2025 talks

Talks are held on the third Monday of the month at the Brindle Community Hall, Water Street, Brindle, nr Chorley, PR6 8NW. starting at 7:30pm unless otherwise stated.

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2025 planned programme*

*This was the programme published at the start of the year. Note that some talks may have been changed or cancelled.

Date	Title	Description
20 Jan	The Lancaster canal and the Preston Tram road. Nigel Hardacre	The Lancaster canal was constructed with a five mile temporary tram road section just south of the River Ribble. This structure was completed in 1803 to link the north and south ends of the canal. Employing a wealth of knowledge, old maps and photographs, Nigel will explain why the Preston Tram road came to be built with a particular emphasis on the bridge over the Ribble which has recently been removed.
17 Feb	Annual General Meeting	The AGM will be followed by ‘A dip into the archives’ given by Darren Cranshaw
17 Mar	Rivington Terraced Gardens: Past, present and future. Graham Gough	Rivington Terraced Gardens were created on a barren Lancashire hillside by the soap giant William Hesketh Lever (Lord Leverhulme) as a weekend retreat. Neglected after Lever’s death for many years they have long been a favourite place for many. This talk tells a little of the gardens’ history and how recent efforts have been made to secure their future as a magical place for all.
21 Apr	Wigan, Radicalism & Gerrard Winstanley. John Winstanley	What were the events in Wigan that made its people change the cause of radicalism into a political power in 1618? What then happened that inspired one of its sons to lead the Digger Movement of 1649-1650 and become the founder of modern day socialism? All this and more will form the talk from one of Wigan Diggers Festival committee members and a BHS member.
19 May	ROF Chorley. Lindsey Barrow	The Royal Ordnance Factory at Chorley was built in the late 1930s and employed over 40,000 people at its peak. Learn about the fascinating history of the site, how it was constructed, what actually took place there and hear about the secret history of what is now Buckshaw Village.
16 Jun	The Brindle Workhouse. Bernard Fleming	A small former chapel at Top o’th’ Lane was confiscated and given to the parish and by 1734, it was being used as a workhouse and lunatic asylum.  A survey in 1760 indicated that 60 people lived in the Brindle workhouse, far more than the size of the village would suggest. It appears that the Brindle workhouse had begun to accept paupers and lunatics from other establishments, probably the hardcases that they couldn’t cope with. Come along to hear the fascinating, but sometimes harrowing tale of The Brindle Workhouse.
15 Sep	The Bolton Forger. Brian Healey	How to Bake a Fake. This highly entertaining and instructive lecture tells the amazing story of Sean Greenhalgh, the Bolton forger, who duped many of the world’s most famous museums over a period of more than 20 years with artefacts he had made in his garden shed.
20 Oct	The Home Front in Preston during the First World War. Keith Vernon	As the Great War dragged on, almost the whole of British society was mobilised to sustain the massive demands of the war effort, creating a ‘home front’. This talk looks at various aspects of how the war reached into the lives of the people of Preston, their work, health, social lives and family relationships. There will be a special focus on how the war affected the lives of women and children.
17 Nov	The Brindle Estate. Darren Cranshaw	Until 1572 the manor and estate of Brindle was held by the Gerards of Bryn until Sir Thomas Gerard unwisely supported the cause of Mary Queen of Scots and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He forfeited his lands to the Cavendish family, (Dukes of Devonshire) who held onto the estate until recent times. We will hear some of the history of this ancient estate and of the characters involved.