Author: hello@pengehistorygroup.co.uk
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Discussion: Historical Fiction – October 2025
For this month, members were invited to bring along their favourite historical fiction novels and share what made them great – or in some cases not so favourite novels and what made them a hard slog! A lively discussion was had including books, authors, research approaches, and what exactly can be considered a work of…
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Talk: The Penge Riots – December 2025
To cap off 2025, member Martin Spence shed light on an event in 1855 which resulted in the streets of Penge falling into a full scale riot. The riot hit the national press and was talked about for years to follow, but accounts differ as to just what it was all about.
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Author Talk with Graham Whitlock – November 2025
Local author Graham Whitlock joined us to discuss his latest novel ‘Bertie & the Invisible Menace‘, which tells the fictional adventures of a young H.G. ‘Bertie’ Wells who unravels a plot that could destroy the Crystal Palace. Graham has also written the fantastic Crystal Palace Chronicles, in which a modern day teenager is sent time-travelling back to the…
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Talk: No Charter for Penge – September 2025
For our first monthly meeting after a summer break, group member Simon Jeal gave a talk on Penge’s failed attempt to become a London borough. Between 1900 and 1965, Penge was an Urban District with its own local Council within the County of Kent, but in 1934 the Council sent a petition to the Privy…
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Talk: Penge in the 1960s Oral History Project – July 2025
Our guest speaker was Heather Wignall, who spoke about her oral history project ‘Collecting personal stories: living in Penge in the 1960s’. For some time, Heather has been recording interviews with senior Penge residents about their memories of that time. She spoke not only about their stories, but also about the process of gathering them, and…
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Walks: Beating the Bounds – June 2025
For the Penge Festival we hosted 2 guided walks around the boundary of the ancient hamlet of Penge. The first walk covered Alexandra Nurseries to Anerley Station, and the second picked up from Anerley Station and back to Alexandra Nurses. On the first walk, we were welcomed by Sally Evans from Lower Chesham Allotments (and…
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Talk: Three County Penge – June 2025
In June the group ran a handful of events for the annual Penge Festival. First up was a talk by group member Martin Spence held at the Penge East Community Centre titled ‘Three County Penge’. Martin told the story of how Penge managed to belong to 3 different counties; Surrey (as part of the parish…
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