Enjoy an illustrated talk by our Volunteer Historian Andy Gibbs. Select from a range of topics linked to the Museum’s history or choose one of Andy’s other interests, see the options below.
- The Poor Child’s Friend: Joseph Lancaster’s Educational Revolution.
The truly remarkable story of a poor boy from the slums of Southwark who sparked an ‘Educational Revolution’ which brought schooling within reach of millions of children around the world. - Bringing Dead Street to Life: The British Schools in Hitchin.
How the British Schools brought hope to the children of the working poor in the yards and alleys around Hitchin’s infamous ‘Dead Street’. - Talking in Class: An Oral History of the British Schools in Hitchin.
The sights, sounds and smells of school life in the early c20th in the words of the pupils and teachers of the British Schools in Hitchin. - Life and Legacy: The Remarkable Jill E. Grey.
Code-breaker, collector, curator, campaigner. Discover the fascinating life and enduring legacy of a true heritage heroine. - A School at War: The Hitchin British Schools 1914-1919
How the Great War affected one small school in one small town. Charting the trials and tribulations of running a school during wartime and the sacrifices made by its former pupils. - The Glory that was Greece: The golden age of Classical Athens.
Andy charts the rise of a small, obscure city-state which came to dominate the Classical World and continues to influence many aspects of our lives today. - The Last Bolshevik: Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin.
Was Stalin’s tyranny inevitable? Discover the fate of Comrade Bukharin, the ‘human face’ of the Russian Revolution. - Nirvana Lost?: An introduction to the History and Culture of Tibet.
Explore the fascinating story of ‘Shangri La’. Andy discusses the history, natural history and culture of Tibet, including how Buddhism has helped the people of Tibet to cope with a harsh climate, a turbulent history and the prospect of an uncertain future. - Red Cloud’s War: How the West was Lost.
The clash of cultures which fuelled a thousand stories of the ‘Wild West.’ Discover the story of the only Native American leader to have defeated the mighty U.S Army.
Talks can be booked at the Museum, as part of a group visit or at your own venue. All the necessary equipment can be supplied, but if you do have a screen at your venue this helps to lighten the load.
Talks last between 45 and 75 minutes and can be tailored to your requirements (within reason!) Andy is happy to take questions afterwards and may even be able to answer some of them!
Andy's fee is £1 per head (minimum £40) for each talk, half of which he donates to the Museum. Travelling expenses are charged for venues more than 5 miles from the Museum, at 30p per mile.
