Annual General Meeting, Monday 16 October
Our AGM will be on Monday 16 October at St. Thomas Aquinas Hall, Ham Street, at 7.30pm.
After the formal proceeding, our guest speaker will be Jill Lamb, former Kingston Borough Archivist, who is running Ham is where the heart is, the Ham and Petersham oral history project. This is funded by the National Heritage Lottery (and HAG), and has already interviewed dozens of local residents.
Coming to our events
Our meetings are held in the community meeting room at Ham Library in Ham Street (unless otherwise stated) and start at 7.30 pm.
Admission is £3. Reserve your seat with Gill Douglas-Smith on 020 8546 9179 or email her at gillham1@john-lewis.com.
There may be some tickets available at the door but our talks often sell out so you must book to be sure of a place.
Some of our previous events
The Cassel Hospital, Friday 29 September
Our autumn talk will be about Cassel Hospital, founded in 1919 by Sir Ernest Cassel. Since 1947 it has been on Ham Common in a famous house. Too few people locally know what the Cassel does, and the management team will tell us their history and how they work to help people overcome personality disorders.
We will also hear how they plan to expand their successful services into the existing building and to be a valued member of our community.
A trip into Surrey, Saturday 9 September
The Homewood is a 1930s Modernist house set in a picturesque woodland garden. Discover an unconventional and luxurious family villa that is an Modernist gem inside and out. We will also visit the nearby Claremont Landscape Garden with hidden surprises dating as far back as the early 1700s.
A summer celebration, Saturday 29 July
Join the Committee in a rare opportunity to visit the Cassel Hospital’s elegant surroundings opening onto the gardens. The Cassel have been given the wonderful Perennial Sanctuary Garden, featured at Hampton Court this year, to be installed here in Ham.
Richmond’s Princess, Friday 21 July
Ron Berryman will be giving an illustrated talk on “The People’s Princess”. Princess Mary Adelaide lived in White Lodge, Richmond Park, and was the mother of Queen Mary. She has a memorial just outside Richmond Gate, sadly neglected, but restoration is planned. She was a very active member of the Richmond community, was very popular, and was always in the local press.
Modern architecture in Ham, Friday 23 June
This talk was by Richard Woolf, the well known local architect. St. Richard’s Church is undeniably “modern”, but it’s over 50 years old. Are Parkleys and Langham House Close modern architecture? They were built in the early 1950s, and are both listed. The most recent, and attractive, modern buildings are at Grey Court School.
Visit to Thenford House
On Saturday 13 May we visited the 1760 Georgian house near Banbury in Oxfordshire has 70 acres of parks and gardens with over 3,500 varieties of plants, medieval fishponds, a walled garden and lakes. The estate, owned by Lord Michael and Lady Anne Heseltine, is only open four days a year so we were very fortunate to get tickets.
The History of Ham
On Friday 21 April Gordon Elsden, will give a talk on the history of Ham. People have been living by the Thames for thousands of years but until now nobody has collected all of the records to tell this fascinating story.
800 years of Kingston History
Jill Lamb, former Head of Heritage Service, explained how Kingston has evolved since the Royal Charter was given to the town by King John in 1200. She covered plague and palaces, crime and punishment, trade and taxes and, of course, shopping!
History of Eel Pie Island
Dan van der Vat told us about the history of Eel Pie Island. He co-authored the definitive book on the island’s history, with particular emphasis on the music at the Eel Pie Island Hotel in the 1960s.
Traditional Craftsmanship meets High Technology
There will soon be three Huf Houses in Ham and Petersham and we were very fortunate to get Peter Huf, chief architect, to speak about his award winning houses.
Coombe Conduit, an enigmatic Tudor waterworks
Dr. David Kennedy, the Kingston Society’s officer responsible to English Heritage for the management of Coombe Conduit, shared the latest research on this subject.
Writing a Psychological Thriller
Fleur Smithwick, the well known author and Petersham resident, gave a talk on writing a psychological thriller, and about her books How To Make A Friend and One Little Mistake
Wimpole Hall Farm
A coach trip to Wimpole Hall and Farm in Cambridgeshire, run by the National Trust.
