All talks this season will be on the basis of open attendance, including non-members. The annual membership subscription fee is £15 and £3 per talk for non-members. All talks are held at the Swadford Street Centre, Swadford Street, Skipton, on Thursday evenings at 7.30 p.m.

Look out for SCHS announcements on X, Facebook and in the weekly local newspaper, the Craven Herald.

Skipton and Craven History Society – Programme 2026/2027

2026

8^th October – Chris Skidmore

Subject:  A Quaker Cottage Through Time

Summary: Built in 1693, the talk will explore the history of the occupancy of Skipton’s Quaker Cottage over the subsequent 150 years and of the families who have lived there.

22^nd October – Dr Quentin Outram

Subject: How Did a Coal Powered Economy Survive a Seven-Month Mining Lockout?  Britain in 1926.

Summary:  In Britain in 1926 all gas and all electricity were produced from coal. Coal directly powered much of industry and heated almost every home.  With coal-mining shut down from May to November how did Britain survive?

12^th November – Jude Rhodes

Title: All About the British Association for Local History

Summary: The BALH is the national charity for local history and local historians. This talk and  will provide an overview of the work of BALH and what the association has to offer to individual and society members.

26^th November – Matt Wells

Subject: Roman Skipton: Excavations at Hawbank Field

Summary: In 2021, Archaeological Services WYAS excavated a Roman period settlement at Hawbank Field, Skipton in advance of a residential development. Remains included stone structures, burials, cobbled surfaces, earth banks and ditches. Together they formed a settlement which existed between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD.

10^th December – Susan Lesser

Subject: Angels, Saints, Militants, and Martyrs: The Art of the Vote, 1903-1914

Summary: Women had called for the right to vote since 1832 but their campaign was stalling. In 1903, a new organisation, the Women’s Social and Political Union, said ‘enough of words, it’s time for action’. Art was to become a crucial weapon in this new phase in the suffrage fight.

2027

14^th January – Graham Nolan

Subject: The Slingsbys of Carleton: Mill Owners, Mountaineers and Military Men.

Summary: The first reference to the Slingsby family in Carleton in Craven is in the late eighteenth century and for the next 150 years they played a major role in the life of the village. This period encompassed both great success and great sadness.

28th January – Jonathan Hauxwell

Subject: The Ness of Brodgar – Peripheral Culture or Northern Powerhouse?

Summary: The Ness is an archaeological star of the last decade  and situated in an area of Orkney rich in prehistory. An extra short excavation in July 2026 has revealed a different type of structure – how has this helped the picture already formed of the site?

11^th February – John Hoole

Subject: The Trial and Execution of Charles I

Summary: A seismic event in British history. ‘A world turned upside down’ as described at the time and by later historians. We will explore what the King & Parliament were fighting for, whether the King’s trial was a fair one and the repercussions of his execution.

25^th February – Heather Lane MA(Oxon),DipLIS,MLCLIP

Subject: The Folly, Settle: A House and its History

Summary: Heather Lane, Honorary Curator at the Museum of North Craven Life, tells the story of The Folly’s construction in 1679 for local lawyer Richard Preston, its occupants and uses for almost 350 years, and the role of the North Craven Building Preservation Trust in its rescue and restoration.

11^th March – David Turner

Subject: The Diaries of Annie Parker Greenwood of the Mason’s Arms Eastby 1875-1878

Summary: Annie began her diaries aged 19 and over the next 4 years described life with her widowed mother and siblings at the Mason’s Arms. Their many visitors came from all social classes, several with proposals of marriage. She wrote in detail of her  local outings.

25^th March – Sally Robinson

Subject: The Fewston Assemblage

Summary: The Fewston Assemblage project is a collaboration of commercial archaeologists and academics from the Universities of Durham and York and volunteers from the Washburn Heritage Centre.  The project began in 2009 when graves had to be moved for the building of the Centre.  Sally will share with you some of the interesting findings of the project.

8^th April – Dr Simon Ross Valentine

Subject: W E Forster: The Man Who Sent Us All to School

Summary: William Edward Forster, the Yorkshire industrialist and Liberal statesman, transformed education through his landmark Education Act of 1870. This lecture explores his rugged character which earned him widespread respect, particularly as a parliamentary speaker, but also fierce criticism in his political career.  A fresh reassessment of one of Victorian Britain’s most influential and debated politicians.

22^nd  April – AGM followed by Jane Lunnon

Subject: From Altar to Halter: A History of Wife Selling

Summary: Does the idea of husbands selling their wives in the marketplace fill you with indignant horror or amuse you? More common in the 18^th and 19^th centuries than you may think, the practice was surrounded by ritual and well-established customs. This talk examines these rituals and their significance – and why wife selling took place.