Cammel Laird’s Shipyard, Birkenhead Priory, The Great War, and Wirral Country Park are just some of the subjects for a series of fascinating historical talks about Wirral taking place over the forthcoming weeks at Williamson Art Gallery and various libraries around Wirral.
Dr Stephen Roberts, Director of Wirral Archaeology, will be delivering a number of the talks. He said, “The need to study history has never been greater – particularly so for the people of Wirral.
“I invite all the residents of this remarkable peninsula to be challenged, fascinated, educated and empowered by the study of its history.”
Talks include:
Thursday 23 March: ‘The Pioneering Monks of Birkenhead Priory’ by Dr Stephen Roberts. This talk focuses on the history of Birkenhead Priory, the oldest standing building on Merseyside, as well as its founding fathers. Williamson Art Gallery, 6pm. Tickets £10 via williamsonartgallery.org/events 
Wednesday 5 April: ‘The Maguire Family of Wallasey and the Great War 1914-1919’ by Dr Stephen Roberts. Liverpool Central Library, 1.45pm. This talk will include a discussion of a collection of letters held by the Imperial War Museum, which Dr Stephen Roberts is transcribing and editing for the Record Society of Lancashire. This event is free and no booking is required.
Saturday 15 April: ‘Aethelflaed One of the Truly Great Women in English History’ by Dave Capener. Wallasey Library, 2.30pm. This talk, which is part of Wirral Libraries Local History Week, is free but please reserve your spot via Eventbrite
Monday 17 April: ‘Mothers, Wives and Daughters: Women’s Experiences of the Great War in Wirral 1914-1919’ by Dr Stephen Roberts. Greasby Library, 6.30pm. This talk, which is part of Wirral Libraries Local History Week, is free but please reserve your spot via Eventbrite
Dr Stephen Roberts attended the universities of York, Aberystwyth and London and recently completed a doctorate at Manchester Metropolitan University about Wirral During the Great War. His interest in history was sparked by Greasby Copse, which he could see from his school window as a pupil at Greasby Junior School. Stephen taught history for over thirty years and is the author of ‘Hoylake and Meols Past’ (1992) and ‘A History of Wirral’ (2002), as well as of a number of academic articles.
Thursday 4 May: ‘Wirral in the Great War 1914-1919 – an overview of my PhD findings’ by Dr Stephen Roberts. Williamson Art Gallery, 7pm. This event is free and no booking is required.
Friday 12 May: ‘A History of Wirral Country Park to mark its 50th Anniversary’ by Dr Stephen Roberts.West Kirby Museum, 7pm.
Thursday 15 July: ‘A Picture Portal into the Past: The King’s Visit to Cammell Lairds Shipyard in 1917’ by Dr Stephen Roberts. Williamson Art Gallery, 6pm. Tickets £10 via williamsonartgallery.org/events
To find out more events taking place at Williamson Art Gallery, visit their website
One small step for man…
The photographs taken during our journeys to the moon are some of the most important, iconic, and reproduced in history. But how were they taken and what equipment was used?
Find out at ‘Apollo Remastered – The Ultimate Photographic Record of Humankind’s Greatest Adventure’, an out-of-this-world talk taking place at Williamson Art Gallery on Saturday 20 May.
Andy Saunders, British author, science writer, and one of the world’s foremost experts of NASA digital restoration will outline how he has applied painstaking care and cutting-edge enhancement techniques to scans of the original film, to create the highest-quality Apollo photographs ever produced.
Image: A painting of the King’s visit to Cammell Laird’s shipyard in 1917
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