Friday 18th April 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
Tin Tabernacles: A Victorian Story
Speaker: Sandra Gann
The discovery of the site of an old ‘iron church’ in Spittal inspired Sandra to explore its history. She discovered that hundreds of these iron churches were erected during the Victorian era and dubbed ‘tin tabernacles.
What were they, why were they called tin tabernacles, where can you buy one and why were they so prevalent during this period? And how do the Falklands and Chelsea Pensioners fit into this story?
Tin Tabernacles were just one example of prefabricated buildings that were introduced during the industrialisation of Britain and then exported across the world!
Friday 16th May 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
The Kremlin’s Geordie Master Spy
Speaker: Prof David Saunders
The Soviet spy Rudolf Abel has attracted a good deal of attention in recent years because of the part he plays in Steven Spielberg’s film Bridge of Spies (2015). But the film deals only with Abel’s arrest in New York in 1957, his trial and imprisonment in the USA, and his exchange for the American U2 pilot Gary Powers on a bridge in Berlin in 1962. The present talk will go back to the spy’s birth and upbringing in north-east England and forward to his death in Moscow in 1971.
Friday 20th June 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
The Good Sharps
Speaker: Martin Lights
The enthralling story of an eighteenth-century family and their extraordinary achievements. The four brothers and three sisters were brought up in Rothbury rectory and in the close of Durham Cathedral. The Sharps would go on to achieve exalted positions at the heart of British society.
July 2025: Summer Trip TBC
Watch this space
August 2023: Summer Break
Friday 19th September 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm he Ord Cross
Speaker: Ben Westwood
The Ord Cross was discovered in 2019 by a metal detectorist on the banks of the River Tweed at Ord. It is an unusual and fascinating Anglo-Saxon object, giving us more insight into the period when Northumbria was said to be the cradle of Christianity in Britain.
This talk by Ben Westwood, Finds Liaison Officer for the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, will explain the importance of this very rare find and what it can tell us of its owner and discuss the cross’s significance and context.
Friday 17th October 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
Black History in The North East
Speaker: Terry Graham
Bill Richmond was enslaved at birth. During the American War of Independence, Lord Percy witnessed teenage Richmond in a tavern brawl involving British soldiers. Percy subsequently arranged fights with other British soldiers for the entertainment of his guests. In 1777, Percy arranged for Richmond’s freedom, transportation to northern England, literacy education, and an apprenticeship with a cabinet maker in Yorkshire where he met his wife, Mary. The two moved to London, where Richmond started training boxers including Sam Robeson who appears in Alnwick in 1822.
This is just one story about black people in the NE. It may or may not form part of the presentation!
Read more about Bill Richmond here
Friday 21st November 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
The Voices of Stannington Sanatorium
Speaker: Dr Liz O’Donnall
Stannington Sanatorium was the first purpose-built hospital for tuberculous children in the UK. Opening in 1907, it was funded through the Poor Children’s Holiday Association (now Children North East) prior to the introduction of the NHS in 1947. Although initially set up to treat children suffering with TB, the hospital became a general children’s hospital in 1953 when TB went into decline following the introduction of antibiotic treatments. It eventually closed in 1984 and the records from the Sanatorium were deposited with Northumberland Archives.
In 2013 Liz interviewed almost 30 former patients and staff. These memories from the 1920 to the 1950s were used as the basis of a drama, ‘Stannington’ part of the Radio 4 series ‘Writing the Century’.
Friday 12th December 2025: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
The History of Alnwick
Speaker: Nick Lewis
Local historian Nick Lewis is currently the National Trust’s Collections & House Officer at Lindisfarne Castle. He previously worked at Alnwick Castle.
In his presentation he explores the real story of Alnwick from its Anglo-Saxon roots. Along the way we’ll also find out what happened to the town walls, and what plans there were to keep Napoleon and Hitler at bay.
Friday 16th January 2026: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
Carry On Reiving!
Speaker: Michael Thomson
Kinmont Willie Armstrong imprisoned by the English in Carlisle Castle.
(A panel from The Great Tapestry of Scotland)
When the Stuart king James VI of Scotland was crowned as James I of England in 1603 he increased efforts to stop Reiving by using Jeddart Justice (hanged first, tried afterward), expulsion and transportation against Reiving families. By the 1700s Reiving had largely been suppressed.
So, what happened to those who were not killed? Did any just change allegiance and use their ‘skills’ in the service of the King? And what happened to those who were transported to Ireland, America, Australia and elsewhere?
Friday 20th February 2026: Winter Break.No events
Friday 20th March 2026: Jubilee Hall
7:15pm for 7:30pm
TBC
Speaker: TBC
Rothbury and Coquetdale History Society 