Winter Meetings
WINTER MEETINGS October 2023 –April 2024
All meetings are held on Mondays at the Methodist Church, St Edmunds Church Street, Salisbury SP1 1EF. Doors open at 7.00pm and the meeting starts at 7.30pm. Non-members are welcome to attend. Nearest car park is Salt Lane, free after 6.00pm.
7 October 2024:
Charles Baxter: Wilton Windmill. Set high above the village of Wilton, in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Beauty, nine miles south east of Marlborough in Wiltshire, stands Wilton Windmill. She is now over 200 years old, the only working windmill in Wessex, still producing wholemeal, stone-ground flour (windmills are always ‘she'). Located at the eastern end of the beautiful Pewsey Vale, and at the heart of the Great West Way, Wilton Windmill is open every year from Easter to the end of September on Sundays and Bank Holidays from 2pm to 5pm (last entry at 4.30pm). At these times the windmill building is open for guided tours and you can visit inside the Granary. The shepherd’s hut shop offers refreshments and gifts and provides a warm seating area.
4 November 2024:
Members' Evening: This is the annual opportunity for you to tell us all about anything you have found in the world of Industrial Archaeology. We will have a PowerPoint projection system available. We can produce a PowerPoint slide show from your 35mm slides or pictures if you give us sufficient notice. If you have something to say, but no pictures suitable for projection, we can pass documents around the audience. Though not essential, it really would help if you can let the chairman know beforehand that you would like a spot, and do confirm this when you arrive on the evening, thus avoiding any embarrassment.
2 December 2024:
David Throup: Crofton Beam Engines. Crofton Pumping Station contains the oldest working beam engine in the world, making it one of the UK’s most significant industrial heritage sites. It was built in 1807-9 to supply water to the highest point of the Kennet & Avon Canal, which links London and Bristol. The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust bought the station in 1968. The building and engines were restored, and the site was officially reopened in 1970 by the Poet Laureate John Betjeman, an enthusiastic defender of Victorian architecture. Today, the Wiltshire site still opens as a visitor centre and the engines are “in steam” on designated days throughout the summer. It provides a valuable education in science, engineering and British history, and is an attraction enjoyed by all ages.
6 January 2025:
Members Social Evening: The evening will start with food nibbles and soft drinks. Please bring some items of food, and an Industrial Archaeology story supported by pictures, which we can view after the repast and chat. The drink, non-alcoholic, will be provided. Obviously, we do not need as much Industrial Archaeology as in October but please do bring something, perhaps the smaller items you had not thought sufficiently important for the November meeting.
3 February 2025:
Richard Newman: Bursledon Brickworks. Richard has contributed to The Brickworks Museum in Swanwick; thought to be the last Victorian steam-driven brickworks left in the UK. Richard began volunteering at this museum many years ago. During both WWs it was used as an armaments depot. For those who might want to visit by public transport, First Bus routes X4 and X5 from Southampton Central station and Southampton West Quay run past the bottom of Swanwick Lane. Alight at The Navigator pub. For the return, the stop is called Swanwick Marina. However it is possible that we might arrange a society visit to this exceptional museum.
3 March 2025:
Simon Bowditch: Iron mining and the West Somerset mineral railway. Simon's lifelong interest in railways is a result of being born into a railway family and he travelled widely over the pre-Beeching West Country railway network. He is a founder member of The West Somerset Railway Association and was one of the support crew with The 6000 Locomotive Association in 1971 on the original Return to Steam Rail Tour with GWR King Class 4-6-0 "King George V". He is a past chairman of both Taunton Model Engineers and The West Wilts Society of Model Engineers. He has been responsible for the design of several miniature steam locomotives and has developed a special interest in valve gear and valve events. Simon joined the Guild of Railway Artists in 1988 becoming a full member in 1999. He has exhibited with the Guild at The National Railway Museum, York and 'Steam' at Swindon..
7 April 2025:
Annual General Meeting followed by exciting videos and discussions. The AGM is expected to follow the usual format in reporting on the year just finished, showing the state of the Society and then holding elections for the committee. This will be followed by member Jamie Clarke telling us about the Southampton and Salisbury Canal. It was never completed, was bankrupt and dashed Salisbury's hopes of a canal connection to the sea.