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The Grosvenor Museum Society’s lectures 2024

All events are in the lecture theatre, at the Grosvenor Museum.  

Doors will open just before 2pm the lecture commences at 2.30pm prompt.

Tuesday 16th January at 2.30
Peter Bolt - The Railways of Thomas Brassey

Peter Bolt will inform us on the world wide engineering achievements of Cheshire born human dynamo Brassey who built railways on five continents and found time to build Chester station as well. This was the height of railway building mania across the world.  At one point during his career Thomas was employing 85,000 men.


Wednesday 14th February at 2.30
Dr Kevin Cootes – RAF Poulton. The Archaeology of a Military Ghost Town.

Dr Kevin Cootes of John Moore’s University, Liverpool is the site director of the Poulton Research Project, a multi - period site that has the potential to be the most important archaeological dig on an Iron Age site northern England. Finds have revealed the long and varied history of the site.


Thursday 7th March at 2.30
Barry Cave – A Bodyguard’s Story

Hear the seldom told inside stories from a member of the protection officers team of police bodyguards, whose responsibilities included safeguarding: The Princess Royal; Diana, Princess of Wales; Ian Paisley; Margaret Thatcher and the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.  Barry will also speak about the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in July 1981 and explore the conspiracy theories surrounding her death in 1997.


Tuesday 9th April at 2.30      
Jean Finney – a talk on the Origins of Nursery Rhymes

Jean’s talk takes us back in time to tell English history in a most unusual fashion.  It will take us all the way back to rhymes of Henry VIII’s time with many surprises along the way.


Tuesday 7th May at 7.30
Derek Arnold -  The Sinking of the Thetis

The Royal Navy submarine HMS Thetis sank during sea trials in Liverpool Bay in June 1939.  Derek’s lecture brings home the dangers and tragedies for submariners.  They faced unforeseen problems when the limits of experimental engineering were pushed as a new generation of submarines were commissioned for service.