Adrian Tinniswood OBE FSA, is Senior Research Fellow in History at the University of Buckingham and Visiting Fellow in Heritage and History at Bath Spa University. His work and his career as a writer covering all things historic house, have given him a unique insight into their social history. From lions at Longleat to Christine Keeler at Cliveden. Adrian captures the spirit of the age and proves that the country house is not only an iconic symbol, but a lens through which to understand the shifting fortunes of Britain in an era of monumental social change.

In his most recent book, The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club, Christopher de Hamel gathers, into the club, the people throughout history who have devoted their lives to manuscripts - scribes, monks and patrons, as well as collectors, curators and forgers. Using research and imagination, he brings them to life, taking the reader on visits in time and location, to discuss and share the delight in making and using illuminated manuscripts. We will visit castles, monasteries, synagogues, and museums, to meet fellow enthusiasts from Saint Anselm in the eleventh century to the mysterious American femme fatale Belle Da Costa Greene in the twentieth, all with stories and wonderful books to show. Followed by a book signing with The Little Ripon Bookshop.

Honorary Keeper of British Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, David Alexander will spend the afternoon discussing how Yorkshire’s rolling hills, rugged moorland and spectacular architecture were depicted by printmakers; and how York became the centre for the production of lithographs in the nineteenth century, all illustrated by his own collection of delightful prints.

Honorary Keeper of British Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, David Alexander will spend the afternoon discussing how Yorkshire’s rolling hills, rugged moorland and spectacular architecture were depicted by printmakers; and how York became the centre for the production of lithographs in the nineteenth century, all illustrated by his own collection of delightful prints.

For centuries, Ferdinand Magellan has been celebrated as a hero: a noble adventurer who circumnavigated the globe in an extraordinary feat of human bravery; a paragon of daring and chivalry. In his book Straits, Felipe turns that belief on its head; instead offering up a stranger, darker and even more compelling narrative than the fictional version that has been glorified for half a millennium. Straits untangles the myths that made Magellan a hero. Drawing on extensive and meticulous research into Magellan's life, his character and his ill-fated voyage, Filipe will prove that Magellan did not attempt - much less accomplish - a journey around the globe; and that in his own lifetime, the explorer was abhorred as a traitor, reviled as a tyrant and dismissed as a failure.

For centuries, Ferdinand Magellan has been celebrated as a hero: a noble adventurer who circumnavigated the globe in an extraordinary feat of human bravery; a paragon of daring and chivalry. In his book Straits, Felipe turns that belief on its head; instead offering up a stranger, darker and even more compelling narrative than the fictional version that has been glorified for half a millennium. Straits untangles the myths that made Magellan a hero. Drawing on extensive and meticulous research into Magellan's life, his character and his ill-fated voyage, Filipe will prove that Magellan did not attempt - much less accomplish - a journey around the globe; and that in his own lifetime, the explorer was abhorred as a traitor, reviled as a tyrant and dismissed as a failure.

When the search for a Caroline Norton portrait led The Friends to the private collection at Chatsworth House, little did they know of the research avenue that was about to open up before them. Join Chatsworth’s Archivist Fran Baker, exploring the friendship between the 5th Duke of Devonshire and Markenfield’s Caroline Norton, their extensive archive of letters (transcribed by a team of the Hall’s volunteers) and how 5th Duke could just have easily been embroiled in the ‘Criminal Conversation’ Trial as Lord Melbourne.

We are delighted to present an evening with Jane Collier of the Marie Stuart Society, a re-enactor who will give an intimate view of this gifted, charming, fun loving and intensely loyal Queen, her stay at nearby Castle Bolton still a time of hope for her, and her descent into despair during her 19 years of illegal imprisonment before the inevitable tragic end.

We are delighted to present an evening with Jane Collier of the Marie Stuart Society, a re-enactor who will give an intimate view of this gifted, charming, fun loving and intensely loyal Queen, her stay at nearby Castle Bolton still a time of hope for her, and her descent into despair during her 19 years of illegal imprisonment before the inevitable tragic end.

Back in 2021, we were somewhat amazed when we started to get emails from people asking if we knew Markenfield was in the national papers – we did not. The man responsible for the Hall’s several weeks of fame was John Dike, who leads Philippa Langley’s Missing Princes Project team in Devon. This talk will shed further light on John’s research methods, his finding and whether he believed Robert Markenfield really could have been part of one of history’s greatest mysteries.