Click here for more details about the history of Leats
Click here for more details about our visit to Cricklepit Mill
Building of Exeter Cathedral
with John Allan
on Wednesday, 10 October 2018, at Jurys Inn, Exeter
John Allan, by popular request, returned on 10 October 2018 to tell us more about the building of Exeter Cathedral. Back in April, John took us through its history from Norman times to the middle of the 14th Century. Today he took us through to this century.
NOTE: There were 48 slides accompanying the above talk and, instead of claiming copyright on them (as most people do), John has given us the lot, to do as we will with them. You can see them by clicking here
Ashclyst Forest
on Wednesdays, 12 September and 26 September 2018
On 12 September 2018 - and again on 26 September - Jon Freeman took us on a guided walk around Ashclyst Forest.
Click here for more details about the walk
Click here to see the maps of Ashclyst
Exeter Workmens' Dwellings
with Richard Holladay
on Wednesday, 8 August 2018, at Jurys Inn, Exeter
This talk was a summary of Dr Charles Newton Lovely's life and his involvement in the foundation of this innovative undertaking to alleviate and replace some of the appalling slum conditions and tenements abounding in Exeter in the mid-1920s.
The significant achievements that he, together with like-minded colleagues, attained in supplying affordable and well-appointed social housing within our City, have largely been overlooked,(although the successors to this undertaking still operate today as Cornerstone Housing). This presentation is another step toward rectifying this oversight.
Dr Lovely was the Founding Chairman of the company they created - the Exeter Workmen's Dwellngs Company Ltd - and remained in that position for ten years until he retired. He was also heavily involved in the St John Ambulance, he was for a period a Prison Doctor and, whilst living in Exeter, his medical practice was in St Leonards.
Visit to Powderham Castle
on Friday, 13 July 2018
28 members attended this event! Our guide met us in the Castle courtyard and explained that Powderham’s Great Hall was built by Hugh Courtenay in 1390 on land owned by his wife, Margaret DeBohun's. Their son Phillip later built a castle to impress trading ships passing up and down the river. Phillip’s son Richard finally finished it and gave it the name Powderham. Around 1390-1445, a Minstrels Gallery was added over a kitchen extension on the ground floor.
Exeter Women - and Men - and the Fight for Votes for Women
with Dr. Julia Neville
on Wednesday, 13 June 2018, at Jurys Inn, Exeter
The battle for women's right to vote was fought up and down the country, in Exeter as much as anywhere else. Dr Neville, in an illustrated talk, uncovered the stories of local activists: Jessie Montgomery, widely regarded as 'godmother' to the University of Exeter; Edith Splatt, later to be Exeter's first woman councillor; Mary Willocks, early Mills-and-Boon novelist; and Robert Newman, who became Exeter's MP in 1918. Julia also described open-air meetings at the Triangle and the prison where the 'Exeter hunger strikers' were locked up.
A walk around Heavitree
on Wednesday, 9 May 2018
On Wednesday, 9 May, 35 of us congregated to visit two churches, one chapel, General Gordon's memorial and the one-time hanging grounds of Livery Dole.
The history of Exeter Cathedral
with John Allen
on Wednesday, 11 April 2018, at Jurys Inn, Exeter
This illustrated talk by the Cathedral's own archaeologist, informed us in great and often amusing detail about the history of the cathedral.
John is a great speaker and his skills in providing a high standard of buildings analysis, research and assessment while producing talks that are reliable, well-illustrated, and free from jargon are highly regarded.
For fuller details click on the relevant title on the green banner on the left of this page.
A Walk Around Newtown
on Wednesday, 14 March and repeated, due to popular demand, on 4 April 2018
We met in Waitrose’s carpark – where the workhouse once stood -- an walked around the Newton area.
Altar Screens in St David's Church
with Martin Horrell
on Wednesday, 14 February 2018, at Jurys Inn, Exeter
Martin Horrell spoke about reredoses (altar screens) generally and in particular the reredos in St David's Church here in Exeter and the finest Gothic carver of his era, Nathaniel Hitch, who carved it. Finally, Martin told us of the individual fates (often gruesome) of each of the people shown on the reredos. The talk was illustrated with many photographs.
History of Exeter's Fires
on Wednesday, 17 January 2018
- In 1003 the Vikings burnt Exeter to the ground – even St Peter’s, not yet a cathedral - and hundreds perished. Why? Could this have been prevented?
- In 1886 Exeter’s Theatre Royal was destroyed by fire and 187 died. What caused this fire and why did so many people die? Could their deaths have been prevented?
- Last year we lost the Clarence Hotel. This time no one died – why? But could the devastation have been prevented?
We found out the answers on 17 January, at the Fire Station at Dane’s Castle during a talk on the history of fire (and its prevention), plus a tour of the Station - until the firefighters were called out for an emergency!
Print 