We have a regular programme of talks and illustrated lectures on subjects including local history, archaeology and the natural environment, local planning, architects, the decorative arts and designers.
These talks will take place in the Brunt Room, Letchworth Settlement, 229 Nevells Road SG6 4UB at 7.30pm. All are welcome, no booking required; entry is £4 for LGCS and LALG members, otherwise £5, exact cash, please. (You may join LGCS at the door to benefit from the reduced rate.)
We also organise visits to historic houses and gardens, and other planned developments such as Hampstead Garden Suburb, as well as leading walks around the first Garden City.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday 9 September 2024, 7pm
A brief AGM, followed by: The Camden Town Group and the Garden City, an illustrated talk by Ros Allwood.
Ros Allwood is Cultural Services Manager, North Herts District Council, and a member of LGCS Council, well-known to us. Her museum career has taken her to several major museums in England, included organising notable exhibitions, and the contribution of articles to prestigious academic journals. She is an expert on several Camden Town artists.
Monday 24 March 2025, 7.30pm
100 years of Letchworth Educational Settlement, an illustrated talk by Dr Kate Thompson.
Opened in May 1920, it celebrated its centenary during the first Covid lockdown when its future was in jeopardy. Thanks to supporters, funds were raised to ensure the Settlement’s survival and this illustrated talk will describe how it grew and changed with the times, serving not only the garden city but surrounding towns and villages.
Kate Thompson was County Archivist of Hertfordshire 1990–1999 and has lived in Letchworth since 1992.
The then Chairman of Letchworth Settlement, Pam Burn, asked her to write its history, published in 2020.
Monday 23 June 2025
Daniel Stilwell, architectural historian specialising in the Arts & Crafts Movement, will talk on a topic appropriate to Letchworth.
CONTACT: Philippa Parker, Secretary LGCS.
philippaclare@me.com
01462 686828
PAST EVENTS
Monday 3 June 2024:
Utopias: the landscape of Garden Cities, given by Dr Kate Harwood.
Dr Harwood is a garden historian and Conservation Coordinator of Hertfordshire Gardens Trust.
These talks take place in the Brunt Room, Letchworth Settlement, 229 Nevells Road SG6 4UB at 7.30pm. All are welcome, no booking required; entry is £4 for LGCS and LALG members, otherwise £5, exact cash, please. (You may join LGCS at the door to benefit from the reduced rate.)
Monday 26 February 2024:
The Shaws in Hertfordshire: the lives of George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw in the county, 1904–1950, given by Philippa Parker.
The couple lived in our county for 46 years and involved themselves in many aspects of its life, including both garden cities. Their circle of friends here was wide and ranged across all social classes.
Philippa Parker is Secretary of LGCS, Leader of Letchworth Local History Research Group, and a long-standing volunteer at Shaw’s Corner, Ayot St Lawrence.
Monday 11th September 2023 (following our AGM at 7pm):
The life and times of Alec B. Hunter (1899–1958): artist, designer, and dancer, given by Dr Matt Simons.
Alec Hunter was the younger son of the Hunter family which opened St Edmundsbury Weavers in LGC in 1908; the talk will focus on his formative years in the town and his contribution to it through involvement in Anglo-Catholicism, folk dancing, Guild Socialism, and textile design.
Dr Simons is an independent scholar specialising in the folk-dance revival of the early 20th century and a published academic writer.
Monday 17 April 2023: May Morris, Egypt and Coptic Textiles. The contribution of Morris’s study of
ancient Egyptian textiles following her visit to Egypt in 1897, and the connections with Arts & Crafts design. Given by Thomas Cooper, PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, whose work
focusses on Arts & Crafts textiles and May Morris.
Monday 13 February 2023: Mirror in the Bike Shed: an illustrated talk about M.H. Baillie Scott’s
remarkable bike shed at HGS, with connections to LGC. Given by Anthony Davis, FRSA, architectural
historian and London guide
Monday 18 July 2022
Annual General Meeting - CANCELLED
With regret that we have decided to cancel the scheduled AGM we feel it is in the best interests of all our health in this unprecedented heatwave.
