Events

Ellis was a fascinating early 19th century Weymouth character.  A surgeon/ apothecary – something like a modern G.P., he followed an active professional life treating what today might be called the middle-class patients who could afford to pay for his services.  However, his interests were much broader; as well as following his father in his […]

Join writer Sarah Acton in-conversation with former Portland Quarrymen, Trevor Mccolm and Rab Stone.  They will be remembering working life in the Portland quarries pre-mechanisation, traditions of the Portland stone industry and its people.  There will also be a Q&A session. Trevor and Rab are Portlanders and remember life shaped by quarrying days, tight-knit local […]

Postcards emerged as communication and instant history at the start of the 20th century.  A century or so later they represent moments frozen in time, and so are widely collected.  Living in the small village of Eype, Paul Atterbury became aware that over 200 postcards had been produced featuring different views of that village, and […]

Tim Laycock explores the written and oral heritage of folksong, country dance music and gallery music in south Dorset communities.  Readings from William Barnes, Thomas Hardy and the Rev Galpin, and music from the Hardy, Rose and Luckham manuscripts played on concertina, melodeon, flute and cello. Tim Laycock has spent most of his working life […]

Geoff will introduce his audience to a wide selection of Portland characters and hidden places starting with those long-eared creatures whose name must never be spoken and their connection to Wallace and Gromit.  Geoff will swiftly move on to the extraordinary life of Marie Stopes, the Family Planning pioneer, who lived in the Upper Lighthouse […]

This talk is presented by Ken Francis who has been a volunteer for Weymouth Lifeboat for almost 30 years.  After 17 years as a crew member, for 10 years he was Press Officer and he now gives talks about Weymouth Lifeboat and the RNLI. The talk will cover the operation of the Weymouth lifeboat the […]

This talk by Richard McConnell will share the results of a preliminary archaeological investigation in 2022 by Context One Heritage & Archaeology with the help of Dig The Street volunteers at the site of the former MFA Bowl in St Nicholas Street.  Excavation revealed well-preserved remains dating right back to the foundation of Melcombe Regis […]

From 1938 until 1965 one of the most familiar features of Weymouth Harbour was the paddle steamer “Consul”, either running summer excursions from the Pleasure Pier or moored in her habitual berth at Trinity Quay.  Built in 1896 as the “Duke of Devonshire” she was Britain’s last Victorian paddler and Cosens & Co.’s final Weymouth-based […]

In the second of our two summer Saturday afternoon talks Steve Wallis, Senior Archaeologist for Dorset Council, will be talking about the history of Portland’s High Angle Battery and some exciting new developments for the site. High Angle Battery is one of Portland’s hidden gems. It is part of the story of Portland’s military past […]

In the first of our two summer Saturday afternoon talks Selwyn Williams will tell the story of the GWR ferry, St Julien. The St Julien was built in 1925 as a GWR ferry between Weymouth and the Channel Islands, but then at the outbreak of WW2 she was hired and fitted out as a Hospital […]