| Date | Subject of Talk - Speaker |
|---|---|
| Wed 19th November 2025 | Harry Harbottle By Greg McCormick |
| Wed 17th December 2025 | Members Forum – Date to be confirmed |
| Wed 21st January 2026 | William Henderson and Durham’s New Town Hall By David Butler |
| Wed 18th February 2026 | The Sea is in my Blood By David Hastings |
| Wed 18th March 2026 | Carter Bar to Darlington By George Nairn |
| Wed 15th April 2026 | Hannah’s Granddaughter By Margaret Hedley |
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 17th September at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 11 members & 2 guests
A talk “The Durham Miner Illustrated” was given by Glynn Wales who explained his association with the Gemeni Collection of paintings by local miners, which had been given to the Zubaran Trust and is on display at the Mining Art Gallery at Bishop Auckland. The collection features paintings by artists including Ted Holloway, Tom McGuiness and Norman Cornish. He used images from the collection to illustrate the lives of miners and the communities in which they lived in Durham mining villages. The talk was much appreciated and prompted numerous questions and members personal memories.
The Chairman reported that the updated Society website was “live” with a cleaner appearance, which made it easier to finds links to other information on the site and elsewhere
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 16 July 2025 at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 8 members & 5 guests
The branch welcomed back Margaret Hedely who had previously talked about the life of women in the Durham coalfield through the experience of her gg-grandmother as told in her book Hannah’s Story. On this occasion she talked about Hannah’s daughter Susan, her daughter and their lives in the coalfield in the 20th century. As usual with Margaret’s talks members were educated and entertained in equal measure. A memorable meeting.
The Chairman told members of his experience of using Artificial Intelligence (MS Copilot) in generating narratives suitable for publication from the basic output of dates and events, from a family history programme.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 21 May 2025 at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 11 members & 3 guests
Freda Thompson gave a talk on “Three Brave Ladies” focussing on Emily Wilding Davison and including a history of the suffragettes. She also mentioned the lives of two other women with North Eastern connections; journalist and author Nancy Spain and poet Elizabeth Barratt Browning.
The chairman gave a report on 50th Anniversary Conference held on 14th June. The conference had been well attended with over 70 attendees, including several branch members present.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 21 May 2025 at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 11 members & 3 guests
The branch welcomed back John North who gave a talk on the life of Richard Grainger the builder and developer responsible for shaping Newcastle in the 19th
century, along with architect John Dobson. He was born into a humble family and after an apprenticeship as a carpenter began his own building firm, eventually
leading to the construction of Eldon Square, Grainger Street & the Grainger Market, Grey Street and the Theatre Royal in the “Tyneside Classical” style in the area now known as Grainger Town. Despite his success the overreached himself financially, narrowly avoiding bankruptcy, and spent the last twenty years of his life in modest circumstances building houses and maintaining property.
The chairman gave a report on the May Trustees meeting and reposted that the Annual Report & Accounts for 2024 had been accepted.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 15th April
Attended by 9 members. As the chairman and deputy chairman were both unable to be present the meeting was chaired by the speaker coordinator.
The branch welcomed back David Butler who gave an interesting talk on the history of carpet weaving in Durham. David illustrated his talk with pictures, photographs, maps, the 1851 Census and graphs showing the growth of the 3 Companies involved, Startforths, Hendersons and Mackays, the development of machinery in the factories and the jobs and homes of the early workers from 1780 to 2005.
The talk provoked some interesting discussions between members of the group and David.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 19th March 2025 at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 11 members & 3 guests
The branch welcomed Peter Welsh who gave an entertaining talk on Hedworth Lambton, son of the 2nd Earl of Durham who had a distinguished naval career. He met socialite Lady Meux who financed the purchase of cannons during the Boer War. Subsequently, in her will, she left him her personal fortune on the condition he changed his name to Meux. He also commanded the Royal Yacht and later he served as equerry to both Kings Edward VII and George V. The talk was greatly enjoyed by members.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 19th February 2025 at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 11 members & 3 guests
The branch welcomed back Alan Smith who gave an interesting and entertaining talk on the history of the women’s suffrage movement which was much appreciated by members.
The chairman reported that he didn’t feel able continue chairing the meeting and also recording detailed minutes, particularly summarising the speaker’s talk. Despite repeated requests for assistance, no volunteer had come forward and as a result future minutes would only contain brief details of the talks.
The chairman reminded that early registration for the 50th Anniversary Conference was advised as numbers are limited
Report of the branch meeting held Wednesday 19 January 2023 at Belmont Community Centre
The meeting was attended by 9 Members.
David Hastings the Hon. Secretary of the Durham Branch of the RNLI and long-time fundraiser gave a talk on the history of lifesaving at sea, and the men (and women) who serve in the RNLI. He began with the history of the development of lifeboats from their early days as adapted fishing cobles to the modern water jet powered self-righting vessels. The RNLI was founded in 1824 and has just celebrated its bicentenary. He stressed that the organisation had always been independent of government, funded by donations, originally by wealthy benefactors but latterly by donations from the public. The crews are volunteers and have to be prepared to launch within ten minutes of receiving a call. He told many stories of bravery and how the highest honour of RNLI Gold Medal, for exceptional bravery in saving lives at sea, is regarded as the equivalent of Victoria Cross. Over their 200 year history the RNLI is estimated to have save 186,000 lives but at the cost of 805 of crew members
The chairman reported on the Trustees meeting which had been held the previous day. The So-ciety was on target to break even financially despite the additional costs involved in the move to New England House. Members were remined that end of year subscriptions were due. The preparations for the Anniversary Conference were well in hand, potential attendees were en-couraged to register to help with planning, particularly with catering.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 11th December 2024 at Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 8 members & 1 guest
The main business of the meeting was a members’ forum which included memories of Christmas. Two members had brought items which provoked family memories. Reminiscences included trainsets, homemade toys and how one member’s parents had arranged for a Christmas Eve meeting with “Santa” (a neighbour in disguise). One member who had grown up on a farm remembered Christmas as a normal working day but with special food.
