Speaker: Mike Pollard

The talk will focus on the founding and development of a number of “model” mining villages across the region between 1890 and 1930 and will explore the aims and motivations of their founders and the ways they sought to “improve” the new communities. The speaker will explore their relationships with the aristocratic landowners, as well as their political links and the impact they had on the contemporary social reform agenda before 1914 and argue that the impact and legacies of this work was felt right through the inter-war period and beyond.

Mike Pollard recently retired as a headteacher, and is now actively researching the political, social and architectural development of the Midlands and South Yorkshire coalfields.

Organised by the Industrial Archaeology Section

Speaker: Elizabeth Woledge

Dr. Elizabeth Woledge will speak about the history of the Royal Crown Derby china works. The talk will be illustrated by some of the most interesting items from the Museum which you can handle as you learn about how they were made. Also hear about the flower painter who changed the way flowers were painted, the troublesome modeller and many other interesting snippets from its 250 years history.

Organised by the Local History Section