Tickets now on sale for 20th Local Studies Day - Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

By: Jo Clarke
Added: 19 January 2018

Local Studies Day marks its 20^th anniversary in 2018 and tickets are now on sale for a packed day of presentations and talks that explore the region's history.

This year's event, which will kick start the 2018 Plymouth History Festival, takes place on Saturday 5 May from 9am to 4.30pm at the Roland Levinsky Building at the University of Plymouth.

As a naval port, Plymouth had developed an infamous reputation for drunkenness and disorderly conduct by 1900 – something which the police forces and magistrate courts in Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse were attempting to control. The first presentation of the day will look at how the temperance societies in each of the Three Towns realised they would achieve more by sharing resources and campaigning together.

Dr Todd Gray looks at how recent fires in Devon have renewed peoples' interest in and appreciation of ancient buildings as well as some of the changes in the built landscape that took place in Plymouth during the 1900s.

Pete Holt's talk puts the focus on Plymouth's maritime history and details some of the Royal Naval ships that were wrecked off Plymouth from the 1700s onwards – from small armed trawlers, to wooden warships and early World War I submarines.

Our Victorian ancestors died from many different illnesses, some of them due to the medicines given by the doctors that were supposed to help them. In 'Quacks and Quackery in Victorian Plymouth' Dr Ian Hodgins looks at some of the characters, places and poisons that shaped the health and ill-health of the time.

The event will also include a unique performance by Plymouth-based theatre group Stiltskin inspired by Smeaton's Tower. A selection of archive film footage and photographs exploring the destruction and reconstruction of the city and a round-up of arts and heritage news from across the city are also on the schedule.

Mark Tosdevin, Programmes Manager for Plymouth Museums Galleries Archives said: “Local Studies Day enables people to really immerse themselves in the heritage of the Plymouth and South Devon area, and the programme offers an insight into the region's social, maritime and archival heritage. Making this year more special is the fact that attendees will be part of our local history as we celebrate the event's 20^th anniversary – a real achievement to all the individuals and organisations that have been involved since it began in 1998.”

Tickets for Local Studies Day on Saturday 5 May are priced at £15 per person and are available to buy now from www.lsday2018.eventbrite.co.uk