BELL HOUSE CHANNEL
View our past webinars below.
Dulwich is an interesting and attractive area of London with ample evidence of its past through the medium of documents, map illustrations and photographs. Yet the area is constantly changing, evolving over time because of wars, social, economic and technical change which have been its drivers. Local historian Brian Green attempts to explain some of these catalysts in this illustrated talk.
Alleyn Road has a pleasant wide aspect with large houses on both sides, it was not like that originally. Although building started in the 1860s, the final houses on the west side were not completed until the early 1890s. Prior to 1900, the east side consisted of the fences of the back gardens of the larger houses in Alleyn Park and it took almost a further 100 years for this side of the road to be fully developed, the last houses being completed in the 1990s. Ian McInnes' talk will cover not only the houses and their builders, but also a range of their occupiers, many of them notable, and interesting, characters.
Historic Kingswood House in South Dulwich, is now under the management of Kingswood Arts, and has become a not-for-profit cultural and community centre. The building we see today dates from the 1890s but there has been a house there since 1814. Ian McInnes will take the story up to WW2 covering the more notable and influential owners and its years as a Canadian Army hospital in WW1.
Just over 100 years ago, the last of the huge old mansions on the northern side of Dulwich Village were demolished. This illustrated talk by Ian McInnes will cover all five, The Hall, Menival/Fairfield, Lake House/Chinese Cottage, the White House/St Austins and Beech House/Warigul along with their wealthy occupants, many of them influential Victorian entrepreneurs.
Jennifer Scott, Director of Dulwich Picture Gallery will present a history of taste through masterpieces from the Gallery's Collection. From its outset, the Gallery has been at the forefront of innovation and creativity.
Spot the difference and see how much (or how little) has changed in Dulwich then and now. Brian Green has a lifetime’s collection of images of past Dulwich together with first-hand memories, interviews with past residents and hours spent in the archives.
Before 1860 East Dulwich had two pubs. By the end of the East Dulwich housing boom in the 1880s, there were nearly 20 together with two beer houses and a similar number of beer shops and off-licenses. Pubs were not only for drinking and socialising they were also entertainment, community and sporting centres. Many licensees were interesting characters as were some of their customers. And, unlike many other parts of London, almost all the buildings are still standing, most still used as pubs - though now run by boutique pub companies rather than large breweries or pub proprietors.
This talk covers Labour politicians with connections to Dulwich including socialist propagandist Russell Smart, the founder of the Camberwell Labour Party (and cabinet minister), Arthur Creech Jones, Dulwich Labour MPs Wilfred Vernon, Sam Silkin and Tessa Jowell and interwar Labour parliamentary candidates, CA Smith, Fred Hughes, Helen Bentwich and Jim Delahaye, together with a few other Labour politicians who lived in the area.
Join Calista Lucy, Keeper of the Archives of Dulwich College, to find out why Joan Woodward (1573-1623) was more than the stepdaughter of theatrical manager Philip Henslowe and a trophy wife for actor Edward Alleyn.
Join us as we explore the crucial role of human connections in academic achievement and well-being. Backed by research from the renowned Harvard Centre on the Developing Child, you’ll gain practical strategies to foster healthy relationships, support executive functioning, and help young people in your care to flourish.
Victoria Bagnall is a pioneer in the field of executive function skills development and passionately believes that applying the latest developments in neuroscience is the key to unlocking the potential of the human brain. She regards executive function challenges as the bottleneck to productivity and is committed to working with people of all ages to help them overcome these challenges in order to flourish.
Victoria is the Co-Founder of Connections in Mind, an organisation of dedicated experts committed to supporting executive function development in children, adolescents, education providers and adults.
Why were MI5, MI6, Special Branch, the CIA and the FBI so interested in a resident of a hotel which once stood on Dulwich Common in the aftermath of WW2?
Along Dulwich Common and within a distance of no more than 100 metres, three different nests of spies existed in World War Two. Follow the incredible story of MI5’s tracking of spies, traitors, Nazis and secret agents in Dulwich during WW2 with local historian Brian Green in this illustrated online talk.
