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£15.00
DATE: Tuesday 9th June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
MARC ALLUM is a freelance art and antiques journalist, writer and broadcaster based in Wiltshire. He has been a miscellaneous specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow since 1998 which gives him a unique insight into today’s talk “Antiques Roadshow – behind the scenes” and he has appeared on numerous other television and radio programmes. Marc regularly writes for mainstream magazines and is an author, antiques consultant and lecturer.
Sponsored by: Bonners Of Ilminster
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£10.00
DATE: Monday 8th June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION :
In “Stories That Must Be Told” Johnny Ball recounts his roller-coaster career presenting, writing and lecturing on a huge range of subjects, always in support of new ideas and initiatives. More often than not, he came out smiling and armed with new, funnier or sometimes more shocking stories that simply just “must be told”. Through it all, one thing remains certain: it’s still a laugh-a-minute adventure. Enjoy the ride!
Sponsored By: A J Wakely and Sons
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£10.00
DATE: Thursday 4th June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In conversation with Alexander Ballinger, Phyllis Dalton (1925-2025) revealed how she created some of film’s most iconic costumes. She worked in Soho workrooms, at Bletchley Park, and at Gainsborough Studios. Her work includes costumes for Laurence Olivier’s “Henry V”, “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Doctor Zhivago”, “Oliver!”, “A Private Function” amongst many others. Much of the book’s content is sourced from Dalton’s personal archive and gives a unique insight into the world of costume design, which sets the tone for much of the authenticity and plausibility of the films’ characters.
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£10.00
DATE: Tuesday 2nd June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Damien is a former West Country solicitor who draws on extensive experience of criminal law and his time in the Crown Prosecution Service. “Blue Blood” is the fifteenth novel in the popular D I Nick Dixon crime series. When a body is found floating in Bridgewater Bay, and when the victim is identified as a serving police officer, executed at point blank range witha 3D printed gun, the Assistant Chief Constable is soon knocking on D I Dixon’s door, his wedding night or not. Damien adds another gripping crime with unforeseen twists and turns to the already full C V of D I Nixon.
Sponsored By: Battens Solicitors
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£10.00
DATE: Friday 5th June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION:
Join poet Andy Brown, MC Peter Carpenter and musician Brett Williams of The Briar Rabbits, for an informal and inspirational evening of poetry and song. There will be opportunities for audience members to read their own poetry in a short open mic session.
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£10.00
DATE: Friday 5th June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
When his muse and guiding light, David Bowie, died in 2016, Peter Carpenter embarked on a journey into the past, tracing the streets, towns and locations where David Jones transformed into something extraordinary. He recorded his findings and thoughts in “Bowieland”. Through his walks, Peter gained insights into Bowie’s cultural significance and his alignment with the poets, painters, artists and musicians who preceded him, shaping the very spaces Bowie inhabited and imparting their wisdom to him.
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£10.00
DATE: Monday 9th June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
There is far more to be discovered about the Bayeux Tapestry than can be covered in one lecture. Who made it, where, and why are the most frequently asked questions, although they are not as important as the information the tapestry itself offers us. It is not just a narrative of the most famous battle in English history, but also of the build-up to it, setting the scene and introducing us to the main characters. It is a story of kings, chivalry and ambition, but it is also a moral story showing that good cannot come to those who break their word. Intriguingly, many crucial events are omitted and we can only speculate why. The presentation looks at many of the scenes in detail and explores what might be learned from this depiction of a turning point in our history.
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£10.00
DATE: Sunday 7th June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
With his days distracted by the ping of communication and the tug of commitments, Mark wondered how he might better savour this one precious life. He started to write and photograph each week, hoping that this simple commitment might sharpen his appreciation of the magic in the everyday and his time spent in the kitchen. This was how his book “Abundance“ came about. It reminds us that abundance comes in many forms – the passing of the seasons, our connection to the world around us, and the wealth that a garden, a town and its surrounding landscapes offers.
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£15.00
DATE: Tuesday 2nd June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Alan Johnson has written memoirs and novels but today he will discuss his biography of Harold Wilson, painting a picture of the achievements of the Wilson era and giving us a portrait of a truly twentieth century man. Wilson’s “white heat” speech proclaimed a scientific and technological revolution, and he was as much a part of the 1960s as the Beatles and the Profumo scandal. Johnson’s biography unfolds in a readable, conversational way, and he outlines Wilson’s career by augmenting his personal knowledge as an insider with detailed research.
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£10.00
DATE: Friday 5th June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “Old Songs” Amy Jeffs has fused short stories, histories, lyrics, and gorgeous illustrations by Gwen Burns, to create a rich compendium, singing of travel, mystery, magic and the essential urges of humanity. “Old Songs” threads a tapestry of Britain’s landscape, history and cultures. At the base of hills we can visit to this day, elf queens kidnap hapless poets and carry them through rivers of blood; at the foot of a tree whose offspring still stand in the forests of Northumberland, a girl mimes combing the hairless head of a dragon who was once her brother. Now, ten stories are gathered here, beautifully recreated and illustrated for modern readers from original manuscripts and early printed pamphlets.
