New season of lunchtime lectures at Hampshire Record Office

Hampshire's Archives and Local Studies is launching a new season of free half-hour lunchtime lectures at 1.15pm on the last Thursday of each month at Hampshire Record Office.

The season begins on 29 January when Obs Lt Neville Cullingford of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Museum Trust explains how the ROC archive can be used to research wartime aircraft incidents.

More than 700 years of archives

Winchester is the centre of a diocese with archives stretching back more than 700 years. The lecture, on 26 February, reveals how useful these are for local and family history, showing the many ways in which the church affected the lives of individuals throughout the county.

A musical interlude will follow on 26 March in the form of a Wessex Film and Sound Archive presentation about the association between the conductor Constantin Silvestri and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in the 1960s.

On 30 April there will be a chance to hear the stories behind some of Hampshire’s most amazing archive treasures.

A lesser-known aspect of Hampshire’s military history will be featured on 28 May, when Lesley Burton of The Gosport Society will tell the story of the pioneering work of Royal Clarence Yard in providing food for Royal Navy personnel on campaigns around the world.

Finally, on 25 June, the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII will be marked by a talk by Dr John Hare contrasting the fates which befell the buildings of Hyde Abbey and Titchfield Abbey in his reign.

There is no need to book to attend any of the talks, but please phone 01962 846154 if you need any further information, or visit the Archives and Local Studies website.