Programme of Meetings 2021-2022

Our meetings are held in the Church Room, Back Lane, Goudhurst and they usually consist of illustrated talks on subjects of local interest.

Doors open at 7.15pm and meetings start at 7.30pm, unless otherwise stated in the programme.  Meetings normally end around 9.15pm.

Membership for a year, giving free entry to all the season’s meetings, is an annual subscription of £10. Our subscription year runs from  October to September.                                                                                                                     

Visitors are always welcomed at our meetings. A charge of £3 is made for each visitor per meeting.

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The Society is pleased to be able to reinstate monthly meetings from October. 

October 5th 2021 – The Goudhurst Post – by Gill Joye

Gill will talk us through post in Goudhurst from the early provincial post to the modern post office.

N.B. The talk will be followed by the Society’s AGM.

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November  2nd 2021 – The Heritage and Memory of Hop Picking in West Kent –  by Dr Toby Butler

Toby has brought ex-hop pickers from East London to the hop gardens they picked in to record their evocative memories.  The talk includes documentary and archive films shot at the hop farms around Tonbridge.

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December 7th 2021 – Mrs Beeton’s Victorian Christmas – by Toni Mount

Celebrating the Festive Season with Isabelle and Sam Beeton, including their time living in Kent, plus Christmas traditions introduced by the Victorians.

N.B. Doors will open at 7.15 pm and the evening will start with mulled wine and mince pies. Toni’s talk will begin at 7.45pm.

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February 1st 2022 – No Meeting

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March 1st 2022 – Suffragettes of Kent – by Jennifer Godfrey

Thought provoking stories about the determination, courage and sacrifice of those involved in the women’s suffrage movement with references to Goudhurst and surrounding areas.

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5th April 2022 – The Beresfords of Bedgebury and their legacy –
by Neville Gallagher 
William and Louisa Beresford purchased the Bedgebury Estate in the 1830s. They initiated the Pinetum and developed the surrounding communities of Goudhurst and Kilndown. Later, William’s stepson Alexander continued their work with lasting impact on the local area.
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3rd May 2022 – Elizabeth Barton, Maid of Kent 1506-1534 –
by Melanie Gibson Barton
A talk about the visionary of Aldington who was executed as a result of her prophecies against the marriage of King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
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7th June 2022 – Meeting to be held at The Goudhurst Club – opposite the pond.
Sissinghurst Castle and the Local Area in World War Two
by Peter Mellor

this talk will include the lives of Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicholson at home and on the farm as well as the involvement of the Home Guard and secret Auxiliary Units during the threat of enemy invasion

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 We look forward to welcoming you to our meetings.

If you are considering joining our society you can talk to us at a meeting or email us via our “Contact Us” page.