Weston Turville Historical Society

Date - 28 Mar 2025 Time - 20:00 (Doors open 19:30) Location - Weston Turville Village Hall Title - “Discovering the Invisible” Speaker – Keith Westcott Entrance - £2 members, £3 visitors Join Us for a Fascinating Journey! Starting as a plumbing apprentice after leaving school at fifteen, Keith faced a tough road to the top. Along the way, he balanced the stresses of creating multimillion-pound businesses with exciting hobbies like racing motorbikes (MotoX), playing lead guitar in rock bands, and deep-sea diving on shipwrecks. A European specialist in heating engineering, a passionate metal detectorist and Time Team Detecting Team Manager. Keith is also a keen amateur archaeologist and advocate of responsible detecting. He made headlines with his discovery of a huge Roman villa at Broughton, Oxfordshire. Keith wrote and teaches the first-ever course on Metal Detecting for Archaeological Projects at the University of Oxford. His talk will be a whistle-stop tour covering: • ...

Date - 28 Feb 2025 Time - 20:00 (Doors open 19:30) Location - Weston Turville Village Hall Title - “Caversham Park” Speaker – Dr. Stephen Goss Entrance - £2 members, £3 visitors     WESTON TURVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY   “Caversham Park” Dr. Stephen Goss Meeting on Friday 28 th February 2025 Photo of main building in Caversham Park, Reading. Yablochko Caversham Park, first recorded in the Domesday Book, has been a pivotal site in English, British, and international history for nearly a millennium. It was the seat of the “best knight whoever lived”, The Manor of Caversham played a significant role during the Reformation and was owned by cousins of Elizabeth I, who guarded Mary, Queen of Scots. The estate hosted ...

Date - 31 Jan 2025 Time - 20:00 (Doors open 19:30) Location - Weston Turville Village Hall Title - “On your Doorstep - Aylesbury” Speaker – Towse Harrison Entrance - £2 members, £3 visitors   The Talk We can learn a lot from the past and how our ancestors lived, loved, fought and died. That evidence is still visible, often in unlikely places. All we need is curiosity and to be observant. During 2020 many of us spent time on local walks and probably discovered nooks and crannies that we never knew existed. You don’t need to be historians or archaeologists to see the clues. This talk is based on where Towse lives in Aylesbury Our Speaker Towse Harrison has a background in history, music and museum education having worked with groups such as English Heritage, The National Trust, The Royal Palaces, The Natural History and Foundling Museums in London. Towse visited us in March 2023 to talk about Medicine in the Roman Empire. The meeting starts at 8pm in the village ha...

 Date - 29 Nov 2024 Time - 20:00 (Doors open 19:30) Location - Weston Turville Village Hall Title - “Jewellery & Silver of H.G. Murphy” Speaker – John Benjamin Entrance - £2 members, £3 visitors   “ Jewellery & Silver of H.G. Murphy” John Benjamin Meeting on Friday 29 th Nov 2024   John is a regular and popular speaker at our society. His topic on this occasion is Henry George Murphy (1884-1939) was one of Britain’s most innovative Arts and Crafts and Art Deco jewellery and silver designer craftsmen   of the 1920’s and 1930’s.   Formerly International Director of Jewellery at Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers, John Benjamin established his own independent valuation and advisory service in 1999. A Freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company and a Freeman of the City of London, John is a Founder Liveryman and Court Assistant of The Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars.   A lecturer, valuer, historian and author...