VENUE: Diss & District Bowls Club, Lower Denmark Street, Diss IP22 4BE. This is located behind the Cock Inn on Fair Green. Plenty of free parking available.
Meeting start time: 2.00 pm
Friday 5th April – Keith Rackham
50 Years a Stonemason
Keith tells how he took a local Diss stonemasons company, serving local families to designing and building many memorials at the National Memorial Arboretum, near Lichfield, Memorials on the Somme and Northern Cyprus. The talk is well illustrated, but interspersed with interesting accounts of many he met along the way, members of the Royal Family and clients who commissioned the work.
Keith is proud that the traditional craftsmen he employed are still serving local families from their Scole workshop.
Friday 3rd May - A short AGM* will be held after Pip Wright’s talk –
Britain's Greatest Showman
George Wombwell, menagerie-owner extraordinaire’s displays of exotic and unfamiliar animals brought from abroad, would have been for most nineteenth-century Britons their first encounter with animals of this kind.
*Free entry for people attending the AGM only.
Friday 7th June – Basil Abbott
Roydon Riots
In 1993, the Centenary of the Roydon Riots, villagers acted out the events of those heady days. Insurrections over enclosure were matched by events at the Hall. Lord of the Manor, John Tudor Frere, a believer in droit du seigneur, had divorced his wife and married an 18 year girl. As she was younger than her two stepdaughters, sparks flew. Basil Abbott, who wrote and directed the show, presents a retrospective version of it, with the help of some drama friends.
Friday 5th July – John Johnson-Allen
The Man who created Armistice Day
The most distinguished admiral you will most likely never have heard of, Rosslyn Wemyss, life and career was both fascinating and brilliant. He left a permanent mark on the life of this country, when, on 11th November 1918, as the Allied Naval Representative at the armistice negotiations in the railway carriage at Compiegne in France, he was responsible, with Marshal Foch, for the creation of Armistice Day, by the decision, made at 5.30 AM, to cease hostilities on land, in the air and at sea.
Friday 2nd August –
Walking and Writing the Waveney Valley
Local author, John Arnett, will discuss his recent walking books, Waveney Walks and By The Waveney and the unique appeal of the Waveney Valley. He will also explain the process and pleasures of getting a book into print. The talk will begin with a quiz, giving you the chance to win one of the books.
Friday 6th September– Tim Holt-Wilson
Lost Beasts of Norfolk & Suffolk
Elephants at Ipswich, rhinos at Cromer and hippopotami in the Waveney valley. Tim will take us on a safari exploring the lost, native wildlife of East Anglia over the past 3 million years, with special reference to fossil sites in the Diss area.
Friday 4th October – Tony Diamond
The Ipswich Murders
In 2008 Tony served on the Jury at Ipswich Crown Court for the Trial of the “Suffolk Strangler” accused of five murders. After the unanimous Guilty verdict, Judge Gross pronounced a Whole Life Sentence. He will present an inside account of the case along with an overview of Jury Service in Crown Court in the UK.
All questions are welcome.
Friday 1st November – Jonathan Dutton
The 1940’s House – An Art Thrown Away
This era is recent enough for memories to be stirred- Brands once common remembered. What we threw away can tell us a lot about the past, discarded wrappers, adverts, a birthday card or a gas bill.
Friday 6th December - David & Avril
The CHRISTMAS QUIZ
David & Avril are back with their light hearted fun quiz.
Plus the popular Booby Prize & Mince Pies for All!e.
A Stroll around Diss
March-October, £5 per person (accompanied children under 12 free)
Stroll time: approx. 1.5 hours, start and finish at the Museum
Introducing you to our lovely market town – not just a guided tour! Learn about some of the old buildings, the town’s history, some of its famous people and a lot of interesting things about Diss.
Remember… we put the ROLL into the STROLL for those who rely upon wheels to get around!
View the event poster
Permanent Exhibitions
Always on display are the Manning family dolls' house and information about local personalities like Tudor poet-laureate and Diss rector, John Skelton, and Victorian photographer, Cleer Alger.
Temporary Exhibitions
Have you a collection you’d like to show?
Send us an email – disscollections@gmail.com and tell us all about it.
2024 Programme of meetings
Website designed and hosted by DataTech DTP