Monday 16 May 2022, 7.30pm
Will Phillips
Liberty - the Bucks man, the London shop, the global style
Talk given by Will Phillips, Keeper of Social History, Bucks County Museum.
Monday 9 September 2024, 7pm
A brief AGM, followed by: The Camden Town Group and the Garden City, an illustrated talk by Ros Allwood.
Ros Allwood is Cultural Services Manager, North Herts District Council, and a member of LGCS Council, well-known to us. Her museum career has taken her to several major museums in England, included organising notable exhibitions, and the contribution of articles to prestigious academic journals. She is an expert on several Camden Town artists.
Monday 24 March 2025, 7.30pm
100 years of Letchworth Educational Settlement, an illustrated talk by Dr Kate Thompson.
Opened in May 1920, it celebrated its centenary during the first Covid lockdown when its future was in jeopardy. Thanks to supporters, funds were raised to ensure the Settlement’s survival and this illustrated talk will describe how it grew and changed with the times, serving not only the garden city but surrounding towns and villages.
Kate Thompson was County Archivist of Hertfordshire 1990–1999 and has lived in Letchworth since 1992.
The then Chairman of Letchworth Settlement, Pam Burn, asked her to write its history, published in 2020.
Monday 23 June 2025
Daniel Stilwell, architectural historian specialising in the Arts & Crafts Movement, will talk on a topic appropriate to Letchworth.
CONTACT: Philippa Parker, Secretary LGCS.
philippaclare@me.com
01462 686828
PAST EVENTS
Monday 3 June 2024:
Utopias: the landscape of Garden Cities, given by Dr Kate Harwood.
Dr Harwood is a garden historian and Conservation Coordinator of Hertfordshire Gardens Trust.
These talks take place in the Brunt Room, Letchworth Settlement, 229 Nevells Road SG6 4UB at 7.30pm. All are welcome, no booking required; entry is £4 for LGCS and LALG members, otherwise £5, exact cash, please. (You may join LGCS at the door to benefit from the reduced rate.)
Monday 26 February 2024:
The Shaws in Hertfordshire: the lives of George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw in the county, 1904–1950, given by Philippa Parker.
The couple lived in our county for 46 years and involved themselves in many aspects of its life, including both garden cities. Their circle of friends here was wide and ranged across all social classes.
Philippa Parker is Secretary of LGCS, Leader of Letchworth Local History Research Group, and a long-standing volunteer at Shaw’s Corner, Ayot St Lawrence.
Monday 11th September 2023 (following our AGM at 7pm):
The life and times of Alec B. Hunter (1899–1958): artist, designer, and dancer, given by Dr Matt Simons.
Alec Hunter was the younger son of the Hunter family which opened St Edmundsbury Weavers in LGC in 1908; the talk will focus on his formative years in the town and his contribution to it through involvement in Anglo-Catholicism, folk dancing, Guild Socialism, and textile design.
Dr Simons is an independent scholar specialising in the folk-dance revival of the early 20th century and a published academic writer.
Monday 17 April 2023: May Morris, Egypt and Coptic Textiles. The contribution of Morris’s study of
ancient Egyptian textiles following her visit to Egypt in 1897, and the connections with Arts & Crafts design. Given by Thomas Cooper, PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, whose work
focusses on Arts & Crafts textiles and May Morris.
Monday 13 February 2023: Mirror in the Bike Shed: an illustrated talk about M.H. Baillie Scott’s
remarkable bike shed at HGS, with connections to LGC. Given by Anthony Davis, FRSA, architectural
historian and London guide
Monday 18 July 2022
Annual General Meeting - CANCELLED
With regret that we have decided to cancel the scheduled AGM we feel it is in the best interests of all our health in this unprecedented heatwave.
Monday 16 May 2022, 7.30pm
Will Phillips
Liberty - the Bucks man, the London shop, the global style
Talk given by Will Phillips, Keeper of Social History, Bucks County Museum.