Monthly meetings are held at Christ ChurchNeighbourhood Centre on a Thursday evening starting at 7.30 p.m. Note that the dates are  variable, i.e. not the same week of the month. We meet from September to June, and have a 2 month break in July and August.

Christ Church has the postal code BL0 0PX and is on Great Eaves Road. There is a car park at the back of the church.

There is a guest speaker and non-members are very welcome.

There is a charge of £2 for visitors and £1.50 for members, which includes refreshments.

The normal format is the leader welcomes the meeting with any news and outstanding business. There is then either part one of the talk, followed by a refreshment break, and then part two, or a refreshment break and then the main speaker if the talk cannot be split. The meeting usually finishes between 9 p.m. and 9.30 pm.

Programme for 2025

If you are interested in a particular talk, please check nearer the time that the subject is the same, as talks can move due to circumstances change.

No indoor meetings in July or August

September 18      Douglas Jackson:  Tiffany Glass & Joseph Briggs

October 16            Kate Slingsby:  Ramsbottom Mill the most powerful mill in the Irwell Valley

November 13      Nigel Hardacre:  The Haslingden Canal - 1790s Canal mania and a missing link.

December 11       Christmas Social and Local History Quiz.

2026

January 15             Michael Burton: Holcombe & Macroom, Hawkshaw & Kilmichael.

February 12           Sid Calderbank : A Lancashire Garland -The history of Lancashire & its dialect over the last 500 years.

March 12                 Nigel Jepson: Mary Hindle & the Weavers’ Uprising of 1826.

April 16                   Brian Groom ( New Book 2026) These Isles : The Fascination story of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

May 14 AGM then Keith Warrender The River Irwell : Pleasure & Perils

June 11                   Steve Brown: Smithills Hall.