Our Freedom: Then and Now – great Brent Libraries events for October!

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 

 

Fanny Blankers-Kohn winning the women’s 100m at Wembley in 1948.

 

As well as “Poetry in Wembley: The Language of Care” on 16 October, Brent Libraries are putting on a range of free events this month as part of the nationwide Our Freedom: Then and Now project. This looks at what freedom means for us now, following on from the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day. The local theme for this is ‘a creative community project that invites local people to rediscover and reimagine Brent’s wartime history, offering residents a chance to explore hidden stories from the Second World War and connect them with their own lived experiences of freedom, resilience, and community today.’

 

For those who are free during the day, there will be four “coffee morning” events, each from 11am to 12noon (with free tea and coffee available from around 10.45!). I will put “links” in the title of each to the Eventbrite page where you can get more details, and reserve your place if you would like to attend.

 

On the starting line, at Kingsbury Library on Tuesday 7 October, is my illustrated talk on “Wembley’s 1948 Olympic Games” (above). These “austerity games”, the first summer Olympics for 12 years (since Berlin in 1936), were not just a sporting event, but a chance to help rebuild a peaceful world, where nations could compete in friendly rivalry, not fight each other. As well as the Games themselves, the talk will show how the people of Wembley, and its Council, helped to make them a success.

 

A British ladies’ football team in 1895.

 

Next in the programme, at Willesden Green Library on 14 October, is Phil Vasili’s talk on “The History of Women’s Football in the UK”. Many of us will have celebrated the success of England’s “Lionesses” in two European Championships in the past few years, but I certainly didn’t know there had been a ladies’ football team in this country as far back as 1895! (Did Queen Victoria know? If so, I suspect she would not have been amused!) 

 

An extract from one of the wartime letters from Preston Park.

 

On Wednesday 22 October at Wembley Library, I am involved again with the illustrated presentation of “Wartime letters from Preston Park”. Two ladies from the Brent Libraries team will also be joining me, to read extracts from letters written by local housewives, Nancie and Doris, to a former neighbour during the Second World War. Having heard their first-hand experiences of living through a conflict, while trying to give their children as normal an upbringing as possible, there will be the chance for discussion. Many other wars have taken place since 1945, with some still ongoing, and anyone who wishes to share their more recent experiences, and how these compare with those in the letters, will be very welcome at this event.

 

  

The Second World War is also the subject of October’s final “coffee morning” event, at Willesden Green Library on Tuesday 28 October. “Stepping Back in Time” is a WW2 object handling session hosted by Brent Museum & Archives, where you can also share wartime stories handed down through your family, as well as enjoying your tea/coffee and biscuits. 

 

Brent Libraries, Culture and Heritage is also partnering with the Jason Roberts Foundation to put on several events in the Our Freedom: Then and Now programme. These include two early evening (from 6.30 to 8pm) “In Conversation” discussions with local sporting heroes this month, which are free and open to people of all ages. 

 

These events kick off at Harlesden Library on Wednesday 15 October, with “In Conversation with: Richard Langley & Mark Stein”, when these two former professional footballers will talk candidly about the changes they have seen over the years, both on and off the field. This will be followed by a Q&A session’

 

Athletes including Yamilé Aldama and Connie Henry.

 

Taking up the baton, two former track athletes will be at Wembley Library on Thursday 23 October, when you can get “In Conversation with Yamilé Aldama & Connie Henry, MBE”. These two Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallists will discuss all facets of freedom and what it means to them, including freedom of expression, identity, and whether our freedom could be at risk, as well as taking part in a Q&A session with the audience.

 

I hope these Our Freedom: Then and Now events will include some you can come and enjoy this month. And there are more, including Black History Month events, that you can find on the Brent Libraries, Culture and Heritage Eventbrite page at:

http://tinyurl.com/jjhjrrzs

 

I encourage you all to make the most of these free events, organised for all Brent residents by the frontline team at Brent Libraries!

Philip Grant.

 

 

International Reggae Day in Harlesden Tuesday July 1st starting at 4pm

 

Some forthcoming British Empire Exhibition talks you may wish to enjoy

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant

 

Some images from Burma at the British Empire Exhibition

 

If you have found my recent articles about the Pageant of Empire in 1924 of interest, you might like to discover more about the British Empire Exhibition from one (or more) of the three illustrated talks I will be giving over the next few weeks, as part of its centenary.

