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WATERINGBURY

HISTORY SOCIETY

Meets in the Village Hall

3rd Wednesday of month at 8pm

Free tea or coffee from 7.40pm

             Programme - September 2026 to June 2027

Membership £20 for the year - 8 talks & Christmas Social 

(under 21s - £10)  Visitors very welcome - £7 an evening (cash)

18th September   Bob Ogley  Kent in 20th Century

Bob will guide us through the highlights of the 20th Century.  Flying machines, 2 world wars to sporting victories, engineering achievements and artistic triumphs.  We’ll hear about the many changes in social and cultural life that have helped shape a county rich in folklore and legend. 

21st October   Deborah Collins    Malling Poor Law Union

                                                                   The changing role of the Workhouse

The Malling Poor Law Union was established on October 12, 1835, managing poor relief and a local workhouse for 22 parishes including Wateringbury. The union’s workhouse was located on the east side of London Road in West Malling. The Board of Guardians ran the facility until it was abolished in 1930.

18th November   Richard Parsons   The Making of English Canals

Canals were the motorways of their time.  Richard tells their story.

16th December Christmas Social

A relaxed evening with time to enjoy a glass of wine or juice and a fun table top quiz

20th January Dean Caston   QEII A Lifetime of Service

Dean will tell of the  late, much admired Queen's historic milestones, her early life, and the defining moments of her decades-long reign.

17th February   Simon Waterfield   The WWII Defence of England 

Have you heard of the Ironside Line or Tonbridge Fortress?  Do you know what the British governments version of the Seigfreid Line was?  Well Tonbridge, Rochester and Chatham were key defences against a German Invasion.

Listen to a local ARP man recounting his memories of the war, the preparations, the defence plan, the reality of the air raids and the local defiance to Hitler.

17th March    Adam Taylor   Medway Muddies

For almost a century, gangs of men called Muddies sailed Thames barges to the remote salt marshes of the Medway estuary to dig tons of mud to satisfy the relentless demands of the cement industry. They worked hard, drank hard, got into fights, and changed the tidal flow of a river forever. An entertaining journey through an almost forgotten piece of unique history.

1st April  Tony Harris   Titanic – the ship that never sank

Tony Harris's performance is not just about the Titanic's sinking; it's about exploring the mystery behind the disaster and the historical context of the event.

19th May    Wine & Cheese evening

16th June    AGM then Stuart Robinson   Charles Dickens’ London

Victorian London was the largest, most spectacular city in the world. While Britain was experiencing the Industrial Revolution, its capital was both reaping the benefits and suffering the consequences. Charles Dickens applied his unique power of observation to the city whose streets he often walked.