Bolton Branch Report 2008/09

Secretary's Report 2008-09

This season was the branch's first in its new home, the Parish Hall in Bolton town centre and it has been a very successful move.  Our new venue allows us to control our own refreshments and equipment, whilst being fully accessible by car and public transport in a central location.   We are grateful that our members have supported our relocation; we have also seen some new faces.  I am encouraged by the increased publicity the branch has received locally from the Bolton News and our website.  An average of 43 people have attended our monthly meetings, of whom 7 are Full Members and the rest mainly Associates, with some visitors each month.

2008-9 has been an eventful season for the Bolton Branch, with Dr Sarah Barber giving us our first fully multimedia presentation following our AGM in September.  In October the branch was represented at the Freshers' Fayre at Bolton University, which raised our profile locally, and Dr Kevin Bean visited from the University of Liverpool Institute of Irish Studies to give us an excellent paper on the Irish Constitution, which was of great benefit to the students present and much enjoyed by our members.   Our December lecture saw the ever-popular Dr Glyn Redworth return to the branch to address ‘A Family at War? King Philip I of England 1554-1558'.  The evening was supported by the Oxford University Press, who supplied copies of Dr Redworth's latest book The She-Apostle (the subject of a previous lecture to the branch), as well as providing our seasonal mince pies and mulled wine.

The new year brought the effervescent Dr Zheng Yangwen to speak on ‘The Opium Wars, 1839-1842' and in February heavy snow resulted in our first cancellation due to the weather in living memory.  Although we had hoped to welcome Prof. Barry Coward to Bolton in March, he had to pull out due to ill health.  His replacement Prof. Peter Gaunt enthusiastically delivered ‘Will the Real Oliver Cromwell Please Stand Up?' in his stead, and the branch sends its best wishes to Prof. Coward for his continued treatment and recovery.  This lecture was followed by a very successful ‘bring and buy' history book sale for branch funds.

Our social evening in April was given by Scold's Bridle, who delivered a programme of songs and stories about the fishing ports of England in ‘We Are The Women Left On The Shore'.  This was followed by a sumptuous buffet.  Following the success of our first members' evening in May last year, we held another evening ‘Celebrating Local History' to round off the 2008-9 season.  Mr Ken Wood gave us a fascinating insight into the trials and tribulations of local family the Hodgkinsons, and we were very pleased to welcome former H.A. President Prof. Donald Read who spoke about the relationship between family and local history. 

We are delighted that our members continue to show such enthusiasm, so creating a lively and thriving branch that our lecturers enjoy visiting.