Spring Lecture & AGM “English Orchards, a Landscape History” by Gerry Barnes

Date/Time
Date(s) - 06/03/2025
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Location
Leicester Bowling Club


Old orchards have an irresistible appeal.  Their ancient trees and obscure fruit varieties seem to provide a direct link with the lost world of our ancestors, a time when the pace of life was slower, and people had a strong and intimate connection with their local environment.  They are also of critical importance for sustaining biodiversity, providing habitats for a range of wildlife.

Dr Gerry Barnes, our speaker, was Norfolk County Council’s Environment Manager and was made an MBE in 2012 for services to Forestry and Communities.  He has a Master’s degree in Forestry from Oxford University and a PhD in Landscape History from the University of East Anglia. He has held a number of external positions including Chair of the Forestry Commission’s Regional Advisory committee for Eastern England.

With Professor Tom Williamson he has added 5,000 trees to the Ancient Tree Inventory, a record and map of the ancient trees of the UK. He has also co-authored a number of books with Tom Williamson, including Ancient Trees in the Landscape, Orchards of Eastern England and most recently English Orchards: A Landscape History.

Of the latest book, a reviewer said “Blending erudite landscape history and ecology with a perceptive eye for heritage and environmental issues, this book provides a superb overview of a neglected feature of our historic environment. It fully deserves the wide readership that it will doubtless receive.”  Worcestershire Recorder 13/10/2022

Dr Gerry Barnes comes to us recommended by his co-author, Professor Williamson, who some of you will remember, spoke to us at a Hoby Tea.

This should be an interesting evening.

The lecture will be followed by the usual tea/coffee and cake. 
Please let Alison (07425138814) know if you can bake a cake for this meeting.

Guests welcome £3.00

Annual General Meeting

The short AGM was very successful last year and we will repeat it this year.. To facilitate this you can down load and read the various AGM reports before the meeting if you wish.

  1. Apologies
  2. Minutes of AGM, 23rd March 2024
  3. Matters arising
  4. Chairman’s Report
  5. Treasurer’s and Membership Report 
  6. Education Report 
  7. Events’ Secretary’s Report
  8. Research Group Report 
  9. Election of Officers
  10. Any Other Business: