Report: Pam Harrison

15 January: 'Lest We Forget' – the history and operations of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (illustrated)

The talk will explore the formation of the CWGC during the First World War, the debate about uniformity of commemoration immediately afterwards, how it developed to include World War Two and its operations and challenges today.

Glenn Hearnden has a real passion for history and an immense knowledge of the subject coupled with a genuine desire to remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice. As a battlefield guide he has guided tours groups since 2003.

29 January – Place names & Landscapes in Medieval Lancashire (illustrated)

Place-names are a vital source of historical evidence about landscape and settlement in the 1500 years from the Roman period to the early Middle Ages. The languages in which they were coined, and their hidden or specialised meanings, reveal so much about how our distant forebears saw and identified their world.

This talk looks at how familiar and unfamiliar place-names shed light on the landscape of Lancashire a millennium ago, and how people at the time settled and exploited it.

Alan Crosby is one of Britain’s leading local historians. He lives in Preston and for over thirty years has been researching, writing, publishing and lecturing on many aspects of the history of Lancashire and North West England

Membership fee is £16 per annum, Students FREE and Visitors £3. Per session.

Visitors are most welcome. We meet at Four Land Ends Mission, Skelmersdale Road, Bickerstaffe, L39 0EZ and start at 7.30 pm.

There is plenty of car parking space.