David Rose writes a weekly history column in the local Woking paper. He lives in Guildford and has a wide range of talks, including “The Rock & Roll Years in Guildford”, “Surrey Villages, Past and Present” and “Guildford’s Lost Shops”. He also plays guitar and leads local walks.
Kathy Atherton specialises in the history of the Dorking area and is responsible for exhibitions at Dorking Museum. Her talks include “Suffragettes & Socialists in Surrey”, “Literary Mole Valley”, “Radical Local Artists” and “Suffrage and “Mary Neal & the Suffragettes who saved Morris Dancing”
Anne Sassin-Allen, who is originally from Pennsylvania, is Projects and Outreach Officer of Surrey Archaeological Society, and a Tutor in Archaeology at Oxford University. She gives talks on many aspects of archaeology, including LIDAR.
Anne Anderson‘s specialities are in archaeology, art and architecture. Her many talks include ““Ashtead Pottery After WW1”, Voysey’s Surrey Houses”, “The DeMorgans and the Lovelaces” and “Surrey Arts and Crafts gardens.” She is a regular Arts Society lecturer.
Ian Castle specialises in WW1 German air raids on Britain, based on his own research. His talks include “The night the Zeppelins came: Croydon on the front line” & “The Zeppelin Onslaught: Britain’s Forgotten Blitz”. He is currently compiling a list of all people who died in German WW1 bombing raids.
John Griffiths-Colby has worked as a journalist and illustrator and offers a variety of talks on Local History, Business Change, Social Media, and Retro styling(!) He lives in Reigate. He’s given us several local history talks pertaining to aspects of the two world wars that have affected our locality and will do another in late 2024.
Cherrill Sands is a consultant garden historian with an MA in the Conservation of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens from the Architectural Association, London. She also works at Painshill Park and is also a trained dancer!
Judith Hill taught history at the University of Surrey and is now a freelance speaker. Her talks include “Victorian Life Upstairs & Downstairs”, Poverty and Unrest in Surrey 1815-1834 and “The role of the workhouse in the early 19th century”.
Bob Evans used to be Tandridge District Council’s planning director. His talks include “Martello Towers”, “Defensive Installations in Tandridge” and “The Origin, Spirit and Purpose of Conservation Areas”
Wandle Industrial Museum offers many talks, on diverse subjects including “The Surrey Iron Railway”, “Mills of the River Wandle”, “The Wandle’s Calico People”, “Surrey Breweries” and “The Life of William Morris”, by a variety of speakers including Mick Taylor and John Hawks
Sam Dawson is a cave guide, author (of “Underground Dorking” and more)and an active member of ”Subterranea Britannica”, which researches and preserves the subterranean history of Britain. He lives in Dorking.
The Surrey History Centre, based in Woking, offers many talks, on local history and family history research, by a variety of speakers. Their talks include “The Gentleman Magazine”, “Surrey on Film 1914-1953” and “John Evelyn’s Surrey”
A lifelong Congregationalist, Chris Bruce-Jones is especially interested in Victorian religion. His talks include “Enterprising Friends: English Quakers in the 19th century” and “A Disappearing Heritage – Four Centuries of Non-conformist buildings in England.”
Paul Whittle was a major in the Territorial army, and offers a variety of talks on travel, things military and heritage transport in the UK and abroad (he is Vice Chairman of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.) He now lives in Woking.
Anne Milton-Worsell has taught History at the University of Surrey, the Open University and the WEA. Her talks include “Saving the View from Richmond Hill”, “Victorians and Their Houses” and “How we kept the Wombles on Wimbledon Common”
Merton Priory is little known outside Merton, but, despite the vandalism of Henry VIII’s cronies, it is a unique archaeological survival with plenty of history. Talks can be arranged through Merton Priory Trust.
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