A Special General Meeting to approve the Society's revised constitution will be held on Wednesday March 5th at 7.30 pm at Browne's Hospital. All members should have received the formal notice and a copy of the proposed constitution. This will be followed by an informal members’ meeting round the fire, in the same style as that held in 2013. Please note this meeting is for members only; it would help if you could let Melanie, Martin or myself know whether you are coming or not.
Since the last newsletter…
About 20 members enjoyed an out of hours visit to Peterborough Museum, with the chance to wander the galleries with an excellent guide, who did a minimum of talking, but was always there to answer questions.
Stamford Stone Trail
Many of you will recall the various trails that were produced by LCC over 20 years ago, and were sold in the Museum and the Tourist Information Centre. The stone trail has been out of print for some time, and as the one most special to a stone town, we are working with the Library to update it and re-publish it. We hope to have it available for the summer season; it was last revised in the 1990's, so it needs very careful checking first.
Events programme
Tickets are available from the Secretary.
Unless otherwise stated, all talks will be at Browne’s Hospital, with tickets costing £3.50.
Wednesday 15th January 7.30pm: Dr Jocelyn Chatterton will talk on “Life in Qing Dynasty China – Emperors, Concubines and Eunuchs”.
Thursday 13th February 7.30pm: We welcome back Gil Darby; this time she will be talking on “Josiah Wedgwood - “Vase Maker General to the Universe”.
Thursday 20th March 7.30pm: Dave Gamston will talk on “Historic Pub Interiors: a Conservation Issue”.
Thursday 10th April 7.30pm: Rachel Morley of Hirst Conservation will be talking on “The Stones of Stamford”.
Wednesday 21st May: Visit to Oakham castle – organized by the Friends of Rutland County Museum and Oakham Castle. This will be an afternoon visit, meeting at the castle at 2pm; please do book tickets as usual, though there is no charge. A donation to the Friends would be appreciated.
Their top guide will be on hand to take us round!
Friday June 13th : A morning in Kings Lynn, followed by an afternoon visit to Clifton House, the most complete medieval merchant's house in England. There is some information on the house at: http://www.klprestrust.org.uk/archive/clifton-house-and-tower/. Tea and cakes will be served in the kitchen after the visit. We are still working on the details, such as coach availability and cost.
An interesting collection of books:
This message is from Michael S. Kemp - Bookseller
19 Adelaide Gardens
Minster on Sea, Kent, ME12 3HN
Telephone: 01795 663675
email: mike@kempbooksellers.co.uk
“I recently bought a large quantity of books from the library of Dr. R.W. [Rod] Ambler of Grimsby. In the New Year I shall be issuing two catalogues devoted to this collection:
Part One: Lincolnshire Books and Academic Books – History, Biography, Archaeology and Theology
Part Two: Lincolnshire Pamphlets, Booklets and Periodicals
In total there are probably over 1000 items on Lincolnshire, from important antiquarian town and parish histories, to obscure privately issued pamphlets dealing with esoteric aspects of Lincolnshire life and people, with pretty much everything in between.
I would welcome details from any of your members who may be interested in receiving copies of these catalogues.”
Please would any member who is interested contact Mr Kemp directly.
Contact Details
www.stamfordcivicsociety.org.uk has up to date information on events and projects.
Please contact Melanie Sockett, our Secretary for tickets and general information, by phone to 01780 752972, in writing to 16 Phillips Court, Stamford, PE9 2EE or by email to info@stamfordcivicsociety.org.uk.
Facebook and Twitter
A reminder that the Society is now live on Facebook and Twitter.
Gwyneth Gibbs
Chairman