Historical Society

Olveston Parish Historical Society

 

The society was formed in 1966 to "promote interest in the history of Olveston and the surrounding areas and to collect and preserve documentary and photographic records". The Society meets at the Methodist Hall on the first Wednesday of each month from October to April with guest speakers on topics as diverse as The Severn Channel during the Ice Age and Concorde. In the summer months we usually have two or three field trips, often following up talks given during the previous winter. Visitors are always welcomed and, more often than not, recruited.

Use the menu buttons on the left hand side (under Historical Society) to find out more about:

  • the history and historic buildings of Olveston Parish
  • the Society's publications
  • and various local historical organisations.

This photo shows some OPHS members taking part in a historical walk around Aust, guided by Society Archivist, Eric Garrett.

OPHS trip to Aust 

Contact details for Olveston Parish Historical Society

  • Chairman of Society, principal contact and holder of the society's publications:  Les Harper  01454 612304
  • Society Archivist:  Eric Garrett  01454 613019
  • Programme bookings for 2010/11:  Jenny & Richard Newley  01454 202011   

 

Our programme for October 2010 - April 2011 will be shown here when it is available.  In the meantime, the 2009 -2010 programme below will give you a flavour of the kind of talks we have.

Olveston Parish Historical Society Programme: Oct 2009 - April 2010   

All events are held at the Methodist Hall, The Street, Olveston at 7.30pm, unless otherwise indicated.  Members are welcome to bring friends who may be interested in joining the Society.                                                          

Wed. 7th Oct 2009

The Society's AGM, followed by the showing of a DVD of local interest. 

Wed. 4th Nov. 2009

Jonathan Foster on eccentric Gloucestershire inventor Harry Grindell Matthews, who built a prototype mobile telephone and a "death ray" in the 1920s.

Wed. 2nd Dec. 2009

Local historian Tony Cherry on "The Changing Face of Thornbury High Street".

Wed. 6th Jan. 2010

Speaker prevented from attending due to snow.  Screening of a DVD about Bristol's experience in WWII.

Wed. 3rd Feb. 2010

Paul Barnett has been cataloguing and learning the history of the barges and other vessels now used to shore up the riverside bank of the Sharpness Canal. His talk about them is called "Fore and Aft: The Purton Hulks Graveyard".

Sat. 13th Mar. 2010

An exhibition at the Parish Hall, Tockington, to celebrate 100 years since the founding of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, with books and other exhibits illustrating the local involvement in the aviation industry.

Wed. 7th Apr. 2010

Professor Simon Haslett from the University of Wales, Newport, talking about "The Somerset Tsunami". This enormous tidal wave or surge, which occurred in 1607, was very destructive on both sides of the Bristol Channel.

Following up Paul Barnett's February talk on the Purton Hulks, OPHS members visited the hulks, with Paul as a guide, in May.  This was one of our two field trips this year.

OPHS Visit to Purton Hulks