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Programme of Talks - 2025/26
Talks in our programme - starting September 2025 - will once again be held at Carleton Grange Community Centre, Carleton Road, Pontefract, WF8 3RJ.
There is usually ample parking to the front and rear of the Centre. Our talks are held in the Small Ballroom which is set out with chairs and small tables in a caberet style layout. The bar is available for refreshments and hot drinks are also available in the break-out area opposite the room.
Talks are free to Society members. (Please bring your membership card).
Non-members may also attend for a charge of £4 on the door.
Talks commence at 7:15 pm.
Dates for your diaries - Usually the 3rd Friday of the month
(but please note the change for March 2026)
September 19th 2025
Graham Sykes
Womersley in its Heyday
October 17th 2025
Pauline Robson
Pontefract's Lady Gascoigne - VAD and Beyond
November 21st 2025
Bronwen Stone
Medieval Window Glass
December 19th 2025
Jon Kenny
The Story of Hook Manor
(Followed by the annual Christmas buffet).
The Distinguished Past Members Memorial Talk:
January 16th 2026
Michael Britton
Elizabeth Love's House at Castle Chain, Pontefract
February 20th 2026
Rona Dickinson
Rev. Cragg Haynes, Vicar of Swinefleet 1861
(One of England's first Black Vicars)
March 13th 2026 NOTE DATE CHANGE (from 20th)
Richard & Diana Combs
Neolithic Archaeology in Orkney
April 17th 2026
Eric Jackson
The Pontefract Murder of 1918
(Followed by the 2026 AGM for members only).
Our speaker on 20th February 2026 is Rona Dickinson, author and researcher on the history of the Marshland/Swinefleet area of East Yorkshire. Rona has entertained and informed us previously (September 2022) about the exploits of Admiral Frank Sotheron in Nelson's navy, and is welcomed back to give her talk on Reverend Edward Cragg Haynes - one of the first Black vicars in England. Come and hear about this respected clergyman's journey from Barbados, via London and Cambridge, to Swinefleet and his endeavours once in Yorkshire.
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