If you wish to view the Zoom session for a particular meeting, click on the highlighted title and we will zoom you back in time to the event!

 

JANUARY 2021

We held another very successful Zoom session in January, with Steve Tofts talking about Historic Mining on Mendip to which 85 different households logged in. Unfortunately the recording of this talk was lost, although you  can get a gist of it from his pictures with their captions from here. 

 

AGM

On February 10th at 7pm we had our AGM with progress reports from the chairperson and treasurer, and election of officers. After the short business section, at approximately 7.30pm, we were treated to:

BLAGDON THEN AND NOW—a look at how the village has changed and some of the people involved, using archive photographs and insights from Sheila Johnson--always popular and interesting.  

 

MARCH

On 10th March at 7.30 Ken Parsons followed up his previous riveting talk on the Monmouth Rebellion with:  'SCYTHES INTO SPEARS - SOMERSET IN THE CIVIL WAR 1642-51'

Most of you will know about the big battles such as Edge hill, Marston Moor and Naseby, but the Civil War affected all parts of the country—nowhere more so than Somerset.  There were dramatic events such as the siege of Bristol, but even small places like Blagdon were dragged into the conflict.  In his Zoom talk, Ken explained in gory detail of how the ebb and flow of the war impacted on the lives of everybody in the county.

 

April 2021

April 14th   Life and Times of Harry Dolman by Clive Burlton

 A fascinating man, Harry came from humble rural roots to achieve

fame as an inventor, engineer and entrepreneur in Bristol. Later he was known as Mr Bristol City for his long involvement with the football  club.

 

May 2021

May 12th  Guilty Pleasures by Chris Bigg

 Using Bristol archives and his own research Chris charted the history of three of the major trades which enriched the city: chocolate, beer and tobacco.

 

June 2021 

June 9th Crime and punishment by Esther Hoyle

 Esther is a professional archivist working at the Somerset Heritage Centre in Taunton. Her talks, illustrated with items from the huge archive housed there, are always lively and interesting

For a synopsis of this talk by Mike Adams click on the title.

 

July 2021

July 14th The creation of Blagdon Lake by Jacky Kerly

 Unimagined changes for the village when the Bristol Water Company

embarked on the building of a dam, flooding a valley to create a reservoir and subsequently a world famous fishery.

 

October 2021

October 12th The Winscombe Project by Teresa Hall

 Teresa is involved with a long-term local project using evidence to

examine historic settlement patterns of dispersed hamlets and   

farmsteads and how these developed into what we have today. She explained the methods the group have used.

​

'ZOOM' MEETINGS:

These consisted of meetings online using the app of Zoom. To ‘be at’ the meeting members will needed to click on the link that they received well in advance of the meeting.

If the meeting comprises a talk then members were requested to mute their microphones with the on-screen ‘mute microphone’ button. With a full meeting of perhaps 80 people or more, the combined confluence of domestic chatter and clatter, dogs barking and even birds whistling, can make the talk almost inaudible.

 

Non-members: You could join the meeting by paying a contribution through a Paypal button and, if they did it in good time, they would be sent the Zoom link 

​

 MEMBERSHIP

We have a full programme of meetings this year.  During the Covid pandemic members were given a year's free membership. If you would like to join now, membership is £12 single or £20 for a couple.  Please email Andrew Barnes barneaj@gmail.com.​  

 

If you have not previously attended one of our meetings online but wish to do so, please email:

Mike Adams: m.adams.blagdonhistory@gmail.com

 

For more immediate information regarding meetings and other events click on the facebook logo below to go to the Group site or go to the Nextdoor site.

To join that the Facebook 'Group' email: blagdonlocalhistorysociety@gmail.com and ask to join.