Many of you will remember Unity's weekly Archive Hour (originally called the David Davenport Hour) which was a very popular online slot in the calendar, which began in 2022, featuring videos and audio recordings from the Unity UK archive which were played back on Zoom as an inspiration for group discussion, debate - and also some vivid personal reminiscences from some of our much-loved Unity elders!
Due to staff pressures the weekly slot was discontinued in the summer of 2024. However we are delighted to announce that the Archive Hour is returning in the Autumn of 2026 as a monthly evening online event on Zoom, on the third Tuesday of every month from September 22nd.
For those who are not so familiar with Unity's treasury of historic audio-visual recordings, here is a brief list of some of the delights we hold in our Taplow archive:
(1) Inspirational talks by notable past Unity writers, ministers and teachers from here in the UK, including David Davenport, Ken Bradley, Margaret Baker, Ralph Seelig - and many others
(2) Archive recordings of some world-renowned Unity authors, including Eric Butterworth, Jim Rosemergy and Tom Thorpe
(3) Memorable retreat recordings; and also a unigue archive of recordings made during Unity's World Conference held in Birmingham in 1995
(4) Audio-visual records of services, meditations, readings and spiritual reflections
(5) A wide range of archive Daily Word audio recordings, read by David Davenport and Ken Bradley during the time that our magazine was also distrubuted on tape as well as in printed form.
(6) A galaxy of Unity songs and hymns, as well as some very special musical contributions created by very talented Unity musicians and singers from the past such as Dorothy and Gil Kirkman, Isabel Compton and Patricia Rosser.
The new slightly longer Archive Hour slot, 90 rather than 60 minutes, from 7.30-9pm, will allow us more time both for watching/listening to our archive choices - and also for informal discussion. As before, the Archive Hour will be presented by Steve Gough, who has been responsible for developing & preserving the Unity Archive over the past few years.
One of Steve's major roles recently has been to build, develop and curate Unity's Source Page, our online treasury of archive audio and video, which is freely available to Unity's Friends, Sponsors & Patrons. Many archive talks from the source page have been or will be presented as part of the Archive Hour. But if you would like to be part of our membership scheme and have free access to the entire Source archive, you can find out more here.
For those who are not so familiar with Unity's treasury of historic audio-visual recordings, here is a brief list of some of the delights we hold in our Taplow archive:
(1) Inspirational talks by notable past Unity writers, ministers and teachers from here in the UK, including David Davenport, Ken Bradley, Margaret Baker, Ralph Seelig - and many others
(2) Archive recordings of some world-renowned Unity authors, including Eric Butterworth, Jim Rosemergy and Tom Thorpe
(3) Memorable retreat recordings; and also a unigue archive of recordings made during Unity's World Conference held in Birmingham in 1995
(4) Audio-visual records of services, meditations, readings and spiritual reflections
(5) A wide range of archive Daily Word audio recordings, read by David Davenport and Ken Bradley during the time that our magazine was also distrubuted on tape as well as in printed form.
(6) A galaxy of Unity songs and hymns, as well as some very special musical contributions created by very talented Unity musicians and singers from the past such as Dorothy and Gil Kirkman, Isabel Compton and Patricia Rosser.
The new slightly longer Archive Hour slot, 90 rather than 60 minutes, from 7.30-9pm, will allow us more time both for watching/listening to our archive choices - and also for informal discussion. As before, the Archive Hour will be presented by Steve Gough, who has been responsible for developing & preserving the Unity Archive over the past few years.
One of Steve's major roles recently has been to build, develop and curate Unity's Source Page, our online treasury of archive audio and video, which is freely available to Unity's Friends, Sponsors & Patrons. Many archive talks from the source page have been or will be presented as part of the Archive Hour. But if you would like to be part of our membership scheme and have free access to the entire Source archive, you can find out more here.
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Do join us whether you were part of our original Archive Hour community, or whether you have never attended an online archive hour before. You will be very welcome!
We begin in September and our first session will be on Tuesday September 22nd 2026, 7.30-9pm. Check on the homepage website calendar for more details. |
Many of our first series of Archives were recorded and posted on our YouTube channel. Click on the YouTube icon below to get a taste of what the Archive Hour was - and will be again when it re-starts.
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