HAG talk: The History of Ham

There was something of a mix-up over this talk. Originally it was going to be called The History of Ham and then we (I am on the HAG Committee) agreed that we wanted the speaker to do more than one talk and that we should ask him to focus on medieval Ham in hist first one. So I did the poster accordingly. But, somehow, the message did not get to the speaker and he delivered a talk on The History of Ham instead.

The room was packed and I ended up standing against a wall so as not to be in anyone's way. I do not mind standing at all and in doing so I could see the screen clearly.

The presentation was not so easy to listen to though because the alarm went off when somebody opened a window for fresh air and despite several desperate phone calls we were unable to turn it off. A few people left because of this but that just released some chairs for other people who were standing. The room was packed.

All that sounds like a disaster and it could have been were it not for the brilliant and entertaining talk. Gordon Elsden used the old border of the parish of Ham as the basis of his story and he beat the bounds and told tales of the places that we passed as he did so. The talk was rich with information , anecdotes and pictures. It was also very well presented and I was enthralled throughout.

Many of these stories and pictures will appear in Gordon's soon to be published book Remarkable Ham - The Untold Story which he showed us a copy of prompting much interest. I will be getting a copy when it comes out and so will many other people who, like me, loved his talk.

I also hope that Gordon has enough material for a second HAG talk one day.

Kingston Heritage Open Days 2013

Kingston upon Thames has a museum but, apart from that, the Council does little to promote the heritage of the Borough and so organising the Heritage Open Days, part of the national scheme, falls to the Kingston upon Thames Society.

This year the Heritage Open Days were 12 to 15 September which was not very convenient for me, and it was also very wet, so I did not get to see much but I made a determined effort to see the new BalletBoyz studio in Canbury Park Road.

The studio was also used for an extensive exhibition on the history of aviation in Kingston upon Thames, especially appropriate as the building used to be part of the Sopwith factory.

Kingston Aviation have done a fantastic job in documenting the history and putting all the elements together in an easy to consume exhibition. Several histories were told, of the factories, the planes that came out of them and the men that designed and built them.

It was a fascinating and informative read and I spent much longer going through it all than I expected.

There were also a few people from Kingston Aviation there on hand to explain some of the details and tell further stories, such as the Top Secret work that was done during World War II where the over 14, 000 Hurricanes played a major part in defending Britain.

There were a few painting too and I've selected a couple because they show where I live.

This is a nice picture of the plane but it is also a good one of Kingston and Ham. The large white building surrounded by fields is the Ham factory.

This is a closer view of the factory as it was just before it closed. The frontage is absolutely magnificent and it is criminal that it was allowed to go. Behind the factory Ham has grown in to a large village mostly to support the factory. Now it is commuter-belt and a lot of the sense of community has gone though many people locally still have memories of working there.

The exhibition had lots of models too.

I chose this one of a Sopwith Camel because that is the plane that Biggles flew in World War 1. One of his (many) books was called Biggles of the Camel Squadron. I have a copy.

The development I live in (once called Royal Park Gate but I think that name has been buried with the estate agents who dreamt it up) was built almost twenty years ago on the site of the factory and until recently the only link with its illustrious past was in the street names. The Sopwith Camel is remembered in Camel Grove. Most of the other roads are names after airfields, such as Yeovilton Place, Northweald Lane and Tangmere Grove.

The Kingston Aviation exhibition was wonderful and the people behind it are so well organised that I am sure that I will find myself at further exhibitions and talks in the future.

Before rushing for my date with ten London pubs I had another look at the main studio.

Sympathetic restorations do not come much more sympathetic than this one. It clearly was once an industrial shed and it would not take much to make it one again. In the meantime it is brilliant to have BalletBoyz on the doorstep.

There was a new team running Kingston Heritage Open Days in 2013 and I think they got off to a great start, not only did they keep the show on the road (there was a real danger that it would not happen this year) but they managed to add a few new venues and I know that they have plans to build on this success next year.