ANNUAL PROGRAMME 2025-26

There is an entrance charge of £4 for each talk - which are held in Bridge Village Hall starting at 7.30pm

September 18th 2025
The Life and Death of Amy Johnson
- Jane Delamaine

Amy was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia and became the Influencer of her time. 11 years later she was dead. Jane’s powerful tribute to the legendary aviatrix takes you on an emotional journey of Amy’s life, incredible achievements and tragic death.

October 16th 2025
“St Dunstan’s”, a village outside the City Walls
- Peter Berg

A virtual walk through a village outside the city walls, following the footsteps of kings, queens, prelates, pilgrims and ordinary folk as they made their way from St. Dunstan’s Church to the Westgate Towers and the centre of one of the country’s most significant cities through the ages.

November 20th 2025
“Past and Present” Book Launch

It is hoped to launch the publication of the book " Past and Present Bridge, Bishopsbourne, Patrixbourne and Bekesbourne. Further details to follow.

December 18th 2025
“Lancastrians, Yorkists and Canterbury”, Kent in the Wars of the Roses - Richard Eales

Despite Richard III and Shakespeare’s History Plays, much more was happening in 15th century England (and Kent) than civil war. It affected the lives of many people, such as the mayor of Canterbury executed in the Butter Market for picking the wrong side. This talk will look at some of their experiences.

January 15th 2026
“Bourne to Run”, a short history of cricket at Bourne Park
- Geoff Crothall

Today it is a quiet sheep field, but 250 years ago, Bourne Park was one of the most celebrated cricket venues in England, hosting the best teams in the land in several landmark matches over a two- decade period, before the ground was abandoned in 1790. Geoff will examine how Bourne Park flickered briefly as a centre of English cricket, the reasons for its decline and the legacy it left behind.

February 19th 2026
Bridge Union Workhouse at 190 Years Old - Alan Walton

Bridge Union Workhouse opened its doors 190 years ago in February 1836. This talk will cover the creation of the workhouse system and day to day life and organisation therein. It will also discuss the wind down of the workhouse and its rebirth as a home for the elderly, until its development into dwellings.

March 19th 2026
King Charles I’s visits to Canterbury for “Love and for War” 1613 -1642
- Jackie Eales

Charles I visited Canterbury four times to celebrate royal weddings as part of the international diplomacy of the 30 Years War. But, by the time of his final visit in 1642, Charles was facing a civil war that would finally destroy him.

April 16th 2026
A Child’s Life in the Middle Ages
- Imogen Corrigan

Where are all the children in medieval art? So often they are missing. Did parents not bond with their children? Nothing could be further from the truth. Children were cherished and cosseted, but they worked hard alongside their parents and guardians. This talk goes from before the cradle with superstitions surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, to the trials and tribulations of teenage years and all too often an early grave.

May 21st 2026
“A Gateway County”, migrants in 15th century Canterbury and Kent

- Sheila Sweetinburgh

15th century Kent witnessed the arrival of migrants from continental Europe. Unlike in the following century these were economic migrants who sought opportunities to live and work in a wide range of trades in their new home. This talk will explore what we know about such people, in terms of the number of arrivals, where they came from and settled, as well as the skills they brought with them.

June 25th 2026
The Lost Wall Paintings of Canterbury Cathedral
- Peter Genower

For centuries the walls of Canterbury Cathedral glowed with rich colours and glorious paintings, but almost all the paintwork was obliterated or destroyed during the Reformation. In this illustrated talk, Canterbury Cathedral researcher and guide Peter Genower,brings those colourful walls back to life to give an insight into how the Cathedral sparkled with colour 500 years ago.

 

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Annual General Meeting

The first meeting of the year will be preceded by a short Annual General Meeting.

This will be an opportunity for you to have a say in what you would like the Society to do for you.

The Society Accounts are on the web site 'Publications' at www.bridgehistory.org.uk

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Membership

There is no charge for Membership. Members join by subscribing on the web site:-

www.bridgehistory.org.uk

Newsletters with advance notice of the next events will be sent out by email to all who subscribe.

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Bridge and District History Society

The Society was formed in 1995 to promote interest in aspects of local history in and around the villages of Bridge, Barham, Bishopsbourne, Bekesbourne, Kingston and Patrixbourne.

The evening meetings are informal and sociable and include refreshments. Transport and/or escorts can usually be arranged with other members living nearby.

On trips by member’s cars, those without transport can usually be accommodated in spare seats. Please contact the organiser of each event for arrangements.

Please contact any Society officer or committee member if you need any help

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Talks in the past have included Jane Austen in Kent, Nelson in Kent, Old Ramsgate, John Tom of Bossington Wood, The Star Hill dig at Bridge, The City Gates of Canterbury. Richborough Castle, The Domesday Book, The Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, The Green Man, Stained glass windows in Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury’s medieval hospitals, Bekesbourne Aerodrome, Soldiers of the First World War, Victorian Herne Bay, Bourne Park House, Higham House and Medieval Manuscripts.

This is a small selection of the many talks we have enjoyed over the years. As well as talks our visits have included Bourne Park House, Denton Court, Provender, Cobham Hall, Dode Church, Ypres, Lambeth Palace, Tenterden Railway again a very small selection of the many visits. We also arrange film evenings where we have shown films of Bridge in the 1930s, films of Canterbury in the 1940s, and a selection of old films of Kent.

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Information on the Society can be obtained by from the Secretary - email: [email protected]

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PLEASE DO NOT contact the Society for genealogical information:
Bridge History Society does not hold any records regarding the family histories of Bridge residents.

ALL historical parish council records have been transferred to the Kent County Archive in Maidstone and all church records to the Cathedral archives.

NB: From 1830, there was a workhouse in Union Road (now The Close). The local registrar lived at 10 Union Road and, in order to spare the embarrassment of relatives, workhouse residents were often recorded as living at that address.