The 43rd West London Local History Conference, Saturday, 13 April 2024

BY HAND & EYE ~ the creative tradition in the past of South & West London

UPDATE 11.03.24 – it has been possible to release some more tickets and there are a few available for bookings now!

UPDATE 20.02.24 – amazingly, the conference tickets have all sold out already. However, there is a waiting list on Ticketsource and the organisers are trying to work out whether a larger audience can be accommodated.

The steering group of 9 sponsoring societies is delighted to present the first in-person conference since 2019. This year’s theme explores the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A number of designers and skilled crafts people worked in the area the sponsors cover and the fashionable style also influenced the design of local architecture. See full details below and book a ticket here

Siblings, Spies and Civil War: a London Luminaries talk, 1 February 2024

Siblings, Spies and Civil War: How Family Ties Led to Conspiracy and Betrayal at Syon, 7-8pm 1 February

An online talk by Howard Simmons, an experienced Syon House guide, for the Luminaries’ 2024 theme of Conspiracy & Betrayal. Algernon, Henry and Lucy Percy were three siblings raised at Syon by their father the Wizard Earl, 9th Earl of Northumberland. They could be called the heir, the spare, and the ‘seductress’. Join the event to discover the powerful story of the part played by the Percy siblings in the intrigue and betrayal of both the Royalists and Parliamentarians during the English Civil War. Howard Simmons will describe how they changed sides and acted as double agents and explain how they each achieved their political influence at court from the reign of James I/VI right through to the Restoration of Charles II. Not to be missed if you enjoyed Howard’s talk to B&CLHS on 25 January!

Tickets are free with an optional £5 donation – book on Ticketsource

Devotion, Lust & an Exploding King: stories of love & death from Medieval & Tudor Syon Park, 7.30pm, 15 January 2024


In this illustrated talk, Howard Simmons, a professional guide at Syon for 10 years, will describe the Bridgettine nuns’ love of God, Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, his love of money and power and the marriages, births and deaths associated with his six wives, plus the strange account of his corpse exploding in Syon’s crypt!

This will be an in-person event at the Chiswick Memorial Club, Bourne Place, W4, and it will also be offered via Zoom. There is no charge to join this event but if you want to join on-line, please reserve a place here via Ticket Tailor

Your ticket will provide the Zoom joining details.

A modest donation from visitors (non-members) is always welcome

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