Selection of events happening in Swanage and the surrounding area.
Son of A Spy
My father kept escaping as POW and later became a ‘diplomat’ -but I should have known more about his clandestine operations as well as being a youngster in Communist countries during the Cold War.
Catholic Church Hall
7:30pm Friday, 25th April 2025, Light Refreshments
Price: £4 (£3 Swanage Museum members)
A talk by Mike Randall:
Fellowship College Preceptors – LCP, BA (Hon)
Contributor to ‘Family Tree Magazine’
Retracing Purbeck: Then and Now
An Exhibition exploring Purbeck’s past and present, combining historic paintings from Swanage Museum and History Centre, alongside new interpretations of the same view by contemporary landscape artist Jessamy Hawke.
Civil War and Author
This presentation by Neil McLocklin
“The English Civil War – local people and places
Building upon Neil McLocklin’s previous talk, with the publication of his second book A Nation Beheaded, the talk will continue the story of the Bankes and other local families and places at this traumatic and transforming time in English history”.
Catholic Church Hall
7:30pm Friday, 30th May 2025, Light Refresments
Price: £4 (£3 Swanage Museum members)
Corfe Castle
Events and ‘goings-on’ at Corfe Castle that many guide books won’t reveal.
Hear some of the secrets of this wonderful and iconic castle that make it such a well-loved place to visit.
Catholic Church Hall
7:30pm Friday, 26th September 2025, Light Refreshments
Price: £4 (£3 Swanage Museum members)
A talk by Mike Randall: Fellowship College Preceptors- LCP, BA (Hon) Long-serving voluntary tour leader at Corfe Castle
SALVAGE MASTER, A Career in Commercial Diving and Marine Salvage
A Power Point presentation by author and presenter Kevin Patience. Resident in East Africa and the Middle East for many years, he qualified as a diver while serving in the Royal Air Force and discovered and researched aircraft and shipwrecks while serving in Malta and Cornwall. Returning to Kenya he worked on two major ship salvage operations and in 1977 began a career as a commercial diver in the oilfields of Saudi Arabia and latterly as a ship salvage specialist based in Bahrain operating in the Middle East. In 1982 he returned to Kenya to manage Divecon Ltd., with contracts around East Africa. He returned to Bahrain in 1984 and established TechDive, responsible for a number of successful salvage operations in the Arabian Gulf and East Africa. An accomplished author he has published a number of books on East African military and transport history, numerous articles for notable journals and two books on shipwrecks, the most recent on a German sailing ship tragedy on the Cornish coast.
This is a well illustrated talk that details an unusual hobby that subsequently became a full time job in an extremely hazardous environment
Catholic Church Hall
7:30pm Friday, 31st October 2025, Light Refresments
Price: £4 (£3 Swanage Museum members)
History of Purbeck Architecture
This presentation by Brian Margetson
Catholic Church Hall, Light Refresments
7:30pm Friday, 28th November 2025
Price: £4 (£3 Swanage Museum members)