Nicholas Friend to Give Online Lecture for Bedford Park Society


Sources and influences of the First Garden Suburb – Bedford Park in context

Hampstead Garden Suburb
Hampstead Garden Suburb, influenced by the design of Bedford Park. Picture: Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust

Following the popularity of the autumn 2021 lecture, the Bedford Park Society has commissioned Nicholas Friend MA FRSA, to provide further insights into Bedford Park in two additional presentations for the Society. The first takes place on Wednesday 26 January at 7.30pm and details of the next, planned for March, will be released shortly.

Bedford Park, founded in 1875, is often seen as the world’s first garden suburb but it had precedents in estate, mill and retirement villages of the 18th and earlier 19th centuries. Nicholas will outline the distinctive differences between those villages and Bedford Park’s planning, ideas and ideals, and the influence Bedford Park’s new thinking had on similar developments in Britain, Germany and the United States.

Nicholas’s autumn lecture was described as "fascinating and entertaining" and "very well researched.” The Society is delighted that he’s agreed to pass on more of his exceptional knowledge of Bedford Park’s history and influence.

Nicholas was Founder-Director of the Cambridge University Art History Summer School for 25 years. Since 1986 he has also been Founder-Director of Inscape, the art history study tour society, which has taken its members into the active study of buildings and art galleries all over the world.

•	Port Sunlight Village in the Wirral — based on the Bedford Park model — founded from 1888 by William Lever for the employees of his soap factory. Photo by Alex Livet
Port Sunlight Village in the Wirral — based on the Bedford Park model — founded from 1888 by William Lever for the employees of his soap factory. Picture: Alex Livet

The talk including questions will last around an hour.

Tickets are £10 (plus booking fee) available from TicketSource.

You will receive confirmation of the arrangements for watching the talk (via Zoom) when you reserve your ticket.

This is an open event and everyone is welcome to buy tickets.

To read Nicholas Friend’s biography, see www.bedfordpark.org.uk.

For further information about the Society email: information@bedfordpark.org.uk or check its website.

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January 10, 2022