Meetings

The Society generally meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month, September to May, at 7.45 pm - the venue is:

Tewkesbury Methodist Church, The Cross, Church Street, Tewkesbury, GL20 5PA    Click HERE for map and directions. 

You can use the front entrance or the rear in Swilgate Road where there is also a public car park. Click HERE for information concerning wheelchair access. The exception to meeting at the church is the January Social Evening which is often held at the Hop Pole.

All are welcome: Members - £3, Visitors - £5 (includes tea/coffee & biscuit). [AGM free]

Zoom online events

For those events which will be held on Zoom we have a three page guide here. 
The Zoom program is fairly simple to install and work with - designed for non technical people. You don't need a working microphone or camera yourself to view the event in the "meeting". Hope to see you there!
7  Jun2025Saturday1:00pm
Journey Through Time [Heritage Hub]
12  Jun2025Thursday11:00am
John Moore's Elmbury [Museum Walk]
25  Jun2025Wednesday1:00pm
The Road To Recovery [Heritage Hub - online]
28  Jun2025Saturday11:00am
Queen Katherine Parr [Museum]
29  Jun2025Sunday2:30pm
Jorge Jimenez - Rethinking Bach [Museum Concert]
6  Jul2025Sunday1:00pm
GLHA Summer Afternoon
18  Sep2025Thursday7:45pm
THS - Alderman Knight's Family History [Andrew Paterson]
30  Sep2025Tuesday7:00pm
Window on Tewkesbury [Museum]
14  Oct2025Tuesday7:00pm
Edith Cavell - Forgotten Hero [Museum]
16  Oct2025Thursday7:45pm
THS - Discovering the History of Tewkesbury Abbey [Rev. Chas Whitney]
28  Oct2025Tuesday7:00pm
Magical House Protection [Museum]
20  Nov2025Thursday7:45pm
THS - Wildlife and Culture: Travels with a Camera [David Elder]
25  Nov2025Tuesday7:00pm
Re-birth of the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway
9  Dec2025Tuesday7:00pm
Mumming and other Christmas Folk Traditions [Museum]
22  Jan2026Thursday7:45pm
THS - Social: For Members, their Friends & Guests
19  Feb2026Thursday7:45pm
THS - Baptists in 17C England: an Island of the Godly ... [Simon Lawton]
19  Mar2026Thursday7:45pm
THS - Cowfield Mill (archaeology) [Jonathan Hart]
16  Apr2026Thursday7:45pm
THS - George Rowe (1796-1864) Tewkesbury Illustrations [Dr Steven Blake]
21  May2026Thursday7:45pm
THS - The World's Oldest Industrial Heritage in the UK [Adam Sapic]
11  Jun2026Thursday
THS - Annual Summer Visit (to be arranged)
17  Sep2026Thursday7:45pm
THS - Annual General Meeting

May 2025 AGM Meeting

Following AGM business John Dixon gave an excellent talk on John Moore's Rogues. John is photographed with Derek Benson, winner of the 2025 Woodard Award.

April 2025 Meeting

Steve Goodchild gave a very well received talk on the Battle of Tewkesbury re-examined.

March 2025 Meeting

Author, Dr Andrew Chapman gave an erudite talk on Imagining History: the case for Historical Fiction.

February 2025 Meeting

The Shepherd's Crook Folk Choir performed Songs From the Workhouse along with commentary.

January 2025 Social

A very enjoyable and successful THS social with quiz was held at Trinity Church Hall.

November 2024 Meeting

Andrew Mellor gave an excellent and well-received talk on Cider making in Gloucestershire: from Fox Whelps to Firkins!

October 2024 Meeting

Simon Lawton gave a very good talk on the history and fabric of the Old Baptist Chapel and the evolution of the Baptist denomination.

September 2024 Meeting

Richard Sermon gave a well attended and knowledgeable talk on The Leather Bottle: Cecil Sharp (1859-1924) and his Tewkesbury Folksong collection.

May 2024 Meeting (AGM)

Georgia Smith, Tewkesbury Borough Council's High Street Heritage Action Zone Programme Manager who gave a very informative update on the progress of the project.

April 2024 Meeting

Michael Trott gave a very knowledgeable and well-received talk on Ann Greening, the Mother of Edward Elgar.

March 2024 Meeting

David Elder gave an absorbing talk on some of the people and places that feature in his book Secret Tewkesbury. 

February 2024 Meeting

Kat Keldeen of the John Moore Museum give an excellent and very well-received talk on the Tasting the Tudors: Food and Drink in the Tudor Period. [This talk was in place of the schedule talk on the Baptist Chapel that was cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances]. 

November 2023 Meeting

Andrew & Caroline Mellor gave a very well received and engaging talk on The Dymock Poets.

October 2023 Meeting

Nana Pierre gave an interesting and informative talk on her forthcoming book A Boy Called Silence.

