Speaker David Ivison
Tue, Feb 6th 2018 at 7:15 pm - 10:00 pm
gave us an enlightening description of how the Royal Parks were used during Great War of 1914-18
Our Speaker was David Ivison, Vice Chairman of the Friends of the Royal Parks, who told us how the Parks were adapted to play their part in the war effort in both World Wars, including the growing of grain and cereals, creating allotments, some of which are still with us today. They provided meeting grounds for rallies and instant temporary War Memorials, which lead to idea of the permanent Cenotaph in Whitehall and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey and large temporary office blocks in such unlikely places as the drained lake in St James Park.
The vote of thanks was given by John Mold
David included hundreds of photos of the Royal Parks from the time. These included St James's, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Richmond Park, Bushy Park. From hospitals through munitions factories, to potato growing, land was commandeered during the war in all these parks, while ensuring the herds of deer still had enough room to roam. This was an excellent talk given by someone who had obviously put huge effort into his research. Many thanks indeed David!
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Chris Hack, President of our Club from 2022-2023. He receives the handover from outgoing President Charles Baroudi at the event in July 2022
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