Upcoming Events
November 2026
Thomas Beddoes: Poetry, Medicine, Disease and Drugs in the Early Nineteenth Century: a Symposium
A series of lectures including refreshments and buffet lunch "O! Excellent Air Bag”: Thomas Beddoes and the Pneumatic Institution by Mike Jay This paper tells the story of Erasmus Darwin’s protégé Thomas Beddoes and his experiments with medical gases at the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, in which he collaborated with a remarkable circle of scientists and poets that included Humphry Davy, James Watt, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. Mike Jay is an author and historian who has written widely…
Find out more »December 2026
Christmas Past with Sheelagh James
Did Oliver Cromwell ban Christmas? Was Queen Victoria the first queen to have a Christmas tree in a royal residence? Which king first ate turkey at Christmas? And how have other cultures and empires left their mark on Christmas today? These and many more questions are answered in 'Christmas Past', a festive look at the development of Christmas throughout the ages.
Find out more »February 2027
Cheers – A Talk by Sheelagh James
‘For centuries ‘small beer’ was one of the safest drinks in the nation, drunk by men, women and children. This talk looks not only at ale, beer and porter in the Georgian period, but where it was served, what it was served in and who drank it, the zenith of the coaching era, the growth of the breweries and a notorious brewery explosion.’
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