Events – 2026
All talks are held within the Woodway Room of the Town Hall
and commence at 7.30pm on a Friday unless otherwise indicated.
Admission to the talks will be £1.00 for members and
£4.00 for non-members. Complimentary tea, coffee and
biscuits will be provided after the talk.
January 2026 – No Meeting
6th February 2026
7.00 pm Annual General Meeting, followed by:
The Abbot’s Way across Dartmoor
A presentation by Nick Pannell about the route of this historic walk across Dartmoor from Buckfast Abbey to Tavistock, some of which may not be as shown on modern Ordnance Survey maps.
6th March 2026
Newtonia – the story of Newton Abbot’s Spitfire fundraising
A presentation by Peter Wade about local fundraising for aircraft during the early 1940s.
3rd April 2026
Jack Hill - an astonishing infantryman from Hennock
A presentation by Steve McCarthy. Jack Hill was born in Hennock in 1778, was commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1796 and then had a career that included the Mediterranean, the Spanish peninsular campaign and then Waterloo. He is buried in Hennock alongside his brother who fought at Trafalgar.
17th April 2026
The Granite Lodge of Stover Park
A presentation by Professor Peter Brooks. This is a history of the Granite Lodge which is next to the A38 approaching Drumbridges and the people who lived in it.
1st May 2026
Devon's churches
A presentation by Robert Hesketh about interesting and unusual features of some Devon's old churches. It seems like almost every village and small town in Devon still has an old medieval church and there are a lot of very interesting old churches around.
This replaces the presentation Early Bus Transport in Devon
which will be rescheduled for 2027.
5th June 2026
The area around Newton Abbot in Ancient Times
A presentation by Raphael Allnatt which gives an overview of the ancient archaeology and history of the area around Newton Abbot from the Bronze Age to 1100 – Bronze Age field systems, Iron Age hillforts, Roman villages and Norman castles.
July 2026
A group historical tour of Powderham Castle
Details to be advised.
August/September 2026
A group tour of the Stover Park estate
Details to be advised.
4th September 2026
Growing up in Chudleigh in the 1950s and 1960s
A presentation by Humphrey Walters with lots of local information and anecdotes.
October 2026 – No Meeting
6th November 2026
Exeter and the British Empire
A presentation by Todd Gray about the many ways in which the British Empire has had an impact on Exeter, and that Exeter has had on it.
December 2026 – No Meeting
Events from previous years
2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019 – 2020 – 2021 – 2022 – 2023 – 2024 – 2015