2023 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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2023 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
16 Jan	From Fairclough to AMEC Keith Hick	The story of a Lancashire-based construction dynasty between 1883-2007. This illustrated talk gives the fascinating story of Leonard Fairclough who was an Adlington stonemason whose company went on to build many of the bridges on local motorways. The talk provides a history of the company up to the early 1980s when the Fairclough name disappeared as it became part of the AMEC group.
20 Feb	Annual General Meeting	The AGM is open to all
20 Mar	The Gallipoli Oak Martin Purdy	Tonight we will hear an account of how, in 1922, the father of Eric Duckworth, a soldier who was tragically killed in the battle of Gallipoli, carried an oak sapling from Rochdale all the way to Turkey where it was planted as a memorial to his 19-year-old son. 101 years later, this lone oak continues to grow amid the dry earth that once played host to one of the most controversial military campaigns of the Great War.
17 Apr	Uncle Joe’s Mintballs John Winnard	“Uncle Joe’s Mintballs keep you all aglow” as the advertisement goes. The famous sweets have been made in Wigan (and only in Wigan) since 1898 and are now sold throughout the world. Hear the story of their history and how the William Santus & company has evolved to keep at the forefront of the UK sweet market.
15 May	Astley Hall John Ball	Astley Hall in Chorley is a museum and art gallery housed within a Grade I listed historic house set within the beautiful surroundings of Astley Park. Tonight’s talk will give the story of the hall, its park and its people. We will hear about the history from the 12th century Charnock Family up to the 21st century restoration.
19 Jun	The life of Kathleen Ferrier Robert Longstaff	The English contralto singer, Kathleen Ferrier, born in Higher Walton in 1912, was the daughter of a school teacher and achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to classical works. She reached the height of her fame just after the 2nd World War, but tragically died in 1953 leaving many commentators to speculate on the height her career might have reached had she lived beyond her early 40s.
18 Sep	Three Centuries of Photography – a personal view Boyd Harris	Illustrating how photography through the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries has been used to document history and enhance new technology and social media. The presentation includes the work of amateur photographers Edward Hodkinson (1894-1975) from Wheelton and Les Chapman (1907-2008) from Chorley.
16 Oct	The history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission James Hutton	Established by Royal Charter, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is a global organisation, caring for war graves at 23,000 locations in over 150 countries and territories. It is run by a multinational workforce of approximately 1,300, the vast majority of whom are gardeners and stone masons. They commemorate almost 1.7 million individuals, ensuring that all Commonwealth men and women who died during both world wars are commemorated in a manner befitting their sacrifice.
20 Nov	Coalmining In Lancashire, the photographic record Alan Davies	The talk will explore the photographic record of the Lancashire coal industry from the arrival of photography to the latest explorations of opencast sites. The deep mines have now all closed but the process of photographic documentation of the former coalfield continues, with mine explorers digitally documenting their findings (secretly) in old drift workings.