SPEAKER: Patrick Hickman-Robertson, OBE, is the author of a number of best-selling books on social history and on cinema. He has broadcast and lectured on these topics on both sides of the Atlantic. Co-founder and a former chairman of the Ephemera Society, he has a special interest in ‘the minor transient documents of everyday life’ as […]

SPEAKER:   David Throup: retiring from a career in high performance electronic engineering, a second career helping to maintain some Georgian technology was the obvious choice. What started as a fun thing to do on a Tuesday turned into a multi faceted journey through the mind of James Watt and his impact on this corner […]

SPEAKER:  James Holden, researcher and writer on historic buildings for the Wiltshire Building Record TOPIC: Wiltshire is particularly lucky in the variety and quality of its chapels, which range from tiny country meeting houses of traditional gable-ended design to large town churches with Classical facades and space for 1000 or more worshippers in their galleried […]

The Ancient Olympic Games and their Modern Successors SPEAKER: John Osborne John Osborne taught Classics for many years at Marlborough College. In his retirement, he has lectured regularly for NADFAS, now The Arts Society, and has led numerous historical and cultural tours abroad, especially to the Middle East and SE Europe. TOPIC: What were the […]

The Strange Death of Marlborough Union Workhouse SPEAKER: Nick Baxter Nick Baxter is a local historian, author, lecturer and tour guide TOPIC: Opened in 1837, the Marlborough Union Workhouse’s early years were fraught with difficulties. In January 1849 inmates wrecked the kitchen and smashed windows. Boards covered the broken windows, except in the able bodied […]

Discovering Avebury – Landscape and People SPEAKER: Dr Nick Snashall Dr Nick Snashall is the National Trust archaeologist for the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. She has excavated on prehistoric, Roman and Medieval sites across Britain and Europe. An expert in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, her research interests include prehistoric stone tools, landscape […]

SPEAKER:  Bob Holman Bob Holman has lived in Marlborough for a number of years and is a semi-retired coffee shop owner (The Food Gallery). After discovering the incredible capabilities of his iPhone camera, he has developed a passion for black and white photography. TOPIC: Bob Holman is a local photographer who has discovered that there […]

TOPIC: “The RNLI 200 years - 1824 to 2024” The Marlborough History Society talk coincides with the 200 years anniversary of when the RNLI was formed. The illustrated talk will narrate the formation and development of the institution from the early 1800s up until the present day. There will also be time for questions and […]

TOPIC: “Marlborough by Gaslight” On December 2nd 1997 a “Victorian Extravaganza” was held in Marlborough High Street, which was closed to traffic. Late night shopping was made available, and a variety of stalls, displays and street entertainment provided.  Victorian Marlborough was a very different place to what it is now. The gasworks, prison, workhouse, tanneries, […]

TOPIC: The Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission was the brainchild of Fabian Ware, whose own story and that of this most remarkable achievement are the bones of this talk. Together with some of the finest talents in the kingdom – Rudyard Kipling and Edwin Lutyens to name but two – he fashioned the greatest […]