2026
Next event
18 February (Wed) The Most Heroic Failure of Modern Times – Shackleton’s Antarctic – Jeremy Holmes
When Ernest Shackleton set off to cross the Antarctic for the first time in 1914, he was already a celebrated explorer, but his ship quickly got trapped and then crushed in the ice. He and his crew camped for months on the ice with only rudimentary supplies, until he decided to sail a lifeboat 750 miles to South Georgia – a feat never before attempted. Arriving exhausted they had to climb a mountain range before eventually finding a remote whaling station and ultimately returning to rescue their comrades. Shackleton’s leadership became the stuff of legend; this talk explains why.
Jeremy Holmes was a management consultant for most of his career, but latterly CEO of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and COO of Universities UK. About 25 years ago Jeremy was given a management book about Shackleton and his leadership skills which he found quite inspiring.
Jeremy is now retired and gives talks on a variety of subjects – for pleasure and to raise funds for a couple of charities of which he is a trustee (including the Quaker International Education Trust). Long, long ago Jeremy went from a grammar school to Oxford, where he won a scholarship and took a Double First in English Lit.
Upcoming events
2026
24th March (Tues) THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER: HOW HISTORY’S GREATEST COLD CASE WAS SOLVED Philippa Langley
HHS MEMBERS ONLY Tickets £10
One of the most memorable HHS meetings in recent years was held on the 6th November 2013. The discovery of the remains of Richard III in a Leicester Council Office Car Park was in the news. I contacted the Richard III Society to see if they could recommend a speaker. They advised that, by chance, Philippa Langley who inaugurated the quest for Richard III’s lost grave happened to be in London that month promoting her book The Search for Richard III The King’s Grave and would be delighted to visit Hedgerley Historical Society. The rest as they say is History!
With King Richard III laid to rest, Kingfinder Philippa Langley turns her attention to one of our most enduring historical mysteries: the disappearance of the sons of King Edward IV of England, more commonly referred to as the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Over the last ten years, The Missing Princes Project has undertaken the first-ever international cold case investigation into this mystery and pulled back the curtain of history to reveal the most extraordinary story. Undertaking archival searches around the world, the project, with its 300+ members, has discovered not only proofs of life for both Princes but overwhelming evidence from the reigns of Richard III and Henry VII that not only did the Princes live on but each went on to challenge the first Tudor monarch for the throne of England. The totality of evidence revealed in Philippa’s talk is remarkable. Following the discovery of King Richard III’s grave in 2012, The Missing Princes Project is again rewriting the history books.
Philippa’s talk is fully illustrated. There will also be a book sale and signing with Philippa at the end of the evening. We look forward to an extraordinary event and to welcoming Philippa back again to the Society in celebration of our 50th anniversary year.
18th March (Wed 8pm) The History of Hedgerley and Book Launch Julian Hunt and Michael Rice.
First published in 1980 and 1982 as paperbacks, the The History of Hedgerley was revised and consolidated into a hardback volume in 2007. Over the past two years the book has been revised by local historian and author Julian Hunt and edited by Michael Rice who will present an illustrated talk about how the original publication came into being and the path to the latest version.
The revised book is being launched at our annual Harry Kirby Memorial Lecture named after our founder Harry Kirby who arranged the first meeting of the Society in Hedgerley Memorial Hall on the 24 th February 1976. For the past 50 years the Society has met for monthly talks/special events, enjoyed outings and published books and maps including a Parish Map in 1999.
Michael Rice is a former Chairman and current President of Hedgerley Historical Society.
Julian Hunt is a popular speaker
15th April (Wed 8pm) The Goldings: the life and legacy of a brick-making family Sue James
It has been said that if your ancestors come from the poorest echelons of society then it is virtually impossible to find anything about them unless they had a history of criminality or were in the military.
Sue James would like to add a couple more; a strong tradition of oral history within a family combined with a somewhat random archive of photographs, cards, letters and newspaper cuttings. This is Sue’s legacy, priceless to a history lover. Her great-great-grandparents, George and Lucy Golding, were married for over fifty years, raising six out of seven children to adulthood. George was a brick-maker and labourer and so quite a poor man. Yet, his children became more affluent for all sorts of reasons.
The one that interests Sue the most is that two of them emigrated to New Zealand and her talk will focus on the different lives and aspirations of the two branches of the family separated by half a world away. Who got the better life in the end?
Sue James is a retired history teacher and looks after the archive at Sutton High School GDST which she uses to give lessons and talks on national events from a unique, local perspective. Sue also uses her family archive to provide a different perspective on social history. For example, Sue spoke to the Slough U3A local history group on her mother’s memories of growing up in Slough between the wars. In this talk Sue will be going back three or four generations to cast an eye on a Hedgerley family and their descendants and hopes that she can bring them to life for you!
Note on photographs
The small photo is of Eliza Timblick, nee Golding (1858-1940) and the other is of Maria Elder, nee Golding (1861-1945).
Saturday 25th April 2025 12 noon Bull Hotel Gerrards Cross
50th Anniversary Lunch Tickets £30
The first meeting of HHS was on Wednesday 24th February 1976. Join us to celebrate our half centenary.
Saturday 9th May 2025 Hedgerley Memorial Hall and Burnham Beeches
Study Day (10am – 4pm) Julian Hunt and Dr Helen Read MBE
Tickets £15 (includes buffet lunch)
Our theme this year is the history of Farnham Royal and Burnham Beeches. In the afternoon Dr Helen Read will lead a walk to describe the history of Burnham beeches
Wednesday 20th May 2025 8pm Hedgerley Memorial Hall
Historic Bridges of Bucks – Marshall Hall
Marshall Hall is a retired UK university professor of Socio-anthropology who has held a lifelong interest in travel, exploration, linguistics, architecture, and adventure. As an American living in London he enjoys a multicultural perspective on career, family, and the human condition. He has three daughters and ten grandchildren living in America.
He originally moved from the University of Cincinnati to England to teach for the American College in London and 33 years later still calls the UK home. He is married to an English woman, has UK citizenship, and lives in Chesham just outside central London.
He is often asked what sparked his specific interest in bridges, especially old ones, to which he doesn’t have a clear answer, but seems certain it has something to do with the human aspect of them. How important were they to the people who used them, how many feet have crossed them, how difficult were they to build, and what stories are there surrounding them? There is always a story. None-the-less, wherever he travelled if there was a bridge nearby, he had to have a look and take photos.
There is a particularly rich history of bridges in England and during his years here Marshall has visited and researched hundreds of them.
Today Marshall writes, teaches the occasional university class as a guest lecturer, does public speaking, and tends to his allotment.
In 2019 he self-published a travelogue about his three-month adventure to the South Pacific islands entitled “Searching for Paradise” and is currently working on a local linguistic book called Blimey I’m Knackered, An American’s Survival Guide to British English.
HHS 