• Saturday 28 February, 2009, at 2.00 pm.
  ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & PREVIEW of ARCHAELOGICAL FINDS/CASTLE VIEWING
  After the business of the AGM, Friends will have an opportunity to view the stunning collection of pottery and other items, discovered during the recent dig.  NPHT Principal Archaeologist Frank Giecco will be on hand to talk about the finds and show Friends into the castle to view the exciting construction work in progress.
  
  
• Saturday 28 March – 2.00 pm
  THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BESSIE SURTEES – Was She a Local Folk Heroine?
  Talk by Bill Saunders.
  Find out more about Bessie Surtees, famed for her elopement, in 1772, from a house in Sandhill, Newcastle. After the talk, Friends can take a walk down the newly constructed carriageway and see the recently planted spring flowers, which should be in bloom.
  
  
• Monday 4 May (Bank Holiday) – starts at Dilston 1.30 pm
  THE BATTLE OF HEXHAM - Walk & Drive
  Led by John Sadler
  Starting and finishing at Dilston, the total walking distance is 4–5 miles. The first stage of the event is by car. Before setting out, military historian John Sadler will give a general background to the Battle of Hexham, which took place on 15 May 1464 and was a decisive event in the series of complex mediaeval conflicts known as the Wars of the Roses. From Dilston, the party will proceed by car along the B6307 to Swallowship Hill, stopping en-route at strategic points to hear accounts of the Battle of Hedgeley Moor and the opening moves in the Tynedale campaign. Driving on to the Linnels Bridge, John Sadler will detail the course of the fighting and give his reasons for rejecting the popular belief that the site of the Battle of Hexham was at Hexham Levels. At Swallowship Woods participants will leave their cars to follow a path down to the Devil’s Water, where there are caves and a ford over which, John believes, the Lancastrians fled.  Participants can then either return to their cars or walk back to Dilston via the banks of the Devil’s Water.  PLEASE NOTE THE WALKING IS QUITE ROUGH IN PLACES SO YOU WILL NEED TO COME EQUIPPED.
  
  
• Saturday 30 May – 2.00 pm
  THE WIDDRINGTONS, BARONS OF BLANKNEY, IN THE 17th and 18th CENTURIES
  Talk by Peter Hills
  Royalist, recusant and Jacobite, the history of this ancient Northumbrian family during this period was closely associated with the fortunes of the Stuarts.  The illustrated lecture will examine and discuss the Widdringtons’ family connections, their significance in local society and national events, concluding with the impact of the fateful participation in The Fifteen by the 4th Baron and his brothers.Peter Hills read History at Durham University.  Much of his career was spent teaching in Higher Education at the (now) University of York St. John, where he was Head of Historical Studies.  His specialism is late-Stuart and early-Georgian political history; and, since his retirement, he has been engaged in research into the Widdrington family.
  
  
• Friday 19 June
  OUTING to CHILLINGHAM CASTLE
  Hosted by the Friends of Chillingham Castle
  The outing will be by your own car or mini-bus, the latter depending on the number of Friends expressing an interest.  The day will begin with a Guided Tour of Chillingham Castle.  This will be followed by lunch, after which Friends can enjoy the gardens and visit St Peter’s Church.  At the end of the afternoon there will be a visit to a private garden in North Northumberland, which has connections with the Radcliffes.Chillingham Castle is the property of Sir Humphry Wakefield, Bart, who is married to the daughter of Lady Mary Grey, a direct descendant of Sir Ralph Grey, who died in 1443 and whose magnificent tomb can be seen in St Peter’s Church, nearby.  Chillingham has links with Dilston through Sir Francis Radcliffe who married Isabel Grey, a descendant of Sir Ralph Grey, c.1576.  The initials of Sir Francis and Isabel can be seen at Dilston on the gateway that led into the courtyard of Dilston Hall.  Their arms, displaying the Chillingham bull, can be seen above the east window of Dilston Chapel, on the outer wall.
  
  
• Times and details of this NPHT event to be announced
  COMITATUS ROMANO-BRITISH RE-ENACTMENT WEEKEND 
  Comitatus presents full living history interpretations from within an authentic tented encampment based on the craft skills of the legionaries and their families.  Rather than ‘battle re-enactment’, their field displays show authentic training based on manuals of the period, complete with Latin drill, missile competition, sharp weapons demonstration, combat sparring and, whenever possible, an opportunity for young members of the audience to experience things first-hand.
  
  
• Saturday 19 September – 2.00 pm
  AMELIA RADCLIFFE AND OTHER NINETEENTH-CENTURY IMPOSTERS
  Talk by Dr Rohan McWilliam
  Dr McWilliam’s talk is based on the content of his book of the same name, soon to be published.
  Dr McWilliam is Senior Lecturer in History at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
  
  
• Saturday 24 October – 2.00 pm
  THE PETRES, THE RADCLIFFES AND DILSTON
  Talk by Father Stewart Foster
  This talk will focus on the Petre archives as they affect the Radcliffes and include the removal of the body of James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater to the mortuary chapel at Thorndon Park, near Brentwood, Essex, in 1874. Father Foster is originally from Ingatestone, Essex, where the family seat of the Petre Family is open to the public. His present parish is in Brentwood, Essex, near Thorndon Hall, once another residence of the Petres.
  
• Saturday 5 December – 12 noon
  CHRISTMAS BUFFET LUNCH in Dilston Chapel
  
  
• BAFM EVENTS
  NORTH EAST CONFERENCE at Beamish – Sat 16 May
  NATIONIONAL CONFERENCE in York – Sat 24/Sun 25 October
  Our membership of BAFM (British Association of Friends of Museums) entitles all Friends of Historic Dilston to attend the above events, which must be booked.  Further details of the two conferences will be circulated, upon request - see Membership Renewal Form.  The information will be made available at the AGM or posted out with your Membership Card.

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