13th October Skivvy-servants in the smaller Victorian House - Dr Susan Deal
 Dr Deal outlined the lives of young girls, many as young as 13, who were employed as servants in smaller Victorian houses. The daughters from working class families and girls "rescued" from the local workhouse had to earn a living, and domestic service was considered an ideal occupation. Life for these girls was generally gruelling, especially in households where there was only one servant, as they had to do all the chores of the house, often working from 6am to 10pm, with very little time off. Wages were very low at around £10 per year plus food and clothing. Employing one or more servants enhanced the social standing of the householders.
By the beginning of the 20th century more opportunities were becoming available for female workers and girls were realising that life in a factory, shop or office was preferable to that as a maid. The outbreak of the 1st World War when women were called on to replace the men called to arms led to the eventual demise of the live in servant in these smaller households. 

27th October - Fred Dibnahs Chimney Drops - Alan McEwan

Alan was a close friend of Fred Dibnah and knew him for more than 40 years. Fred was born in 1938 and lived throughout his life in the Bolton/Bury area. He showed no aptitude at school and on leaving at 15 took up an engineering apprenticeship. From being a small boy he had been especially interest in mill chimneys and even built a 40 high version at his home when he was 17. Just how and when he got into the business of felling chimneys was not clear, but in his lifetime he was known by Alan to have felled at least 90 and possible more than 100. His method was simple, cheap and effective which was why he was in demand. Fred cut away a wide section at the base of the chimney, replacing the brickwork with props cut from old telegraph posts. A process known as "gobbing out". Holes were bored in the posts to speed burning. Hundreds of tyres were then stacked at the base and a fire lit. Fred never lit the fires himself always asking a bystander or small boy to undertake this. When the props burned through the chimney fell, on all but 3 occasions just where Fred had planned. Even the 3 were not far off target and caused little damage. On each occasion he uttered his trademark "Did you like it! " Fred was a larger than life character, very much self centred as 3 wives could testify. He was most casual about money only charging £600 for a job and often not getting paid. From the 1980s he became a most knowledgeable TV presenter on building and engineering matters. He died of cancer in 2004. 

10th November - Yorkshire Estate of the Duke of Devonshire - John Sheard

John was born locally and educated at Sedbergh School before taking a course on estate management including a year spent as a farm labourer. He applied for the Estate Manager vacancy at Bolton Abbey in 1966 and surprised himself by gaining the job. He spent 34 years there in charge of some 150 staff working in various sections, gamekeeping, forestry, maintenance, services etc. The estate had 30,000 acres including more than 4000 of woodland and 80 tenant farms. The estate was run down, having had to pay off the death duties of the previous Duke and farms and houses lacked water supplies, sanitation and electricity. He gave priority to having these installed. Income from timber was hit when cheap inports started from Russia. The farms suffered when the Milk Marketing Board had to be wound up. The estate turned increasingly to tourism and attracting visitors to maintain income and farms' incomes were improved by mergers as tenancies became vacant. As the Duke's right hand man on the estate John had enjoyed his tenure and the satisfaction of leaving the estate in better condition.

24th November - The Funny side of the Law - Fiona King

Fiona gave a brief history of English Law. The Romans had provided legal terms and expressions still in use today, the Saxons, Vikings and Normans had further contributed. William 1st made a law stating "I am the King, I own everything". This is still extant. Trial by ordeal had held brief sway, but trial by jury was introduced during the 13th century. Henry 2nd had introduced circuit judges. They spent 2 years travelling around an allotted part of the country sharing experiences when they returned to London. It was this shared experience which became common law.  English law was contrasted with the continental experience. Following a revolution, such as the French, it was the practice to scrap all laws going before and write a new, usually brief constitution and codes. England had had its own civil war, but as lawyers had featured prominently on both sides and particularly with the successful Parliamentarians they had had no incentive to scrap existing law. She compared English law to the contents of a garage where things are kept just because they might come in useful. This makes the English Law more complex, but more capable of giving  a refined judgement in particular cases. Fiona illustrated her talk with amusing cases and judgements.  

8th December - The Victorian Passion for Terracotta - Dr Ian Adams

Ian explained that terracotta - literally "burnt earth"- was developed in Italy as a type of durable, easily moulded, artificial stone using a type of clay mix. Italian craftsmen were brought in during the 16th century to sculpt plaques and ornamentation, e.g. at Hampton Court Palace. But the Reformation put an end to this and there was little further use until the 19th century excepting for some chimney pots. Mrs Evelyn Crokes invented an artificial stone in the 18th century which became known as "crokestone" and was much used in gardens. A few churches were built using "solid" terracotta - forming the whole fabric, one in Bolton even had the internal furnishings in the material. However the Church authorities ruled that it was not a suitable building material for churches. The Great Exhibition of 1851 saw terracotta become fashionable again. Income from the exhibition helped purchase the area of South Kensington where the museums were built and terracotta was much used in the Albert Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum. It was used in theatres, e.g. the creations of Frank Matchem, cinemas, railway stations and the Art/Deco movement. It was often used where good building stone was not readily available so is not so prevalent in the West Riding with the exception of Leeds. Ian finished with a tour of Leeds which is well endowed e.g. Station Hotel, St Paul's Square, Central Library, City Hall, university buildings and the theatres and arcades in Briggate. Usage died down with the war and post war austerity.

12th January - Social Evening
5 members entertained the Society -

Susan Broadhead brought along the Yorkshire Post for 7th February 1952 announcing the death of King George VI and talked about the Royal Family and life at the time.
Martin Winterton read the introduction to "The Good Companions" briefly describing the Pennines and Bradford - "Bruddlesford".
Bernard Peel described a recent walk on Yockenthwaite Fell and the "unique" stone colliers' hut he found there.
Peter Bewes provided an interesting puzzle requiring prime ministers' names to be identified.
David Langham rounded off the evening with a dialect poem "Football Joe".

During the evening members enjoyed food and drink in a Jacob's Join.

26th January - Waking the Dead - Dr Francis Thornton.

Dr Thornton described his work as an archaeological pathologist primarily in the Middle East and Egypt. He described different forms of burial from time to time, including full length, phrone - exceptional, foetal position and bones collected together after soft tissue decay. He explained the composition of bones and how they are connected. Differences between male and female skulls were explained. He then went on to describe the effect of diseases on bones, in particular rickets, tuberculosis and leprosy. He brought along a large collection of bones for examination. Unfortunately time ran out and the lecture had to be terminated. Dr Thornton will be invited back to conclude this fascinating subject.