Coffee break is back - and session only costs £2

We don't take ourselves too seriously. We encourage healthy debate and a questioning attitude. All sorts of subjects are considered.

WE MEET ON THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH 2PM - 4.00PM IN THE MAIN HALL

FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT GROUP LEADER ELWYN

Forthcoming events

WHAT DIFFERENCE AN INVENTION MAKES

- WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12TH

The Crompton Spinning Mule invented in 1779

Our economics history contributor Kevin returns with an insightful view on the Industrial Revolution and its significance for Britain today

2026

• The Cold War - September
• The English Civil War in Lancashire - October
• The Strange Death of Liberal England - November
• The Hanoverians - December
• OTHERS:
• The Rise and Fall of British Empire
• Thatcher v Heath and other deadly political rivalries
• David Lloyd George
• Crime and Punishment in Britain

Previous sessions:

2026

• Stalin - from choirboy to mass murderer (Elwyn)
• Prince Albert and the Victorian era (Ray)
• The History of Medicine (Chris)
• The First Day on the Somme (Nigel)
• The Rise of the Nazis (Elwyn)
• The Weimar Republic (Elwyn)
• The Russian Revolution (Elwyn)

2025

• Queen Victoria and John Brown (Ray)
• Battle of Waterloo (Nigel)
• Mary Queen of Scots (Susan)
• Elizabeth 1 (Elwyn)
• The Tudor inbetweeners - Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey and Bloody Mary (Elwyn)
• What a difference a spear or two makes (Kevin)
• Henry Vlll (Elwyn)
• SOE - Special Operations Executive (Elwyn)
• Henry Vll (Elwyn
• Asquith (Ray)
• Clive of India and the East India Company - two separate sessions (Elwyn)
• Victorian Railways (Chris)

2024

• Dreyfus (Nigel)
• The massacre at Oradour / David Irving (Susan and Elwyn)
• The Princes in the Tower / Shakespeare’s histories (Ray)
• What a difference the Tudors made (Kevin)
• Wars of the Roses (Elwyn)
• Plantagenets (Elwyn)
• Norman Conquest (Elwyn)
• What a difference a Plague makes (Kevin)
• Otto von Bismarck (Ian)
• Wigan Dispensary, 1824-1873 (Chris)
• The Suez Crisis 1956 (Elwyn)

2023

• Queen Victoria (Ray)
• The Education Act 1944 (Ray)
• Churchill and Attlee (3 sessions) (Elwyn)
• The History of Pantomime (Ray)

2022

• The Origins of the Second World War (five sessions) (Elwyn)