Glossop Guild for enquiring minds
Spring Programme of
Venue Based Courses
January 2026 ~ March 2026
Not All General Melchetts - A Reappraisal of the British Expeditionary Force 1914-1918
2 Monday Evening Lectures
Tutor: Dr William Mitchinson
2 Monday evenings 12 & 19th January 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 7.30 pm ~ 9.30 pm
Fee: £13 Members, Non-members £16
A perception (as acted by Stephen Fry’s character of General Melchett in Blackadder Goes Forth) is that the British Army during the Great War was commanded by inept butchers and bunglers has persisted since the 1950s. In his two lectures, Bill Mitchinson will explain how and why this traditional view has in the last 40 years been critically challenged. With some reference to Glossop’s Territorial Force battalion he will re-examine the argument in an attempt to disprove the accepted assumption of systemic incompetence and abject operational failure. He will argue that rather than being led by unimaginative and conservatively-minded ‘chateaux generals’ the British Expeditionary Force evolved into an efficient war-fighting organisation commanded by a meritocracy of senior officers who were unafraid to innovate or to take operational risk.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France 1939-1940
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An Introduction to Album Cover Art Part 1
Monday Evening Lecture
Tutor: Gina Gregory
Monday 26th January 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 7.30 pm ~ 9.30 pm
Fee: £7 Members, Non-members £10
Although sound is an essential element of popular music, a great album cover can often become inseparable from the music it represents. From the fold-out gatefolds of the vinyl era to pull-out liner notes in CD cases, cover art has changed over time and the advent of streaming album cover art has threatened its existence. However, prior to MTV and the introduction of pop videos, album design was a key medium for artists to engage fans visually. Images on record sleeves acted as both a sales pitch and an artistic statement, contributing significantly to legendary status. The course looks at the history of sleeve design through a study of iconic and sometimes controversial examples from the 1940s to more recent examples from the 1960s onwards. If you are a music fan and enjoy looking at album covers, this course will deepen your knowledge and enable you to gain skills of visual analysis.
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Please note Part 2 of this course will be given in the autumn term.
Tales of a Dry Stone Waller
2 Tuesday Afternoon Lectures
Tutor: Sally Hodgson
2 Tuesday afternoons 20th & 27th January 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 2.00 pm ~ 4.00 pm
Fee: £13 Members, Non-members £16
In the first session Sally will give a talk about her trip to Canada and Nunavut (in the Arctic Archipelago). She will discuss her observations on living and working with the Inuit. Paying particular attention to the Inuit’s unique culture, Sally will explain the difficulties that have to be faced on a daily basis when living in such extreme conditions. All this was made possible as Sally's sister is also a dry stone waller but lives in Quebec.
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In the second session Sally will move closer to home to tell us about her Scottish adventures. This will include a tour of some of the Scottish islands, their history, nature, wildlife and of course “stone stuff”.
Battle of Lake Naroch
Tuesday Evening Lecture
Tutor: Frank Pleszak
Tuesday 10th February 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 7.30 pm ~ 9.30 pm
Fee: £7 Members, Non-members £10
Frank is known to the Guild for his interesting talks on some of the lesser known events in both world wars. His presentations usually hold a personal interest for him. This session is no exception, as the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Naroch approaches. The Battle of Naroch was a significant turning point on the Eastern Front during WW1 but very little is known about the battle.
Frank’s father was from near Lake Naroch and was exiled to Siberia by Stalin in 1940. He was eventually released, joined the famous Anders Army and settled in Manchester, but was never allowed to return to his place of birth. After his death Frank’s family were able to contact relatives and return some of his ashes to the town of Naroch.
Whilst in the cemetery at Naroch Frank noticed a huge and spectacular monument to the German fallen at the battle. On his return home, he obtained Russian and German documents and was amazed to find out about the massive, brutal, and significant battle that had taken place there
In this session Frank will reveal the story.
German prisoners of war taken near Naroch lake
Dutch Masters 1
2 Thursday Afternoon Lectures
Tutor: Frank Vigon
Thursday 12th & 19th February 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 2.00 pm ~ 4.00 pm
Fee: Members £13, Non-members £16
Session 1 Bruegel (1525-69) ‘Man of the People’
In this first session, Frank will discuss Bruegel, one of the leading Flemish artists of his day who paved the way for the Dutch masters of the 17th century. His works observe and comment on the appearance and behaviour of the ordinary people thereby giving us an insight into everyday life.
Session 2 Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516 ‘Bish, bash, bosch’
Bosch will be studied in this second session when Frank will look at his central themes of sin and the resultant damnation, shown through the artist’s bewildering detail and imagery.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peasant Wedding,
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Jerome in the Wilderness -
The Inevitable Rise of Reform UK?
