St Stephen's Church, Rochester Row
We had been looking forward to member John Turpin's talk and visit to St Stephen's on 4th April, but it's back in the diary for 2021 !
St Stephen's Church, Rochester Row
Thorney Tales (19) Revd James Palmer and Palmer's Village


Workshop by Jens Jakobsen, Master Florist at the Blewcoat School - March 2020
A lucky group of members spent a few hours in the 300 year old schoolroom of the Blewcoat School and treated to a workshop by Jens Jakobsen. Jens has created a beautiful garden around the building which has become a local treasure. Sadly the occupier of the schoolroom, Ian Stuart wedding dresses, has left and a new tenant is being sought by The National Trust. We do hope the new tenant can share the building and Jens can remain in the basement where he runs his acclaimed florestry business and operates a shop. To read further about the workshop, see page 7 in our Spring/Summer 2020 Newsletter (to be published soon) and do pass by to admire his beautiful seasonal creations.
Workshop by Jens Jakobsen, Master Florist at the Blewcoat School - March 2020
Ignatius Sancho, Short Talk by Victor Keegan - February 2020
This was the 2nd of our 35th anniversary series of short talks and we were treated to Victor Keegan's personal research into the unique and intriguing C18th Thorney Island resident, Ignatius Sancho.
Reading like a guest list to a royal garden party, Victor highlighted the numerous aristocrats of the day who subscribed to a book of Sancho's letters published after his death by Joseph Jekyll. The book became a bestseller which was quite extraordinary at the time for the memoirs of a black man born on a slave ship whose mother died of disease and his father from suicide. At 2 years old he was given to 3 sisters in Greenwich whose treatment and regard for him is not very complimentary and it was they who named him Sancho.
It was not until he met the Duke of Montague who took him under his wing, he learned to read and write and he flourished as a thinker of the day. He worked for the Montague family for many years until after the Duke's death and with money from the family, he moved to Charles Street, now King Charles Street (between the Treasury and the Foreign Office) and opened a small grocery shop. Married at St Margaret's Westminster, he lived with his wife and 6 children, not all of whom survived. They would have walked over Westminster Bridge, the only bridge in the area and strolled through St James's Park.
He had many important acquaintances and was a prolific letter writer to politicians, newspapers and reknowned thinkers and authors of the day. He urged them to talk and write about the abhorrant slave trade. He also wrote poems, plays and music. It was clear that this extraordinary man had a unique life in London at a dangerous time, at the height of the trade, when he could have been press-ganged, kidnapped or deported at any time. Clearly highly regarded, his portrait was painted by Thomas Gainsborough in 1768 and he is buried in what is now Christchurch Gardens and has no known decendents.
Ignatius Sancho, Short Talk by Victor Keegan - February 2020
Christchurch Gardens Reconstruction Short Talk - January 2020

Christmas Party 2019
Our Christmas Party at the Rochester by Blue Orchid Hotels was loud and fun with the South Westminster Community Choir and accompanying brass section. Many thanks to all for a great evening.
Richmond House, Whitehall - The Northern Parliamentary Estate
The Government has just applied for planning permission to radically alter their Northern Estate. They have been working towards the Restoration and Renewal project in the Palace of Westminster and the full decant of all the people who work there into the various buildings in the ‘northern estate’ – the block that contains Portcullis House at the south end and Richmond House at the north. It has been decided that the two parliament chambers will move, the House of Lords into the Queen Elizabeth ll Conference Centre, and the House of Commons into a temporary replica chamber. It is claimed that the only possible site can be achieved by demolishing the interior and rear façade of Richmond house.
SAVE Britain’s Heritage is leading a campaign to save the whole of Richmond House from demolition – see https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/campaigns/item/550/Richmond-House-a-building-worth-fighting-for
We will also object strongly to the demolition of the interior of Richmond House. Facadism might be acceptable in certain circumstances, but for the sake of a temporary building it should not be countenanced. We will also object to the alterations to the buildings facing Whitehall and encourage a more sympathetic treatment of the various gateways to the Estate than currently exists.
The Planning application can now be viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/wqryu5t
It would be good if as many people as possible make their views known as a Comment through this web page.
20mph Throughout Westminster ? YES !
Duck Island Volunteer Project
ONGOING ! This exciting collaboration with St James's Park is calling for volunteers from TTIS to help restore and revitalise Duck Island. If you are interested in helping clear brambles and paths, raking and tidying the meadow area and lake edges, making log and deadwood piles, sorting and documenting artefacts in the barn or helping in the cottage garden, please get in touch to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or post us a note to TTIS, 10 Old Pye Street, SW1P 2DG.
This is a really fun project and we are working one Wednesday a month, from 10am to 2pm. Next dates: 18th Dec '19, 15th Jan '20, 19th Feb, 18th March, 15th April and 20th May 2020.
Go directly to The Royal Parks volunteering website to register CLICK HERE Then book yourself in on the specific dates under "TRP Conservation Volunteers"