AFTER the society’s annual meeting on Tuesday, April 8 at Feckenham Village Hall, members welcomed Dr Chris Upton, reader in public history at Newman University Birmingham, who gave a talk on The Lunar Society.

This society, which flourished in the late 18th century, so called because it met during the full moon, which enabled people to travel in extra light, to their various venues in members’ homes such as Soho House, the home of Matthew Boulton.

Its members were leading figures, such as James Watt, Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgewood and Erasmus Darwin. It is said they found England a rural society, but through their inventions left it urban and industrial.They were part of the movement called The Enlightenment, a time of interest in science and invention.

This is clear from their many wide spread interests: in new forms of transport, materials, measurements, gases, mining, medicine, and the application of science to industry.Central to their method was experiment, chance, or the observation of events and their outcomes.

Dr Upton went on to describe in detail the many important inventions their members were involved in such as the steam engine, invented by Newcomen and Watt, who introduced a separate condenser which made water power superfluous.

The meeting closed with the members enjoying their usual refreshments.

The next meeting is on Tuesday, May 13 at Webheath Village Hall, with a talk entitled Hereford Churches, by Tim Bridges.