Speaker Dr Helen Baker
Tue, Feb 13th 2018 at 7:15 pm - 10:00 pm
enlightened us with her tales of the Belgian Community in Twickenham, Teddington and Richmond during WW1.
Our Speaker this week was Dr Helen Baker who told us about the Belgian Community that sprang up in Twickenham early in World War 1 and disappeared as quickly when the war ended in 1918. Sue Mullins has kindly written the following:
“A really fascinating talk by Helen Baker of the East Twickenham Centennial Group on the little known story of the Pelabon munitions factory and the Belgian refugees who started it. We heard how Charles Pelabon escaped from the German invasion of Belgium during the Great War and brought his workers to East Twickenham.Within three weeks of arriving, he was producing munitions for the Belgian Army and by 6 months he had built and staffed a 7 acre factory by the Thames.Thousands of refugees from Belgium settled in the area during the war and found work in the factory or in the many Belgian shops that sprang up on Richmond Road at the foot of the Bridge.There was a vibrant community including schools, choirs, a cinema and so on, which strangely vanished without trace at the end of war leaving nothing but the empty factory which later became the Richmond Ice Rink.
There has been a push to rediscover and record this forgotten piece of history and last year a memorial was erected near the site of the Pelabon Factory. Wonderful interesting stuff!
'What We Do' Main Pages:
Make direct donations to our charity account here. Or Help us by donating when you shop with 7,000+ brands by joining www.easyfunraising.org.uk
moreChris Hack, President of our Club from 2022-2023. He receives the handover from outgoing President Charles Baroudi at the event in July 2022
moreWhat is Twickenham upon Thames Rotary (TuT Rotary)?
more
Our present focus is on the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. To donate to the Rotary disaster appeals please see the next page.
more
Our Youth and Vocational Committee works with many schools in the borough to provide various support projects and competitions
more
Our annual calendar always includes visits to houses and venues of interest, wonderful garden tours guided by our expert horticulturists, an international evening with food and theme accordingly, and a weekend international trip in a European City.
moreDue to Covid-19 restrictions, we have been meeting via Zoom therefore the current presentations have been facilitated using the Zoom service. We plan to return to face to face speakers and events in the very near future
more
Rotary Conferences are held annually by RI, RIBI and by each District
moreFoundation is the charity of Rotary International
more