All meetings begin at 7.30pm and are at France Lynch Church Rooms unless otherwise stated

Programme for 2025/26

18 February – France Lynch’s Hidden Graveyard  A small group of members will be presenting the results of their research and exploration carried out on the old Starry Hill dissenter’s graveyard in France Lynch.

Starting with an overgrown graveyard that many people don’t even notice, curiosity led us to an intriguing trail of discovery, featuring long lost chapels, family graves, wealthy clothiers, fascinating tales of the ups and downs of life, mysterious vaults – and even a skull. Come along and see what we uncovered and how we did it.

18 March – A History of Gloucestershire’s Inland Waterways (Tony Conder).  Tony was curator of the British Waterways Collection for 25 years before coming to Gloucester in 1988 to open the National Waterways Museum.  He is one of Britain’s foremost experts on the history of canals and waterways and in this talk he will be examining the development of the County’s inland waterways.

15 April – the Schools of Chalford Parish.  A small group of members will be presenting the results of research into our various local schools.

20 May – The Rise and Fall of the Bisley Path (Chas Townley).  Chas Townley will explore the history of this ancient route, which ran from Cirencester to Gloucester via Bisley and Painswick. Much of the route is still accessible, though the section through Cirencester Park ceased to be a public way when the park was created.

17 June – Malmesbury Abbey and Athelstan (Tony MacAleavy). Tony published the first full length history of Malmesbury Abbey in 2023 and is a former Schools History Advisor for Glos County Council.  He will be tracing the history of the Abbey from its founding in 690 to its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539 and sharing some of the results of over a decade of research for his book.

15 July – Guided walk of Bisley, led by Bisley Local History Group.