A new series of the very popular Mint Yard lectures are being run by City of York Council with topical titles to some of the courses.
Named after the old yard over which York Explore was built, this series forms part of the council’s Inspire programme which offers exclusive access to some of the city’s most famous spaces with tuition provided by nationally-recognised experts in their fields.
The programme is:
After the ice: New work at the Mesolithic site at Star Carr
An insight into new excavations at the site which is transforming our understanding of the life of some of Britain’s early settlers from 9-8500BC.
At Haxby Explore Library on Thursday 10 April at 7pm, with Dr Chantal Conneller, a senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Manchester.
History of a Community: The Hungate Excavation and Research Project
Discover how York Archaeological Trust, together with the local community, re-created the hidden histories of the Hungate area across the 19th and 20th centuries.
Join Historical Archaeologist Dr Jayne Rimmer at Dunnington Reading Rooms on Thursday 8 May from 7pm to find out how York Archaeological Trust – together with the local community of York – re-discovered the people who lived in this area. Held as part of ‘Local and Community History Month 2014’.
That Vile Train: World War One Ambulance Train Travel
Ambulance trains were used throughout World War One on both foreign soil and the home front. On this, 100 years after the start of the Great War, Associate Archivist at the National Railway Museum Alison Kay explores the experiences of people who travelled on those trains and tracks the journey from the front line to the home, in York and elsewhere in the country.
On Wednesday 4 June at Acomb Explore from 7:30pm
Pedalling to Perfection: the history and future of the bicycle
Shortly before the Grand Départ wheels into town, Jim McGurn, Chief Executive of Get Cycling asks why has the bicycle bobbed up and down the social scale since it was invented and takes a look at this form of transport technically, intellectually and socially.
To be held on Wednesday 25 June, 7:30pm at Rowntree Park Reading Cafe
For more information on the Mint Yard Lectures and the Inspire workshops and to book, please go to http://www.feelinginspired.co.uk/ or talk to staff at any of York’s Libraries or Explore centres.