Leyland Historical Society

Mike Lucas - The founder, writer and actor of Mikron Theatre Company talks about the theatres history.

​​​59th Season

To start the new season on Monday 6th July I will be conducting a walk through the ginnels and old field paths of Leyland on the search for Gerrard Street. Meet up on the King Street carpark opposite the Leyland market at 7.00 pm

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 To start the new season on the 7th September meeting We have the return of Roy Smith, the historian of the Leyland Morris Dancers telling the story of Leyland’s May Festival and the part played by the Leyland Morris Dancers from where he left off last year in 1930 until the present day.
               

​59th Season
Monday 7tht September
Leyland May Festival & It’s Morris Dancers 2  1930 - Present
Roy Smith

Monday 5th October *
Wensleydale Whey- The History of Cheese
Mikron Theatre

Monday 2nd November
Hoghton Tower – The history of the house and the family over a millennium
John Ball

Monday 9th November (Online – Email details)  
The Smuggler King of Cullercoats
Nick Barrett

Monday 7th December
Uncle Joes Mint Balls
John Winnard MBE

 Monday 14th December (Online – Email details)
Railway History in Local Maps
Joe Brown

Monday 4th January 2027
Have you seen my trowel - the Archaeological world?
Chris Wild

Monday 1st February
Sid, the Lancashire Enigma – can you decode him?
Sid Calderbank

Monday 1st March
Dick Kerr Ladies – A league of their own
Gal Newsham 

Monday 5th April
The Work of Bletchley Park
Mark Baldwin 

 Monday 3rd May** 
20th Annual Historical Society Trip to Derbyshire

Monday 7th June
The Williamson Tunnels – Below the Surface of Liverpool

Claire Jones

For the meeting on 5th April, we welcome back Dr Mark Baldwin who with his own Enigma machine will tell the story of Bletchley Park, Alan Turing and the code breakers of World War 2. 

On 1st March we will welcome back Gail Newsham who will give us the story of the Dick Kerr Ladies and women’s football.

The photograph is from the April 1920 edition of the Leyland Motors in house magazine called Leyland Torque.

The last meeting of the year on 7th December will be the return of John Winnard who will talk about his family business of William Santus & Co Ltd who make Uncle Joes Mint Balls.

While I was researching all the places the Society has visited either on rail or coach trips, I plotted them all on a map and discovered a gaping hole, not Gaping Gill.

For some reason we had avoided Derbyshire, the only exception being a rail trip in 1995 to Buxton when the trains from Leyland used to go all the way with no change at Manchester Piccadilly.

We will then head along the canal by coach or a mile walk to our lunch stop at Cromford, where there is the Boat Inn, fish & chips or cafes. Here after lunch, we will hopefully have a short, guided tour around the village.

 

The coach will then take us to Buxton for the tea stop and will there at 6.30 pm for the journey home arriving back around 8.00 pm with maybe a stop on the way

This year on 5th October Mikron will transport you to the Yorkshire Dales, in a hilarious quest to revive a lost recipe! The stakes are high: the Monks from the Abbey are desperately seeking a living soul to resurrect their traditional Wensleydale cheese. This charming tale promises a gouda time as it immerses you in a world of ghosts, grievances, and glorious cheese.

We’ll delve into the rich history of cheese, from its humble beginnings to its place on the most sophisticated platters, featuring a cast of characters who are whey out there. Expect a cheesy plot, a sprinkle of drama, and plenty of fromage-tastic musical numbers. Join us for a slice of the action – it’s going to be a legen-dairy Mikron show.

We will then head further along the valley to Matlock where we will encounter Peak Rail and take the train to Rowsley South.

Another Zoom online talk on Monday 14th December will be the return of Joe Brown on his railway history map books, with this year a more particular look at our local area using his latest volume on Liverpool  and Manchester

So, on the 20th trip on 3rd May, we will try to make amends, we will start by going the furthest distance first and heading for Crich where we will find all the local tram lines remembered with trips along the line from the town to the quarry on the top deck.

The last meeting of the season on Monday 7th June will be an update on a talk and visit the Society made to the Williamson Tunnels in Edge Hill, Liverpool back in 2012.

Back then they had only dug down into the Paddington area of the site and were just about to start on the evacuation under Williamson’s house on Mason Street. Now 14 years later the site continues to grow as they are still finding other areas to dig

20th Historical Society Coach Trip - Monday 3rd May

Then it’s a short journey to High Peak Junction, here the Cromford Canal meets the Cromford and High Peak Railway which used to go over the hills by inclined planes to link with the end of the Peak Forest Canal in Whaley Bridge. 

So, hope to see you all in the coming season and we will see what we can discover together and don’t forget to set up your standing order or direct payment for the 15th August, anything to save paying bank charges.

Peter Houghton, Chairman     

For our first talk of 2025 on Monday 4th January, we will again be entertained by Chris Wild giving us the yearly update of all things that have happened in the world of archaeology in the past year.
 
The 1st February meeting will see the return of Sid Calderbank who this year is going to talk about Lancashire dialect and its continuity over the years. 

On Monday 2nd November John Ball will tell the members about the history of Hoghton Tower and the family who have lived there for a millennium, they might even be relatives.

​An extra online meeting on Zoom on Monday 9th November will finally see the return of Nick Barrett with the Smuggler King of Cullercoats. Captain Armstrong was a customs officer, commanding a ship that patrolled the seas between Sunderland and Newcastle, with a mission to prevent smugglers running their goods to shore.

Captain Armstrong embraced his duties with great zeal and enthusiasm, pursuing a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ approach when pursuing vessels that he thought were breaking the law. His methods clearly worked. In 1761, the total value of seized goods stood at £94. By 1767, it had jumped to £1,210, of which he took a share. 

Meetings 

Meetings held in the South Ribble Civic Centre, Shield Room, Banqueting Suite, West Paddock , Leyland PR25 1DH at 7.30 pm 

All meetings marked * are free to members though visitors have to pay £12.00 rather than usual visitors entrance fee of £5.00. Meetings marked as ** are outwith the membership fee.

The membership fee of £16.00 per year includes all 10 meetings at the Civic Centre and the two online meetings on Zoom.

To join the Society click on the Application Form and either send it by post or email to peter@leylandhistoricalsociety.co.uk