Anniversary talk to be given on famous Wigan meteorite incident that recently sparked a radio serial

On Saturday October 14 – 109 years to the day since a meteorite came crashing down to earth just outside the village of Appley Bridge – businessman Russell Parry will entertain an audience with an account of the discovery, the furore it caused and how this historical episode finally made its way onto the airways last month.

The 33lb meteorite remains the fourth largest ever to come down in the UK and it caused a particular stir at the time because the police at first confiscated it and it led to years of protests by scientists who wanted to examine it. It was only with the intervention of the British Museum that the rock was surrendered for examination.

Eric Lyons, the owner of Halliwell Farm where it landed, was eventually given it back and he went on to sell it to the British Museum for the then princely sum of £252. It was subsequently broken up for further examination by boffins and to be displayed around the world.

Russell was so fascinated by the subject that he wrote a book – The Appley Bridge Meteorite – which did so well that it led to years of public speaking engagements, including one at the American Museum of Natural History in New York where one of the fragments is kept.

But he long wondered whether it had further mileage as a docudrama and this was finally realised by the BBC in three episodes broadcast on Radio Lancashire and now available on BBC Sounds.

And so it seemed fitting that Russell should give an updated talk on both the meteorite and the radio serial while audience members will also have a chance to handle some meteorites.

The event will take place at noon on Saturday at the Museum of Wigan Life, Library Street. Admission if £2.50.