Events

Warrington and the Slave Trade

Warrington and the Slave Trade Warrington’s role in the slave trade is the elephant in the room which has been avoided by most historians. The talk will explore the nature and range of the trade in slaves by citizens of Warrington. The level of involvement of the main players will be discussed, as will the role played by the Warrington Academy. Some thoughts as to an appropriate response will be offered.

Are We (Just) Beasts?

It is often assumed by humanist thinkers that, if we are not supernatural beings, we must be parts of nature. Raymond will argue, against popular misreading of the significance of brain science and evolutionary theory, that persons are not merely organisms to be understood in biological terms, and that there is a huge gap between humans and our nearest primate kin.

The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers, 1356

Less well-known than Agincourt or Crecy, the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 was one of the most hard-fought and dramatic battles of the Hundred Years War. This talk will tell the story of that remarkable day of battle and the events leading up to it, beginning with the Battle of Crecy ten years earlier.

Design: Then, Now and the Future. Reflections on design, as a process, from the 14th century onwards'

David has worked as a theatre designer and artist since 1964 when he started at art school. He was lucky to benefit from a course that focused on both design for the theatre and fine art. This was an especially useful combination for the following 47 years work as a theatre designer, artist and educationist - and then the following five years as an artist. What is design? When did it start? How does it work, or not? What do designers do all day? How has it changed and what may happen in the future, which we are designing now? What did Karl Marx, Edward de Bono, Anton Chekhov, Samuel Johnson, James Thurber and Jean Cocteau write that relate to design? - even if they didn't realise it at the time.

The Wordsworths at Dove Cottage

Melissa will introduce William Wordsworth, his sister Dorothy, and their life at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, where they lived from 1799-1808. It was here that Wordsworth wrote a great deal of his best-loved poetry, and where Dorothy kept her famous Grasmere journal. Through studying their own manuscripts, we’ll explore the lives of this remarkable family, and how some of the UKs greatest literature came to be, in the year of Wordsworth’s 250th birthday.

Meeting postponed until further notice due to coronavirus pandemic