Writer, blogger and erstwhile graphic designer Emma Lawton came to talk to us for our October meeting. Emma was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 29 but in no way has she let that hold her back….. she spoke with incredible positivity about all the achievements and activities in her amazing life since then, including stand-up comedy, wild camping, sailing, writing, fund raising for Parkinson’s charities and even featured on an episode of the BBC programme Big Life Fix which you can watch here. In spite of ongoing treatment, including extensive back surgery, she continues to live a very busy and active life. She was a joy to listen to and a complete inspiration for us all.
Category Archives: Meetings
Dancing with Dacre Morris – Our September 2026 Meeting
Local Morris Dancing side, Dacre Morris, returned in September for their second visit to Lee Green WI. The musicians and dancers arrived resplendent in their red dresses, decorated with ribbons, bells and badges. After a brief talk about the history of morris dancing (despite it being historically a male pursuit, these days it’s… Continue reading
Influential Women in Lewisham – Our July 2026 Meeting
Becky Laxton-Bass joined us to talk about influential women of Lewisham. Becky took us on a virtual tour of the Borough and picked out 14 women to talk about: Marie Louise Coidavid (1778-1851) Born into a free black family, Marie Louise, married to Henri Christophe became Queen of Haiti after a monarchy was established following… Continue reading
Modern Architecture on the Cator Estate – Our June 2026 Meeting
For our June meeting we welcomed Ana Francisco Sutherland, architect and founder of Francisco Sutherland Architects based in Blackheath and Chair of the Blackheath Society. Ana became fascinated by the architectural history of Blackheath and the number of post-war buildings of architectural merit. She soon discovered a network of collaborating practitioners living locally who had … Continue reading
Our AGM and Singalong with R’markable Choir – Our May 2026 Meeting
Our May meeting is of course our Annual General Meeting. Our joint presidents, secretary and treasurer cantered through the business part of the meeting with efficient good humour, but the star of the show was definitely Jane Clark who gave a delightful short speech to acknowledge the hard work of the presidents and committee. (So… Continue reading
Some Women of the 50s who Defied Convention and Wrote a Cookbook! – Our April 2026 Meeting
For our April 2026 meeting we welcomed Jacky Robinson back to our meeting to tell us about some women of the thirties, forties and fifties who defied convention … and also happened to write a cookbook! Jacky is a keen cook and for over 20 years she has been running charity fundraisers with her sister… Continue reading
Digital Forensics – Our March 2026 Meeting
Chris Truran previously worked as a member of SOCO with the Metropolitan Police. He came to speak about forensics and began his presentation by reminding us of the history where Korea started to use walkie-talkie radios which weren’t very efficient. But from then technology improved with the introduction of the first mobile phones in the… Continue reading
The History of the Corbett Estate – Our February 2026 meeting
In a fascinating talk, Jon introduced us to Archibald Corbett (1856-1933), the son of a wealthy Scottish merchant who transformed Catford and Hither Green with the development of 3 – 4,000 homes. Corbett was a philanthropist and was later to enter politics and have a long career as a Liberal MP before entering the House… Continue reading
Strictly Bollywood – Our January 2026 meeting
What a lot of fun we had at our first meeting of 2026, strutting our stuff to lively Bollywood music! A big thank you to Kangan of Absolute Bollywood for guiding us through the moves with such enthusiasm, we had a great time. Anyone want to dance again? Online classes are available £30 a month,… Continue reading
Gingerbread house decorating – Our December 2025 meeting
A fun and festive evening was had at our December meeting when we overcame our creative fears to glue and ice our gingerbread houses while sipping some festive fizz. It was a great opportunity to have a chat while we braved very sticky fingers and encouraged each other to just have a go at making… Continue reading
Rock around Blackheath – Our November 2025 meeting
What a wonderful evening of entertainment from Paul Wright. Paul started looking at local musicians when he found that Tom McGuinness of McGuinness Flint fame lived in his house in Dacre Park in the 1970s. Paul is a great storyteller, the funniest story was perhaps the one… Continue reading
Meeting dates for 2026
The dates for our 2026 meetings are listed below so you can add them to your new diary as soon as possible. We will be adding full details for each meeting in Upcoming Events. Thursday 15 January – Bollywood workshop Thursday 12 February – History of the Hither Green Corbett estate Thursday 19 March –… Continue reading