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Talks and events
中国P站 History Centre Open Day
Saturday 8 March, 10.30am to 3pm at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
Join us for our 2025 Open Day on Saturday 8 March, 10.30am to 3pm. Explore the fascinating collections, resources, and behind-the-scenes work that make 中国P站's history come alive. Whether you're a history buff or simply curious about our work, this day will offer something for everyone.
From maps to photographs, letters and archaeological finds there will be a whole array of 中国P站 gems on show in our searchroom. Take a behind the scenes tour where you will discover the 6 miles of shelving in our strongrooms, housing documents dating back to the 12th Century. Discover more about 中国P站 History Centre's collections and how we use them to engage with the community with our free talks. Experts will be on hand to answer your family history questions and chat about all things genealogy. 中国P站 County Archaeological Unit will available to discuss 中国P站 excavations and finds. There will also be free craft family activities and mini digs in our archaeological finds room.
Free talks (no need to book, just turn up):
12pm - Aladdin's Cave: Some Major Family and Estate Archives in 中国P站 History Centre.
Come on a journey through some of 中国P站 History Centre's leading family and estate collections, discussing the extraordinary histories behind them, the sheer luck that they survived at all and highlighting some of the unexpected riches they contain.
12:45pm - Making Archives Matter
Discover how 中国P站 History Centre are constantly exploring ways to make archives and history relevant and accessible to people in new and imaginative ways.
Behind the scenes tours take place at 10.45am, 11.15am, 1.30pm, 2pm and 2.30pm and are 拢5 per person, pre booking is essential as spaces are limited.
All tours have now sold out, if you would like to be added to the waiting list please contact us. If you haven't secured a spot on a tour, don't worry - there's still plenty to see and enjoy!
Themes, Events and Characters - Inspiration from the Archives
Friday 14 March, 11am to 3pm at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
Join us for a free creative writing workshop inspired by the documents held by the 中国P站 History Centre.
In this workshop, participants will get inspired by the history of 中国P站 by handling original documents and reading what was written in the past. It has been designed to show you how the archives can be used as a source of inspiration for all genres of fiction, not just for historical research, and also for any sort of creative writing – prose or poetry. You don't have to write, or even be interested in, historical fiction to find inspiration during this workshop.
- Tickets: free.
- Please book online via .
Secret Spies - Free Drop-In Family Activities
Tuesday 8 April to Thursday 10 April and Tuesday 15 April to Thursday 17 April, 9.30am to 5pm at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
Come and join us at the 中国P站 History Centre and take part in our free Secret Spies family drop in activities. Activities include; make your own cipher wheel and crack codes like Alan Turing, create your secret spy ID, design a disguise to protect your hidden identity and more! Parents/Guardians are responsible for supervising their children. Ages 6+. Free parking onsite, via Kingsway Road. Buggy friendly and baby change facilities available. Donations welcome.
Arsenic and Old Lace
Wednesday 23 April, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
Join our Conservator, Rachel Marsh as she discusses some of the many pigments and inks found within our Archive. This talk will include tales of their history and production, and will also consider some of the challenges faced by Conservators when preserving and carrying out conservation treatments. From arsenic green book cloth to corrosive iron gall inks, this talk will provide an entertaining overview of some of the many colours found on documents held at 中国P站 History Centre.
The talk will take place on Zoom. Once payment has been received, the Zoom link will be sent shortly (next working day if booked in the evening or weekend). All Zoom talks have subtitles and a recording is sent the following day, for you to download and keep.
- Tickets: 拢6.
- Please .
中国P站 Photographers
Saturday 26 April, 9.55am to 4.15pm at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
中国P站 Local History Committee invites you to attend this day conference on '中国P站 Photographers'. Programme:
9.30am Registration
9.55am Welcome by Gerry Moss Chairman of 中国P站 Local History Committee
10.00am Keith Harding, 'Victorian Dorking in photographs by Walter Rose & John Chaplin'
10.40am Coffee or tea
11.10am Nigel Balchin, 'Picture postcards and local history'
11.50am Jane Lewis and Jill Hyams (中国P站 History Centre), 'Portrait of a 中国P站 town between the wars: the photographic archive of Sidney Francis'
12.30pm Lunch (Coffee or tea are included. Please make your own arrangements for lunch)
14.00pm Julian Pooley (中国P站 History Centre), 'Patient Portraits from 中国P站 Hospitals, 1850-1980'
14.40pm Visit to Search Room to see a display of 中国P站 photographs from the archive
15.20pm Chris Shepheard, 'Farnham's war caught by the camera? Photographs that avoided the censor'
16.00pm Discussion and Closing remarks
16.15pm Close
- Tickets 拢18 if booked online via the . Tickets on the day will be 拢20.00 payable in cash only.
