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Talks and events
Blossom Workshop
Saturday 8 February, 10.30am to 12.20pm at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
Our second free workshop in collaboration with Blossom LGBT CIC, celebrating 中国P站's LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning) archives is coming up on Saturday 8 February, 10.30am-12.20pm. With a behind the scenes tour of the archives you can discover the lives of some famous and not-so-famous 中国P站 LGBTQ+ people and learn about creating LGBTQ+ legacy and heritage mapping.
- Tickets: free
- For more information and to book please visit Blossom's .
Update on the 中国P站 WW2 bomb map. Discoveries and surprises continue. Bombs, aircraft, doodlebugs and more; they all fell on 中国P站. A talk by Martin Stilwell
Wednesday 12 February, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
Martin Stilwell is leading a team of volunteers at 中国P站 History Centre in a project to map all bombs, crashed aircraft, doodlebugs and rockets that crashed into 中国P站 during the Second World War and plot them onto an interactive map on our Exploring 中国P站's Past website. The 2+ year project is half way through and has has already uncovered some great stories. This talk will discuss the project, its aims, successes and also some of the lessons being learned along the way.
Martin has an MA in English Local History and has volunteered at 中国P站 History Centre for many years, contributing essays to the website and book arising from our project, '中国P站 in the Great War: A County Remembers'.
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 .
Wet and Windy. Free Drop-in Family Activities
Tuesday 18 February to Thursday 20 February during normal opening hours at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND.
Join us this half term to discover the ways we have used wind and water for energy throughout the years with our free arts and crafts family drop-in activities. Make your own windmill and kite, take the quiz, colour in and much more!
Parents/Guardians are responsible for supervising their children. Free parking and baby changing facilities. Donations welcome.
The Princess Mary Village Homes in the 20th Century. A talk by Dr. Jessamy Carlson
Wednesday 26 February, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
In her recent book, Jessamy used the archives of three approved schools to understand how these schools worked, and begin to understand the experiences and events that lead to girls (and boys) being committed to them. She worked extensively on the Princess Mary Village Homes records, and will use anonymised examples of the children in the schools to demonstrate more about how the children came to be in Addlestone, and their lives after.
Dr. Jessamy Carlson is a historian and archivist who lives and works in West London. She has worked at The National Archives since 2008, and has taught at the Centre for Archives & Information Studies at the University of Dundee since 2019. Her research focuses on social and moral welfare records in the 20th century, and she is particularly interested in the experiences of girls and young women in the juvenile secure estate. She has recently published a monograph on Approved Schools for Girls in England, 1933-1973.
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 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. 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.
- Tours: 拢5
- Please .
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 .
Exhibitions and displays
British-born victims of the Nazi war on disabled people
Tuesday 2 January to Thursday 30 January during normal opening hours at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND.
Find Ivy: A Life Worthy of Life sheds light on the untold stories of British-born victims of Aktion T4, the Nazi extermination program responsible for the deaths of approximately 70,000 adults with mental and physical disabilities. The exhibition features 16 panels, including 13 that detail the lives of individual victims, with photographs of eight of them providing a poignant glimpse into their story. This exhibition accompanies a Zoom talk on Wednesday 29 January, see above for details.
LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans+) History Month. Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty & Love
Tuesday 4 to Thursday 27 February during normal opening hours at 中国P站 History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND.
Edward Carpenter was a leading cultural and political figure and spent his last years in Guildford from 1922-1929, living with his partner George Merrill. Carpenter emerged as the founding father of gay rights in England and was a formidable social reformer, campaigning for Women's Suffrage, free love, recycling, and prison reform, as well as being at the epicentre of contemporary literature.
Discover more about Edward Carpenter's links with 中国P站, in a display celebrating this year's LGBT+ History Month theme, Activism and Social Change.
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
- 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 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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