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.

FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2025 (EAST BOLDRE)

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

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

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.


FRIDAy 21 MARCH 2025 (EAST BOLDRE)

Spitfire: Hampshire’s Iconic Fighter Aeroplane

Paul Beaver returns to East Boldre Village Hall by popular demand, but with a new talk… and rather timely. 89 years ago, in March 1936, a brand new prototype fighter took to the skies on its maiden flight from Eastleigh. At the time those involved could not possibly have realised the significance of the event or how this mass produced aircraft would play a vitally important part in world history during WW2. Paul tells the story of Hampshire’s iconic Spitfire.


SATURDAY 5 APRIL 2025 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

RAF Old Sarum: A History in Peace & Wartime

Tim Cornish will be talking about the rich heritage of RAF Old Sarum, from its beginnings in 1917 to the modern day as an airfield for parachuting and general aviation. The airfield has played it’s part both in war & peacetime with a great amount of heroic, selfless & sad stories to tell, with many of the buildings constructed during that period remaining to this day.

The airfield site was designated as a Conservation Area in 2007 & as such this has helped to preserve it’s original WW1 Training Depot Station layout.


SATURDAY 2 AUGUST 2025 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

What Can We Learn from Pillboxes?


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Previous Events & Talks

2025
  • 1 February (Dibden Purlieu): Violette Szabo GC: Carve Her Name With Pride (Jeremy Prescott)
  • 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