Calendar

Speaker: Elaine Prichard

Orton & Spooner was a company based in Burton-upon-Trent that made fairground rides and equipment for fairgrounds. The business began in the 1890s and closed in 1977. Elaine tells their story.

Organised by the Local History Section

Library open upstairs on the 1st floor.

Speaker: Mark Dawson

If you buy a Christmas pudding in any UK supermarket there is a very high chance it has been manufactured on an industrial estate in Heanor. Food historian Mark Dawson will relate how the Derbyshire firm of Matthew Walker came to dominate this market and tell us about some less well-known local seasonal traditions.

Organised by the Industrial Archaeology Section

Library open upstairs on the 1st floor.

Speaker: David Mercer

Mrs Armitage (1841-1931) was a pioneer archaeologist and historian in the field of castle studies. Her book The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (1912) is credited with establishing the principle that the motte-and-bailey castle was an early Norman innovation; rejecting the idea that mottes were of Anglo-Saxon date. With over a century of research into castles following this seminal thesis it is time to reassess Armitage’s legacy and provide context for the earliest castles in England.

David Mercer read archaeology at St John’s College, Cambridge. His doctoral thesis looked at the historical development of ideas in castle studies. Since then, he has been an active member of the Castle Studies Group.