Category: Meetings

December Meeting 2026

Tuesday 1 December Zoom only

Roman Britain:  Conquest and Rebellions
Dr Ian Chambers FRGS  

The invasion and settlement of Britannia in 43 AD and the response of the Celts:  after becoming emperor Claudius decided to secure his position by doing what Julius Caesar could not, conquering Britannia.  Initially all seemed to be going well and four months after the arrival of the invasion force Claudius rode triumphantly into Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester) astride an elephant.  However this initial speedy settlement belied longer-term problems of resistance, by Caratacus, first in the southeast and then in Wales, and the better-known rebellion by Boudicca in 60 AD.Ian gained a BA and an MA from the University of Warwick and a PhD from the University of California, then taught at the Universities of Idaho, Nottingham and Cambridge and at Cambridge Regional College.  For the last 10 years he has worked for the WEA and the Cambridge Association for Lifelong Learning.

 

 

November Meeting 2026

Tuesday 3 November Zoom only

Ancient DNA and kinship analysis at the Iron Age cemetery at Wetwang Slack
Prof. Ian Armit, Chair in Archaeology, University of York 

Wetwang Slack, in the E. Riding, is the largest Iron Age cemetery in Britain, with some 450 excavated burials, including three rich chariot graves.  Recent advances in the analysis of ancient DNA have made it possible to analyse the genomes of the buried population in order to explore biological relationships between individuals.  This has revealed an intricate network of family relations over ten generations, focusing on descent through the female line.  This talk explores the kinship structure of this IA society.Prof. Ian Armit, Chair in Archaeology, University of York  Zoom only
 
Ian studied for both his first degree and PhD at the University of Edinburgh.  After helping set up the Centre for Field Archaeology (now CFA Archaeology Ltd) there he joined Historic Scotland as an Inspector of Ancient Monuments.  In 1999 he became a Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, then in 2006 Professor of Archaeology at the University of Bradford and in 2018 at the University of Leicester.  He has held the post of Chair in Archaeology at the University of York since 2019.
Ian’s research centres on the cultural archaeology of the European Later Bronze and Iron Ages, the role of conflict and violence in non-state societies and the demographic and genetic prehistory of European populations.  He has directed fieldwork in Scotland, France and Sicily and also worked extensively in SE Europe.  He currently runs the ERC-funded COMMIOS Project.

 

 

October Meeting 2026

Tuesday 6 October

The annual Percival Turnbull Memorial Lecture: Does a Neolithic Henge
lurk beneath Kirk Hammerton?


Dr Jon Kenny MCIfA, Community Archaeologist

Kirk Hammerton is a North Yorkshire village with a prehistoric secret.  LiDAR and topographic images taken by drone have suggested that the village was established within an ancient henge structure:  circular ring ditches and bank, with the church apparently on one of the banks. Jon led an excavation of part of the henge.Jon used to be a housing officer committed to working with communities. In 2006, after studying at the Universities of York and Lancaster, becoming a Community Archaeologist with York Archaeological Trust gave him the opportunity to continue to give people the opportunity to know more about the past

Please use the contact form to ask for the Zoom link.  If you can attend in person just turn up at the Hall.

September Meeting 2026

Tuesday 1 September

The Demise and Rise again of Anglo-Saxon England 793-975 AD
Prof. Dr Dyno Keatinge

Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria and the other minor constituents of what was to form the Kingdom of Angleland were Christian principalities, occasionally feuding amongst themselves but generally peaceable.  However in 793 AD the Vikings sacked the Monastery of Lindisfarne for the first time, causing a great shock in these kingdoms, the centres of Christianity both at home and abroad in the period 650-793 AD where the religious aristocracy maintained considerable political power.  Northumbria, for example, had been a centre of proselytization for Christianity and education in Europe, e.g. in Frisia, and the Archbishops of York were more powerful than most of the kings.
Viking invasions struck the Anglo Saxon and related kingdoms in Britain, Ireland and Europe from the 800s to 930s.  Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia and Wessex suffered severely, with Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria being overrun and then divided for many years and Wessex being almost completely subsumed, being restricted to the Isle of Athelney in 877-878.  During the reigns of Alfred, The Lord and Lady of Mercia, Edward the Elder and Athelstan England gradually solidified as a nation by hard-fought victory and improved military logistics on many battlefields.  Athelstan was followed by Edmund I, Eadred, Eadwig and finally Edgar the Peaceable 959-975.  Many historians deem these final 16 years to be the pinnacle of Anglo-Saxon culture.
Dyno was a specialist in tropical agriculture worldwide and is today an amateur historian.
 

