Surrey Industrial History Group

The illustrated talk covers the history of the railways coming to Guildford in 1845 and its impact on the town to the various forms  of traction from steam to diesels and electrics of present day. A tremendous selection of unseen photographs will be included. The talk will be given jointly by David Rose, Local historian & writer and Geoff Burch, ex-railwayman and author.

An illustrated talk showing then and now views of Guildford. See how much (or how little) the town centre has changed over the past 100 years.  Images include the town's historical buildings-the Guildhall, Abbot's Hospital, the castle , and the cathedral.  This talk will be given by David Rose, local historian and writer.

One of Brighton's famous residents who described himself as an 'electrician' but who was one of the earliest electrical engineers in Victorian England, a prolific inventor, and designer of the oldest, and still operating, electric passenger railway in the world. The talk will be given by Bill McNaught, Chaiman of the 5 Deans U3A.

A colourful introduction to the wonderful world of our inland waterways with dramatic engineering, unusual architecture, interesting landscapes, historic boats and lots of unusual and quirky features.  This talk will be given by Roger Butler, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society.

This talk looks at the story of Shepperton Studios from its foundation in the early days of 'talkies' to its current role as the major production hub for Netflix in the UK.  Along the way are the ups and downs of the British Film Industry, and a surprising role in World War Two.  The talk will be given by Nick Pollard, Curator of Spelthorne Museum in Staines.

In a change to the orginal programme Colin van Geffen, aviation artist & enthusiast, will give a talk about BEACHCOMBER, one of 760 Sunderland long-range patrol flying boats of which fewer than 10 survive world -wide. BEACHCOMBER's amazing story of survival against the odds holds many surprises.

Talk to be given by Simon Ritchie.  The Ordance Survey has been mapping the UK for over 200 years. Until recently they used simple mathematics, theodolities and a network of benchmarks and trig points to achieve one metre accuracy, a triumph of engineering in its day. This network is now redundant and beginning to need conservation, but nobody is picking up that responsibility.