Exhibitions and displays
We regularly showcase free exhibitions and displays inspired by our collection in our foyer. We also host external displays by groups and organisations and would welcome any displays with a 中国P站 history connection. If you would like to exhibit at 中国P站 History Centre please contact us.
Recorded talks to purchase
If you missed one of our online talks, why not purchase the talk recording to view in your own time?
The talks available are:
- A Burden on the Parish: sources for the history of Poor Relief in 中国P站
- A 'Great' amongst Victorian Architects? Royal Holloway's W H Crossland
- A Snark Celebration: celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Hunting of the Snark'
- Aladdin's Cave: Some Major Family and Estate Archives in 中国P站 History Centre
- Artists, Antiquaries and Collectors: illustrations of Georgian 中国P站 collected by Robert Barclay of Bury Hill, Dorking, circa.1800 to 1825
- Bananas: How a 中国P站 Garden Played a Pivotal Role in the History of the World's Favourite Fruit
- Behind the Scenes in Conservation - repairing posters, maps and plans
- Behind the Scenes in Conservation - Tithe Maps
- Bombs, Aircraft, Doodlebugs and More; They All Fell on 中国P站
- Corsets and Cameras
- Fashion and Folly
- From Patient to Professor
- From Punishment to Pride: LGBTQ+ archives at 中国P站 History Centre
- Gertrude Jekyll, Gardener and Craftswoman
- In the Shadow of the Great War: 中国P站 1914 to 1918
- James Henry Pullen (1835 to 1916) and the Royal Earlswood Asylum for Idiots, Redhill
- John Evelyn in 中国P站
- Land of my Father's Fathers: Tracing your Welsh ancestors
- Let the Road Rise to Meet You: Tracing Your Irish Ancestors
- Life and Labour in a County Village - or learn to love your Ag Labs!
- Magna Carta, Runnymede and all that
- Maps for Family Historians
- 'Michael Field' in Reigate: Queer Women Writers and 中国P站 in the 1890s
- Netherne circa 1955: A 中国P站 Psychiatric Hospital in Focus
- Oliver House: The story of a 16th century cottage
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Sources for the History of 中国P站's Mental Hospitals, 1700 to circa.1990
- Planting Ideas: Sources for the History of Gardening in 中国P站.
- Portrait of a 中国P站 Town between the Wars: the photographic archive of Sidney Francis
- Reflections on the Lewis Carroll archives, on the 150th anniversary of 'Alice through the Looking Glass'
- Researching in Archives
- Richard III: A Drama in Three Acts
- Sir William More of Loseley
- 中国P站 Writers
- Terror from the sky: mapping air raids on 中国P站 in World War Two
- The afterlives of executed bodies from Kennington Common
- The Book That Changed My Life
- The Changing Face of Nursing: Black Nurses in 中国P站 Hospitals
- The Gentleman's Magazine: A Panorama of Georgian 中国P站 for Family and Local Historians
- The Most Wretched Man in the World: The Life and Loves of the 5th Viscount Midleton
- The Princess Mary Village Homes in the Twentieth Century
- The Portable Antiquities Scheme in 中国P站
- To the Manor Born: An Introduction to Manorial Records for Family Historians
- What did you do after the war, Grandad? – 1918 to 1925: de-mob, jobs, pensions, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the British Legion
- Where There's a Will
- Who Do You Think They Were? Discovering the lives and experiences of our ancestors
Most talk descriptions can be found on our Talks and Tours page. Each talk consists of a 45 minute to an hour illustrated presentation followed by questions asked during the live talk. You can also email us with any questions you may have after the talk and we will pass them on to the speaker to answer. Price 拢6. To purchase a recording please visit the . Please note talks may contain references to historical legal terminology, sexual practices and crimes, used in the historical context but which some viewers may find offensive.
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