2017 – 2018 Milton Heritage Society talks

These talks will take place at The New Milton Memorial Hall commencing at 7 p.m. on the dates below:

14^th September. Lyndsay Stride, a New Forest Commoner from a traditional commoning family, is a Trustee of the Foundation for Common Land who is also working in education & interpretation and currently co-ordinating a project called Commoning Voices.

Lyndsay is working on the details of her presentation which will include history of the New Forest and its commoning heritage

At this meeting there will also be a short AGM of the Milton Heritage Society.

12^th October. Honouring the Memory of Lt. Cmdr. David Balme DSC

The life of David Balme. The quiet naval hero.

David Balme was the 20-year-old sub-lieutenant who, in 1941, boarded a German U-boat in mid-Atlantic and captured an Enigma machine and a treasure trove of intelligence material – one of the greatest secrets of the Second World War.

Although best known for this ‘secret capture’, Balme also had an active naval career in WW2 – on convoy escort duty in the Battle of the Atlantic, flying Albacores over the Western Desert at El Alamain, and becoming senior Fighter Direction Officer with the Eastern Fleet to secure victory over the Japanese.

This talk by Ray Mayes will follow the life of Lt. Cmdr. David Balme DSC until his death in January 2016 and consider his role in history – should he have been recognised with a higher honour?

 

9^th November. Nick Saunders. 1918. How the final year of the Great War affected our community.

This talk will review how WW1 and the events in 1918 played a major impact on our district. 1918 saw the highest number of casualties in a single year for the whole war for our town. It will also look at the bigger picture of world events in the last months of the war, some of which have shaped the world we live in today.

 

There will be no speaker in December.

 

11^th January. John Lay-Flurrie. Family Stories

John researched and wrote about the origin of his family name for many years and began talking to groups about family history. This led to him to become aware of our interest and concern in ancestors to the extent that we neglect our own stories and those of our families.

Are we relying too much on digital media? What will our great-great grandchildren know about us . . . ?

 

8^th of February. Friends of New Forest Airfields. The New Forest airfields during WW2.

8^th of February Dr Henry Goodall, Chairman FONFA.   The New Forest Airfields during World War II

The New Forest today is a haven of peace and tranquillity for many, both residents and visitors. This presentation is an overview of the twelve New Forest Airfields in WWII, including their purpose, genesis, locations, types of airfield, squadrons and aircraft stationed hereabouts and their uses, with particular emphasis on the D-Day period in June 1944. The PowerPoint presentation will be accompanied by a commentary and personal stories of the servicemen and women who took part in this remarkable period of local activity.

 

Dr Henry Goodall is a retired Consultant Occupational Physician, with a lifetime interest in aviation, who became interested in the New Forest Airfields, on moving from Southampton to the New Forest in 1995.

He is Chairman of Trustees of the Friends of the New Forest Airfields (FONFA), who opened a new Museum to the public at Bransgore, in May 2016.

He served briefly in 10^th Btn (TA) of the Parachute Regiment in the early 1960s, and is a member of Pathfinder UK, with whom he has carried out six commemorative static line parachute drops from World War II veteran Dakota and other aircraft, in France and the Netherlands, in addition to five training jumps, over the past four years.

 

  

8^th March. Andy Varney. Policing in Milton Parish.

A Policeman’s lot is . . . . ?      Memories of policing in the 1960’s … and beyond.

A factual and occasionally amusing look at Policing in a bygone generation.  Initially in the Borough of Christchurch, and latterly in other county towns of Hampshire.

Police cars from the past – burglars who ‘catch themselves’ – ‘False phone callers’.   These and other stories will be highlighted by our speaker.

An illustrated talk by Andrew Varney – former community Police officer in New Milton.

 

If you have an interesting subject for, or are able to give a presentation on local history or heritage in the Parish of Milton and district, then please contact the Milton Heritage Society Speaker & Events Secretary, Clive Rigden via e-mail: clive@rigden.net or telephone: 07 860 526 679.

 

Hello MHS members

This is to let you know that there are two aviation talks at East Boldre Village Hall on the evening of Friday 29th of June. See below for details.

Nick Saunders
Chairman
Milton Heritage Society.

