Updates on Local History Societies' meetings in Essex 2019

Waltham Abbey Historical Society's programme

WAHS Programme 2019-2020

All meetings are held at Waltham Abbey Baptist Church, Paradise Road, Waltham Abbey EN9 1RL

2019
Friday 20th September 8pm
Fortitude and Fancy
Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn two of Henry VIII's most important wives
Speaker - Rev Nicholas Henderson

Friday 18th October 8pm
A Local Family. A Century and more of the Symondsons in Upshire and Loughton
Speakers - Carole Symondson and Chris Pond

Friday 15th November 8pm
The New River
400 Years of History. Follow the building of the river from Chadwell Spring in Hertfordshire to the Round Pond in Islington
Speaker - Richard Thomas

Friday 20th December 8pm
Members Evening.
Contributions from Members with Mince Pies

2020

Friday 17th January 8pm
Moorfields: England's First Public Park. The story of its building, maintenance and final destruction.
Speaker - Dr David Marsh

Friday 21st February 8pm
Essex Guilds and Guildhalls
Speaker - Anne Padfield

Friday 20th March 8pm
Puddephat Lecture.
The West Façade of Waltham Abbey Church
Speakers - Lawrence Greenall and Steve Miller

Friday 17th April 8pm
Annual General Meeting
Presidents Address - Stan Newens

Friday 15th May 8pm
Sir Frederick Gibberd and his Gardens
A speaker from the Gibberd Gardens Trust

Witham History Society

hristopher Thompson will be giving a talk on Tudor Essex to the Witham History Society at 8 p.m. on 1st April in Witham Town Council's offices.

Chingford Historical Society

The following meetings will be held at The C of  E Primary School, Cambridge Road, Chingford
 at 7 30 p.m.  Most talks are illustrated.

	11th April	The Work ofThe Essex Record Office	Lawrence        Barker
	17th October	A Virtual Walk Around Walthamstow	Joanna       Montcrieff
	14th November	The Stort Story	Richard          Thomas

   12th December  Chingford in the 80s & 90s                         Acorn Films                            

Clacton and District Local History Society

 Pier Avenue, Clacton at 7.30 p.m.

18TH APRIL. ROGER KENNELL.“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SOUTHCLIFF?”
16TH MAY. BILL SMITH.“AVIATION ARCHAEOLOGY AND ST OSYTH WW2 MUSEUM”
20TH JUNE. BRIAN D'ARCY.“GHOSTS OF THE TOWER OF LONDON.”
18TH JULY. MEMBERS SHORT PRESENTATIONS.GILL GREEN AND SANDRA ADAMS SALMON.
15th AUGUST . MALCOLM BATTY.“THE KIRBY RIOTS”
19TH SEPTEMBER. DAVID WHITTLE.“WW1 THE HARWICH FORCE,CAPTAIN FRYATT,THESS BRUSSELS AND THE SURRENDER OF THE U BOATSINTO HARWICH HARBOUR.”
17TH OCTOBER. A.G.M.A SHORT DVD OF JOHNSON'S OF CLACTON BYANTHONY ALLSTON A LOCAL RESIDENT.
21ST NOVEMBER. FRANCIS BOARDMAN.“THE GREAT STINK”,THE BUILDING OF LONDON'SSEWERS.

19TH DECEMBER MILLER. XMAS QUIZ. Foxearth and District Local History Society

Apr	Tues 10th	Robyn Lloyd Hughes - The Rise & Decline of the Stour Valley Railways
May	Tues 14th	David Burnett - Chilton: the first three thousand years
Jun	Tues 12th	Peter Minter - Visit to Bulmer Brickyard, with talk on recent restoration projects
Jul	Tues 10th	Ian McMillan  - The History of Liston Hall
Aug	Thur 8th?/ Mon12th	Minibus trip to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome - near Maldon.
Sep	Tues 11th	? Pat Murrell  - The History of Cupola House.
Oct	Tues 9th	? Sudbury Cemetery churchyard mapping
Nov	Sat 16th	Ashley Cooper & Andrew Phillips - "A Sudbury Boy Wunders (sic) aloud after 80 years" (Memories of the Sudbury Market Hill & surrounding businesses).
Dec	Tues 10th ?	Members’ Christmas meal - details TBC

All meetings held in Foxearth Village Hall 7.30pm (unless otherwise stated).

