At the March meeting Paul Wilkins spoke to us about sources for finding out information about family history which is ok unless you have Irish roots because a lot of their records were lost in a fire about 100 years ago. Paul also highlighted the fact that if a family member served in the forces during either world war then there are excellent records kept of all serving members even if they died in service. Paul is shown holding a replica workhouse penny, something given to the poor in Victorian times.

In May Colin Rowe gave us his talk Going For a Spin. This expression originated among early cyclist going out for a ride and was adopted by early motorists setting out to explore the countryside. He went onto give us an interesting explanation of the early days of the motor car, steam, electric and internal combustion as well as explaining the origin of things like the word chauffeur and the formation of Mercedes. The book is an account of an early car journey from London to Liverpool.