 

Two Illustrated Talks at East Boldre Village Hall

Two Great Pioneers of Aviation

Friday 29 June 2018 at East Boldre Village Hall

 

The Silver Dart and the First Flight of the British Empire
By Hon Col Gerald P J Haddon, RCAF (Rtd)

Gerald Haddon will unravel the fascinating saga of how his grandfather, J A D
McCurdy of Canada became the first person to fly in the British Empire in 1909. One
hundred years later, Gerald helped replicate both the Silver Dart and the experience
from the same setting near the estate of McCurdy’s associate, Alexander Graham
Bell. The success of the Silver Dart was instrumental in McCurdy’s building the
Curtiss Jenny, in his establishing the first aviation school in Canada and in
encouraging the large number of Canadians who came to RFC Beaulieu Training
Station in East Boldre to learn to fly for the Great War.

 

Charles Rolls and Britain’s First International Aviation Meeting
By Sqn Ldr Stephen Robson RAF (Rtd)

Charles Rolls (co-founder of Rolls-Royce), along with Drexel and McArdle from East
Boldre displayed and flew their aircraft at Britain’s first International Aircraft Meeting
in Bournemouth in 1910. Rolls, one of the first to order a Wright aircraft, built under
licence by the Short Brothers who created the first specific aircraft factory in Britain,
was the first person to complete a nonstop return flight across the English Channel in
June 1910. He died one month later at the Bournemouth Aviation Meeting in the
country’s first fatal aircraft crash.

 

Doors open 6:30 pm

Talks 7:00-8:00 and 8:30-9:30with an intermission 8:00-8:30

Wine and refreshments will be served during the interval

£5.00 per person at the door to include a glass of wine on entry

Southampton – Water, Slaughter and Trade
Tutor: Andrew Negus
Part 1: Thursday 3 May 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Part 2: Thursday 10 May 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Fee: £6   each part

The talk is in two parts and covers the history and development of Southampton from Roman times until today. Apart from the stories of visiting kings, a giant, Jane Austen and the Luftwaffe, who all left their mark, we shall explore the remarkable mediaeval remains of this historic walled town. Part one covers Southampton 0-1850; Part two covers 1850-the present day.

 

The Lymington Salt Industry (the latest archaeological and documentary evidence)
Tutor: Frank Green
Thursday 7 June 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Fee: £6

Salt has been produced along the Lymington coastline since at least the Iron Age and potentially even earlier. The methods of production changed in the sixteenth century and the heyday of the industry was between the seventeenth through the eighteenth century. The final production took place in the 1860s by which time it was uneconomic to produce salt from sea water that required coal to be imported as a fuel. The local industry could not compete with salt imported by train from the geological salt deposits in Cheshire. The talk will look at recently discovered new documentary evidence and results from archaeological excavations that further our understanding of the industry and its impact on the local landscape.

 

British Game Changers! Six little known Britons who shaped our History
Tutor: Roy Doughty
Course 1: Richard Hakluyt. Jeremy Bentham. Ada Lovelace
Thursday 14 June 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Fee: £6
Course 2: Mathew Arnold. Thomas Brassey. Flora Shaw
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Fee: £6

 

The Industrial Archaeology of the New Forest
Tutor: Frank Green
Thursday 5 July 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Fee: £6

Visitors to the New Forest are quite ofter surprised at the range of industries that once benefited from the varied local geology, forest and timber resources and the needs of emerging urban populations especially in the post-medieval period. There is a ready appreciation of the ship and boat building industries that have continued into modern time. However, the New Forest in the Roman period was in places characterised by an extensive Roman pottery industry that exploited the local clays and woodland resources. Similarly, these resources were also exploited in the late medieval and modern periods for brick and tile making. The sea-salt production industry was extensive possibly from the Iron Age. Iron production has also taken place along with cement production, exploiting coastal resources. The talk will look at recent advances in our knowledge.

 

Female Emancipation: a brief history of the progress of women’s rights in the United Kingdom
Tutor: Geraldine Beech
Thursday 12 July 2018, 10.00am-12noon
Fee: £6

From Queen Matilda to Elizabeth I and from Harriet Martineau to Theresa May, British women have long exercised influence and power out of all proportion to their legal status. Despite this, women have only gradually moved towards economic, social and political equality with men and, in the eyes of many, this achievement remains incomplete. This session will attempt to trace the evolution of women’s rights over the centuries, and will focus on some the women (and men) who advanced feminism in this country.