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£15.00
DATE: Thursday 4th June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In Entitled – The Rise and Fall of The House of York Lownie traces Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as we must now refer to him, and Sarah Ferguson’s life in parallel through all the stages of their relationship stages including the time when they claimed to be “the happiest divorced couple in the world”.
Andrew Lownie is a renowned royal biographer, having written about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (“Traitor King”) and the Mountbattens (“Their Lives and Loves”). “Entitled….” was a Book of the Year for The Times, the Financial Times and Waterstones.
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£15.00
DATE: Sunday 7th June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “Diva” Daisy Goodwin tells the story of Maria Callas, from her earliest years in the USA, through her musical education in Nazi-occupied Greece, her early career to the height of her operatic fame as “La Divina” (the Divine One). Her doomed love affair with Aristotle Onassis is the major part of the book. “Diva” ends and tackles her decline, and death in Paris, in 1977.
Sponsored by: Ilminster Home Hardware
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£10.00
DATE: Saturday 6th June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION:
Expect stunning wildlife photography and an intriguing account of how Shakespeare was absorbed into so many aspects of African society in this fascinating story. Brothers Edward Wilson-Lee and Jeff Wilson’s childhood began in Kenya before trailing their parents around East Africa and then heading to boarding schools in Switzerland and England. Jeff followed the family trade as a wildlife film maker, but Edward took a different route. In this very special event brothers Edward and Jeff come together to talk about their childhood and the way it led them both down such diverging roads. Jeff will talk about his work with David Attenborough and beyond, reminiscing on some of his greatest filmic moments such as tracking snow leopards, observing birds of paradise and following penguins in Antarctica. Edward will reflect on his journey in search of Shakespeare in Africa to find the bard entwined in every twist and turn of colonisation and decolonisation.
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£10.00
DATE: Wednesday 3rd June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
“Alive” is not for the squeamish, and the chapters – Heart, Bone, Genitals, Lungs – offer plenty of detailed anatomical information. Gabriel Weston became a surgeon in 2003, a mother, and ultimately a patient herself, and grappled with the gap between the body she understood as a doctor, and the reality of living in one. Chris van Tulleken described the book as “an exceptional, absorbing tour of human life and bodies”.
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£15.00
DATE: Tuesday 9th June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION:
In “Can We Be Great Again? Why A Dangerous World Needs Britain” Sir Jeremy Hunt persuasively rebuts those who think Britain is no longer capable of shaping the world we live in. When it comes to the big challenges facing the world – whether on European security, the future of democracy, migration, trade or climate change – the UK remains one of the most influential countries. In his book, Hunt does not shy away from our weaknesses but argues that they should be considered in perspective and without underestimating our many strengths. Sir Jeremy will also introduce us to his latest book “Can We Be Rich Again?” which is due for publication in early June. Two challenges in one!
Sponsored By: Mark Hebron Hair
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£10.00
DATE: Wednesday 3rd June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “Dangerous Miracle – a history of antibiotics and how we burned through them” Liam Shaw writes in an approachable but engrossing way outlining why the possibility of antibiotic resistance emergence risks their future effectiveness. This was a Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Waterstones Best Popular Science Book of 2025 and a Times Best Book of 2025.
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£10.00
DATE: Wednesday 3rd June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
“Atlantic Furies” is Midge Gillies’ latest book, telling the story of the six women who battled to be the first female to fly the Atlantic Ocean. The Telegraph rated it “superb” and the Daily Mail “compulsive………..part Barbie movie and part Wacky Races”.
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£15.00
DATE: Monday 8th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “The Players”, Minette Walters paints a picture of the huge unrest which ensues when the Duke of Monmouth arrives in Dorset in 1685 to incite rebellion against his uncle, King James II. The rebels will be charged with treason and those found guilty will be hanged, drawn and quartered. Compelling and powerful, “The Players” is a story of guile, deceit and compassion during the dark days of The Bloody Assizes. Secrets are kept and surprising friendships formed in a dangerous gamble to thwart a brutal king’s thirst for vengeance.
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£10.00
DATE: Saturday 6th June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
The wonder of the night train: headlamps ablaze, passengers boarding after sunset and leaving before sunrise, slipping in and out of compartments unseen. For Monisha Rajesh, the singular thrill of sleeper trains inspired a new journey around the world – one filled with moonlit landscapes, cosy compartments and quirky companions.
From Austria’s Nightjet to the Caledonian Sleeper and the Santa Claus Express, Rajesh invites us on an adventure aboard the world’s most wondrous night trains. Along the way, she samples reindeer stew in Scandinavia, retraces the original route of the Orient Express, sips on pisco sours aboard the Andean Explorer, and watches the sun rise over the Potomac River on the Silver Meteor to New York.
A decade ago night trains were giving way to budget airlines and high-speed rail. But as people search for slower and more environmentally friendly ways to travel, night trains are in the midst of a renaissance. By turns romantic and hilarious, Moonlight Express brings us along for the ride – and drops us back at the platform before sunrise.
