Tag: Ide Hill Society

23rd June 2023 at 2pm: Ide Hill Society Summer Outing to Down House

Posted on

23rd June 2023 at 2pm: Ide Hill Society Summer Outing to Down House 

Theory of evolution by natural selection

Theory of evolution by natural selection

For our summer outing this year we are offering our members a trip to Down House, Downe, with a guided tour of the garden. This has been arranged for Friday, 23rd June at 2pm. Down House was built in the early 18th century and was, as you know, the home of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma. They moved to the house in 1842 to accommodate their growing family and Darwin remained there for 40 years until his death in 1882.

It was whilst living there that Darwin developed his theory of evolution by natural selection and wrote his ground breaking work: On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859). During our guided tour of the garden, we will hear about the experiments Darwin conducted to help prove his theories on evolution, including those on plant and insect life which have been recreated in the garden and greenhouse.

We will also learn how the garden has been restored to its original Victoria layout complete with authentic planting. The talk will last 60 minutes. This will allow sufficient time afterwards for participants to explore the garden and/or house at their leisure, and visit the café before the house closes at 5pm. The guided tour is limited to a group of 15 maximum. The cost of the guided tour is £75 (divided between the number in the group). In addition, there is an entry charge: £16.30 (Adult); £14.50 (over 65s)

If we are a group of 11, or more, we will get 15% discount on the cost of entry. As we will be limited to 15 attendees, please let me know if you wish to join me for this visit before May 31st.
In addition, please indicate whether you require an adult or over 65s ticket, as group members cannot pay individually. We will be required to make a single payment.
When I know who is attending, I will send out payment details, in addition to sorting out car-sharing.

Once again, please ensure you contact us before 10th June if you wish to attend at: events@idehillsociety.org.uk

 

14th March, 2023: AGM & Talk

Posted on

Ide Hill Society Events 2023

 

 

14th March, 2023: AGM & Talk

  1. AGM at 8pm in Ide Hill Village Hall.
  2. After the AGM there will be a talk by Peter Wade on the Restoration of Cadogan Hall from its previous life as a place of religion to its now renowned place as a premiere venue for Classical Music and the current “home” of The Royal Philharmonic.

Lecture: 19th October, 2022 – George Orwell in Kent and the old Sundridge Hospital

Posted on

Ide Hill Society Lecture: 19th October, 2022

George Orwell in Kent and the old Sundridge Hospital

Many of us will remember reading ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘1984’ by George Orwell when we were at school. Perhaps less well known is his diary in which he records his hop-picking journey through Kent in 1931. In this he notes that he intended to stay at the ‘spike’ in Ide Hill but instead slept ‘on the edge of a park near the church’. The spike was a part of the old workhouse located on Sundridge Road, which subsequently became Sundridge Hospital before being converted into housing and renamed Birchfield.

The Ide Hill Society is delighted to welcome Neil Smith, the secretary of The Orwell Society, who has been researching the author’s connections with Kent, including Ide Hill.

Joining Neil will be Mike Bolton, a local historian, who will share his research into the old Sundridge Workhouse/Hospital – the former recorded in Orwell’s ‘Down & Out in Paris and London’ as a spike that is best avoided. He writes that his fellow tramps warned him:

‘to steer clear of Billericay and Chelmsford, also Ide Hill in Kent’.

This promises to be a fascinating and informative double session.

It will be held in the Ide Hill Village Hall and will start at the earlier time of 6pm on Wednesday 19th October 2022.  All are welcome – non-members £2.

 

Ide Hill Toilets: The Views of the Ide Hill Society

Posted onLeave a comment

Ide Hill Toilets: The Views of the Ide Hill Society

Dear Member or former Member

The Committee of the Ide Hill Society recently attended a Zoom meeting led by Don Baker with other Ide Hill Ward Parish Councillors Polly Furse and David Miller attending. They explained the background to the consultation/survey on the Ide Hill public toilets and sought the support of our membership for the keeping this facility fully open.

The projected annual cost of cleaning and maintenance is £7500, which amounts to roughly £5 per resident of the Parish Council. In the absence of any explanation we can only assume that Sundridge Ward councillors feel that it is not in their residents’ interest to maintain this commitment or that the money is better spent elsewhere.

It is the unanimous and strongly held view of your Committee that the toilets should remain fully open. Without this facility the cafe will be unable to re-open after lockdown unless [and even then until] alternative facilities can be provided. The shop and its amazing team of volunteers is at the heart of our community and widely admired. The cafe is an integral part and without it the shop is scarcely profitable and its long term viability therefore uncertain.

The toilets are also a heavily used facility for cyclists, walkers and other visitors, many from afar, who will not suddenly disappear if the café closes, as we have seen in lockdown. Closure of the facilities would therefore have unmentionable implications for decency and public health.

It is of course your decision on how, or whether, to respond to this consultation but our Committee will be voting for keeping the toilets fully open and adding a comment that this should be on a permanent basis.
We strongly encourage you to do so too.

Paul Meredith

Chair of the Ide Hill Society

 

Save Our Ide Hill Public Conveniences

Posted onLeave a comment

Ide Hill Public Conveniences consultation:

The Public Convenience With a View

 

Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council Consultation/Survey Ide Hill Public Toilets

Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council is seeking the public’s views on its public toilet strategy for Ide Hill Public toilets. As part of the preparation for the strategy, residents and visitors are asked whether the Ide Hill Public toilet facility should be retained or closed and/or redeveloped. The Public Convenience is adjacent to car park by the Ide Hill Community shop and village hall on Wheatsheaf Hill, B2042.

The toilets are used by many walkers and cyclists who visit this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It is literally The Public Convenience with one of the most popular views of the local countryside and Bough Beech Reservoir in the area.

This consultation is taking place on the Parish website at and closes on 31st August 2020. General information can be found here.

To take participate in the consultation regarding the public conveniences at Ide Hill please click on this link below: https://www.cognitoforms.com/IdeHillParishCouncil/SundridgeWithIdeHillParishCouncilConsultationSurveyIdeHillPublicToilets

 

Ide Hill Society: Clink lunch, 24 September, 2019

Posted onLeave a comment

Clink lunch, 24 September, 2019 

Tuesday, 24 September, 12 noon we have a visit to the Clink Restaurant, HMP High Downs, Sutton for a unique dining experience, within the walls of this category B prison. You will be served in a modern spotlight dining room with a delicious 3 course lunch, cooked using fresh, seasonal ingredients and latest cookery techniques, all in an open kitchen and prepared and served by prisoners. The restaurant is a major part of the Clink Charity’s prisoners rehabilitation initiative.

Consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood

Posted onLeave a comment

Consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood 

The Clean Air Strategy states that air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK. We often think of air pollution as being caused by transport or industrial level burning of fossil fuels. The Strategy is clear that we now need to tackle these other sources of air pollution, including emissions caused by heating our homes.
Get involved in the consultation by completing an online survey
NB Survey closes 12 Oct 2018

Ide Hill Village is within a Conservation Area

Posted onLeave a comment

Conservation Area

Ide Hill Village is within a Conservation Area. A Conservation Area is an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which should be preserved or enhanced.