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Antiques, Bygones and Curiosities (ABC for short) meets in the Small Lounge upstairs at Barn Hill Methodist Church. New and established members welcome. Meetings are a mix of topics on a variety of antiques, collectables and memorabilia - from precious Objets D’Art to stamps and postcards.
We have talks, slide shows, fun quizzes and “show and tell” where we also bring our own objects to share with the group. Enthusiasm for learning new things about old things is all you need.
Please contact June Downs, using the contact details on the newsletter if you would like any further information. The charge for the meetings will be £3 to cover room rental, speakers and tea and coffee.
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Antiques, Bygones & Curiosities
At our April meeting the speaker, Brian Hoare, gave a fascinating insight into his collection of Tunbridge Ware. The exquisitely decorated wooden items ranged from a large writing slope to the tiniest boxes in a sewing collection.
A local chalybeate spring, discovered by Dudley, Lord North in 1606, became popular after he drank from it and seemed to have improved health. His fashionable friends were persuaded to try it, even Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. The area was established as a spa retreat and, in 1664, it was enclosed by a stone wall and had a hall built over it to shelter “the dippers”. A town began to develop and by the mid-1700s it had become a fashionable resort named Tunbridge Wells, after local Tonbridge. Tourists wanted luxurious souvenirs and the artisans of the heavily forested local area provided wooden artefacts for the rich patrons to buy. Hence Tunbridge Ware. June Downs
Our Next Meeting is on 23rd May. “Milestones and Turnpike Roads”, with Michael Knight.Tuesday 28th March 2023
OUR LAST MEETING
“The Golden Age of Illustration"
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