New members and friends always welcome.

 Visitors £2   Members £10 per year

Halstead and District Local History Society

All events take place at 7:30pm in the Baptist Church, Hedingham Road, Halstead unless otherwise stated

Our programme may change at short notice due to circumstances outside our control 

 April 2019

11th

“An introduction to the Chelsea Physic Garden”

Dr. Christine Hodgson, who is a guide at the garden, will introduce us to its history from the foundation in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

May 2019

16th

“The Lost Cheeses of Suffolk”

Vivia Bamford of the Sciapod Dairy in Suffolk will tell us about traditional cheese making and will be bringing some samples to taste.

June 2019

22nd

Visit to RAF Wethersfield Museum

July 2019

13th

Visit to Alderford Mill, Sible Hedingham - Details to follow

September 2019

19th

Old Films of Halstead & Hedingham

Brian Day will be showing us a few of the amateur films of the area that he has been given.

21st

Exhibition: The Photgraphs of Geoff Root - A Retrospective

To take place at The Queen's Hall, times to be confirmed.

October 2019

17th

Corsets, Crinlines & Camisoles

Frances Saltmarsh returns to tell us all about the history of underwear.

November 2019

21st

Can You Keep A Secret?

Lynette Burgess, Visitor Services and outreach Manager, will tell us the history of Bawdsey Radar and its role in WWII.

December 2019

12th

More Images Of Old & New Halstead

Followed by our Christmas drinks and nibbles!

Leyton and Leytonstone Local  History Society

7.45pm Wednesday April 17th 2019 *

‘Before the dig: why archaeology happens, how we know what to look for, and what might be found in my street’, a talk by Christina Holloway

St John's Hall, off High Road, Leytonstone, London E11 by the entrance to the Matalan store, (not far from Leytonstone Central Line station)

7.45pm Wednesday May15th 2019 *

‘The Real Dad’s Army – The Home Guard’ A talk by Mike Brown, following our Society’s AGM

St John's Hall, off High Road, Leytonstone, London E11 by the entrance to the Matalan store, (not far from Leytonstone Central Line station)

Lexden History Group

The Early Days of Clacton

Wednesday 10th April 2019 ‘The Early Days of Clacton’ George Hardwick Members £1 Non Members £3

Fenwick Jewels (AGM)

Wednesday 8th May 2019 AGM ‘Fenwick Jewels’ Adam Wightman Members £1 Non Members £3

Giles

Wednesday 12th June 2019 ‘Giles’ John Field Members £1 Non Members £3

Meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7.45pm in St Leonard’s Church Hall, Lexden except August when there is no meeting. Entry £1 for members, £3 for non-members, refreshments included.

Loughton and District Historical Society 

All meetings are held in the Methodist Church, Loughton High Road, from 8.00pm usually on the second Thursday of the month, from October to May inclusive.

Guest visitors are welcome at all meetings on payment of a donation of £2.50.

April: Thursday 11 29 October 1940: One Day in the Battle of Britain NEIL WIFFEN When a Spitfire crashed in Chelmsford and North Weald was bombed.

May: Thursday 9 Annual General Meeting, followed by: Heroes of Everyday Life: Postman’s Park DR JOHN PRICE The remarkable history of the Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice in Postman's Park in the City.

Saffron Walden Historical Society

Wednesday 27th March: Dr Peter Moore to speak on The Italian Artist Biagio Rebecca and his work at Audley End                                

Wednesday 24th April: Richard Till to speak on The Cutlers of Thaxted, 1350 to 1450           

Wednesday 22nd May : AGM.  A short talk will be arranged.

All meetings are held at 7.45 pm. in the Quaker Meeting House, High Street, Saffron Walden

Annual Subscriptions: £7.00 per member; Visitors £2.00 per visit – ALL WELCOME!

