All meetings are on Wednesdays and start at 7.30pm, with the exception of September when refreshments are served from 7.00pm, December when the society meets for a social event at 2.00pm, and July when the AGM precedes the meeting at 7.00pm.
All events take place at Burnby Hall Community Room, Pocklington, YO42 2QF.
The annual subscription is £25 and all programme events for members are free. Visitors are always welcome and the suggested contribution per event is £5.00. Students are invited to attend free of charge.
Explore our programme for 2026-2027
People, Plants and publications
September 16th, 7.30pm
Peter Williams
Three horticultural tales to delight us tonight. First the Bishop of Llandaff Dahlia, including an actual archbishop, Tracey Emin and The Blue Dahlia ballet. Next, the story of the waterlilies of Burnby Hall Gardens and their link with Monet and Giverny. The final tale is about Curtis’s Botanical Magazine still going strong after 340 years and especially famous for its original botanical illustrations.
Follow a swallow
October 21st, 7.30pm
Sir John Lawton
John Lawton is probably best known for his seminal report “Making Space for Nature” but at heart he has always been a keen ornithologist. This talk is about a fledgling swallow from Heslington on its first journey to the wintering grounds in South Africa. The journey is 8000 miles, it has never done it before, and it does it completely alone. What does it see on the way and how does it do it?
The French Connection
November 18th, 7.30pm
Peter Harrison and Ensemble
Concert Royal, performing on historic instruments, explores connections and contrasts between Italian and French styles of music in the mid-18th century. The programme includes Italian style music by Galliard and ornate French pieces by Boismortier and Couperin. The evening offers an opportunity to contrast the rarely heard bass viol with the more familiar ’cello.
Come and join us!
December 9th, 2.00pm,
Please join us for a social event with refreshments and entertainment.
2027
The Arts, imagination and truth
January 20th, 2027, 7.30pm
Ian Gregory
The Arts in all their diversity enrich our lives in so many ways, engaging our emotions, firing our imaginations. There have always been sceptical voices wondering whether their products are about anything more than entertainment and giving pleasure. Do the Arts, can the Arts offer truths about ourselves and the world? Is there such a thing as Artistic Truth? To be explored....
Culture versus War with a special emphasis on Ukraine
February 17th, 7.30pm
David Lewis
David is a director of the Ethical Support Alliance which has been helping to promote Ukrainian culture in the past three years. Looting of Art treasures, the burning of books and the banning of cultural music has taken place in many wars through history. Equally invaded nations have actively hidden and protected their cultural treasures. In this talk, David shows how Ukraine in particular has resisted attempts to erase its identity through actively preserving and promoting its unique culture.
Mosaics in Ravenna and Rome
March 17th, 7.30pm
Meg Boulton
Using the glittering mosaics of the early Christian church, this talk looks at how art was used to build understanding of place and identity in the capitals of Rome and Ravenna. It looks at their iconographic programmes to think about sacred space and local politics through their material surfaces and artistic motifs.
The remarkable diary of an 18th century Beverley gentleman
April 21st, 7.30pm
Susan Neave
In the second half of the 18th Century, a fascinating diary was kept by a Beverley gentleman called John Courtney. It often has the feel of a Jane Austen novel with accounts of musical soirees, dancing in the assembly rooms, the presence of the militia in the town, even an occasional elopement to Gretna Green...
The challenge of stained glass window conservation in the 21st century
May 19th, 7.30pm
Sarah Brown
We live in a world where climate change and a decline in traditional craft skills threatens our historic buildings. In 2024, traditional stained glass making was placed on the Heritage Craft list of endangered skills. This talk is about how initiatives in York at the York Glaziers Trust and the University of York are meeting those challenges, securing the future of our city’s unparalleled heritage of stained glass
The Silk Road
June 16th, 7.30pm
Chris Steel
A look at the origins of the trade route that connected East and West for 1500 years, its passing empires and people. It facilitated not only commerce but provided an artery for profound cultural, religious, scientific and technological exchange across Eurasia. The talk will also look at the major UNESCO world heritage sites of Uzbekistan.
AGM at 7.00pm, followed by
Celebrating 60 years of the Arts Society
The Arts in Pocklington and the East Riding through the ages
July 21st, 7.30pm
Val Hewetson
The Pocklington and District Joint Arts Society was inaugurated in the summer of 1967. Today we celebrate that milestone with a talk which looks back over the history of the Arts in the East Riding and Pocklington in particular. The 21st century has seen a resurgence of interest in the Arts. Can we look forward to its continuation in the future?
All meetings at Burnby Hall Community Room, Pocklington, YO42 2QF