Our calendar is compiled from press releases, e-mails and other sources, such as local history periodicals and personal contacts. If you would like to publicise a particular event or meeting, then please contact us and we will do our best to assist. At the end of each entry we indicate the locality where the activity is taking place, as an aid to browsing the calendar.

Calendar links. The following organisations maintain their own calendar or events sections with which we have links. If your organisation maintains a calendar or events section on the web and would like a direct link to this page, please contact us.

Archive Awareness Campaign
Avon Local History & Archaeology Events
Birmingham & District Local History Association
Cardiff, Butetown History & Arts Centre Exhibitions (this is not being updated at present, but is still a live link)
Cheshire Local History Association
Chiswick Pier Trust
English Heritage
Society of Genealogists
Hampshire Record Office
Heritage Open Days
Hertfordshire Heritage Events
The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies
The National Trust have an online 'Events' search facility which you can use to find events near where you live or, perhaps, will be spending your holidays.
Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology
Temple Newsam house and Lotherton Hall, Leeds
London Metropolitan Archives
Nottinghamshire Local History Association (managed by Local History Online)
Society of Genealogists
Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology
The Wolds Historical Organisation (covering the villages of Wymeswold, Burton on the Wolds, Hoton, Prestwold and Cotes)

Every Saturday at 11.00am and 2.00pm there is a Behind the Scenes Tour at the National Archives. Learn how documents are selected to become public records, how parchment is conserved and see original documents. Booking essential, tel: 020 8876 3444, web: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/events.

Rufford Country Park Weekly Health Walk. Every Monday (Except Bank Holidays) 2pm, meet Craft Centre Courtyard, 60 mins, free, followed by tea/coffee and biscuits. Contact: Steve Kofoed, Rufford Rangers, The Abbey, RCP, near Ollerton, Notts NG22 9DF, tel: 01623 821335, email: steve.koefoed@nottscc.gov.uk.

23 April onwards   Breaking the Chains Slavery Exhibition will examine the historical context of slavery, its destructive effect on relations between Europe and Africa, the nature of survival and resistance amongst African and Caribbean communities, the role of abolitionists and the legacy of the slave trade today’ and occupy an entire floor at the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, daily 10am–5pm, Adults £6.95 (£5.95 conc), contact: BE&CM, Clock Tower Yard, Temple Meads, Bristol BS1 6QH, t: 0117 925 4980, e: admin@empiremuseum.co.uk.

Exhibition 2011

‘Finds Days’ at Yorkshire Museum in 2011 These are opportunities for archaeological objects to be evaluated and recorded by experts from the Portable Antiquities Scheme. These Days will be Saturdays 2 April, 4 June, 6 August, 1 October and 3 December (10.00-17.30). Go to reception at Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York YO1 7FR. More details on 01904-687687.

June 2011

2 A Guided Tour of the Restored Buildings of Liverpool by the Sheffield Branch of the Historical Association. More details from Pamela Carlson on 0114-255-1445.

3-5 Social Designs: The Arts and Crafts Movement. A weekend course led by Richard Stone at Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Enquiries and bookings on 01296-383582.

4 BALH Local History Day 2011 at Friends’ House, Euston Road, London [opposite Euston Station] with Keynote lecture by Dr Rowena Archer [Brasenose College, Oxford University] on ‘Eviscerating, Embalming and Boiling: medieval funeral practices’. £15.00 [£12.50 for members of BALH] which includes coffee and packed lunch. More details and bookings [sae please] to BALH [L] 7 St Mark’s Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3AY.

6 Life in the Lincolnshire Salt Marshes. Lecture by June Barton at the Lincolnshire Branch of the Historical Association, 4.30pm. Little Hale Methodist Chapel, Chapel Lane, Little Hale NG34 9BE. More details from Alf Wilkinson on 01529-460553.

11 Arley Arboretum and Gardens Tour. Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society visit. 11.00am-4.30pm. £12.00 to cover Curator’s Tour and Head Gardener’s Tour. Satnav ref. DY12 1SQ. More details from Peter Evans at 18 Newhall Crescent, Heath Hayes, Cannock WS11 7ZD.

13 The Old London Docks and the New Dockland. Lecture by Sally Botwright at the Twyford and Ruscombe Local History Society, 8.00pm. The Library, Piggott School, Wargrave, Berkshire.

13 A sense of Occasion: Mendelssohn in Birmingham 1846-47. Book launch of the second edition of Audrey Duggan’s book which tells the story of the ‘Elijah’ in Birmingham at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, B3 3BS. 1.00pm. More details on 0121-236-3591.

14 Visit to four Romney Marsh Churches – led By Graham Wood. Canterbury Branch of the Historical Association. More details on 01227-472932 or canterburyha@gmail.com.

14 The Two Saints Way. Illustrated presentation by David Pott, the creator of The Two Saints Way, which now joins Chester and Lichfield Cathedrals. Mid-Trent Historical Association Branch, St Michael’s Church Hall, St Michael Road, Lichfield, Staffordshire. 2.30-4.00pm. £3.00 [but free to members].

16 Visit to The Heath House, off Hollington Road, Tean, Staffordshire ST10 4HA by the Friends of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archives. 5.00pm. FOSSA members £15.00 [non-members £17.50]: price includes a cream tea. More details from Gay Lawrence on 01889-578580.

22 Evening Visit to Stratford House. Tudor timber-framed farmhouse still standing at Stratford Place, Birmingham B12 0HT. Mid-Trent Branch of the Historical Association, 7.00-8.30pm. £5.00 donation to Birmingham Centre for Arts Therapies. More details from Trevor James on 01543-301097.

July 2011

7 BALH Guided Visit to Southampton. The morning will comprise a conducted tour of medieval Southampton, led by Dr Andy Russel of the Southampton Archaeology Unit, and the afternoon will involve an introduction to the Broadlands Archive in the University of Southampton Library. More details on the BALH website www.balh.co.uk/events.php or from BALH, PO Box 6549 Somersal Herbert, Ashbourne DE6 5WH.

9 Guided Walk around Historic Sheffield. Sheffield Branch of the Historical Association. More details from Mrs Pamela Carlson on 0114-2551445.

12 Berkshire Record Office: Family History Research Evening. Experts from the Berkshire Family History Society will be on hand from 6.00-8.00pm at Berkshire Record Office, 9 Coley Avenue, Reading, Berkshire RG1 6AF. The volunteer advisers will be on hand to help newcomers with getting started on family history research or in tracking down elusive ancestors. No need to book: just turn up.

23 Finds Day at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Terrace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6DA. 11.00am-3.00pm. An opportunity for metal detectorists or field-walkers to have their discoveries identified at this drop-in session by the local Finds Liaison Officer of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, who will then record them on the national database. More details on 01629-533540 or buxton.museum@derbyshire.gov.uk.

August 2011

14 Guided Tour of Historic Abbots Bromley, arranged by the Friends of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archives [FOSSA] to be led by Phil Charles and Mithra Tonking. 2.00pm. FOSSA members £5.00, non-members £7.00. Abbots Bromley is a market town with pre-Norman origins, famous for its annual Horn Dance. More details [sae please] from Gay Lawrence, Colton House, Colton, Rugeley WS15 3LL or phone 01889-578580