Plymouth Proprietary Library

Wednesday 25th February 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

After the Second World War, Plymouth was seeking to reduce its' dependance on the dockyard for employment, and with help from the Board of Trade began the task of attracting businesses to the area.

This illustrated talk by Alan Bricknell looks at the first three large companies to set up in Plymouth after the war, Tecalemit, Berkertex and Bush Radio, and also looks at one of Plymouth's largest home grown companies, Farleys.  

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Saturday 28th February 2026 at 2pm.

Free for members. £5 for non-members.

Ann Gray and David Woolley have published a dozen volumes of poetry between them and edited several others. Born in Plymouth, David published Westwords, a literary and arts magazine for the south west from 1986 to 1992. From 1994 to 2010 he was Literature Officer for Swansea, based at the Dylan Thomas Centre.

Ann established the Liskeard Poetry Group and various other poetry initiatives throughout the 1990s and beyond, including Uncut Poets in Exeter which still runs. She won the Moth Poetry Prize in 2015 and her winning poem was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Awards.  

Ann has run a care home in Liskeard for forty years, David has also been involved in this for over a decade, and together they also ran the Bodmin Moor Poetry Festival for eight years: 2012 to 2019. In 2023 they published Dear Life (Scryfa Press) together and also married. They will read from Dear Life and other works.  

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 11th March 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

Join us as we discover more about the story of how Isambard Kingdom Brunel overcame in-fighting and controversy to bring the railway to Plymouth and build the Royal Albert Bridge. The talk looks at the cost-cutting measures that altered Brunel's plans, and the wild rumours that surrounded his failure to attend the opening ceremony in May 1859.

The talk will be given by Owen Ryles, Chief Executive of the Plymouth Athenaeum.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 25th March 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

We tend to think of gardens as somewhere to relax, perhaps to socialise in, to grow flowers and perhaps some vegetables. However, in the Middle Ages, for many gardening was more closely related to agriculture, it was a neccessity not a luxury and was an essential part of survival. While for the wealthy it was a status symbol, because only the very wealthy could afford to put aside a piece of valuable land and use it purely for display and enjoyment.

This talk by Dr Lynda Pidgeon will look at a variety of gardens and their uses from the 12th to the 15th century, and along the way we will have a tour of some re-created gardens in England and Wales.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 8th April 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

Holbeton church out in the South Hams is proud of its nineteenth century pews and screens decorated with superb Arts and Crafts carvings.  They blend in perfectly with those of 1480 -1520. Thanks to a group of Holbeton volunteers they have been recently restored and are looking splendid.  

Following the restoration project Janet Sellick tells the tale of how and why these treasures came to be here.  Their inspiration goes back millennia to early illuminated manuscripts.  Discover dragons and wyverns alongside elephants  and of course Devon’s flora and fauna.  The symbolism is thought provoking, amusing and will raise an eyebrow or two.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 22nd April 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

Following Robert King's talk on Drake's Island last year, this new talk uses recent images to provide a virtual walk around the island to discover what remains of the Island's defences, barracks and underground tunnels.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 13th May 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

In 2023, Professor Angela K. Smith (Emeritus Professor of Modern Literature at the University of Plymouth) spoke at the PPL about her first novel, The Solace of the Common People. 

Her second novel, Where No Shadow Awaits is now out. It has a First World War focus and draws on much of the research work undertaken whilst a lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of Plymouth. This talk will explore how her research has influenced her fiction. 

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 27th May 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

Dr Helen Wilson returns to the PPL following her sellout talk in 2025 on these professional woodcarvers.

This talk is based on stories the speaker has come across on her research on the Pinwill sisters including those who met or worked for Violet Pinwill, or owned pieces of her work. Their recollections and insights contributed enormously to the research and their stories add a further perspective.  

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 10th June 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

In the 1860s a new type of novel exploded onto the sedate Victorian literary scene, the 'sensation' novel. Tales of desertion, kidnap, bigamy, fraud, arson and even murder amongst the middle and upper classes captivated millions of readers - from the kitchen maid to the Prince of Wales himself.

Join us as we discover more about this all-but-forgotten literary phenomenon and enjoy an afternoon of 'tea and scandal'! A talk by Elaine Henderson.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 24th June 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

Devon's Home Front Diaries 1937 to 1945 reveals for the first time the intimate reflections and views of scores of people living in the county who took part in the anthropological project, Mass Observation.

Dr Todd Gray MBE will bring together stories of Devon life during the Second World War, including those told by people who had been evacuated to the country.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

Simon Dell MBE returns to the PPL for a talk on Trywhitt's horse drawn tramway.

The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway was constructed by Thomas Tyrwhitt in the 1820s. His horse drawn tramway ran from Princetown village down to Sutton Harbour in Plymouth. It was used to transport granite from his quarries and in return brought up various goods. This talk will look at the plans and the development for the tramway and with modern images there will be a virtual tour and stroll along its' whole 25 miles length.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 9th September 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

A talk by Hazel Jones. More details to come.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.

Wednesday 14th October 2026 at 2pm.

£5 for members. £8 for non-members.

From the moment we meet him as a Belgian refugee in the village of Styles during World War I, Agatha Christie's unlikely detective captured her readers' imaginations and has since morphed into a global phenomenon, his name recognised worldwide.

Throughout the 33 novels and 51 short stories featuring this small, balding man of indeterminate age, Christie slowly reveals a remarkable and singular character that still captivates us today. But who was he really? Where did he come from? What did he look like and what kind of person was he? And how was he so good at solving murders?

Elaine Henderson takes a close look at M. Poirot and attempts to find some answers.

To guarantee a seat, contact the library at least 24 hours before the event. Otherwise, simply turn up on the day.