The Origins of Camp Hopson

Parish Room, St. John’s Church St. John’s Road, Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Camp Hopson was founded in 1921 with the merger of two businesses: a furniture business owned by Joseph Hopson and Camp’s Drapery Bazaar owned by Alfred Camp. The talk will trace the origins of these two family businesses and  their amalgamation, resulting in the cherished department store at 6-12 Northbrook Street.  

Thames Water

Parish Room, St. John’s Church St. John’s Road, Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Details to follow

Sundials: a field guide to the notable dials in Berkshire, their history, uses and (some) geometry

Parish Room, St. John’s Church St. John’s Road, Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom

The talk will include an examination of sundials in Lockinge (which was in Berkshire until 1974), Bucklebury, Stockcross, Reading, Newbury, Avington (near Hungerford) and Crowthorne. Notable local makers include John Blagrave of Reading, David Pawley and John Singleton (all of Newbury) and David Harber of Blewbury. To that list of sundial inventors and makers can […]

Lord Falkland, his life, times, death and memorial

Parish Room, St. John’s Church St. John’s Road, Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom

There must be many people in West Berkshire who pass the massive granite obelisk at the top of ‘Wash Hill’ and have little or no idea of its origins, the man it was named after or even any connection with the Falkland Islands. Having become immersed in the story of the First Battle of Newbury […]