Tuesday Evening Lecture
Tutor: Professor Andrew Russell
Tuesday 17th February 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 7.30 pm ~ 9.30 pm
Fee: £7 Members, Non-members £10
In December 2019 Nigel Farage announced that the Brexit Party would be transformed into Reform UK. At the June 2024 general election it secured support from 14.3 per cent of voters, albeit securing only five MPs. By autumn 2025 it has also secured seats in the Welsh Senedd, the Scottish Parliament, as well as controlling a dozen local authorities, not least Derbyshire. More strikingly, it has been leading the opinion polls for the last months, seemingly with a chance of securing power.
In this session Andrew will explore the sources of support for Reform UK, its electoral prospects in Britain, including at the upcoming elections in Wales and Scotland. Can it maintain its momentum? How will it fare in our first-past-the-post election system? And what are the implications for the other parties, especially the Conservatives? Might the next General Election even come down to a contest between Reform UK and the Greens?
Nigel Farage
Owain Davies, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lord of the Flies
Saturday Film Day
Tutors: Alan Sennett & Creina Mansfield
Saturday 21st February 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 10.30 am ~ 3.30 pm
Fee: Members £25, Non-members £32.50
As provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, Lord of the Flies continues to ignite passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary boys marooned on a coral island has been labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, and even a vision of the apocalypse. But above all, it has earned its place as one of the indisputable classics of the twentieth century for readers of any age.
Adventures in African Archaeology
2 Monday Afternoon Lectures
Tutor: Kevin Harrison
Monday 23rd February & 2nd March 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 2.0 pm ~ 4.00 pm
Fee: Members £13, Non-members £16
The Tomb of Tutankhamen and the 'mummy's curse':
In November 1922, after many years of searching, Howard Carter discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamen. This is a tale of grinding hard work which led to the most impressive archaeological discovery in history. A pharaoh that was barely known at the start of 1922 was the most well-known Egyptian ruler by the end of the year. Carter and Lord Carnarvon, were his financial backer, the most well-known archaeologists in Egypt. Carter invented excavation techniques and new methods of preservation, but was later dogged by controversy and the famous ‘curse of Tutankhamen’.
Great Zimbabwe and 'King Soloman's Mines':
Abandoned for over 200 years, the ancient stone works of Great Zimbabwe were unknown to European explorers until the late 1800s. Visions of gold and glory encouraged archaeologists and adventurers alike to seek King Solomon's Mines and the home of the Queen of Sheba associated with these ruins. A German, Karl Mauch, arrived, in 1871 and on seeing the ruins, he concluded that Great Zimbabwe was most certainly not the handiwork of Africans. The legends of Solomon and Sheba were true ... or were they?
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An adult human skull uncovered beneath a stone cairn at the Hafun West archaeological site during the 1976 British Institute in Eastern Africa excavation in Somalia.
British Institute in Eastern Africa, CC BY 4.0
Dutch Masters 2
3 Tuesday Evening Lectures
Tutor: Frank Vigon
Tuesday 24th February & 3rd & 10th March 2026
The Masonic Hall, 14 Henry Street,
Glossop. SK13 8BW
7.30pm ~ 9.30 pm
Fee: £19.00 Members, Non-members £23.00
Session 1 Van der Weyden 1339-1464 ‘Master of the North’
Van der Weyden set the standard by which others are judged, he is famous for his altar pieces and in particular ‘Descent from the Cross’, in which the new medium of oils brings his figures to life. Frank will discuss his mastery at depicting human emotion and how his work had a profound effect on the course of art throughout history.
Session 2 Jan Steen (1629-1679) ‘Double Dutch’
In this session, Frank will discuss Steen’s lively, crowded, colourful paintings full of characters with lifelike facial expressions and explain the symbolism within these happy scenes.
Session 3 Van Ecyk (1340-1441) ‘Realism’
Van Ecyk was a key exponent of Netherlands art and oil painting. One of the first painters to portray the merchant class and bourgeoise, Frank will explain how these paintings reflect their differing priorities in life.
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Jan Steen
Portrait of a Lady
by Rogier van der Weyden
Braudouin de Lannoy by Jan van Eych 1390 - 1441
Europe Under Threat?
2 Monday Evening Lectures
Tutor: Professor Simon Bulmer
Monday 16th & 23rd March 2026
Bradbury Community Centre, Market Street,
Glossop, SK13 8AR 7.30 pm ~ 9.30 pm
Fee: £13 Members, Non-members £16
The end of the Cold War in 1989/90 seemed to herald a new era of peace in Europe and cordial relations amongst the superpowers. The American scholar Francis Fukuyama referred in 1989 to the ‘end of history’: an end to the clash of political ideologies, with liberal democracy triumphant. Moving forward to 2025, however, we are faced with a completely different era. Three major challenges face Europe: the rise of China and its impact on the European economy; Russian President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with its destruction of the post-cold war security framework; and the second term of President Trump that has introduced its own wrecking-ball to the fundamentals of international trade and diplomacy. Can Europe/the European Union/post-Brexit Britain survive?
In two sessions Simon Bulmer will attempt to trace the origins of these challenges as well as assessing how fit Europe is to respond to them.
Berlin wall 1990