Meetings 2022 - 2023
Victorian households had a strict class hierarchy but was it really all like Downton Abbey? What did servants do on a daily basis and what was a life ‘in service’ like?
The middle classes often complained of the ‘Servant Problem’ but how were relations between the Gaskell family and their servants at 84 Plymouth Grove? Find out more in a revealing talk by the Anthony Burton.
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All Aboard!The planned talk, Miss Lydia Becker Suffragist, Scientist and Trailblazer' - Joanna Williams was cancelled as Joanna was indisposed. (to be rearranged)
Hilary Atkinson, the Society Chairman, gave a presentation titled 'All Aboard'. This took us on virtual bus journey around part of Marple and Offerton, starting at the Wrights Arms, finishing and disembarking at the Station Road, Church Lane, Stockport Road junction. With many a stop on the way, an infomative and enjoyable evening for the eighty upstairs and downstairs.
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Operation Chastise, the audacious attack on the dams in the Ruhr valley, is arguably one of the most famous airborne attacks in history. During the night of 16/17 May 1943, 133 men in nineteen specially-adapted Lancasters – the famous Dambusters – set off to attack six dams deep in the heart of Germany. Eight of the bombers, and 56 of the aircrew, did not come home.
Three of the aircrew who took part were from the High Peak region of Derbyshire. Flight Lieutenant Bill Astell, the pilot of ED864 who hailed from Coombs near Chapel-en-le-Frith, was killed after flying into electricity pylons on the way to the dams. The navigator in ED924, Sergeant John Nugent, from Stoney Middleton, survived the Dambusters Raid but was killed later in the war. The third High Peak Dambuster, on whom Frank Pleszack's talk will concentrate, is the little-known Sergeant Jack Marriott from Chinley, the flight engineer on Lancaster ED937 during the attack.
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Brabyns Park has played a significant part in the lives of Marple folk for the last 70 years. Site of sports pitches for youthful exercise, a dog walking paradise, a short cut to Compstall and its country park, not to mention the annual bonfire and firework display in November. It even provided the venue for our second virtual walk during the COVID lockdown. Read all about that here.
Judith related the story of the people who lived in Brabyns Hall, their activities locally, and the development of Brabyns as a country park since the hall was demolished in the early 1950s.
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Read more: January: 'Brabyns Park & Iron Bridge' - Judith Wilshaw
Pantomime is a marvellous and wonderful (if a little eccentric!) British institution.
Pantomimes take place around the Christmas period and are nearly always based on well known children’s stories such as Peter Pan, Aladdin, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty etc. Pantomimes are performed not only in the best theatres in the land but also in village halls throughout Britain. Whether a lavish professional performance or a hammy local amateur dramatic production, all pantomimes are well attended.
Audience participation is a very important part of a pantomime. The audience are encouraged to boo the villain whenever he enters the stage, argue with the Dame (who is always a man) and warn the Principal Boy (who is always a girl) when the villain is behind them by shouting out “He’s behind you!”.
Mark Llewellin & ' It’s Behind You! The history of pantomime'i
Cover of pantomime text for Jack & the Beanstalk at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1899 – 1900, England. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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In November, Neil Sheldon, brought us the story of Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician and pioneer of computer science.
During the Second World War, he was part of a top secret group of codebreakers, at Bletchley Park who helped to break the German Enigma machine. This codebreaking work significantly helped the Allies to win the war – especially the naval war in the Atlantic. Due to the top-secret nature of his work, Turing gained little outer recognition for his work, (though he did get an OBE in 1948). He also made lesser-known contributions to statistics, philosophy and biology. His life ended tragically with, in 1952, a criminal conviction and suicide two years later in 1954. Posthumously Turing was granted an official public apology in 2009 and a posthumous pardon in 2013.
Neil Sheldon is a retired teacher whose interests include mathematics, philosophy, statistics, computer science and linguistics, and is the former vice-president of the Royal Statistical Society.
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We continued our journey through the season’s talks with Nigel Linge On a Monday evening in October, Nigel enlightened and entertained us with the history, the evolution and history of the humble British phonebox.
It has achieved iconic status; it symbolises Britain; but it is now seldom used! The British phonebox has been part of our landscape since 1921when the first K1 model was introduced. However, it was the K2 design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and then his much more numerous K6 design that established the now familiar and iconic red box on our streets.
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Read more: October: 'History of the British phonebox' - Nigel Linge
“Buxton Water.” It is the water that is the raison d’être for Buxton. Without the water there would be no Buxton. But there is another feature of the town that is just as iconic - The Crescent, and it was The Crescent that was the subject of Trevor Gilman’s talk in September for the first meeting of the year.
The water is, of course, older than Buxton itself. It first fell as rain about 5000 years ago, slowly filtered through the limestone of the Peak District and eventually emerged as nine separate springs in the vicinity of The Crescent. In the course of this slow migration it absorbed significant amounts of magnesium and about 40 other minor constituents, finishing its journey having been warmed by geothermal activity to about 27oC (82o F) and acquiring a faint blue colour. (It is also slightly radioactive.)
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Read more: September: 'History of Buxton Crescent' - Trevor Gilman
