A compelling programme brimming with tales of joy and resilience, along with themes of murder, scandal, crime, and punishment. These guided walks and museum talks highlight the individuals and locations that have uniquely influenced, and been influenced by, our city.
Designed for adults but suitable for enquiring minds aged 12+.
Tickets £10. Advance booking recommended.
BOOK ONLINE: Follow the links in the drop-down lists below to book for each individual walk or talk.
This year's programme of expertly guided walking tours around Lancaster's historic city centre will feature brand new topics as well as some favourites from last season.
All walking tours are led by our expert guides and start at 11am from Lancaster City Museum in Market Square unless stated otherwise.
Tours take about 1.5 hours unless stated otherwise.
Lancaster is hilly. Some routes are steep and some will involve walking on cobbles.
Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy and comfortable footwear.
Dogs on leads are welcome provided owners are mindful that other people may not be comfortable around them. A few tours include visits to buildings which may not allow dogs inside.
Literary History of Lancaster, with Penny Bradshaw
Tuesday 1 September - 11am
'The stones of Lancaster do sometimes whisper' (Dickens). Explore writing inspired by this ancient city, featuring authors like William Wordsworth, Charles Dickens, and Carol Ann Duffy. Discover the dark, Gothic side of Lancaster’s literary heritage, shaped by its past as a site of execution and a slave port.
Yards, Courts & Alleys - Living Conditions in Victorian Lancaster, with Naomi Parsons
Tuesday 8 September - 11am
Using Richard Owen's Health of Town's Report as our guide, we head down Lancaster's lesser used thoroughfares to discover the dreadful conditions that families lived in and the changes that helped to overcome the epidemics that plagued them.
FULLY BOOKED. If you'd like to be notified of future events including possible repeats of this tour, please email historydetectives@lancaster.gov.uk to join our mailing list.
Tree Tales, with Eleanor Levin
Tuesday 6 October - 11am
Step into Lancaster’s past on a unique walking tour where trees tell the story. Discover conservation battles, railway connections, and captivating tales from history, mythology, and botany — all rooted in these streets around you.
Historical Women of Lancaster 2 - Lives in Writing, with Eleanor Levin
Saturday 17 October - 11am
Focusing on women’s words and writing about women, including a nurse writing postcards home from WW1 France, an upcycling artist, a loom-breaking luddite, an anti-slavery campaigner, a child – much discussed but little understood, a nun, a duke, and a poet.
Getting Your Head Down: Lodging Houses of Lancaster, with Naomi Parsons
Tuesday 20 October - 11am
Lancaster's lodging houses gained notoriety for their horrendous conditions and the infamous families that ran them. Circling the city centre, we visit the sites of common and corporation lodging houses for stories of prejudice, poverty and crime.
New for 2026! This year our guides will be presenting some of the same topics in the form of indoor talks at the museums, while our own museum staff and other local historians will be speaking on different aspects of local history. Take the weight off your feet and enjoy some expert insights from the comfort of our lecture rooms.
Ticket price includes refreshments after the talk and a further 30 minutes of relaxed Q&A session.
LGBTQ+ History Talk, with Eleanor Levin
Saturday 19 September* - 11am - City Museum
Discover some of the people and places from Lancaster's LGBT History from 1751 to the present day. Including prisoners at Lancaster Castle, Lancaster's gay MPs, a pioneering trans activist, and a 1970s gay commune which fought for a better world.
*Please note this date was misprinted as 21 September in some of our leaflets. The correct date is Saturday 19 September.
The Lancashire Riots of 1826, with Colin Penny
Saturday 26 September - 11am - City Museum
In 1826, desperate weavers in East Lancashire destroyed over 1,100 power looms in just four days. This talk explores the riots, their causes, and the trials that followed.
What's in a Name? Place Names of North Lancashire, with Carolyn Dalton
Friday 2 October - 11am* - Maritime Museum
Carolyn Dalton shares her interest in the meanings of place names with you. Every local name has a story behind it and every time you use these names you make a connection to the history of the area around you.
*Please note the doors will be open from 10:30am for admission to the talk only. The Maritime Museum galleries will open for general visits at 12 noon as usual.
