The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education invites you to join us for our annual Open Day at Madingley Hall on Saturday 1 April 2017.

Throughout the day, there will be opportunities to attend taster sessions on a variety of different subjects:

• “The ideal home in the 18th century”, a local history taster session with Dr Ken Sneath.
• “The Georgian ‘child support agency’: poor unmarried mothers, fathers and local history”, a local history taster session with Dr Samantha Williams.
• “A cuckoo in the nest? Medieval Cambridge and its university”, a history taster session with Dr Rosemary Horrox.
• Tours of Madingley Hall and Gardens.

There will also be the opportunity to chat with our academics 1 to 1 about your future study options here at the Institute, as well as special offers and discounts for enrolling on to our courses on the day.

View the full programme and book online at: Open Day

Don’t forget our final talk for this season is on Wed 8 Mar, by Julian Hunt, Buckinghamshire historian, ‘Berkhamsted, Tring and Aylesbury: rival market towns’. This meeting will be preceded by the AGM. Society meetings take place at 8:00pm in the Wellcome Great Hall, Town Hall, Berkhamsted. Visitors are always welcome @ £3 at the door.

Map shows the close proximity of markets in Aylesbury, Tring and ‘Berk Hempsd’ (from Vision of Britain website)

From the Ashridge volunteers website: “Welcome to Asscherugge, a medieval place name for today’s Ashridge and it’s environs – a royal ‘park’ from 1300.”

Keep up with the Ashridge volunteers here

On Wed 8 Feb 2017, it’s our sixth talk of the season, by Bill Willett, Society member: ‘The Bucks and Herts Rothschilds’. Society meetings take place at 8:00pm in the Wellcome Great Hall, Town Hall, Berkhamsted. Visitors are always welcome @ £3 at the door.

Photo is of Lord Rothschild driving his zebra team. He was the first man to tame these animals for draught purposes. For some years they were kept at Tring Park, the family seat in Hertfordshire, but were afterwards presented to the London Zoological Gardens (Sunday Mirror, Apr 1915).

Our focus in 2017 is to show off our progress!

The Walled Garden project began in 2001. We now have an excellent team of over a hundred volunteers working in different groups depending on their interests, including assisting at our Summer Open Days, research, gardening & building conservation. There are now over 650 different plants in the garden!

Our research volunteers have provided extensive material for a number of talks for groups; including The History of the Walled Garden from the 18th to the 21st Century. See our website for full information.

In 2017 the garden will be open each Wednesday from May 3rd to  September 27th 10.30-4.30, entrance is only £5 including a tour.

Groups can pre-book a private Talk, Tour & Tea of the Walled Garden and enjoy tea, coffee and biscuits with an illustrated talk on a subject of your choice, followed by a tour of the garden including the garden, glasshouses, back sheds, and Dairy.

A talk by Professor David Bates
At The Old Hall, Berkhamsted School
On Friday 7^th April at 7.30pm

A new insight into the Norman Conquest and the English surrender at Berkhamsted will be given in a talk by an eminent historian in the town in April.

Following his unveiling of a bronze bust of William, commemorating the 950^th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, Professor David Bates is making good his offer to return and speak about this historic event in greater detail.

Professor Bates, who holds the chair of medieval studies at the University of East Anglia, has just published a new biography, William the Conqueror. In his talk he will describe how there are still lessons to be learned from the event which changed English history forever.

After the talk Professor Bates will invite questions from the audience and sign copies of his book, which will be on sale.

There will also be another chance to see the bust, which will be exhibited at the school.

Tickets for the event are priced £5 for adults and free of charge to students, to include refreshments.

To reserve your place book online here

It’s time to vote on the Design competition organised by the Friends of St Peter’s for “A Seat to Remember” in Rectory Lane Cemetery. The competition attracted over 50 entries.

To see the designs and vote for a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the single bench competition and for one of the composite schemes for the whole of the Cemetery seating visit here

Our fifth talk of the season is on Wed 11 Jan, by Stephen Lally, Society member: “Your ancestors in Ireland 1818-1848: a dreadful life leading up to the Great Famine.”

Society meetings take place at 8:00pm in the Wellcome Great Hall, Town Hall, Berkhamsted. Visitors are always welcome @ £3 at the door.