 

Please use the contact form to ask for the Zoom link.  If you can attend in person just turn up at the Hall.

 

August Meeting

Tuesday 4 August, 2 – 4 pm

Note that this meeting will take place face-to-face only, on the ground floor of Bedale Hall.

Finds handling S&D200
Dr Emma Watson, Tees Archaeology

Come along and handle finds from Tees Archaeology’s three digs along the route of the Stockton to Darlington Railway carried out as part of the celebration of its 200th anniversary in 2025.  Then have a chat about what you think you are holding.  Finally Emma will explain what the items are, how some are related to others and what conclusions can be drawn.
If you are thinking of coming to this event you may find it useful to attend Emma’s talk, at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 28 July.		Emma came late to archaeology after a career as a teacher.  She is passionate about uplifting the north-east through a focus on its amazing heritage, both ancient and more modern.

July Meeting 2026

Tuesday 7 July

Note start time of 7 pm.

Guided tour of Thornborough HengesDr Neil Redfern, Executive Director, Council for British Archaeology

Meet in the car park at Nosterfield Nature Reserve at DL8 2QZ and walk to the northern Henge. Distance 2.5 to 3 miles depending on how far we walk round each of the three henges. Stout footwear is essential.

July Meeting (2)

Tuesday 28 July POSTPONED FROM 2 JUNE

S&D200
Dr Emma Watson, Team Leader, Tees Archaeology

Investigations along the trackbed of the Stockton and Darlington Railway within the grounds of Preston Park, Stockton-on-Tees, have demonstrated the huge importance of the arrival of this railway not only to our area but within ten years to the world!Emma came late to archaeology after a career as a teacher.  She is passionate about uplifting the north-east through a focus on its amazing heritage, both ancient and more modern.

Please use the contact form to ask for the Zoom link.  If you can attend in person just turn up at the Hall.

 

May Meeting 2026

Tuesday 5 May

Ironstone Mining around New Marske
Dr Chris Twigg

In 1850 there was no such place as New Marske but over the next 75 years, after the discovery of ironstone in Cleveland, the Upleatham mine owned by the Pease family became one of the largest in Cleveland, bringing in people from all over the country to live and work in the new industry in a new settlement.
However as quickly as it had appeared the mine was exhausted and abandoned, a story repeated many times over in mining villages that had sprung up across Cleveland.		Chris has a life-long interest in Cleveland Ironstone mining, is a trustee of the Land of Iron Museum at Skinningrove and Chairman of the Cleveland Industrial Archaeological Society. He spends his free time underground with the North York Moors Caving Club and Cleveland Mining Heritage Society.

Please use the contact form to ask for the Zoom link.  If you can attend in person just turn up at the Hall.

April Meeting 2026

Tuesday 7 April

WWI memorialisation in stained-glass windows in Yorkshire churches
Graham E. Seel

This talk investigates the prevalence of WWI memorial stained-glass windows in Yorkshire churches and examines their content.  It suggests that these windows stand as evidence that the traditional perceptions of human conflict, such as self-sacrifice and noble death, survived intact post war despite the narratives of the great anti-war novels of the 1920s and 1930s.  It also seeks to offer an understanding of the insertion of WWI memorial windows into churches in light of the decision by the Imperial War Graves Commission not to allow repatriation of war dead and to insist that the fallen be commemorated equally in death.Graham taught History for 34 years.  He has published widely, including a number of textbooks on 17th-C. British history and a revisionist interpretation of King John (King John, an Underrated King, Anthem Press, 2012).

Please use the contact form to ask for the Zoom link.  If you can attend in person just turn up at the Hall.

 

March Meeting 2026

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Zoom Only

Capability Brown – His Life and Times at Temple Newsam
Mike Turpin Chair South Leeds Archaeology

Current investigations by South Leeds Archaeology into various aspects of the heritage of Temple Newsam and CB’s approach to 18th-C. English natural landscaping. Mike spent many years teaching Physics; Business Studies and Information Studies at various times, later ran his own IT Training company and discovered Community Archaeology in retirement.  He is currently chair of South Leeds Archaeology.

Please let me know if you wish to attend so we can send you the Zoom link.