News & Reports

January 31, 2023|Reports

“Behind the Scenes of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’” – Nick Barrett

There was a real treat for members who Zoomed into the January meeting when Dr Nick Barratt joined about fifty members of the History Society to tell us the story behind the celebrity family history series Who Do You Think You Are? Nick, who is President of Hampshire Genealogical Society, has an amazing number of…

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December 8, 2022|Reports

“Domestic Technology: We Had One of Those!” – Stephen Hoadley

Sixty members of the Wickham Society and History Society came to our Christmas get together on Tuesday 6th December. As well as Christmas refreshments, they had an opportunity to go down memory lane with Stephen Hoadley who reminded us about all those essential household appliances of the mid to late twentieth century – the Kenwood…

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November 30, 2022|Reports

“The Tragedy of War – Vietnam” – Jeremy Prescott

As part of our remembrance theme in November, we invited Jeremy Prescott back, but we chose a rather different topic. The Vietnam war is one that most people in ‘the west’ now prefer to forget. World politics, and Vietnam, have changed so much over the last half century it is now very difficult to understand…

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October 31, 2022|Reports

“More Harlots, less Dung and plenty of Glory?: The history of Portsmouth – Part 3” – Andrew Negus

Andrew Negus returned for a stonking part 3 of his history of Portsmouth, covering the glory days of Portsmouth’s dockyard and the town in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Sixty-one members and guests heard how the introduction of proper sewers saved hundreds or possibly thousands of lives, and how the navy transformed Portsmouth harbour,…

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October 31, 2022|News

Wickham Village Life Exhibition – A buzz of activity

508 visitors thronged the WHS Wickham Village Life Exhibition held over the first weekend of October – that worked out at one visitor a minute, with queues to get in at busy times. It has been 59 years since Wickham History Society last held an exhibition, back in 1963. This (much delayed) exhibition marked the…

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September 30, 2022|Reports

“Roman Wickham” – Mike Hollis

The first Wickham History Society talk of the 2022-23 Programme returned to Wickham’s early history. It is becoming increasingly clear that Wickham was an important ‘industrial’ Roman settlement. This was highlighted by the recent finds from the Wykeham Vale development, behind School Road. Mike put this in context for an audience of 62 WHS members…

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May 31, 2022|Reports

Wickham History Society: Annual Report 2021 -2022

It has been great to be able to return to face-to-face meetings and the new hybrid arrangement with Zoom meetings in January and February seems to have worked well with good attendances too. Our membership is now 94 – ten more than last year and our highest ever. 458 people have attended our meetings, again…

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April 30, 2022|Reports

“RMS Queen Mary: From War To Retirement” – Stephen Hoadley

This was the second of two talks on the history of the Queen Mary – the first was on Zoom, so it was a real pleasure to welcome Stephen Hoadley in person to finish his excellent history of one of the world’s iconic ocean liners.  Fifty-one members and visitors attended on Tuesday 26th March, including…

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March 31, 2022|Reports

“The Rise and Fall of Emma Hamilton”- Bob France

On Tuesday 22nd March, Bob France made a welcome return for our first ‘face to face’ meeting of 2022, attend by over forty members.  Bob is a volunteer guide and expert on Uppark and that is where he ‘met’ Emma. Emma Hamilton was by any standards a remarkable woman.  She was victimised on the death…

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February 28, 2022|Reports

“Highclere Castle and its Archives” – David Rymill

Perhaps ‘Downton Abbey’ sounds more familiar but Hampshire’s Highclere Castle was where much of the, officially Yorkshire-based, Downton Abbey was filmed.  On Tuesday 22nd February David Rymill, archivist for the Herbert family who own Highclere, joined Wickham History Society on Zoom for a look behind the scenes at this beautiful stately home. Nearly fifty members…

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