Events & talks

Below you can find details of the latest guest speaker talks and events planned at East Boldre Village Hall. This historic building was built in 1917/18 as part of the Royal Flying Corps training airfield during WW1. It has a stunning stage, large hall, and various rooms including displays about the local airfields.

SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2025 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

Violette Szabo GC: Carve Her Name With Pride

SOLD OUT

Jeremy Prescott tells the story of SOE agent Violette Szabo. It’s an inspirational story of bravery, her motivation to be selected by the SOE, the training involved including her time at Beaulieu, missions into France, capture by the Germans, her imprisonment and eventual execution in Ravensbruck concentration camp.

FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2025 (EAST BOLDRE)

Wings Over the Forest: The New Forest’s Aviation Pioneers

SOLD OUT

The New Forest has a rich aviation history; from the early dreamers and inventors, to the pioneers of Great War aircraft. This presentation explores the innovative spirit of those magnificent men and their flying machines. Marc Heighway presents tales of adventure, bravery, sacrifice, plus many strange inventions that didn’t quite take flight.

SATURDAy 1 MARCH 2025 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

HMS Agamemnon: Navigating the Legend

Tickets will go on sale to email subscribers the month before.

Mary Montagu-Scott tells the story of Lord Nelson’s favourite ship, the HMS Agamemnon, which was built and launched in 1781 from Buckler’s Hard in the New Forest. After a 28-year naval service record, including the Battle of Trafalgar, the ship was wrecked off the coast of Uruguay in 1809.

Mary, a keen sailor and diver, recently returned from diving on the wreck of the ship. She was part of a team of maritime archaeologists from the UK and Uruguay who sought to record and preserve the wreck and its legacy. Despite the odds, the wreck, built from 17th-century Beaulieu oak trees, has survived under the sea and remains the only surviving Buckler’s Hard-built ship in the world.

The talk will also touch on the six Royal Navy ships named Agamemnon, including the recently launched Astute-class hunter-killer nuclear submarine.

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Previous Events & Talks

2025
  • 17 January (East Boldre): Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot (Paul Beaver)
  • 4 January (Dibden Purlieu): Wings Over the Forest: The New Forest’s Aviation Pioneers (Marc Heighway)
2024
  • 21 December (Dibden Purlieu): A Tale of Two Extraordinary British Agents (Peter Power)
  • 7 December (Dibden Purlieu): Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in the Burma Campaign (Jack Bowsher)
  • 23 November (Dibden Purlieu): Battle Over the Forest (Richard Reeves)
  • 15 November (East Boldre): A Tale of Two Extraordinary British Agents (Peter Power)
  • 2 November (Dibden Purlieu): Southampton’s Darkest Hour: The Blitz (Andy Skinner)
  • 18 October (East Boldre): LCT 7074: Saving D-Day’s Last Landing Craft Tank (Stephen Fisher)
  • 5 October (Dibden Purlieu): History of RAF Beaulieu (Marc Heighway)
  • 20 September (East Boldre): The Beaulieu River at War (Marc Heighway)
  • 7 September (Dibden Purlieu): The Beaulieu River at War (Marc Heighway)
  • 17 August (Dibden Purlieu): The EIGHTH Aircrew (Colin van Geffen)
  • 3 August (Dibden Purlieu): SOE: The Secret Saboteurs of WW2 (Peter Power)
  • 6 July (Dibden Purlieu): Sword Beach: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Forgotten Victory (Stephen Fisher)
  • 14 June (East Boldre): SOE: The Secret Saboteurs of WW2 (Peter Power)
  • 1 June (Dibden Purlieu): The Waterside at War (Marc Heighway)
  • 17 May (East Boldre): The New Forest Auxiliary Units: aka Churchill’s Secret Army (Will Ward)
  • 19 April (East Boldre): Stoney Cross: From Gliders to Lightning Strikes (Simon Daniels)
  • 6 April (Dibden Purlieu): The Logistical Build-Up to D-Day (Chris Barrington Brown)
  • 16 March (East Boldre): The Logistical Build-Up to D-Day (Chris Barrington Brown)
  • 10 March (Dibden Purlieu): Needs Oar Point: A Story Rarely Told (Marc Heighway)
  • 16 February (East Boldre): Needs Oar Point: A Story Rarely Told (Marc Heighway)
  • 19 January (East Boldre): My Flying Boat War (Richard Hodgkinson)

2023
  • 15 December (East Boldre): History of RAF Beaulieu (Marc Heighway)
  • 17 November (East Boldre): The Jutland Survivor in Portsmouth Harbour (Stephen Fisher)
  • 20 October (East Boldre): History of RAF Beaulieu (Marc Heighway)
  • 15 September (East Boldre): Remember the Regulars (Chris Kolonko-Weet)
  • 16 June (East Boldre): An Evening on the Home Front (Dale Johnson, Marc Heighway, Pete Harrod, & John Wareham)
  • 19 May (East Boldre): Building Spitfires Without a Factory (Alan Matlock)
  • 21 April (East Boldre): Southampton: From Blitz to D-Day (Jake Simpkin)
  • 17 March (East Boldre): Calshot: The RNAS Years (Colin van Geffen)
  • 17 February (East Boldre): The Lumberjills: Britain’s Forgotten Army (Joanna Foat)
  • 20 January (East Boldre): Special Operations Executive & The Beaulieu Finishing School (Nick Saunders)
2022
  • 14 October (East Boldre): The Road to Victory: Preparing for D-Day on the South Coast (Stephen Fisher)
  • 2 to the 5 of June (East Boldre): RAF Beaulieu History Exhibition over 3 days