Upcoming Events

All Harrogate Civic Society members are invited to meet for informal coffees / drinks / chats / etc.

Purely a social get-together. No agenda, so speeches, no Q&A session, no fixed start/end time. Instead, just a chance to get to chat with other society members - new and old - in a casual, relaxed environment. Self-pay for eats-n-drinks, normal town-centre prices.

Turn up any time from 10:00am to 12:00pm. New members are especially welcome. And do bring along anyone who’s considering joining the society.

Our talk on Wednesday 10 September will describe how, over 100 years ago, the critical problem of water shortage in the town was solved by the construction of a new reservoir.

At the turn of the 20th century Harrogate faced the prospect of what the local press described as a ‘water famine’. Ironically, there was a real danger that the taps would run dry in this increasingly popular spa town. However, Harrogate’s newly appointed Chief Water Engineer, Edward Wilson Dixon, initiated and oversaw a scheme to build a new water supply for the town: Roundhill Reservoir, near Masham.


Our speaker, Graham E Seel, has taught History for 34 years. He has published widely on English history, and he is currently Head of History at St Paul’s School, London.

It was April 1921. An expectant audience was packed into the Royal Hall to see something extraordinary: two complete ‘silent’ films where the actors actually talked! This was six years before The Jazz Singer,
commonly regarded as the world’s first true talking picture.

So who was Claude Verity? Why is he almost completely forgotten even in his home town?
Discover the answers and much more by visiting the exhibition.
Terry-Mike Williams

Exhibition dates and times (all in September 2025)
The Royal Hall: Wed 10th 10am to 4pm

West Park Centre:
Fri 12th 11am to 3pm
Sat 13th 11am to 3pm
Sun 14 th 12pm to 3pm
Mon 15th 11am to 3pm
Wed 17th - Sat 20th 11am to 3pm
Sun 21st 12pm to 3pm

The Royal Hall Tues 30th 10am to 4pm

Speaker Henry Irving will show how our relationship with waste has changed over the past 200 years. It will also consider what lessons the history of waste disposal might have for the future.

Henry Irving works at Leeds Beckett University, where he teaches students about the way history informs our lives. He is an expert on the history of waste and resource management.