Chipping Norton Revealed
A History of our Town in Photographs
Alan Watkins, the respected local historian, shared his remarkable knowledge and passion for Chipping Norton and its inhabitants, based on a lifetime of research.
Glimpses of an International Life by Sir John Holmes
John Holmes, a former British diplomat and, until Summer 2016, the Director of the Ditchley Foundation gave us a brief picture of his fascinating life in the Foreign Office during which time he was our Ambassador in Lisbon and Paris; at No 10 where he became Private Secretary to both John Major and Tony Blair; at the United Nations where he was Deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs; and finally at Ditchley Park where he was Director for 6 years and responsible for numerous international conferences.
Where there is a will...
there’s a way of finding out the secrets of the people who lived in Churchill and Sarsden 1500-1700
The Probate Group talked about their work translating ‘Secretary Hand’ into modern English. No mean feat! They reveal fascinating facts about what possession people had, what they bequeathed in their wills and what life was like in our village for those living up to five hundred years ago.
William Smith: His Life and Legacy
An illustrated talk about Smith’s career, with special reference to recent discoveries of his work on the lower part of the Sars Brook and the Evenlode
by Professors Hugh Torrens and Geoffrey Walton
If Stones Could Speak
An illustrated talk about the multiple uses for our local stone and the stories behind our walls, buildings and graves by Lesley Dunlop, Lecturer at Northumbria University and Vice Chair of Oxfordshire Geology Trust
