Sunday 20th Apri 2008 - We will be visiting the Chiltern Open Air Museum meeting up at noon at the Mulberry Public House on the A355 Beaconsfield - Amersham Road for a drink and/or a meal, prior to visiting the Museum.

Tuesday 20th May 2008 - We will be holding our AGM followed by a guest speaker in the Garden Room, Liston Hall, Liston Road, Marlow at 8.00pm.

Thursday 12th June 2008 - Dr Rachel Brown will give a talk on The History of Local Charities in the Garden Room, Liston Hall, Liston Road, Marlow at 8.00pm.

Thursday 11th September 2008 - A talk on by Tony reeve on Anglo-Saxon Marlow in the Garden Room, Liston Hall, Liston Road, Marlow at 8.00pm.

Thursday 9th of October 2008 - Dr Gill Hey, will be telling us about Neolithic and Bronze Age Settlements in the Thames Valley in the Garden Room, Liston Hall, Liston Road, Marlow at 8.00pm.

Thursday 13th of November 2008- John Leighfield will be showing us The Development of Printed Maps in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in the Garden Room, Liston Hall, Liston Road, Marlow at 8.00pm.

Contacts - David Greenwood, 27, Sunnybank, Marlow, SL7 3BL. Tel. 01628 475488 email - dgreenwood10@btinternet.com & John Laker, 9 Spinfield Lane, Marlow, SL7 2JT. Tel. 01628 481792 email - johnlaker@thamesinternet.com

Wednesday March 26th 2008 - Monarchs, Monks and Boudoirs, The History of Chocolate - Rosemary Wood
Drinking Chocolate drinking originated in Central America and pre-dates the Mayan civilisation. It was drunk by the Aztec kings and used in rituals. After the Spanish conquest it spread to Europe through the religious houses and royal families. It became the most prestigious of hot drinks, was drunk in chocolate houses and boudoirs and inspired the production of special porcelain and silver for its consumption.

Wednesday April 30th 2008 - Castle House - Julian Hunt
Castle House is the most prestigious house in Buckingham with a history dating back hundreds of years. Barbara Edmundson a committee member of your Society, is the present owner of Castle House, and she commissioned Julian Hunt and John Clarke to research the history of the property and its owners and their fascinating book was launched earlier this year.

May 2008 - Outing to be arranged

June 2008 - Strawberry Tea - venue to be announced
We had originally planned to hold the Strawberry Tea in the grounds of Castle House, but the house is on the market at the moment, so this may well not be possible.

Meetings will be held in Room MB1, Yeomanry House, Masonic Buildings, Hunter Street, Buckingham. Guests are always welcome. Please ring 01296 712665 for further details.

Field Group work in the coming year

The following activities are planned:
i) Resistivity and topographic surveys of fields in the area of the Roman villa site at Sarratt. A large scale geophysical survey carried out over the last two years has identified a number of interesting features. Proposals are being submitted to explore some of these features in more detail. The survey work will continue in late July and August - dates to be decided.
ii) Excavations at Chesham Bois House. Geophysical survey and excavations carried out during the last two years have revealed a number of significant Medieval and Tudor structures. Work is continuing at various locations around the house in order to fully explore the earliest foundation of settlement on this important site. Training dig July 14th-19th inclusive. Come for one day or all five. Post-excavation analysis and recording of finds will take place at intervals during the summer and autumn.
iii) Magnetic susceptibility survey at an earthwork in Colemans Wood, Holmer Green at the invitation of Roland McLain-Smith and Paul Riches. The objective is to understand the function of the earthwork and its significance in the early settlement of the Holmer Green area.
iv) Archive research for the ongoing Chess and Misbourne Valleys Landscape Project. Assembling historic landscape information - field names, boundaries, settlements, land-use etc. and constructing maps of the landscape at different periods in the past. This will involve a variety of activities and different levels of expertise from internet and library research, examining aerial photographs and making digital maps.

If you are interested in field work or just joining an archaeology walk in the future, please get in touch using the form on our Contact page on www.cvahs.org.uk.

Thursday 3rd April 2008 - I've Come About the Drains - Tony Rook
Author and broadcaster Tony will talk about his fascination with Roman plumbing and in particular with their bath houses, which he has helped to reconstruct experimentally.

TBA 2008 - Wrecks, Hulks and Underwater Prehistoric Landscapes
An illustrated talk to be given by one of the archaeologists from the Hants & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology

All the above talks will be held in All Saints' Church Hall, The Causeway, Marlow, starting at 8pm. Visitors are always welcome. Entrance is £3.50 (MAS members £2.50) to include refreshments. For all MAS enquiries, including membership, please ring Joy Blake on 01628
523896

Wednesday 19th March 2008 - THE MARKHAM MEMORIAL LECTURE Artists on the Doorstep - Prof. William Prescott

Wednesday 16th April 2008 - Enjoying More Old Churches - Roy Tricker

Wednesday 17th September 2008 - My Little Evacuee - Gordon Abbott

Wednesday 15th October 2008 - King Zog in Exile in Buckinghamshire - Neil Rees

Wednesday 19th November 2008 - The Development of Towcester - Brian Giggins

Wednesday 17th December 2008 - Buckinghamshire's Favourite Churches - Julian Hunt

Meetings will be held at the Methodist Church, Silver Street, Stony Stratford on Wednesdays at 7.30pm.