HEDON AND DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

The beautiful Wolds village of Londesborough is our destination for the first summer trip of 2017. From the fifteenth century to the 1920s, the village was owned by a succession of wealthy landed families - the Cliffords, Earls of Cumberland; the Boyles, Earls of Burlington; the Cavendishes, Dukes of Devonshire; and the Denisons, Earls of Londesborough - who all left their mark on the settlement. In the 1840s it was also owned briefly by George Hudson, the 'Railway King', who built a private station on his York to Market Weighton line. The original Elizabethan mansion was demolished in 1819 and later replaced by the current Victorian house. The park, however, remains that landscaped by Lord Burlington and his gardener Thomas Knowlton in the 1730s, and also retains a number of features from the formal gardens laid out in 1670. Our guided tour includes the Grade 1-listed Norman church of All Saints' , the Old Rectory, village and park. Meet : All Saints', Londesbor

Born in Castleford, award-winning novelist Val Wood arrived in East Yorkshire in her early teens and now lives in Beverley. 'My father obtained work as a war damage surveyor,' she recalls. 'I can remember looking at the bombsites and damaged buildings and wondered what had been there before. Perhaps that was the start of my interest in local history!'  Val's first novel, The Hungry Tide (1993), set on the crumbling coast of Holderness, won the Catherine Cookson Prize. Since then she has written over twenty romantic historical bestsellers, all based on extensive research, and all set in an and around Hull. Val's latest bestseller, No Place for a Woman , was published in October 2016. Read more about her writing here . Don't miss this chance to meet Val in the historic surroundings of Hedon Town Hall . Drinks and canapés will be served after the talk. New members always welcome ! Join at any meeting - £15 p.a.   For