What we do and how to join
The London Girton Association (LGA) arranges regular events for its members which are publicised in our termly Newsletter.
Anyone who is an alumnus of Girton College can join and we always welcome new members. You do not have to live or work in London, although bear in mind that most events are held in the London area.
Membership is £20 pa but if you’re not in paid employment it is £10 pa. The association is run by volunteers so after meeting administrative and events costs, any surplus funds are used to benefit Girton, often current students. For instance, the LGA currently supports an annual music award for a Girton student.
If you would like to join please download an application form and send it to the membership secretary at lga@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Forthcoming and Recent Events
Further information about these events can be found in the LGA’s Newsletter or by contacting the Association at lga@girton.cam.ac.uk.
2024
Monday 14 October, Coffee Morning in Ealing
10am - 12.30pm
Following a very enjoyable gathering last year, Mary Sergeant is kindly hosting another coffee morning at her house in Ealing. Come along for a cup of coffee and friendly chat with other Girtonians! All are welcome.
Mary’s house is near Ealing Broadway tube station (Central, District and Elizabeth lines) and we are very grateful to her for hosting us.
TO BOOK: Please email lga@girton.cam.ac.uk
Wednesday 13 November, LGA AGM 2024
5pm
Please join us on Zoom for our 2024 AGM. AGM papers will be sent to attendees including the Chair’s report, accounts and the general work of the Committee. Please email lga@girton.cam.ac.uk if you plan to attend and the Zoom link will be sent to you in time for the meeting. All members are welcome.
Tuesday 3 December, Visit to the Women’s Library at the London School of Economics
1.45pm for 2.00pm
The Women’s Library is the oldest and largest library, archive and museum in Britain devoted to the history of women’s campaigning and activism from the late 19th Century to the present day. It was officially inaugurated as the Library of the London Society for Women’s Service in 1926 and it had two aims: to preserve the history of the women’s suffrage movement and to provide a resource for newly-enfranchised women to take their part in public life. Some of the themes of the collection now include Women and Work, Prostitution and Trafficking, Women in Public Life and Women and Peace Campaigning.
The Women’s Library has had many homes and many names. It was renamed the Fawcett Library in 1953 in memory of Millicent Garrett Fawcett and then The Women’s Library in 2002. It moved to LSE in 2013. The LGA last held an event at the Library over twenty years ago (it was the Fawcett Library then) so it seems like high time to visit the Library in its new home at the LSE.
Dr Gillian Murphy, Curator for Equality, Rights and Citizenship at the LSE Library, will talk to us about some of the exhibits, including those which would be of particular interest to Girtonians.
TO BOOK: Tickets are £14 per person. Please email lga@girton.cam.ac.uk stating how many tickets you would like and for payment instructions.
Recent Events:
- A private tour of little-known Boston Manor House in Brentford. This Grade 1 Jacobean manor house was built in 1623 and boasts wonderful ornate plaster ceilings. We had the house to ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed the tour led by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide.
- A private tour of the fascinating new Lambeth Palace Library that was completed in 2020 and designed by Wright and Wright.
- A marvellous tour Charles Dickens Museum in Doughty Street. This is the only extant house lived in by the author and we enjoyed a fascinating private tour, seeing many of Dickens’ personal possessions, including the desk where he wrote Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist.
- An online talk by Dr Amy Jeffs about her two books, Storyland and Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain. Members joined online for this intriguing look at these very early stories and their medieval source manuscripts. Our thanks go to Amy – and do look at her absorbing titles if you can; she has illustrated them herself with beautiful woodcuts.
Possible Future Event
We are keen to organise a visit to the College of Arms, where we are promised a tour of the main rooms in the College, a talk about the history of heraldry and the role of the Heralds, and then time in the Record Room seeing a selection of College of Arms records and other manuscripts dating back to 1484 and also a look at current conservation work in progress. It should be a fascinating visit and it would probably take place one evening (6.15-8.30pm) in March 2025. The cost for the visit would be £28. There is a fixed payment to the College of Arms and we need 20 people to make the finances work so would like to see if it appeals. If you might be interested please email lga@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Join the Committee
Have you ever considered becoming more involved in the LGA? Why not join our friendly committee! You would be made very welcome and it is not an onerous commitment: we usually organise between us one or two events per Spring, Summer and Autumn season. If you are interested, just email lga@girton.cam.ac.uk.
Book Circle
The LGA Book Circle continues to thrive, with 16 members and 70 books read to date, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. We meet on Zoom about every three weeks or so and read both fiction and non-fiction. Our most recent read was On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold, and we are currently reading Unruly by David Mitchell. We meet every three weeks or so on Zoom. Members are welcome to join – just email lga@girton.cam.ac.uk.