/

Lecture Programme

All our lectures commence at 10.45 am coffee is available from 10.00 a.m.

09September Wednesday
Lecture Programme

National Treasures: Saving London’s Museums and Galleries in WWII – Caroline Shenton

Time: Wednesday, 9 September 2026 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
This is the gripping and sometimes hilarious story of how a band of heroic curators and eccentric custodians saved Britain’s national heritage during our Darkest Hour. As Hitler’s forces gathered on the other side of the Channel to threaten these islands, men and women from London’s national museums, galleries and archives forged extraordinary plans to […]
Details Free
14October Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Canal History and Heritage – Roger Butler

Time: Wednesday, 14 October 2026 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular. Features range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to ‘Roses and Castles’ artwork; from grand World Heritage Sites to quirky listed buildings. A […]
Details Free
11November Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Drawn from life: The Extraordinary Art and Life of Augustus John – David Haycock

Time: Wednesday, 11 November 2026 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
When Augustus John died in 1961 he was described in The New York Times as ‘the grand old man of British painting and one of the greatest in British history.’ He was only in his mid twenties when, in the early 1900s, he was widely acknowledged as one of the most talented and promising young British artists […]
Details Free
09December Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Opium: Seduction, Greed, Art – Amanda Herries

Time: Wednesday, 9 December 2026 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
The source of the stuff of dreams, the poppy is a beautiful, fragile flower with immense power. Opium (from the greek ‘opion’ – poppy juice) is a hypnotic bringer of sleep, delightful lethargy and relief from pain. It is also highly addictive. Greed led to the introduction of this hugely desirable substance first to China, and then to Europe. […]
Details Free
13January Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Bloomsbury Group: The art of Vanessa Redgrave – Julia Musgrave

Time: Wednesday, 13 January 2027 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
Avant-garde painter, designer, decorator, inspired colourist, mother and muse, Vanessa Bell was the warm heart of the Bloomsbury Group, a set who Dorothy Parker once described as “living in squares and loving in triangles”. Navigating the tides of sexual and artistic revolution with tolerance, irreverence and wit she had a central role in the social […]
Details Free
10February Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Can Computers Cry? Art touches human emotion which machines cannot feel – Justin Reay

Time: Wednesday, 10 February 2027 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
Art of all kinds can touch us and make us respond, often beyond the expectation of the artist. Happiness, sadness, pity, compassion, a spiritual uplifting, curiosity, all human emotions which even the most sophisticated digital programming will never match. Justin demonstrates how art arises from human imagination to feed our emotions, and discusses the difference […]
Details Free
10March Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Impressionist Music and Art – Peter Medhurst

Time: Wednesday, 10 March 2027 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
As the word ‘impressionism’ was first used in painting as a term of abuse, so the first recorded use of the word in connection with music – in 1887 regarding Debussy’s Printemps – was derogatory as well.  However, by 1905, the term was applied frequently to musical compositions and it was Debussy himself who maintained that music […]
Details Free
12May Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Treasures of the Silk Road: The Art of Asia and beyond – Chris Bradley

Time: Wednesday, 12 May 2027 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
The Silk Road extends over 8,000 kms from China through Central Asia to the Mediterranean. The route acted as a highway for beliefs, ideas, inventions and art, whilst silk was just one of the many valuable commodities traded for 1,400 years. With the Greek invasion by Alexander the Great, early Persian routes spread east towards […]
Details Free
09June Wednesday
Lecture Programme

The Divine Sunflower in Art and Culture – Twigs Way

Time: Wednesday, 9 June 2027 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
Worshipped by Aesthetes and cultivated by Impressionists the sunflower casts its golden rays across art and culture. A personification of the divine and the regal, we trace its history from classical myth to twentieth century painting via Van Dyck and Van Gogh, Clytie and Klimt, Monet, Rivera, Wilde and Watts.  Green and gold, human and […]
Details Free
08September Wednesday
Lecture Programme

Climbing Great Buildings – Jonathan Foyle

Time: Wednesday, 8 September 2027 10:45 am - 12:00 pm / Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston PR5 0UL
In 2010, a BBC series Climbing Great Buildings featured 15 of Britain’s greatest landmarks over the last 1,000 years. It was presented by the speaker, who reviews the selection and shares the secrets found in carved and structural details that are often invisible from ground level, but which tell a fuller story of some of the […]
Details Free

Quick Links

Our Location

Garner Hotel, Samlesbury, Preston New Road, Preston
PR5 0UL

Newsletter

Sign up today to know about special events and more!

© The Arts Society Samlesbury All Rights Reserved

The Arts Society Samlesbury is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (514394).

Feedback
Feedback
Please tell us what do you thought of our previous lecture(s), any kind of feedback is highly appreciated.
Next
Please enter your email address
Back
Submit
Thank you for submitting your feedback!