One member mentioned a recent television programme about the severe winter of 1947 and his own memories. Some members also recounted their own experiences. They agreed that despite the record snowfall the school never closed
The Chairman updated members of the final programme for the 50 Anniversary Conference with a theme of mining. The booking form is in the Journal and early booking is advised. For a branch display he proposed to use a book of maps showing locations of all mines in Durham over the centuries to produce a display of “The Contracting Coalfield”. He had also photographed around 40 colliery banners which had been on display at Durham Cathedral. He had made a video displaying them on a loop which he proposed to play on a laptop. The meeting approved both suggestions
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 20th November 2024 Belmont Community Centre
Attended by 10 members & 1 guests
In the absence of the Chairman, who was indisposed, the meeting was conducted by the Deputy Chairman.
Dave Shotten returned to the branch to give a talk on “The Lost Treasures of St Cuthbert”. His talk started with a picture of St Aethewold’s Cross. Aethewold was a disciple and assistant to St. Cuthbert and the last bishop of Lindisfarne to be revered as a saint. He bound the loose manuscripts of the Lindisfarne Gospels. His relics were transported, with those of Cuthbert, from Lindisfarne to Durham. From Alfred the Great to the Reformation, Durham Cathedral had rented St. Cuthbert’s Banner to the king. This contributed to the Cathedral’s great wealth. The banner was loaned to the rebels in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. Later, Henry the Eighth wanted it destroyed, so he appointed William Edward Whittingham to do so. Whittingham was an English Puritan, a Marian exile and translator of the Geneva Bible. He became Dean of Durham, but, in 1579, action was started to deprive him of all holy orders on account of his Presbyterian ordination. He died in 1579 before the process was completed. The head of Cuthbert’s statue was removed by Whittingham and his wife Catherine burnt the banner in the 1560s..
The acting chairman relayed a message from the chairman about the 50th Anniversary 2025 conference. It is confirmed for Saturday 14th June 2025 at Brunswick Methodist Hall; The theme is mining with two speakers. The cost is £10 and the booking form will be in the next edition of The Journal and online. Numbers are limited so prompt application is advised.
Branches are invited to contribute a display. In the absence of volunteers, the chairman suggested displaying a series of maps showing locations of all mines in Durham over the centuries. He also suggested a cycling video of photographs of mining banners. The meeting liked both ideas.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 16th October 2024 Belmont Community Centre. Attended by 9 members & 4 guests
Ben Haddon returned to the branch to give a talk on life in the 1960s from his own perspective of growing up in Newcastle. Life in the 1950s had been grim but there was rapid change at the beginning of the sixties with the advent new housing and domestic advances such as washing machines, fridges, colour television. He also mentioned things that were then common, but seen no more such as jumble sales, cigarette advertising etc. He discussed the advent of a new category of “teenagers” and their lives including working as a paper boy, school life, dances and the Beatles. He also talked about some of the momentous events of the decade, how everyone remembered where they heard about the Kennedy assassination, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the building of the Berlin Wall. The talk was greatly enjoyed by members and prompted much discussion and reminiscences which could have continued much longer had time been available.
The Chairman reported on the Branch Representatives’ meeting on 4th October. There had been considerable discussion on the subject of the planning of the Society Anniversary Conference to be held in June 2025. It was suggested that the proposed subject of “Mining” was too restrictive, not reflecting the wider interests and the story of the Society itself. Further discussion was postponed until the conference planning group meeting on 29th October. Most branches also outlined their plans for individual branch displays at the conference. However, the Chairman advised the meeting that he did not think the Durham/Belmont branch would be able to mount a display due to a lack of a volunteers to take on the task.
The Chairman then raised the issue of a branch display for the Anniversary Conference. One suggestion that had been raised previously was a display focussing on miners’ banners, received some support, but no volunteer came forward to coordinate such an effort. The Chairman concluded that therefore the branch would not be able to mount a display at the conference.
Report of the meeting held Wednesday 18 September 2024 at Belmont Community Centre
Unfortunately, the scheduled speaker, Dave Shotten, had a technical issue with his laptop and was unable to give his presentation. Fortunately, the chairman was able to bring forward the presentation he was scheduled to give at the November meeting. He told of how a chance glimpse of the statue of a rugby player on the way to a rugby match had led him to research the statues of local sculptor Ray Lonsdale, best known for his “Tommy” statue at Seaham. This had led to a tour of all the public statues listed by Ray on his website, located in the North East, Yorkshire, Midlands, North West and Scotland. As well as showing photographs of the statues, he told the stories behind then and how they came to be in their present locations.
One of the members was able to update the story with a photograph she had taken of the latest statue only recently installed at Brandon.
The Chairman confirmed that the Research centre at New England House was fully operational and updated members on planning for the Anniversary Conference in June 2025.
