Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity
The opening day at the Co-op store in Kingsbury Road, 1935. (Brent Archives image)
Brent Libraries put on a variety of events, for people of all ages, and you can find details of what’s on and book your places at them on their Eventbrite website (“click” here). I’m writing this to let you know about three FREE coffee morning talks, each with a different history theme, which are taking place this autumn at Kingsbury Library. The talks are all from 11am to 12noon (but arrive from 10.45am to collect your free tea or coffee and biscuit), and I’m sure you will enjoy them if you decide to come along.
The first of the three talks, taking place on Monday 28 September, is about the 1926 General Strike, which has its centenary this year. This national strike was called by the Trades Union Congress, and former TUC librarian, Christine Coates will explain the events which led to it, what actually happened (including some local examples), and whether anything was gained from this historic industrial action.
The second of these free autumn coffee mornings at Kingsbury Library is on Tuesday 13 October, and I will be giving that illustrated talk myself. Kingsbury – a short look at a long history will provide an introduction to the story of this area, from the earliest people known to have lived here, almost 3,000 years ago, to how it has developed over the centuries to become the place we know today.
The last, but not least, of the three talks will take place on Thursday 5 November, when Jeremy Waxman, the former Head Teacher at Kingsbury High School, will be giving an illustrated talk on Letters to Miss Baker. She was a teacher at Kingsbury County School (KHS’s predecessor in Princes Avenue), who kept in touch with many former pupils who were serving in the British forces during the Second World War. More than five hundred of the letters she received, from young men and women around the world, were discovered in a cupboard at the school in 2017, and Jeremy’s book about them, and his talk (which I have heard myself and can recommend) give a fascinating insight into those times.
Kingsbury Library is at 522-524 Kingsbury Road, NW9 9HE, close to Kingsbury Station on the Jubilee Line, and buses 79, 183, 204, 324 and SL10 also stop nearby. And if the recent photograph of the library looks similar to the 1935 Co-op store picture at the top of this piece, there is a good reason for that!
Philip Grant.
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