2018 Events Programme

Friday 13 April 2018

7.30 pm Doldowlod House

James Watt, father and son, and the creation of the Doldowlod and Kinnerton Estates
by Mr Julian Gibson-Watt

Julian is the elder brother of our Society President, Robin Gibson-Watt. The family is descended from James Watt, the famous engineer and inventor who bought land in Radnorshire. Julian was a barrister by profession. He has delved into the family archives and his talk will show how his family built up the Doldowlod Estate in the Wye valley from 1803 and the Kinnerton Estate in the east of Radnorshire from 1797. The talk will take place in Doldowlod House and this will be a special treat for Radnorshire Society members.

Wednesday 9 May 2018

Society Excursion

For our great day out this year, we will be visiting Llancaiach Fawr near Treharris for a guided tour back through the history of the Pritchard family. In the afternoon we shall travel on to visit Cyfarthfa Castle including a talk by one of the Museum staff.
At the 17th C Manor House of Llancaiach Fawr, we have booked the Conservatory so that members have the option of a sociable Lunch together ,(minimum booking 25).  Cost is £25 per person, plus £12.95 for two course lunch.  Bookings must be made by 12 April, booking forms available from Penny Everett, by email to pyecorner1@hotmail.co.uk or by phone: 01597 851594.

Friday 11 May 2018

7.30 pm Community Centre, New Radnor

The Mortimers and Radnorshire
by Mr Philip Hume

Philip has recently become a member of the Radnorshire Society. He lives near Ludlow and is secretary of the Mortimer History Society. He is currently researching the Elfael and Maelienydd Lordships of Radnorshire. This will be part of a three-volume history of the medieval Marcher Lordships which is due to be published by Logaston Press in 2019. Philip’s talk will focus on the powerful Mortimer family who came from Normandy at the time of the Norman Conquest and dominated the border area between Wales and England up to the fifteenth century.

For more detailed information see:   mortimerhistorysociety.org.uk

Friday 19 October 2018

8.00 pm Village Hall, Llanddewi Ystradenni

The geology of Radnorshire
by Dr Joe Botting

Joe is originally from Hereford but now lives in Llandrindod. He is a specialist in palaeontology. He has worked in museums and has spent two years as guest scientist at Nanking Institute of Geology and Palaeontology in China. He has done extensive research on the geology of the Builth-Llandrindod area and has published numerous articles. He runs a fossil club at the Radnorshire Museum in Llandrindod which meets on the first Saturday of each month. In 2004 Joe and colleagues discovered well preserved fossils at Llanfawr Quarry in Llandrindod (near the hospital), said to be 450 million years old, and which shed new light on how ocean communities have evolved. We look forward to his revelations in his talk to the Society.

2018 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Saturday 17 November

2:30 pm – AGM:  Hotel Metropole, Llandrindod Wells, followed by

5:00 pm – Annual Public Lecture:

New angles on old sites: drone archaeology over Radnorshire
by Mr Julian Ravest

Julian has been working as a volunteer with the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust on a photographic survey of archaeological sites.  Using a drone to fly a camera over sites, he has captured some informative as well as dramatic images of sites from new angles.  Radnorshire is extraordinarily rich in archaeological and historic sites and the photographs provide new insights, and often raise new questions, about the people who lived, loved and died in this area.  There is no place which is natural, our landscape has been fashioned over many generations.  From pre-historic bronze age burial cairns and iron age hill forts to the modern era, the marks in the landscape of this beautiful county have been made over thousands of years of occupation.  Our landscape is a canvas that has been over-painted many times; aerial photographs reveal clues to that process.