Notts Local History Forum 2026.
Saturday, March 28 2026 from 10:00AM to 4:00PM at Ravenshead Village Hall, 11 Vernon Crescent Ravenshead NG15 9BP. NLHA members: £9, Non-members: £10.
Fantastic programme of speakers.
Gill Sarre: Thieves, Poachers & more than the occasional Drunk!
How law and order was administered in 19th century Farnsfield. Rural crime and punishment, the ‘career’ parish constable and a glimpse into the lives of a cast of colourful characters who found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Michael Kirkby: Sir John Borlase Warren and his expedition to Quiberon Bay in 1795.
Join Michael to learn about local Admiral, Sir John Borlase Warren, and his expedition to Quiberon Bay in 1795 where he led a daring and high-risk expedition that intended to end the Republican takeover of France and restore the French monarch to the throne. Michael Kirkby is a local military historian who specialises in Warfare and the British Army in the 18th and 19th centuries. His key areas of interest are The War of the Spanish Succession, The Napoleonic Wars, Campaigns of the Victorian Army and The Anglo-Zulu War. Whatever the era, Michael always tries to find local connections through either the men or the regiments.
Adam Nightingale: Captain John Deane, Wilford’s Village’s Reluctant Cannibal.
Wilford native Captain John Deane was a sailor, merchant, soldier and secret agent. He was also a reluctant cannibal. Shipwrecked off the coast of New England in 1710, John Deane and his crew were forced to eat human flesh to survive. The resulting scandal was just the beginning of a life of misadventure that took Captain Deane to Russia as a mercenary for Peter the Great, and to Amsterdam and Ostend spying on Jacobite troublemakers for the British Government. Join Adam Nightingale as he tells the fascinating story of one of Nottingham’s great forgotten18th Century anti-heroes. Adam Nightingale is an author, performer and podcaster. He has written five history books including Murder and Crime: Nottingham and The Shipwreck Cannibals: Captain John Deane and the Boon Island Fleshing Eating Scandal. Adam is a member of the spoken musical spoken word trio The Fighting Nightingales. He is the creator of the historical comedy character Professor Edvard von Goosechaser. He co-hosts the Punching Up Movie Podcast.
Stephen Walker: ‘Bulwell, 1750-1880: Industrialisation and urbanisation in the Leen valley’.
Stephen explores the evidence for the development of a Nottingham suburb through industrialisation and urbanisation.
