Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

A Place in History

Colin Philpott, writer and producer

“A Place in History” is all about a sense of place, about our fascination with the fact that, wherever we are in the world, we’re living, breathing, feeling and thinking where thousands of other people have done so before us. That fascination is heightened when the location in question has been the scene of great events, sometimes joyous, sometimes calamitous, a place where history was made. Colin takes us on a personal journey around Great Britain to visit destinations, such as sports stadiums, that were built to stage great events, or places made famous by a single event such as a disaster, or an event of social, political or cultural significance. Poignant sites include the scene of the Crystal Palace fire; the location of the last civilian death in World War Two; Aberfan village in South Wales where 144 schoolchildren died in the 1966 coal tip disaster; the Gloucester House of Horrors where Fred and Rosemary West murdered eleven people; and a suburban house in New Cross that was the scene of a racist arson attack in 1981. But there are many quirky places included in the talk including the field on the Isle of Wight where Bob Dylan performed in front of 100,000 people in 1969.

This lecture will be held on Zoom at 7.30pm (GMT) and invitations will be sent to YPS members and the general mailing list two days before the event. This is a free event but non members can help to cover our lecture programme costs by donating here:

https://www.ypsyork.org/donate-to-yps/