Talks
The HLHS runs a monthly series of 8 evening talks each year on a variety of topics. Invited speakers give a talk in Hexham on a topic of historical interest.
The general format for the year’s talks are that the talks will be presented by the speaker in Trinity Methodist Church Hall in Hexham. We may need to alter this general format as circumstances dictate, but the details for each talk will clarify the arrangements.
All talks are completely free for HLHS members. Non-members may attend the talks for a small payment.
HLHS Members who receive HLHS announcements by email will automatically receive the talk details a few days before the event. If you’d like to join the HLHS, details are here.
If you would like to see the range of fascinating talks that have been given in previous years, please click here.
Evening Talks 2026
13 Oct 2026 Bastle Houses
– Julia Grint
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall 
10 Nov 2026 The Spy in a Berwick Garden
– Lindsey Allason-Jones
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall Recent Talks You’ve Missed
9 January 2024 The History, Mystery, Meaning & Beauty of 18th Century Gravestones Mark Hatton
The 17th, 18th & early 19th centuries saw an extraordinary surge in creative stone carvings on gravestones, all rich in symbolism and individuality. This talk explores the development of this art with many examples from Northumberland and The Borders.
7:30pm. Online via ZOOM. HLHS Members can view a video of the talk via the Member’s Section of the website.
13 February 2024 The Capitally Condemned: Executions at Newcastle Gaol 1829-1919 Dr Patrick Low
During the lifetime of Newcastle’s Carliol Square Gaol, 16 people suffered the ultimate penalty of the law. In this talk, Dr. Patrick Low will explore some of the remarkable stories of the condemned prisoners, the crimes they committed and how they faced their doom.
7:30pm. Online via ZOOM
12 March 2024 Hadrian’s Wall and the Illusion of Uniformity Dr Rob Collins
Hadrian’s Wall is one of the most famous monuments of the Roman Empire, but it is often perceived as one large and uniform wall. In reality, the Wall captures a range of diversities – in its building materials, in its construction – and it is important to understand these for a deeper insight into the actual use of Hadrian’s Wall in antiquity.
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham. Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
9 April 2024 If Stones Could Talk: Puzzling Buildings Around Hexham Hugh Dixon
Hugh will talk about some of the puzzling buildings that can be found in Hexham.
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham. Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
14 May 2024 Tom Corfe Memorial Lecture Scandinavians in Northumberland: The Place-name Evidence Professor Diana Whaley
The Viking influence on Northumberland is the subject of much debate. This talk examines the evidence for Scandinavian settlement in the region.
10 September 2024 Transatlantic Blues: The North East Music Scene and the US Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s Professor Brian Ward
In 1967, two distinguished African Americans, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jimi Hendrix, found themselves in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was less of a coincidence than it might first appear. In this talk, Brian Ward takes a fresh look at the impact of the US civil rights movement on Tyneside during the 1960s, a time of important developments in British race relations – and in transatlantic popular music.
8 October 2024 The Enemy Within: WW1 Aliens in the North East Silvie Fisch & Rosie Serdiville
Almost 10,000 foreign nationals in the North East became friendly or enemy aliens at the outbreak of the First World War. Their lives were often seriously affected by hostile attitudes and restrictive wartime legislation. This talk looks at some of the personal experiences and harsh realities endured by innocent people, but also at stories of support from local individuals.
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham. Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
12 November 2024 The Cramlington Train Wreckers: Terrorists or Workers Defending their Community? Ed Waugh
During the 1926 General Strike, miners in Cramlington accidentally derailed the Flying Scotsman. No one was killed and only one person was slightly injured. Eight Northumberland miners were sentenced to 48 years’ penal servitude.
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham. Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
The talk will be preceded by the HLHS AGM.14 January 2025 2024 Excavations at the Vindolanda Trust – Marta Alberti-Dunn
A report on finds at Vindolanda during 2024
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall 11 February 2025 The Rise and Fall of the House of Dacre – Maks Loth-Hill
Power and Loyalty in the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall 11 March 2025 Grainger Town – John North
The rise and fall (and rise again) of Richard Grainger
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
8 April 2025 At the feet of the Angel: Birtley – Bob Hull
The growth of an industrial community in the 19th century
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
13 May 2025 Milbank, Blackett and Commonwealth Newcastle: quiet royalists? – Greg Finch
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Newcastle moved from Royalist to Commonwealth control, and then back again at the Restoration of Charles II. How did leading civic figures in the town cope, and what does this tell us?
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall 9 September 2025 The Blackett/Wentworth sisters – Ruth Dalton
Scandal, loyalty and betrayal in Georgian England
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
14 October 2025 Witch trials in Newcastle – Lucy Atkinson
The 1650 Newcastle Witch Trials. What we mean when we say ‘witch’
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
11 November 2025 Vikings in North Northumberland – Jane Harrison
Recent excavations at an early medieval high-status site, linked to the Viking Great Army
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
13 January 2026 How Creswell and its Pele Tower shortened the war – Steve Lowe
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall 
10 February 2026 How the German Miners in Elizabethan Cumbria changed Britain for good – Mark Hatton
This richly illustrated talk describes how a colony of German Miners was established in Keswick in the 1560’s. Their arrival sparked a local baby boom yet was accompanied by violence leading to murder, and their mine workings changed the face of The Lake District for ever. They brought advanced technology and commercial methods that arguably introduced industrialisation, capitalism and modernity to the British Isles.
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
10 March 2026 Tales from Newcastle Prison, 1828 – 1925 – Helen Rutherford, Patrick Low, Shane McCorristine, Clare Sandford-Couch
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
14 April 2026 Celebrating and Supporting Northumberland Archives – Sue Shaw
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall 
12 May 2026 The Roman lead industry in the Northern Frontier Zone: Corbridge’s role – Damian Rudge
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
8 Sept 2026 The Community of Hexham archaeology Project: The Results So Far
– Dr Jane Harrison
7:30pm, Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Beaumont Street, Hexham.
Click here for directions to Trinity Hall
There is a small change this talk. Dr Jane Harrison will give a brief update on the Hexham project along with dates for the next test pitting event this autumn, followed by a talk by Jane and others about an exciting Tynedale project investigating the local post-Roman farming landscape. A further update on the Hexham project will follow in 2027