Join members of Cambridge Society of North and West Yorkshire for a lecture with guest speaker Dr Paul Jennings, followed by lunch and their AGM. The event will be at the Harrogate Club, by kind invitation of John and Alison Harris.

About the speaker - Dr Paul Jennings

Paul Jennings read History and Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge from 1974-77, at Emmanuel College. He taught for many years in university adult education, particularly at the University of Bradford, but also for Leeds University, the OU and the WEA. He has researched and published on the history of drink and drinking places, principally The Public House in Bradford, 1770-1970 (1995), The Local: A History of the English Pub (3rd edition 2021) and A History of Drink and the English 1500-2000 (2016). Working-Class Lives In Edwardian Harrogate (2021) is his latest book.

Talk title: Working class lives in Edwardian Harrogate

Edwardian Harrogate was a nationally and internationally renowned spa resort. It was also an important regional shopping centre and permanent home to an affluent middle-class population. But both townspeople and visitors could not have enjoyed their pleasures and comforts without the labours of its working class. It is those people, hitherto neglected in studies of resort towns, who form the subject of this talk: the servants, laundry workers, hotel staffs, shop assistants, builders, cabmen, railway workers and the rest who kept the town going. It explores particularly their work and how they made ends meet but also looks at the homes and neighbourhoods in which they lived, their family lives, schooldays, pastimes and religion.

AGM

A short AGM will be held before the talk. The final agenda for the AGM will be available on the day and will include the Chairman’s report, the Treasurer’s report and the election of Officers.

Timings: 
Gather from 11:00 for tea/coffee
11.30 AGM
12:00 Paul Jennings: “Working class lives in Edwardian Harrogate,” followed by Q&A
13.00 Lunch