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£10.00
DATE: Wednesday 3rd June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “Turner and Constable: Art, Life and Landscape” Nicola Moorby offers a fresh perspective on two extraordinary artists who, while differing in temperament, faced the same opportunities and challenges and championed a common cause as proponents of a distinctly British art.
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£10.00
DATE: Tuesday 2nd June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Raised in Chicago, Terri Apter moved to the UK to study at Edinburgh University and Cambridge University where she has worked ever since. In “Grandparenting”, a warm and wise guide to being a modern grandparent she builds on cutting-edge research and her own experience to examine the crucial role that grandparents play in our society.
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£15.00
DATE: Saturday 6th June
TIME: 13:30 – 14:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
A challenge over his Cornish roots prompts Petroc Trelawny to undertake a pilgrimage of the land of his boyhood and find out whether he still feels he belongs there. He visits old industrial sites, archaeological remains, historic buildings, places where new technology was forged, and where poets, musicians, architects and film makers have worked to shape Cornwall’s cultural identity. He considers the decline of the Cornish language, and the complex relationship with tourism. “Trelawny’s Cornwall” is a moving account of a very personal journey
Sponsored By: Elite Body Repairs Ilminster
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£10.00
DATE: Thursday 4th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “Muv – the story of the Mitford Girls’ Mother” Rachel Trethaway uncovers Sydney Redesdale’s pivotal role in shaping her daughters’ strong wills, confidence and perhaps their extremism. Each daughter had a wildly differing view of her. They were celebrated and sometimes scandalous figures. One journalist described them as “Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur”.[1]w of her – as a saint or scapegoat – and Rachel’s scholarship brings alive the interplay between “Muv” and her six daughters.
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£15.00
DATE: Sunday 7th June
TIME: 15:30 – 16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Sarah Dunant’s most recent novel, published in 2025, is “The Marchesa”, a study of the great female Renaissance patron, Isabella d’Este. It is Renaissance history at its most vivid, an immersive, multi-layered experience that mixes historical fiction with biography, scholarship and art, images of both the people and the time. Sarah’s books are international best-sellers and have been translated into thirty languages.
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£10.00
DATE: Monday 8th June
TIME: 15:30 -16:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
“The Horseman” is Tim’s ninth novel and is the first in a trilogy. It follows the story of Leo, a 12 year old boy who lives on the Devon-Somerset border and whose family is employed on the local country estate. The novel describes in luminous detail the everyday life of the working-class men and women who support the estate – farm labourers, kitchen maids, stable boys. The detail is carefully and tenderly recounted, but there is a brutal sting in the tail.
Sponsored by: Symonds & Sampson Ilminster
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£10.00
DATE: Sunday 7th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
“The Spy and the Devil” is an account of Baron William de Ropp, a Baltic German aristocrat who was MI6’s top secret agent in Nazi Germany from 1931 to 1939. He had direct access to Hitler and an inside track on the Nazi regime and its objectives, and his reports back to Britain shaped British policy toward Germany in a pivotal period of history. The story of Bill de Ropp, as he was known, has never been published before: this book offers an insider’s view of this outstandingly effective but enigmatic British spy.
Sponsored By: Harper Dolman & West Insurance Ltd
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£10.00
DATE: Tuesday 9th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Tom has written 15 books, most recently “Villager” and the topic of today’s talk, “Everything Will Swallow You”. The story is about the unusual friendship of Eric and Carl, the power of landscape and dusty objects, used records, and the joy of accepting the unusual. Stephen Fry called Cox “one of the most enchanting (not to say hilarious) writers around”. Tom Cox lives in Devon with his wife, three cats and a large, boisterous crow.
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£10.00
DATE: Friday 5th June
TIME: 10:30 – 11.45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
Tony Lidington has been a showman for over 35 years – researching and implementing British popular entertainment forms in a wide variety of contexts throughout the country. He is a founder and performer of the last-remaining professional seaside pierrot troupe, “The Pierrotters.
Tony started his professional career in Brighton 1983 with his first theatre company – the highly acclaimed “Bright Red Theatre” before moving to Yorkshire to become Fellow in Theatre at Bradford University. He is now based in Devon and was awarded a doctorate from Exeter University in 2017. He continues to teach as a part-time lecturer on the drama course at Exeter. Today’s talk concentrates on the role of pierrots in British popular entertainment – “Pierrot Heroes”.
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£10.00
DATE: Thursday 4th June
TIME: 17:30 – 18:45
LOCATION: Monks Yard
DESCRIPTION
In “The Hidden Seasons” Tristan Gooley shows us how to read the clues that the sun, moon, stars, plants, fungi, animals, water and weather give us – but that we continually miss because we don’t know where and how to look. As with Tristan’s other books, we are inspired to go outdoors and explore these signs for ourselves, giving us many rich insights into our turning year. The seasons will never look, sound or smell the same again.
Sponsored By: NFU Mutual
