HALH Symposium
Each year HALH organises a Symposium on Hertfordshire history, with a number of speakers, usually with a linking theme. The event normally takes place on the first or second Saturday in November. Local history societies from around the county have stalls where they sell their publications and display their latest research. The day is the highlight of the local history calendar in Hertfordshire, and is a great opportunity to hear local history experts, talk to fellow enthusiasts, and buy the latest publications. Coffee and tea are provided.
HALH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM 2021 Hertfordshire’s Waterways
The Symposium will take place on Saturday 20 November 2021 (NB not Saturday 13 November as originally published) at the Memorial Hall in Tewin, when we shall be looking at the rivers and waterways of the county – their natural history, the way they’ve influenced human settlement, and the role they’ve played in the development of industry and transport.
The programme for the symposium has yet to be finalised, but the topics could include the following:
• The campaigns to save our chalk streams and restore their wildlife habitats.
• The construction and impact of waterways such as the Grand Union Canal and Lee Navigation.
• The story behind the construction of the New River.
• The development and decline of the county’s watermills
• The waterside industries (brewing, malting, papermaking) and public utilities (water supply, sewage disposal).
• How streams and rivers were used to enhance country house estates.
• Recreation: fishing, wildfowling with hawks or guns, otter-hunting, narrow boating.
• Rivers as a source of food: fish, eels, lampreys, waterbirds, heronries, watercress.
• Water meadows and their management.
A booking form will be sent to members with the autumn edition of Herts Past & Present and will be available to download from this website a few weeks before the event.
HALH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM 2020
Because of the current pandemic, we had to alter our plans for the 2020 Symposium. Four of the talks which were due to be given at the Symposium were made available online via Zoom on Wednesday evenings during November.
Recent symposiums:
2015 Railways in Hertfordshire: their effect on the county
2016 Hertfordshire at War through the Centuries
2017 Women of Hertfordshire
2018 From Roman City to New Towns
2019 Landscape & Archaeology
Click here for a list of our past symposiums
Below: HALH Symposium November 2019
Each year HALH organises a Symposium on Hertfordshire history, with a number of speakers, usually with a linking theme. The event normally takes place on the first or second Saturday in November. Local history societies from around the county have stalls where they sell their publications and display their latest research. The day is the highlight of the local history calendar in Hertfordshire, and is a great opportunity to hear local history experts, talk to fellow enthusiasts, and buy the latest publications. Coffee and tea are provided.
HALH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM 2021 Hertfordshire’s Waterways
The Symposium will take place on Saturday 20 November 2021 (NB not Saturday 13 November as originally published) at the Memorial Hall in Tewin, when we shall be looking at the rivers and waterways of the county – their natural history, the way they’ve influenced human settlement, and the role they’ve played in the development of industry and transport.
The programme for the symposium has yet to be finalised, but the topics could include the following:
• The campaigns to save our chalk streams and restore their wildlife habitats.
• The construction and impact of waterways such as the Grand Union Canal and Lee Navigation.
• The story behind the construction of the New River.
• The development and decline of the county’s watermills
• The waterside industries (brewing, malting, papermaking) and public utilities (water supply, sewage disposal).
• How streams and rivers were used to enhance country house estates.
• Recreation: fishing, wildfowling with hawks or guns, otter-hunting, narrow boating.
• Rivers as a source of food: fish, eels, lampreys, waterbirds, heronries, watercress.
• Water meadows and their management.
A booking form will be sent to members with the autumn edition of Herts Past & Present and will be available to download from this website a few weeks before the event.
HALH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM 2020
Because of the current pandemic, we had to alter our plans for the 2020 Symposium. Four of the talks which were due to be given at the Symposium were made available online via Zoom on Wednesday evenings during November.
- Helen Fry, ‘Trent Park: Home of the Secret Listeners’
- Alistair Hodgson, ‘Salisbury Hall and the de Havilland Aircraft company’
- Roger Yapp, ‘Poles Apart: The story of Barnes Lodge, Kings Langley in World War 2’
- Des Turner, ‘The Special Operations Executive (SOE) at Aston House, the Frythe, Briggens and The Thatched Barn’
Recent symposiums:
2015 Railways in Hertfordshire: their effect on the county
2016 Hertfordshire at War through the Centuries
2017 Women of Hertfordshire
2018 From Roman City to New Towns
2019 Landscape & Archaeology
Click here for a list of our past symposiums
Below: HALH Symposium November 2019