AT OUR our 51st birthday meeting we enjoyed an illustrated talk by Ian Bevan covering Victorian London.

He highlighted the changes and development during that era which saw a population growth from one million to seven million by the end of the century. The British Empire brought enormous wealth and the need of services for it to be governed that prompted the building of the new Houses of Parliament, the Foreign Office and many others including the financial institutions in the city as business blossomed throughout the capital.

The creation of the docks for shipping, newly built roads, bridges, railway and Underground also engendered employment and an improved means of travel for the growing suburbs.

A great step forward was the Bazalgette sewers aiding hygiene and the trend to improve living standards. Museums, parks, sport and entertainment flourished and the speaker concluded with extracts from some music hall recordings. An excellent presentation.

In April, Peter Jones brought us a captivating insight into one of the National Trust’s well-known projects, the Neptune Coastal Campaign which was re-launched in 1999.

It started in 1965 as Enterprise Neptune, a public campaign to protect sections of the UK’s coastal heritage and habitats from the threat of development.

We enjoyed colour slides of some of the more notable and outstanding coastline purchased such as the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, Golden Cape Estate near Lyme Regis, the Farne Islands in the north, a haven for numerous species of birds, to the gateway of England, the White Cliffs of Dover.

All of these and many more reminded us of the work undertaken by the National Trust to safeguard our beautiful coastline and its special features. Another excellent speaker.

Our next meeting will be at 7.45pm on May 27 at the Rosary Catholic Church Hall when the speaker will be David Wood on Aspects of Argentina.

A welcome awaits you to join in our variety of activities. Call 020 8777 1873.