COFFEE TIME TALKS RETURN: FIRST Wednesday OF THE MONTH Sept '23 - April '24

September: ROGER CONANT, FROM EAST BUDLEIGH TO SALEM MASSACHUSETTS: A TALK BY IAN BLACKWELL

John Washington’s painting shows how, in 1625, Roger Conant intervened as peacemaker in the confrontation between West Country fishermen and the Plymouth Pilgrims' military officer Captain Myles Standish. The Pilgrims were upset because fishermen had taken over a fishing stage near Gloucester Massachusetts.

Join us on the first Wednesday of every month, from September 2023 to April 2024, at St Peter’s Church Hall, Budleigh Salterton at 10.30 for coffee or tea followed by a fascinating hour-long lecture starting at 11am. The topics are wide-ranging and we begin on Wednesday 6th September with a talk by Ian Blackwell on Roger Conant.
 
Conant is famous in the US as founder of the city of Salem in Massachusetts. He was born in East Budleigh, trained as a salter and sailed to the New World in the wake of the Pilgrim Fathers four hundred years ago this year. A peaceable man, he disapproved of the increasingly intolerant regime of the Protestant Separatist immigrants at Plymouth and moved his family away, eventually leading a group of colonists to a small fishing settlement named Naumkeag – renamed Salem - in 1626.
 
Local historian Ian will tell Roger Conant’s story and explain why this unsung local hero deserves his place in history!
 
Later this year we can look forward to talks on Henry VIII’s warship Mary Rose, RAF Exeter in World War II, and the delights of B Movies. Next year's topics include Admiral Preedy, Joyce Dennys and Wildlife on the River Otter. See a full list with dates on this website under Events.