FOWNC Events 2012

To increase knowledge and appreciation of the Cemetery, the Friends hold guided tours on the first Sunday of every month, 2.30pm April-October, 11am November-March. Cemetery tours start at the Cemetery Main Gate, Norwood Road, SE27. The tours last about an hour and a half. They include visits to the monuments of the most prominent individuals commemorated in the cemetery such as Sir Henry Doulton, Mrs Beeton, Baron de Reuter, Sir Henry Tate and Dr William Marsden. Talks (usually illustrated with slides) start at 2.30pm at Chatsworth Baptist Church, Chatsworth Way (off Norwood Road), SE27 (enter by second door on right in Idmiston Road). There is no formal charge for any event, but donations of £1 per person (50p concessions) to help cover costs and aid conservation work are appreciated. Non-members are welcome at all events. Enquiries to 020 8670 5456 or 020 8653 2741.

• Saturday 18 February – George Cattermole: Victorian artist and book illustrator by Professor Leonee Ormond. Leonee Ormond is Professor of Victorian Studies at King’s College, University of London. Leonee is the author of acclaimed books on Victorian artists Frederic Lord Leighton, Linley Sambourne, and George Du Maurier. Leonee is joInt-author of Dickens and the Artists which will be published by Yale University Press in 2012. George Cattermole (1800-1868) was an artist and book illustrator who specialised in picturesque scenes of chivalry and medievalism. Cattermole was employed as a draughtsman by John Britton in his youth and was related by marriage to Charles Dickens, for whom he contributed illustrations for both Barnaby Rudge and The Old Curiosity Shop. Cattermole was a long-term resident of Clapham.
• Saturday 17 March - Zinc funerary monuments in North America by Dr Bob Flanagan. The Chairman of the FOWNC will give an illustrated talk on the range of zinc memorials to be found in the USA and Canada.
• Saturday 09 June - To celebrate the London Olympics Colin Fenn - Vice-chairman of FOWNC - will lead a Sportsman Walk in the Cemetery. As detailed in Bob Flanagan's Sportsmen booklet (available from FOWNC), several major sporting figures are commemorated in the cemetery. These include: George Hackenschmidt (wrestler and weightlifter), Charles William Alcock (football and cricket administrator), Lord Hawke (cricketer), Sir Richard Webster (athlete) and prize-fighters Jack Burke, Tom Spring and Tom King. The memorials to these and many more will be visited. Join Colin at 2.30 inside the cemetery entrance. This walk will coincide with the Open Day in the cemetery.
• Saturday 18 August – A Dickensian Walk in the Cemetery. To commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens there will be a special Dickensian themed walk in the cemetery. Amongst the monuments to be visited will be those to George Cattermole, Douglas Jerrold, Richard Bentley and Thomas Noon Talfourd. The walk will be a joint event with members of the Dickens Fellowship. Meet inside the main gates at 2.30.
• Saturday 20 October - The FOWNC AGM will be followed by a talk from Diana Beattie FSA, the Director of the Heritage of London Trust, on its work. The HOLT is the only building preservation trust covering the whole of London and has assisted restoration work within the cemetery.
• Saturday 17 November - Paul Dobraszczyk of Reading University will talk about the life and work of Charles Henry Driver (1832-1900) a significant Victorian architect who pioneered the use of ornamental iron work, and who with Bazalgette, designed Crossness and Abbey Mills pumping station. Driver also designed many railway stations on the London, Brighton and South Coast railways - including London Bridge, Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill.