Spring Talks 2026
The Spring Talks venue is now finalised as
Room CSG 22 The Charles Sykes Building Huddersfield University.
Time 12 30 to 2 pm
Cost £3.00 including tea or coffee (pay on the door).
Directions
The venue is a short 5 minute walk from the town centre. Cross the ring road into the University campus and enter the main entrance of the Schwann Building then go ahead down the steps to the canal and over the bridge which leads to the Charles Sykes Building. Go down the stairs in that building to the ground floor where you will find CSG 22.
28th January, David Taylor Over, Rowley! Music-hall and Melodrama in Victorian Huddersfield
Music-hall and melodrama were central to the growth of nineteenth-century popular entertainment.
J W Rowley was a major local figure. Initially, a performer, who built a national reputation as a singer and dancer, he later became an entrepreneur with his Theatre of Varieties. At the forefront of developments, he first brought cinema to Huddersfield. The entertainment he provided throws interesting light on the often controversial nature of popular Victorian entertainment. Find out more about ‘The Prince of Paddock,’ ‘the Castlegate militia,’ and ‘Fair Daisy of Damside.’
11th February, Simon Foulkes Walking the tightrope – the fine art of driving a steam locomotive in the 21st Century”
Simon Foulkes has driven the steam locomotives of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway tens of thousands of miles to tight schedules with heavy trains and demanding operating conditions. Can it be made easy? And how does the driver/fireman fine-tune the machinery “on the run” to make it work? Some trade secrets will be shared and eyes opened to what is really going on “up front” in the cab…
25th February Lachlan MacLachlan The Past : Dodgy Ground
The past can be recreated in alternative versions. Different views of past events can be expected when historians have different backgrounds and outlooks. But there is an even more fundamental reason why different views have always existed : the evidence left behind, the building blocks of all historical accounts, can be interpreted in different ways. This is the “dodgy ground”. In this illustrated talk, examples of different sorts of visual source material will be used to show where doubts and difficulties might be seen to arise.
11th March, George Grainger A family seeking peace and acceptance
George Grainger has researched the story of his family who fled Vienna during the WW2. Here he shares the fruits of his endeavours to tell the story of two families, anxious to find security, opportunity and prosperity, move to Vienna in the 1870s. They are attracted to an enlightened and progressive city, happily accommodating a kaleidoscope of nationalities and religions from across the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However a dark cloud of authoritarianism, discrimination, and persecution returned to haunt and ultimately shatter their lives.
25th March, Ian Baxter Lucy Fairbanks – The Best Bits
Lucy Fairbank was a teacher of the infant class at Linthwaite Council School and a keen amateur cinematographer who made many interesting films of life in the Colne Valley and beyond in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Her archive is curated by Ian Baxter who will show a 50 minute compilation he has recently completed highlighting the most interesting sections of the archive. A ‘must see’ for everyone especially those who might catch sight of themselves as children.