Coffee & Chat

Wednesday, 2nd September @ 11.15am

Parkside Café (1^st floor), National Maritime Museum,

London SE10 9NF 

Amelia Dalton
Expedition Travel Specialist

Amelia Dalton 

Come and meet Amelia Dalton. Amelia is an expedition travel specialist, author and speaker whose career has taken her to 45 countries. For ten years, she operated an expedition ship among the remote islands of Scotland’s west coast—an experience recounted in her bestselling memoir, Mistress and Commander. After gaining her commercial maritime qualifications, Amelia led tours for Abercrombie & Kent and created programmes for luxury expedition ships travelling from the High Arctic to Borneo and the Indian Ocean. She now designs and leads bespoke journeys and small-group tours. Her second memoir, Pages from My Passport, recounts the triumphs and mishaps of her adventurous life at sea and ashore.

 

Conversations with

distinguished local residents

The Greenwich Society is following last year’s Conversations with Distinguished Judges with a similar series of monthly Conversations with Local Residents. They will be hosted as last year by Tim Barnes KC.

Our last conversation will be with Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham KCB MA, a former Royal Navy Vice Admiral and defence strategist who served for over four decades in the Royal Navy. During his distinguished career, he commanded HMS Ark Royal and later served as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, helping to shape British defence policy at the highest level. During his naval career, he also lived at the historic Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, one of Britain’s most important maritime landmarks. He will reflect on his experiences there, sharing personal insights into daily life within the extraordinary Wren-designed complex and its enduring connection to Britain’s naval and cultural heritage.

Thursday, 10^th September @ 7.00pm
St Alfege Church Hall. Roan Street, SE10 9JT

Buy Tickets here

Annual Quiz Night

Come and enjoy a fun night!

Saturday, 26^th September at 7 pm for 7.30 pm start

St Alfege Church Hall, Roan Street, London SE10 9JT

Teams of six, and the ticket price includes a Glass of Wine/Soft Drink and Pizza to share
Individuals will be placed on teams.

£15 members/£20 non members

Buy Tickets here

Annual Greenwich
Society Lecture

Guest Speaker:  Professor Jane Harrington 

Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the

London and South East University Group

Professor Jane Harrington is the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the London and South East University Group, the inaugural leader of the UK’s first multi-university group, and former Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Greenwich, where she served from December 2019. With a career in higher education spanning 35 years, she is widely recognised for her inclusive, values-led leadership, with a strong focus on student success, social mobility, civic responsibility, partnerships and education without boundaries. Jane’s career started as a researcher focusing on gender and work, and she has held senior and executive roles for over 20 years. Jane is well known across the higher education sector as Board member of University Alliance, a member of the Universities UK (UUK) Board, and UUK Policy Lead for Student Experience, Education and Skills. She is also a Board member of UCEA and was the chair of UCEA’s Pay Gaps Reference Group.

Tessa Blackstone Lecture Theatre Room 11_0003

University of Greenwich, 11 Stockwell Street, SE10 8EY 

Sunday, 15th November at 11.00 am  to 12 pm

Buy Tickets here

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PAST EVENTS

Coffee & Chat

Wednesday, 1st July @ 11.15am

Parkside Café (1^st floor), National Maritime Museum,

London SE10 9NF 

 

Come and hear Alistair Sinclair, one of our C&C regulars and a Scottish-born writer and speaker with a longstanding interest in British history, architecture and heritage. He will talk about:

The Other Queen’s House

 

Anne of Denmark was given the Lordship of Dunfermline as a ‘morning gift’ on the occasion of her wedding to James VI in 1589.  The Queen had the Queen’s House rebuilt in 1600 and this was by William Shaw who was as famous in his way as Indigo Jones, the architect of the Queen’s House, Greenwich.

 

Anne’s second son, who became Charles I, was born 19^th November 1600 at Dunfermline Palace of which the Queen’s House was a part. So it is possible that he was actually born in the Queen’s House.

Coffee & Chat

Wednesday, 3^rd June @ 11.15am

Parkside Café (1^st floor), National Maritime Museum,

London SE10 9NF 

Come and meet Dr Pieter van der Merwe, MBE, DL and hear a short history of Greenwich Hospital.

Pieter is a long-standing member of the Greenwich Society’s EC and a Curator Emeritus of the National Maritime Museum.

Royal Greenwich Park Guided Tour

Wednesday 10th June 2026 - 4.30 pm prompt.

Meeting outside the Greenwich Park Office, Blackheath Gate, SE10 8QY.

