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LANGFORD & DISTRICT HISTORY SOCIETY |
PROGRAMME 2026 TALKS & VISITS |
Meetings held in Langford Church Hall at 7.45 for 8pm on the first Wednesday in the month, as shown below. |
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Wednesday, 7 January 2026 |
NO MEETING |
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Wednesday, 4 February 2026 |
Annual General Meeting |
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Wednesday, 4 March 2026 |
A History of Bedfordshire Hedgerows Stephen Coleman |
This talk focusses on the creation of hedgerows in the county over the last 2000 years and shows that today’s field patterns are not entirely a product of the last 200 years but the result of medieval assarting, piecemeal enclosure of common fields by private agreement from the later 14th century and in some places parliamentary enclosure of the 18th and 19th centuries imposing a rectilinear field pattern on the landscape. Documentary records also provide a glimpse of hedgerow maintenance and allow us to recognise their economic and practical value, especially their trees, often the subject of detailed surveys. |
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Wednesday, 1 April 2026 |
Weather is here, wish you were lovely Paul Jiggens |
A whimsical look at the history of picture postcards |
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Wednesday, 6 May 2026 |
The Rise and Fall of the R101 Airship Nick Cooke |
The centre of the ‘airship dream’ was Cardington in Bedfordshire. This presentation covers the period prior to the R101 airship, Nick’s family’s involvement with the Royal Airship Works and Short Brothers and some of the details of the airship. The crash site in France is discussed and what remains of the Airship Works today. |
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Wednesday, 3 June 2026 |
VISIT – to be arranged |
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Wednesday, 1 July 2026 |
Summer Social
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Wednesday, 5 August 2026 |
NO MEETING |
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Wednesday, 2 September 2026 |
A Langford Family at War Tony and Ruth Lock |
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Wednesday, 7 October 2026 |
Biggleswade’s Mysterious Tunnels and other underground stories Natalie Doig |
Natalie (who won Gold for the Best History Podcast at the British Podcast Awards for her ‘Weird in the Wade’ and led last summer’s guided walk) will tell us some of the fascinating and weird stories about Biggleswade’s tunnels and other subterranea |
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Wednesday, 4 November 2026 |
Christmas at Wrest Park Richard Luscombe |
Richard will tell us about the Yuletide food, festivities and one of the oldest Christmas trees. |
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Wednesday, 2 December 2026 |
Social Evening |