From September to April each year the Society arranges a series of talks held in Fowey, Bodinnick and Polruan. These are open to all and Members have free entry, (£10 for non members).
To join, or to renew your Membership for 2025/26, please contact Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
The programme of talks for 2025/26 is as follows;
All on Saturdays at 2pm.
13 Sept. "The Influential Country Houses of Cornwall". Speaker: Dr Patrick Newberry. Venue: Whitecross Village Hall.
11 Oct. "The St. Aubyn Family's Place in Cornish History". Speaker: Nicholas St. Aubyn. Venue: Squires Field Hall.
1 Nov. "Discovering the Ashleigh Mineral Collection". Speaker: Tom Cotterell. Venue: Fowey Town Hall.
13 Dec. "From Lostwithiel to the Sea. A Voyage Rediscovering my Old Patch". Speaker: Captain Mike Sutherland. Venue: Fowey Town Hall.
17 Jan. "Stories Behind the Cornwall Memory Game". Speaker: Merryn Threadgold. Venue: Polruan Village Hall.
21 Feb. "Arthur's Hall. A Foweymore Conundrum". Speaker: Peter Herring. Venue: Fowey Town Hall.
14 Mar. "A Headland Through Time - The Archaeology of St. Catherine's Point and Covington Wood". Speaker: James Gossip. Venue: Fowey Town Hall.
17 Apr. "Photographs from your Family Albums". Speaker: Alex Lewis. Venue: Fowey Town Hall
The Influential Country Houses of Cornwall - A Talk by Dr Patrick Newbury FRSA
Date/Time: 13 September, 2025
Venue: Whitecross Village Hall
Cost: Free for members. Non members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or FHHSociety@gmail.com
Cornwall's country houses are superb pieces of architectural history and a visual delight in their own right. Author of "The Country Houses of Cornwall" Dr Patrick Newbury takes us on an appraisal of of Cornwall's well known country seats and some lesser known examples and highlights their impact on wider British architecture.
The St Aubyn Family's Place in Cornish History - A Talk by Nicholas St Aubyn
Date/Time: 11 October 2025
Venue: Squires Field Community Centre, Fowey
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or FHHSociety@gmail.com
Follow the journey of the St Aubyn family, surviving through love, war and intrigue from 1066 to the present day and learn how the St Aubyns fashioned St Michael’s Mount over four centuries. Meet Sir John, Ross Poldark’s “real life equivalent”, whose love and marriage to a farmer’s daughter shocked Cornwall. Discover Ann Basset, the cousin who nearly became Henry VIII’s sixth wife. And how brother turned on brother in the civil war battle near Fowey.
Discovering the Rashleigh Mineral Collection - A Talk by Tom Cotterell
Date/Time: 1 November 2025
Venue: Fowey Town Hall
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 at the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
Former museum mineralogy curator Tom Cotterell, takes an overview of The Philip Rashleigh (1729-1811) Mineral Collection. How one man who rejected science produced the ultimate scientific collection of minerals. The Rashleigh Collection is a uniquely important historical resource and significant part of the Royal Cornwall Museum’s mineral collection, which is rooted in Cornwall's mining and engineering heritage.
From Lostwithiel to the Sea. A Voyage Discovering my Old Patch by Captain Mike Sutherland.
Date/Time: 13 December 2025
Venue: Fowey Town Hall
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
Captain Mike Sutherland, Retired Fowey Harbour Master.
We are blessed with having a beautiful estuary and for 25 years Mike was responsible for its management and organisation.
Starting at Lostwithiel, Mike takes us 7 miles down the estuary and up the Pills and Creeks to the harbour mouth highlighting points of interest and some of the history behind the harbour and its surrounds. Included will some of the projects that have shaped the estuary in that time.
He will also give a quick overview of the website www.Foweyharbourhistory.com where he records the harbour’s history in depth.
Stories behind the Cornwall Memory Game - A Talk by Merryn Threadgould
Date/Time: 17 January 2026
Venue: Polruan Village Hall
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
Merryn Threadgould returns to talk us through another hand picked selection of Cornish nuggets mined from the rich history of the Duchy. From the most interesting mine to lockdown graffiti and a poor mans soup this talk never fails to engage the senses, including laughter.
Arthur’s Hall, a Foweymore conundrum - A Talk by Peter Herring
Date/Time: 21 February 2026
Venue: Fowey Town Hall
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
Recent investigations of (King) Arthur’s Hall in St Breward on Foweymore (aka Bodmin Moor) have produced three scientific dates for the construction and use of the site. They are startling and intriguing and they open up interesting possibilities for our understanding of life on the Moor and in Cornwall in early and late prehistory, and in the Middle Ages. Peter Herring is President of the Cornwall Archaeological Society.
A Headland Through Time - The Archaeology of St Catherine’s Point and Covington Wood
Date/Time: 14 March 2026
Venue: Fowey Town Hall
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
Over two thousand years ago St Catherine’s Point was home to a defended promontory fort, or cliff castle, keeping a watchful eye on trading vessels as they approached the River Fowey estuary. Making use of its strategic position on a rocky headland to the south of Fowey it later saw use as a probable medieval castle, a medieval chapel, a fort built by Henry VIII, the site of the William Rashleigh mausoleum and a WWII coastal defence battery.
This talk by James Gossip FSA will look at how, using sometimes limited archaeological evidence, we can chronicle the varied history of St Catherine’s Point and Covington Wood over 2000 years of change. James is Senior Archaeologist at the Cornwall Archaeological Unit.
Photographs from your Family Albums, curated and presented by Alex Lewis
Date/Time: 17 April 2026
Venue: Fowey Town Hall
Cost: Free for Members. Non Members will be charged £10 on the door.
Contact: All enquiries to Hon. Sec. Kath Pearce on 07977 572268 or email FHHSociety@gmail.com
Commemorating 200 years since the first permanent photograph was made, Alex Lewis will be offering a window into times past by showing a selection of old photographs from private family collections. We know the stories behind some, others not, but all are utterly fascinating.