Last year's guided tour of the Park proved incredibly popular. We are delighted that Clare Lanes, the Royal Greenwich Park Manager, will host another guided walk highlighting some of the recent improvements to the park environment, new planting schemes and environmental projects.

The walk will start off from the Park Offices at Blackheath Gate. We will visit the scenic Flower Garden, the new Learning Centre facility, and explore the community kitchen garden adjacent to the Ignatius Sancho Cafe.

The walk will finish near to Crooms Hill Gate. Tim Barnes has kindly invited members of the group to join him afterwards for tea in the garden at The White House, Crooms Hill.

 

Members only – this is a FREE event, maximum of 30 people. The tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.  

 

Private View of the Monarchy Exhibition

Saturday 20^th June. 2.00 pm-5.00 pm

 

Joint event between The Greenwich Society and The Fan Museum.

We are arranging a Private View of the current Monarchy Exhibition and a welcome drink at The Fan Museum from 2.00 pm. At 3.00 pm 2 local classical musicians will be performing in The Orangery for 30 minutes. 

After this, there will be an “Antiques Road Show”-m 3.30 to 5.00pm, hosted by Jonathan Atkins of Minerva Antiques. 

If you have an article you would like to have examined and valued, could you provide Jonathan with some photos in advance and anything about the history of the object which you would like him to know.

His e-mail address is sales@minerva-antiques.co.uk. 

Tickets to include all the above events are £15 per person.

 

Conversations with distinguished local residents

The Greenwich Society is following last year’s Conversations with Distinguished Judges with a similar series of monthly Conversations with Local Residents. They will be hosted as last year by Tim Barnes KC.

These conversations which have all been held at  St Alfege Church Hall have been well attended by Society members and students from the University with numbers fluctuating between 50 and 70. On 19th February Matthew Pennycook participated in the first conversation. His commitment to Greenwich, to the European Union and to his present ministerial role as Housing Minister were impressive. He is an intelligent and hard working MP  and I am confident that at the end of the conversation the audience thought that we were fortunate to have him as our Member. He fielded the questions lucidly and amiably and spent some time after the event chatting to people in the audience; in particular giving time to students from the University of Greenwich.

On 26th March the second conversation was with Sir Nigel Sheinwald our former Ambassador in Washington. He had an enclyopaedic knowledge of  foreign policy actions going back to the time of Margaret Thatcher. His diplomatic experience had taken him to Moscow as well as Washington.He had been the PM’s Personal Adviser on Security and since his retirement from the Foreign Office he had held numerous positions including heading up Chatham House. The impression that came over strongly was of a highly intelligent, thoughtful and humane man who gave balanced answers to the questions raised. For instance he was prepared to give President Trump  credit for the current ceasefire in Gaza while clearly not being an uncritical admirer!

The third conversation was with Jeremy Banks, on 16th April. He is the cartoonist for the Financial Times and has been so for many years.He also produces work for The Spectator and Private Eye..4 days a week he has to produce 3 pocket cartoons from which the FT make its choice. He brought some of his recent cartoons with him, and  whether they provoked a wry smile or a guffaw of laughter  such a the one showing a dock in a Criminal Court with spikes around the top marked Royal Box” ( in recognition of Prince Andrew’s ecent problems) they were all amusing. Jeremy touched on the history of cartoons , his own favourite cartoonist  ( Jak from the Evening Standrard) and his affection for Lesley Hodsdon to whom he dedicated one of the drawings  (see the website tributes to Lesley)

Jeremy Banks is well known to many Society members for his cartoons in our newsletters and  design of  our Christmas Card.  He has been the cartoonist in the  Financial Times since 1989 and has also contributed to Private Eye ,The Spectator and many other publications. The conversation will involve a discussion about  the history of cartoons as well as  their topical significance. Many of Jeremy's current crop  of cartoons will be on show.

NEXT CONVERSATION

Thursday 21st May at 8pm at Woolwich Barracks

Conversation with Colonel Veronica Sefton  Commanding Officer Woolwich Baracks (and the first woman to hold this position) to be followed by visit to the Officers Mess and Silver Room. Names and registration numbers of cars will need to be notified to the Barracks and photo identification will be required.

Biography

Access will be from the West Entrance to the Parade Ground from Repository Road. Arrival between 7.30 and 7.45 is recommended.

1st April

Coffee & Chat

 Penny Matheson - Exhibition

26th January - 28th February 2026

West Greenwich Library
Greenwich High Road, SE10 8NN

 

Coffee& Chat