Speakers

Mike tells the story of his father’s wartime service at St Erth Radio Station, which was thrust into the forefront of listening to the German Secret Service and to many major military campaigns during WW2 and leading on into the Cold War years. It was a hugely important MI6/Bletchley Park outstation and operated 24/7 throughout hostilities and, along with its sister sites across the country, it was quite literally the ears of Bletchley Park.

Born in St Erth, Cornwall, Mike moved to Saltash and spent 27 years in HM Dockyard, Devonport, beginning as a shipwright apprentice and culminating in an Assistant Project Manager on nuclear submarine refits. Retraining as a teacher, he became Head of Engineering at Plymouth Community College. He was an Examiner for National Examination Boards, including the Arkwright Trust. Currently he sings with the Plymouth Philharmonic Choir, volunteers with the National Trust and gives presentations on his father’s secret wartime experiences. He is happily married with two children and five grandchildren. His book was shortlisted for the Holyer an Gof Publisher’s Award 2023. 

Nick’s talk is based on his latest book Mavericks: Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of World War One.  This book is about the Battle of Baku in 1918 and some of the remarkable men involved.

Nick spent nearly 30 years as a BBC correspondent.  His first book, titled The Mercenary River, which is a history of London’s water supply, was published in 2022. Mavericks is his second book. Nick is also a journalist and speaker. 

Stephen’s introduction to the topic will be based on the relevant chapter in Dr Barbara Bond’s book, Great Escapes. He provided some of the original material for her to use in the book, but the presentation of the encryption is much clearer in her description. Originals of the coded letters will be on display.

Stephen is the eldest son of John Pryor and has a background in engineering and finance. He served as a governor of the University of Plymouth for a number of years. He can remember holidays in his grandfather’s house on the river at Saltash before the Tamar Bridge was built. 

Alan’s PhD was based around the formation of an LGBTQ+ Archive which currently comprises almost 100 oral history interviews and collected ephemera that explores and explains Plymouth’s underground scene from the 1950s onwards. In the formation of this archive, Alan was told by many that people ”didn’t make a fuss” or didn’t “draw attention to themselves”.  In this talk, Alan will share how people took pride in being part of an underground “gay scene” when the lights went down but lived a double life for the rest of their week.

In 2016 Alan completed an Arts and Humanities Council funded collaborative PhD called “Performing LGBT Pride in Plymouth 1950-2012” which saw the creation of Pride in Plymouth’s LGBTQ+ Community Archive. The archive has been named the “Most Inspirational” archive of the year by the Community Archive & Heritage Group and also informed the nine-week “Pride in Our Past” exhibition in the Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery. Alan has since joined CAHG’s national committee and speaks about the archive on a national and local level, taking materials into schools, communities and businesses in the local area. As a trustee and officer for the UK’s Oral History Society, where he formed and chairs their LGBTQ+ Special Interest Group. He co-facilitates the Plymouth Community Heritage Network on behalf of the Plymouth Octopus Project. 

Owen's talk will enlighten us about the life of Charles Hamilton Smith, who was born in East Flanders and died in Plymouth 83 years later in 1859. He was an English artist, naturalist, antiquary, illustrator, soldier, and a spy. We will leave Owen to fill in the gaps of what seems to be a fascinating life.

Owen is the Chief Executive of the Plymouth Athenaeum, a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the Linnean Society and the Zoological Society. Prior to taking the position of CEO in 2018, he spent twenty years in the newspaper industry. Since 2018 he has been responsible for managing the Athenaeum and its core charitable activities through the Plymouth Institution, which has been inspiring learning in the arts and sciences for more than 200 years. He has an MBA from Wrexham University, a BA (Hons) in Modern History and International Relations from the University of Reading. Passionate about tackling the climate emergency and fuel poverty, he has a great interest in natural history.