Literary Lancaster, with Penny Bradshaw
Saturday 14 November - 11am - City Museum
'The stones of Lancaster do sometimes whisper' (Dickens). Explore writing inspired by this ancient city, featuring authors like William Wordsworth, Charles Dickens, and Carol Ann Duffy. Discover the dark, Gothic side of Lancaster’s literary heritage, shaped by its past as a site of execution and a slave port.
Historical Women of Lancaster 3 - Changing Times, with Eleanor Levin
Tuesday 24 November - 11am - City Museum
A botanical illustrator, a prison reformer, a murder suspect, a cotton spinner, and a music hall star! Each woman's story is a window onto the changing times in which she lived.
Please email historydetectives@lancaster.gov.uk with any questions, or to join our mailing list and receive email updates on all our events.
UPRISING - Talk & Exhibition
2026 is the bicentenary of the 1826 Lancashire Rising, when thousands of desperate handloom weavers from across Pennine Lancashire took to the roads demanding help in the face of starvation.
Their pleas were not met with support, but with sabres, bullets and bayonets—a defining moment in the history of protest and resistance.
To mark the 200th anniversary, the Weavers' Uprising Bicentennial Committee have planned a touring exhibition and lecture series. Each talk explores a different aspect of the uprising, encouraging audiences to learn locally and travel to other events across the region.
The exhibition will be displayed at Lancaster City Museum from 18 August to 14 September, and we're hosting one of the talks too:
Protest, Punishment and Legal Repression: State Responses to Popular Dissent in the 1800s, with Dr David Gordon Scott & Kate Hurst.
Wednesday 2 September - 2pm
Discover how the government responded to the 1826 uprising. Situating this first within the wider strategy of policing economic crisis and popular dissent through a ‘law and order’ ideology, the discussion then turns to specific response to the protestors convicted at the Lancaster Assize in 1826. Several stories of people who were either imprisoned or transported will be covered in the talk.
The talk will be held in the City Museum's Education Room - please use the entrance on New Street, opposite the Journey Social cafe. (The museum is not open on Wednesdays so the front doors will be closed.)
Friends of Lancaster City Museum: PUBLIC TALKS
Drop in to Lancaster City Museum for regular lunchtime lectures organised by the Friends of Lancaster City Museum. Everyone is welcome and there’s no need to book.
Talks are held at 1pm in the City Museum’s education room: entrance on New Street at the back of the museum, opposite the Journey Social cafe.
UPCOMING TALKS
Monday 21 September - Lord Reay of Clan Mackay: Insights of a Hereditary Peer Inside the Palace of Westminster
FOLCM is delighted to welcome Lord Aeneas Reay, President of the British Association of Friends of Museums(BAFM), our parent organisation. Lord Reay will share his experiences as a hereditary peer in the House of Lords, offering a unique perspective on a major constitutional change at the heart of British government. He will also explore the remarkable history of his family, Clan Mackay, taking us from the Scottish Highlands to the family seat at Whittington Hall and bringing a compelling local dimension to the clan’s global story.
Monday 19 October - KAREL KLIČ:a talk by Dr David Steel, Author of Karel Klič, Lancaster and the Democratisation of Art.
This now little-known artist and inventor was the first person to mechanise and democratise the means of fine art reproduction. His Lancashire-invented intaglio rotogravure – a photo-mechanical process for accurate copying and multi-copying -revolutionised the printing of pictures in the press, in books and for home decoration. Intaglio rotogravure was devised with the encouragement of the Storey Bros & Co of Lancaster.
Saturday 7 November - Thomas Mawson Talk (Repeated)
Following the overwhelming response to Liz Howard-Thornton’s oversubscribed talk on Thomas Mawson, we are delighted to announce a repeat presentation.
This talk will be followed by the FOLCM Annual General Meeting at 2pm.
*The Maritime Museum Shop is open during these talks and you are very welcome to make purchases using either cash or cards. However the £4 donation goes directly to the MCS and can only be accepted in cash.
Your Events
If you'd like to hold your own talk, meeting, or event in one of our museums, visit our Room Hire page to see how we can help.
