News
Geology of the Quantock Hills and Building Stones
A talk by Garry Dawson A packed house heard Garry’s fascinating talk about the geological history and building stones of the Quantock Hills. When Garry retired, he offered his services as a volunteer at SW Heritage Trust. He was invited to carry out a survey of the...
James Date Pioneer Photographer of Watchet
A talk by Paul Upton Paul Upton gave the second talk of the Winter Season in the Library on 9th October when the subject was James Date, Watchet’s first professional photographer. Apart from the engraving that Turner made following his 1811 visit to the town, there...
Old Time Smuggling
A talk by Mark Bullen Mark Bullen launched our new season’s series of evening talks with an amusing insight into the history of old time smuggling in the eighteenth century. For a start, he informed us that an image like this is misleading as such a ship would have...
Distant Worlds
Distant Worlds A talk by Matt Lodge Gas giants, water worlds, lava worlds, and worlds like ours—where are these worlds, and what are they? These are exoplanets, planets that revolve around distant stars light-years beyond our solar system. Matt Lodge, an...
SSAFA – The Armed Forces Charity
A talk by Mike Hodson The work of the Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Airman’s Families Association was the subject of Mike Hodson's talk in the Library on March 13th. As a former soldier, Mike felt it was important for us to understand the way of life of military personnel...
Changing Faces of Landscape and Country Life Through Paintings
A talk by Terry Sackett Terry Sackett gave the February Evening Talk in the Library, taking us on a journey through the changing faces of landscape and country life as seen through paintings. Quite extraordinarily, there was almost no interest in landscape painting...
Brain Peaks
A talk by Angela Patmore Angela Patmore is a former international Fulbright Scholar with a first class honours degree in English and an MA from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. As a UEA environmental sciences research fellow she analysed the clinical...
Caves of the Cheddar Catchment
A talk by Peter Glanvill The Rushing Water and the Frozen Deep Peter Glanvill, who has been caving for over 50 years, visited the Library on 11th October to tell us about the cave systems beneath the Mendip Hills. We were treated to countless illustrations as he...
Quantock U3a Local History Group
Visit Nether Stowey on 17th April 2023 A group of 14 people from the recently formed Quantock U3a Local History Group visited the village on the afternoon of 17th April for a "walk through time". The group assembled at The Thomas Poole Library, where Roger Stacey gave...
Somerset Historic Environment Record
Somerset Historic Environment Record (HER) Our application At a Management Committee meeting in March 2022, it was noted that The Thomas Poole Library would have the requirements needed to be added to the Local Heritage List. A nomination form was completed and sent...