Monthly Saturday Talk - Darwin in Ilkley

Mike will be known to many in u3a and regularly talks on aspects of local history at a variety of venues and occasions. He co-authored a book on Darwin in Ilkley so talks with great eloquence and authority on the topic.

When the Origins of Species was published on 24 November 1859 Charles Darwin, was near the end of a nine-week stay in the remote Yorkshire village of Ilkley. He had come for the 'water cure' - a regime of cold baths and wet sheets - and for relaxation.

But he used his time in Ilkley to shore up support, through extensive correspondence, for the extraordinary theory that the Origin would put before the world: evolution by natural selection. Mike Dixon will bring to life Victorian Ilkley and the dramas of body and mind that marked Darwin's visit.