The society embarked on a new venture in the autumn by organizing a 10 week course on the Evolution of the Pennine Landscape run by Alan Petford, a well known lecturer for the WEA and the University of Leeds. The idea was to offer an opportunity for members and others to take a more in depth look at various aspects of landscape history than is possible in the normal lecture series offered by the Society.

The course explored the way that local landscapes have changed over the centuries as a result of the activities of man. Starting with the Anglo Saxons, Alan covered a wide range of topics including place name origins, agriculture and enclosure, the use of moorland for peat and quarrying, textiles and the dual economy, industrial buildings, and the impact of transport.

The course was very popular with 70 people registering, a number so greatly exceeding expectations that the decision was taken to use the church of St James rather than the upstairs room as originally intended. This had the unforeseen disadvantage that the acoustics were not as good as would have been wished. However as the average attendance was over 50 each week, it clearly did not put people off.

The success of the Landscape course has encouraged the Society to run another course starting in January, this time at Hope Baptist. The theme this time is Understanding Pennine Buildings and the lecturers are Alan Petford together with David Cant of the Yorkshire Vernacular Buildings Study Group. Using case studies drawn from across the Pennines, this course will explore the rich building heritage of the area beginning with the impressive legacy of the Middle Ages. Investigation of the development of different types of building will continue through to the late nineteenth century and include medieval churches, handloom weavers’ cottages, early factories and agricultural buildings.

This course sold out extremely quickly with all 58 places being taken within a few weeks of its announcement. Unfortunately Hope cannot accommodate as many people as St James and other larger venues such as the Methodist Hall are fully booked. However if anyone would like to have attended and was unable to gain a place, please do let the Society know as it may be possible to run it again if there are sufficient numbers. Alternatively if anyone has any suggestions for future courses, we would be very keen to hear them. Please contact the Librarian at librarian@hebdenbridgehistory.org.uk