 

The first, “The Jewel of Wembley – Burma at the BEE”, is on Friday 20 September, from 7.30 to 9pm, in St Andrew’s Church Hall, Kingsbury. This is at regular monthly meeting of Wembley History Society, but visitors are welcome [we just invite a contribution of £3 (£1 for students) towards the cost of the hall]. All the details you should need are here:

 

 

One of the aspects of the Exhibition’s history that I am most keen on is the perspective of people who came here from the countries of the Empire, rather than just the “official” British view. The album on which much of my talk is based contains dozens of newspaper cuttings and photographs. One of the most intriguing of which is an article by a female journalist of her interview with Ma Bala Hkin, the leading actress and dancer of the Burmese theatre troupe at the Exhibition.

 

One of the headlines from the “Evening News” article.

 

If you want to know what Ma Bala thought of the English women she saw in Wembley in 1924, you should come along to my talk!

 

The second of my talks, “A Harlesden Photographer at the B.E.E. – the West Indies at Wembley in 1924”, is a free coffee morning event at Harlesden Library, on Tuesday 8 October from 11am to 12noon. 

 

 

Back in the 1990s, Wembley History Society received a donation of photographs, together with some glass plate negatives, showing images of the Exhibition in 1924, especially from inside the West Indies Pavilion. They were the work of a little-known local photographer, whose stamp was on the back of some of the prints:

 

Harlesden Library seemed the ideal place to present this talk, and you can find more details and reserve your free place on the Brent Libraries, Arts and Heritage Eventbrite website. This talk is part of the Becoming Brent project, re-examining the British Empire Exhibition and its legacy.

  

The final talk I will be giving in the Exhibition’s centenary year is “When Wembley Welcomed the World”. This is being hosted by Preston Community Library on the afternoon of Sunday 27 October (exact time and further details will follow). It will be a free event, but with donations to the work of the community library invited from those who attend.

 

 

This illustrated talk is an introduction to the various nations which took part in the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park in 1924, and their people who came here for the event, but then moves on to show how Wembley has continued to welcome people from across the world ever since the 1920s.

 

I hope that “Wembley Matters” readers will find something of interest in these presentations, and I look forward to welcoming you to any of these events.

 

Philip Grant.

Harlesden Library closed for 6 months for refurbishment

 From Brent Libraries

Harlesden Library will be closed for refurbishment between 29 August 2022 and February 2023.

Reserve and collect, essential PC use and printing will be available at a library contact point in The Designworks, Harlesden, NW10 4HT from Monday 12th September.  

We will also have a small collection of children and adult stock available to borrow. All other libraries will be open as usual.

Any Harlesden Library items you have on loan can be returned to any other library in Brent. For any further information please check our library web pages, email: libraries@brent.gov.uk or telephone 0208 937 3400.

Brent libraries recognise Grunwick struggle on Saturday

Jayaben Desai  outside Grunwicks in Chapter Road (now flats)

 Back in 2010 LINK I called for Brent children to be taught about the Grunwick dispute as part of local black and women's history.

I am delighted to see that Word Up! which now incorporates Black History Month has a talk on Saturday at Ealing Road Library entitled 'Striking Women' which is a talk on 'Asian Women in British Labour history from Grunwick to the Gate Gourmet dispute. There is a talk and Question and Answer session from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.

There is also an exhibition which will run until 7th October.  I haven't seen it so I am not sure if it includes the powerful video on Grunwick made by Brent Trades Council. It ought to.

I am still critical LINK of the incorporation of Black History Month into the general seasonal Word Up! festival and concerned that it will lose its political edge. I am pleased to see this recognition of a vital event in UK history and I hope schools will organise trips to the exhibition and follow it up in the classroom.

Schools are also, by invitation only, able to attend along with adults a dramatisation of the story of Ellen Craft who escaped slavery by dressing up as a white man. The performance is on Tuesday 23rd October  from 11.15am until 12.15pm.

There is a Family Black History Fun Day on Thursday 1st November 11am until 4pm at Harlesden Library plus and on Saturday November 3rd, Thamizh, a day of Tamil Culture will be held at Willesden Green library from 10am until 8pm.

Other events can ve found on the brochure below. (It is a large file so may take a while to load on slower computers). It can also be viewed as a slide show HERE