September 2023 Meeting

Ally McConnell
Ally McConnell
Ally McConnell gave an engaging talk on Dowty in the Tewkesbury Area: Expansion and Decline. 

May 2023 Meeting (AGM)

Following the business of our AGM and the awarding of the Woodard Prize to Sam Eedle for his article The School Mistress and the Cross, David Aldred gave an entertaining and informative talk on Hailes Abbey. 

April 2023 Meeting

Peter Covey-Crump gave an interesting talk on The Biography of an English Merchant in Bengal.

March 2023 Meeting

Richard Chatham gave an informative and wide-ranging talk on Stoke Orchard; from Cider to Glider. 

February 2023 Meeting

Dr. Andy Mior gave an excellent talk on the Dendrochronology Project in Gloucestershire (dating buildings from their timbers).

January 2023 Social

A very enjoyable and successful THS social was held at the Hop Pole on 26th. After our meals, Liz Poole of Cotswold Auction Centre gave a talk about her work and gave her opinion and value estimates on a number of interesting item that members brought along.

November 2022

Joseph Gabbott gave a thought-provoking talk on 'The War Crimes Trials after the Second World War'. Joseph has written a book on the subject 'Nuremberg: Justice?'.

October 2022 Meeting

Geoffrey Bush gave a very interesting talk on 'The Family of Oliver Cromwell 1300-1821'. Geoffrey is a descendant of the Protector through Cromwell's son Henry.

September 2022 Meeting

Martin Robins and Adrian Buckmaster gave a very informative talk on the Dowty Company.
Photograph shows: Adrian Buckmaster, George Dowty (son of the founder of Dowtys) and Martin Robins.

April 2022 Meeting

David Pegg gave an interesting and informative talk on his favourite Anglo-Saxon king, King Edgar.

March 2022 Meeting

Kirstie Bingham gave a very informative talk on Tudor and Stuart Eduaction - 'Birch, Beer and Bibles'.

February 2022 Meeting

Simon Lawton gave a very interesting talk on the 'Restoration of Abbey Cottages'.

November 2021 meeting

Paul Barnett gave a very interesting and entertaining talk on the Gloucester to Sharpness Canal.

October 2021 Meeting

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Bob Skelt, our local spy expert, gave a very absorbing talk on spies of our lifetime in 'A Torment of Traitors in the Cold War'.

September 2021 Meeting

A successful return to physical meetings was made on 16 September when James Boskett presented 'The Changing Face of Tewkesbury - Photos of the 1980s'.
Videos of the meeting are available on our YouTube channel: 

Zoom Meeting 25 March 2021

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A very successful 'Zoom' meeting was held on 25 March.
Author and historian, Nigel Messenger, gave a very well received talk entitled 'A First World War Love Story'. 
Click here for a synopsis.

November 2020 - Time and Tide

On 19 November, John Dixon presented via ‘Zoom’ what was meant to be Jon Talbot’s talk on Time and Tide (Tewkesbury photographs related to the rivers). This is a PDF of the slides used in the presentation (reduced quality to make accessible). David Bagley then quickly came up with some excellent follow up research. We are hoping members will keep digging for us to learn more.

November 2019 Meeting

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Ian Boskett at our November meeting where he gave a very entertaining and well received talk on "The Great Train Robbery".

October 2019 Meeting

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Anthony Poulton-Smith at the 17 October 2019 meeting where he delivered alternative views  on some generally accepted historical 'facts'.

THS 29th Season - First Meeting

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The first meeting of our 29th Season was held on Thursday 19 September 2019 at the Methodist Church. Terence Pendry gave a very well received and attended talk entitled All The Queen's Horses. Terry is currently the Stud Groom and Manager to Her Majesty The Queen, at The Royal Mews, Windsor Castle. He has held this position for 25 years after retiring from The Riding Staff, of the Blues and Royals Regiment, Household Cavalry, having started his career as a professional jockey riding mainly on the flat.

April 2019 Meeting

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THS President John Dixon, with Richard Chatham who gave a talk on his Chatham and Bishop families of Tewkesbury and district.

March 2019 Meeting

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A very successful and enjoyable meeting on 21st March where 'The Boaters' Craft Group' presented Canal Ladies: The Lives of the Narrow Boat Women, their Children and their Crafts. We also launched our latest Bulletin along with a reprint of John Dixon's in demand Railways book.

February 2019 Meeting

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John Reid with Helen Carver at our February meeting. John gave an illustrated talk on "Funerary Monuments: Gloucestershire's Hidden Gems of World Class Sculpture". 

November 2018 Meeting

THS Life President, John Dixon, with Peter Dawson who gave an interesting and well attended talk on 'Burgage Plots in Medieval Towns' at our 15 November meeting.

18 October 2018 Meeting

THS President, John Dixon, with Paul Barnett who gave a talk on 'The Severn Bridge Disaster 1960' Information relating to the talk can be found by visiting the 'Friends of Purton' website: