The 2024 Friends Memorial Lecture will take place on Thursday 17th October 2024. Our speaker this year is Matthew Martin, the Abbey’s Organ Adviser. Matthew is Precentor and Director of Music at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge. His advice to the PCC was invaluable in procuring the instrument that now graces the Abbey.

The lecture is preceded with drinks and canapes and is due to commence in the Abbey at 7.15pm. Matthew will provide illustrations from the keyboard as well as answering questions.

Matthew has chosen as his title: “A new organ for Pershore Abbey – an innovation out of step with its time?”

Tickets will be available at the door.

£12 (students free)

Annual General Meeting – 12.00noon 15th September 2024

The 2024 Annual General Meeting took place immediately after the Patronal Festival Service held in the Abbey on 15th September 2024 at 10.30am.  This was the first AGM to be chaired by our new President Duncan Cadbury since he succeeded our former President, Sir Michael Perry. The 2024 Annual Report is available in hard copy form and can be collected from the FOPA display in the Abbey.

Friends Memorial Lecture – 19th May 2023

Our 2023 Memorial Lecture too place less than 2 weeks after the Coronation of King Charles III. Royal biographer Robert Lacey delivered a talk entitled: “King Charles III – does Britain need another monarch?” The talk was attended by an audience of approximately 100 Friends and guests and raised a significant amount towards the Friends’ resources.

Friends Memorial Lecture – 29th April 2022

The Friends of Pershore Abbey were delighted to host Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Director of the Chandra X-Ray Center & Senior Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory who agreed to deliver the Friends Memorial Lecture. The title of the talk was: “Views of the Universe through the sharp X-ray eyes of NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory”.

This once in a lifetime opportunity to hear such an eminent British scientist took place in Pershore Abbey at: 6.00pm for the pre-talk reception and 7.00pm for the lecture on 29th April 2022. 

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched on 23 July 1999 by the Space Shuttle Columbia. Now in its 22nd year of operations, Chandra continues to be an indispensable tool for expanding the frontiers of knowledge throughout astrophysics. Chandra’s uniquely high (sub-arcsec) spatial, and spectral resolution have facilitated the deepest and sharpest images of the X-ray sky and the highest quality X-ray spectra to date. Its broad capabilities allow continuous expansion of its science based on new discoveries and facilities , e.g. the Event Horizon Telescope, NASA/ESA’s JWST (“Webb”, launched 25 Dec 2021). I will review Chandra’s launch and unique capabilities, and take us on a tour of some of the most spectacular discoveries across the whole range of celestial sources. These include the birth and death of stars, super-massive black holes, the first quasars, clusters of galaxies, dark matter, merging neutron stars, and more.

Website: chandra.si.edu

Dr. Belinda Wilkes is a Senior Astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics  Harvard & Smithsonian. She served as Director of the Chandra X-ray Center, which operates NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory on contract with NASA. She is currently a Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellow at the School of Physics, University of Bristol.

Dr. Wilkes received her BSc (Hons) in Astronomy and Physics from St. Andrews University, Scotland in 1978 and her PhD in Astronomy from Jesus College, University of Cambridge, England in 1982. She spent two years as a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, and moved to CfA’s High Energy Astrophysics Division in 1984. She is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, American Astronomical Society, American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Cambridge Philosophical Society, and a member of the International Astronomical Union, and the European Astronomical Society. She has received numerous awards, including many SI Exceptional Accomplishment Awards, 5 NASA Group Achievement Awards, and a NASA MSFC Director’s Commendation. In 2018 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge University.

Dr. Wilkes’ research involves X-ray and multi-wavelength studies of active galaxies: super-massive black holes in galaxy nuclei. She is author and co-author of over 470 science publications, including 166 refereed papers (11,700 citations, H-index 58), two books, several book chapters, and multiple articles and interviews in the public media.

2022 Annual General Meeting – Postponed

The Friends of Pershore Abbey CIO Annual General Meeting due to take place at 12.00noon on 11th September 2022 in Pershore Abbeywas postponed due to the period of National Mourning following the sad death of Her Majesty Elzabeth II on Thursday 8th September. The AGM followed by the Annual Friends Lunch took place on Sunday 6th November 2022 at 12.00noon at The Angel Hotel. An amended copy of the Annual Report was issued to all members shortly and is also available online here: FOPA annual report corrected 30 9 22

2021 Annual General Meeting

The Friends of Pershore Abbey CIO Annual General Meeting took place at 12.00noon on 12th September 2021 in Pershore Abbey. All members were welcome to attend and received a copy of the Annual Report. A copy is available to download here: FOPA Annual report 2021 FINAL 11 8 2021

2020 Annual General Meeting

Friends Memorial Lecture – 19th May 2023

Our 2023 Memorial Lecture is scheduled to take place less than 2 weeks after the Coronation of King Charles III. Royal biographer Robert Lacey has kindly agreed to deliver a talk entitled: “King Charles III – does Britain need another monarch?”