Thurrock Local History Society

Meetings are held at Thurrock Adult Community College, Richmond Road, Grays Thurrock, Essex, RM17 6DN.
All meetings begin at 8.00 pm unless indicated otherwise. The AGM begins at 7.30 pm.
Most talks are illustrated and there is a break for refreshments.

Friday, 26th April               The Annual General Meeting (starts at 7.30) followed by
                                         DNA - what can it tell us? by John Matthews

Friday, 17th May                Machu Picchu by Scott Sullivan

Waltham Abbey Historical Society

We organise a series of lectures on the third Fridays of September to May, at the Baptist Church, Paradise Road, Waltham Abbey EN9 1RL, 8-10pm with a refreshment break. Anyone is welcome to come; members are free and we invite a £1 donation from non-members.

Friday 12th April 2019: (this is the 2nd Friday of April)	Presidential Address & Annual General Meeting
Friday 17th May 2019:	The West End of the Church at Waltham Abbey: Mysteries and Modifications	Lawrence Greenall & Steve Miller

The 20th Annual General Meeting of the Foxearth and District Local History Society: 12th March 2019.

The Society held its 20th Annual General Meeting in Foxearth Village Hall on 12th March 2019. There were 28 members and guests present'

Chairperson Lynda Rumble welcomed all,  especially Mr Keith Slater, website adminstrator for the Melford History and Archaeological Society.

A financial report was presented by Secretary Clare Mathieson showing a very satisfactory surplus of £420 in last year's activities and a bank balance of £2,500 of which £986 was the "ring-fenced" book fund. A grant of £250 from the Foxearth and Liston Parish Council was gratefully acknowledged. It was agreed that membership and guest fees should remain at £10 pa and £2 per visit respectively and Mark Mathieson was thanked for keeping the books. Clare reviewed a successful season in 2018 and outlined an attractive programme for this year; highlights would include a visit to the Stow Maries Great War aerodrome, including lunch in the officers' mess: also President Ashley Cooper and Lord Phillips reviewing their memories of Sudbury Market Hill and businesses around.(full programme available on www.foxhistsoc.org.uk)

Thanks to all members who helped by writing reports, providing refreshment, setting up the room and managing the web site were voiced by Ashley. Particular mention was made of Lynda and Clare who run the Society so expertly. On the question (by Clare) of whether we needed a larger committee the unanimous view seemed to be not to change a winning team - and a substitute's bench would be superfluous! Ashley expressed his delight at the vibrancy of the Society citing members' contributions such as John Geddes' research into Foxearth burials, Corinne Cox's archaeological test pit excavations and Isobel Clark's gravestone researches.

Andrew Clarke spoke about our constantly growing web site - with new material offered as he spoke - and noted that it was admired world-wide attracting about 2,800 visits each day.

After a break for wine and some delicious canapes past Chairman Alan Fitch entertained us with reflections on his life so far. Born in pre-war London Alan experienced some family difficulties. A move towards Epping Forest just before war started fired up an interest in climbing trees - without mishap. This facility later served him well when he had a sign making business for 40 years and never lost his footing on a ladder; he saved that for after he had retired! Evacuation to Buckinghamshire during the conflict saw him (aged seven) fishing and - under the influence of a very much older colleague -smoking a pipe to deter midges.After Walthamstow Technical College Alan worked for a time at a division of J Arthur Rank where he was fortunate to meet such celebrities as Edmundo Ros and the boxer Freddie Mills and it was here that a fascination with cinematic technology developed. Called up for National Service Alan opted for the Royal Air Force signing for 4 years on the promise that he could follow his interest in mechanical engineering. He became a crack rifle shot, He met the love of his life, Jo, they married in 1958 and were blissfully happy until she sadly died. Alan later married again and this wife encouraged him to practise faith healing - a talent he had not discovered! And this is the point at which the narrative ended. Surely, Alan, there's more to come - at least another instalment. We wait with bated breath as an appreciative audience demonstrated.

Next meeting: Tuesday 9th April 7.30pm in Foxearth Village Hall when Robyn Lloyd-Hughes will talk about The rise and decline of the Stour Valley Railways.