In 1898 Charles Booth surveyed the area of East Dulwich as part of his studies of poverty in London, and defined many streets in East Dulwich as a mix of poverty and comfort.
Into the 1970s housing in East Dulwich, east of Lordship Lane, was approaching 100 years old. One small part of the area was declared a statutory housing action area (HAA) to concentrate resources on improving properties and helping households.
Research shows that fewer children than ever before are helping around the home and yet household chores have been proven to help boost essential skills for learning and personal development; our executive functions.
A talk by Duncan Bowie covering birth control and moral hygiene and sex reformers, housing and planning reformers and anti-slavery campaigners, all of whom at one time lived in Dulwich. Includes Annie Besant, Alice Vickery, Havelock Ellis, Ebenezer Howard, Rev John Harris and Alice Harris and more.
While this talk was beneficial on how to reintegrate learners back into a school environment after the disruptions of COVID-19, it's still relevant to any educational setting - for example, homeschooling.
Dr Amelia Roberts uses Thinking Skills techniques to explore the difference between attempts to transfer knowledge compared to structuring activities to engage and inspire learners, often through dialogue.
There has been a pub on the corner of Dulwich Common and Lordship Lane since the early 18th century and possibly earlier. Originally called the Green Man, it was known as Bew's Corner in the early 19th century and, from the 1860s, the Grove Tavern.
The existing building dates from the 1920s and this illustrated online talk covers not only the buildings themselves but also the men who ran the pubs as well as some of the characters who used them.
This film is about the installation of a ground source heat pump at Bell House.
Just like the Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks, Dulwich also had its tragedies. Mr Russell who lived at Pond Cottages had five sons and the youngest was about to be called up for service. The vicar of St Barnabas wrote that he thought his four brothers had already been killed.
This talk by Brian Green recalls the enlistment of local men in August 1914 at the rate of 250 per day, the care of wounded at Southwark Military Hospital (Dulwich Hospital), the story of Dulwich’s volunteer battalion and everyday life for civilians.
Local historian and architect Ian McInnes takes us on a tour of Dulwich’s magnificent Georgian heritage: the buildings and the families who lived in them from the time they were built.
Farming in Dulwich, which had provided income for the Priory of Bermondsey for 400 years and for almost as long for Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift, was virtually over by the outbreak of the First World War. Its decline was slow and its demise was finally brought about by the efficiency of home milk deliveries by the new giant dairy companies which sprang up with the introduction of bottling plants, homogenised milk and the use of milk trains for nation-wide distribution. Local historian Brian Green shows us how Dulwich farms became the sports fields of today.
Music writer Patrick Humphries takes us on a musical tour of Dulwich.
Join Neil Wilkin, lead curator of 'The World of Stonehenge', as he explores the exhibition with the help of its key objects from across Europe, including the first loan to Britain of the Nebra sky disc.
Lev Parikian talks about his latest book “Light Rains Sometimes Fall”
Celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and discover more about Dulwich’s many and varied royal connections through this Dulwich Society online illustrated talk, from Elizabeth I through to our current queen.
Join Duncan Bowie to learn about some of the many political activists and social reformers connected to Dulwich who were active at a national and international level.
A talk for parents and guardians of neurodiverse students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SPLD) about preparing and embarking upon GCSEs and A-levels with disability advisor Angie Venchard.
An online illustrated local history talk of fascinating comparisons of Dulwich then with Dulwich now. Spot the difference and see how much (or how little) has changed. Brian Green has a lifetime’s collection of images of past Dulwich together with first-hand memories, interviews with past residents and hours spent in the archives.
An online illustrated local history talk covering the development of Turney Road from fields to the housing we see today with Ian McInnes.
The first Dulwich Society online talk for 2022 is a detailed history of the development of Park Hall Road in West Dulwich with Ian McInnes. It features the long-lost Rosendale Hall, the Manor House and the Croxted Rd shops and will complement the “On the Street Where You Live”; series previously published in the Dulwich Society Journal.