The Dukes of Bedford: The Tooting Connection

Tuesday 12 February 2019

Our next meeting will be a talk by John Brown on the Dukes of Bedford and the Tooting Connection.

100 Years of Greasby’s Auction House

Tuesday 12 March 2019

At our next meeting we will hear from Managing Director Christine Sachett about the Longley Road-based auctioneers, who are celebrating their centenary in Tooting this year.

You can find more about Greasby’s here.

Merton Priory: The Next Chapter

Tuesday 9 April 2019

Merton Priory will be the subject of our next monthly meeting. John Hawkes from the Merton Priory Trust will be coming along to tell us about the 800 year history of the Priory and future developments.

You can read more about the Merton Priory Trust here.

Stars of the Music Hall

Tuesday 14 May 2019

Tooting has connections with several figures from the Victorian and Edwardian music hall, and at our next meeting you can here about these stars and what their connections were. We are also promised some recordings for your delight and delectation!

Peter Charlton from The British Music hall Society will be addressing us.

Locally Listed in Tooting

Tuesday 11 June 2019

What are the buildings, objects and features that make Tooting important to you? What does being “locally listed” mean? What do you want to protect and improve in Tooting?

Come to our June meeting and find out about local listing and Tooting History Group’s role in drawing it up.

Layers of London

Tuesday 9 July 2019

Layers of London is a map-based history website. Users can access free historic maps of London and contribute their own stories, memories and histories to create a public social history resource about their area.

Come and hear Amy Todd from The Layers of London Project tell us how we can put Tooting on the Layers of London map.

You can see the Layers of London website here.

Springfield Hospital

Tuesday 16 July 2019

Come and visit Tooting Library and learn about the construction and demise of Springfield Hospital with Dr Khaldoon Ahmed, a psychiatrist and filmmaker who will take us on a journey from the construction of asylums in the 19th Century to their eventual demise as luxury housing. 

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Khaldoon and a team of volunteers looked at the history of Springfield Hospital, originally built in 1841, now being redeveloped into apartments and new mental health facilities. In this talk he will present his findings, and show a short work-in-progress film about the old psychiatric intensive care unit at Springfield that was demolished last month. The talk will also include a discussion on architecture and the treatment of mental illness.

Putting Tooting on the Historic Map

Saturday 20 July 2019

Have you got a favourite historic place in Tooting you want to see featured on the internet? Is there a person, feature or memory you want to record on the web?

Come along to Tooting Library from 2 to 5 pm when Tooting History Group will be uploading historic features to the Layers of London website. Bring your photos (and memories).

Have a look at the Layers of London website at: https://www.layersoflondon.org/

Operation Pied Piper: Evacuation 1939

Wednesday 21 August 2019

Were you evacuated from London during the war? Do you know someone who was?

There will be a talk next Wednesday at 2 pm by historian Peter Daniel at the Furzedown Project in Moyser Road about the evacuation of children from London during the Second World War.

The Furzedown Project is at 91-93, Moyser Road, SW16 6SJ.

Walk: Hidden Historical Watercourses

Wednesday 4 September 2019

As part of the Tooting Common Heritage Project, a special event has been organised at the Fossil Tree on Tooting Common for next Wednesday at 2 pm.

Dr Paul Kendrick from the Natural History Museum will talk about the science behind the tree and Janet Smith from The Tooting History Group will give a short account of its history and how it came to be on the Common.

John Hendry Anderson: The Man Behind the Lido

Tuesday 8 October 2019

Janet Smith will be talking at our next meeting about John Hendry Anderson and his role in building Tooting Bec Lido.

Sindy: Born in Merton

Tuesday 12 November 2019

Our next meeting will be about Sindy (the doll) and her genesis.

Come and hear David Luff from the Merton Historical Society tell us about the family tree and how she begun life down the road at a toy factory in Merton.