Bedford Park Festival Moves into its Second Week
Series of events mark garden suburb's 150th anniversary
Stephen Foster with the first prize in the Bedford Park 150th anniversary quiz
June 15, 2025
The Bedford Park Festival moves into its second week with a series of events marking the first garden suburb’s 150 th anniversary, including a Bedford Park Quiz and an Auction of Memorabilia to highlight the anniversary week.
Sunday's (15 June) WB Yeats Walk, Land of Heart’s Desire - led by Cahal Dallat, poet, broadcaster and founder of the WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project - is sold out.
The anniversary week begins in earnest on Monday 16 June. The Bedford Park Society exhibition ‘The Community at Bedford Park 1875-2025’ will be on display at Chiswick Auctions in Barley Mow Passage all week until 20 June .
On Monday evening in St Michael & All Angels Church, the historian Deborah Cadbury (Chocolate Wars, Queen Victoria’s Matchmaking) will speak about writing her famous family’s history alongside fellow Bedford Park resident Andrew Pears , who is researching his own family for a book about Pears Soap. In ‘When Cadbury met Pears in Bedford Park ’, they will share stories and images of two of Britain’s best known brands with Torin Douglas , director of the Chiswick Book Festival, who introduced them to each other in the Post Room café.
He said, “When I heard that Andrew was planning to write his family history, I told him that Debbie had written hers and suggested he might pick up a few tips. Within five minutes of introducing them and hearing them sharing stories, I knew this deserved a wider audience.”
Monday evening will also see the launch of the Bedford Park 150 th Anniversary QuizSheet, with 50 questions about people and events in the first garden suburb’s first 150 years. For the prize, Stephen Foster of Foster Books has donated an original framed lithograph of Tower House, one of nine lithographs depicting views of the Bedford Park Estate.
Foster Books is offering some of the other lithographs for sale , for framing, as well as other memorabilia of Bedford Park. And for those interested in the history of the area, there will also be an online auction of ten items, including artworks, catalogues, posters, programmes, mugs and tiles.
Other events in the anniversary week include a celebration of composer Cecilia McDowall , who will have works performed in the Summer Serenade concert on Wednesday and the Bedford Park Festival Mass on Sunday 22 June and the annual Bedford Park Walk exploring the area’s architectural and literary heritage, led by Dr Pamela Bickley and John Scott; and the Bedford Park Open Gardens.
The poet and heritage campaigner Sir John Betjeman , who helped save Bedford Park from demolition in the 1960s, will be remembered by The Victorian Society, which is holding its own anniversary event on Friday 20 June . So too will EW Godwin , the first architect of the Bedford Park Estate; Tom Greeves , co-founder of the Bedford Park Society; and his wife, the ceramicist Eleanor Greeves , whose Bedford Park tiles and mugs have become collectors’ items.
Tickets are on sale for these and the other Festival events on TicketSource.
Profits will support St Michael & All Angels Church, which runs the festival as part of its mission of community outreach, and its three 2024 charities: The Upper Room, helping the needy in Shepherd’s Bush; Crosslight Chiswick, which provides debt advice to individuals and families in need; and The McCabe Educational Trust, which supports a range of health and education projects in the Holy Land.
Read more and book tickets at www.bedfordparkfestival.org.
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