of each costume, enlivened by a smattering of funny stories as costume has often been fairly ridiculous. Do not think that just because dolls are the subject matter, the talk will only appeal to a female audience. Gentlemen always find it of equal interest. Thursday November 12th 7.30 pm Rutland County Museum Favourite objects in the collection ~ Kate Don and Debbie Frearson, museum volunteers Rutland County Museum volunteers Kate Don and Debbie Frearson will talk about an eclectic choice of favourite objects in the museum collection and how they came to be acquired. The items will also be on display throughout the evening. Thursday December 10th 7.00 pm Oakham Castle George Phillips Awards: Oakham Castle ~ Alan McWhirr to present prizes Talk to follow: The History of Ketton Stone ~ Alan Curtis While Ketton Building Stone was known to the Romans, it had only local use until 1622. By 1900 it had been used in a number of buildings of national importance and two of international fame. How did King James I come into the story? What part did the Civil War play? Why did some stonemasons refer to it as the “King of the Oolites.”  The talk will be illustrated pictorially as well as with a few lumps of rock. Wednesday January 13th  7.30 pm Rutland County Museum - Please note Wednesday date Lies of the land: using historical sources to get at the truth about lost landscapes and buildings (searching for St Leonard’s Hospital at Stoke juxta Newark) - Peter Foden In the summer of 2008, Peter Foden, a freelance archivist & historical researcher, had a call from an amateur archaeologist who had ordered some images of documents from the National Archives and needed help reading them. So began a long search for documentary evidence about St Leonard's Hospital at East Stoke near Newark. In the absence of local maps before the Ordnance Survey and the fragmentation of private estate archives, it has been necessary to interpret every available document with cunning but rigorous ingenuity. We have so far pinpointed some of the missing buildings of the Hospital and a possible Tudor Battlefield Chapel. A large mediaeval manor house and some Crown property remain missing however. Our ongoing learnings could be useful for historians and archaeologists of landscape and lost structures anywhere. Thursday February 11th  7.30 pm Rutland County Museum They Sailed Away! - Langham Village History Group During the 17th century many people sailed away to the New World including James Hubbard of Langham. James left his native shores in 1637 for Massachusetts and this is the story of his struggles and triumphs, his influence on his new country and of the dynasty he founded. Thursday March 4th  7.30 pm Rutland County Museum - Friends AGM Followed by a talk by Claire Browne ~ Museum Developments across the Region The impact the Renaissance East Midlands programme has made across the region - its programmes and schemes, changes to public funding  opportunities for museums particularly heritage lottery funding, key  museum developments regionally and highlights from the recent research into cultural volunteering in the East Midlands. Thursday March 18th - 7.30 pm Uppingham School Bryan Matthews Lecture ~ Professor Keith Snell, University of Leicester Rural Society and Landscape Painting, 1750-1850 English rural society underwent profound changes in the century after 1750. Parliamentary enclosure transformed the landscape and landownership, especially in Rutland and Leicestershire. Population grew sharply. Poor rates and pauperism became major rural problems, and caused many tensions. Rural protest broke out in many regions, especially between 1790 and the 1840s. Historians have argued that 'class' developed alongside these changes, such that mid-19th century rural society was class-ridden in its antagonisms, showing many contrasts with the situation a century earlier. How were these changes manifested in the painting of the period? How was the genre of landscape painting influenced by rural social change? This lecture will consider some of the major landscape painters of the time (Lambert, Gainsborough, Morland, Constable), and consider how they depicted or avoided the rural conflicts and changes of industrialising England. Thursday April 8th 7.30 pm Rutland County Museum The Search for Bosworth Field - Richard Knox The Search for Bosworth Field The HLF funded multidisciplinary survey to reveal the true location of the famous 1485 battle, which left Richard III dead and Henry Tudor to found a new dynasty. Thursday May 13th 7.30 pm Rutland County Museum RLHRS AGM - Followed by: H H Stephenson (1833-96) – the life and achievements of Uppingham School’s cricket coach - Roy Stephenson One of the most talented and popular all-round cricketers of his day, Heathfield Harman Stephenson took part in the first overseas cricket tour in 1859 before captaining the first English side in Australia. During the winter months he was closely associated with the exiled French royal family as huntsman. In 1872 he was appointed Uppingham School’s cricket coach and settled in the town for the rest of his life. Thursday June 10th  7.30 pm Rutland County Museum The cost of community? Anti-social behaviour and neighbourly disputes in the cathedral close at the beginning of the 17th century - James Saunders The people who lived in the precincts of a cathedral were meant to represent a model of godly, Christian living. But what happens when discord arises and neighbours fall out? James Saunders explores tensions which divided the rapidly-changing cathedral communities of early seventeenth-century England, and the strategies employed to restore order and peace. Saturday July 24th 7.30 pm Oakham Castle The Tennants Lecture This is a Saturday evening event at Oakham Castle. There will be a charge for this meeting. Details of the speaker and subject of talk will be circulated later. Saturday September 12th Guided Historical Walk : Ridlington Medieval Hunting Park ~ Leaders Sheila Sleath & Robert Ovens This six mile walk starts at 2.00 p.m. at St Peter’s Church, Belton in Rutland, and will finish at approximately 5.00 p.m. The route is footpaths and fields with some stiles. Stout shoes or walking boots are essential and well behaved dogs on leads are welcome. Ridlington Medieval Hunting Park was a royal deer park from its foundation in the twelfth century until the early 1620s. This guided walk explores the history of the park, the boundary of which can still be traced through surviving topographic features. Thursday October 8th 7.30 pm Rutland County Museum History of Costume, 1780 - 1982 ~ Teresa Thompson Teresa Thompson has made a lifelong study of costume history in the process of research for her range of dolls. In the course of that research a great deal of information has been collected, some of which she is happy to share through her talks. The dolls are totally original and dressed as authentically as possible within the constraints of their small size. The entire series covers the years from 55BC to 1982, with Part 2 starting after 1780. The dolls representing ladies and gentlemen are shown in chronological order, with reference to notable historical events and explanations of the significance Select month herep - Oct - Nov - Dec Jan - Feb - Mar - Apl - May - Jun - Jul