Chelsea Society members are invited by the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity to an  evening celebrating their pioneering arts programme, commencing at 7pm.

In Rhythm celebrates their specialist music programme – a high quality, bespoke initiative of performance and participation. Members will see this work transformed from wards and bedsides to the magnificent setting of St. Luke’s Church, offering a rare opportunity to witness the profound impact of music in healthcare.

Our presence and support will help ensure that art and music remain at the heart of patient care, enriching the hospital experience for patients, families, staff and visitors.

For details and tickets visit https://www.rbhcharity.org/events/in-rhythm/

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The plaque is a gift from the Royal Mint, and the sculptor was the Royal Mint lead-designer Lee R. Jones.  It is located, by kind permission of the Moravian congregation, in the building at Moravian Close which was their studio. Their home is on the left of the picture below.

Mary is best known as the designer and sculptor of the first coin to bear the image of Queen Elizabeth II. Ernest is best known for the Cenotaph in Glasgow.

The plaque was unveiled by the great-nieces of Mary Gillick (Katherine Smith and Julia Stacey), seen here with a photograph of Mary aged about 18.

The plaque and the unveiling were arranged by Ian Foster.

Also present was Philip Attwood (former Keeper of Coins and Medals, at the British Museum).

Also present was Bella Hobson, the grand-daughter of Walter Godfrey, the architect responsible for the rebuilding of Chelsea Old Church and The Temple Church. He was also the first director and the inspiration behind the foundation of the National Buildings Record, the basis of today’s Historic England Archive, and edited or contributed to numerous volumes of the Survey of London.

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Hired electric bikes are still being parked on pavements and in other places where they cause obstructions, and hazards to pedestrians. They are also encroaching upon spaces reserved for residents’ and visitors’ parking.

RBKC has authorised places where these bikes can and should be parked, but they are not always being respected.

We know that the Council has seized more than 1,000 bikes and fined the operators, but it does not have the resources to monitor this irresponsible behaviour on a sufficiently frequent basis. However the hiring companies do have the ability to “geo-fence” the authorised areas very accurately.

If they did this, hirers would not leave the bikes outside those areas because their credit-cards would continue to be charged.

If the hiring companies refuse to do this geo-fencing, their licence should be suspended or revoked.

In the case of the few hirers who would still leave a bike outside an authorised area, a fixed penalty should be imposed on the rider and collected via the credit card which the hiring company has taken, and the bike should be impounded until the hiring company pays for its release.

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These house are in Durham Place, which was built in 1790 and is one of Chelsea’s most iconic terraces.

The window on the left has the delicate glazing bars typical of that period in architectural history.

In the window on the right all this has been ripped out, and replaced with an ugly plate glass window which disfigures the entire terrace.

How could this have been permitted? – if indeed it has ever been permitted.

It would be a valuable service to Chelsea if the owner removed the plate glass window and restored the glazing bars.

The Chelsea Society would expect RBKC to permit this restoration.

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Explore the City – with Guy Fairbank.

Southwest of St Paul’s Cathedral lies an area that’s played host to a Holy Roman Emperor and a wronged queen, taught Agatha Christie about poisons, and entertained theatre audiences in Shakespeare’s time. This gentle walk will be led by Blue Badge Guide and Chelsea Society member Guy Fairbank. It will start at Blackfriars station and finish near St Paul’s cathedral in a hidden garden with a beautiful view. After the walk members might like to visit the nearby Wren Café which is inside the Church of St Nicholas Cole Abbey where coffee or a light lunch can be enjoyed.

We will meet at 10.30am at Blackfriars Station. If arriving by underground exit through barriers, meeting point straight ahead (inside station entrance)

Walk will last approximately 90 minutes.

Tickets £20 – available only from the Box Office of the Cadogan Hall, 3 Sloane Terrace, London, SW1X 9DQ in person, or by phone 0207-730-4500

Members may bring guests, but numbers are limited so book early

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Margaret Thompson MA, MPhil, DPsych, CPsychol, AFBPsS

It is with great regret that The Chelsea Society records the death of Dr. Margaret Thompson on 28^th January 2026.

Her Memorial Service at Christchurch Chelsea at 12 noon on Saturday 28^th March 2026, and a reception at the Sketch Club in Dilke St. afterwards. were attended by the Council of the Society and many of its members, and many of Margaret’s friends and family, together with the Leader of RBKC and several Councillors.

Margaret was the wife of the Society’s Chairman Dr. James Thompson, and had lived in Paradise Walk, Chelsea, since 1982. She successfully led a campaign to oppose major development in Paradise Walk in 1983, and in 2006 she led the “Save Sloane Square” campaign, which was successful in preserving the Square. She became Secretary of the King’s Road Association of Chelsea Residents, and acting Membership Secretary of the Chelsea Society.

Her distinguished academic and professional career began in 1963 as a Posner Scholar at New Hall, Cambridge, where she wrote a  Dissertation on “Cerebral Dominance and Reaction Times,” supervised by Professor Oliver Zangwill, the father of Neuropsychology. In 1965 she coxed the Cambridge Coxswains’ eight – beating Oxford on the Cam.

In 1966 she was a research experimental psychologist at Oxford University Psychology Department with Professor Jeffrey Gray on “learning theory, fear and stress” and devised a histological method for oestrus cycle determination.  A distinguished academic and professional career then led to her appointment as Honorary Consultant at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

In 1973 she was Lecturer in Psychology, at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School; in 1975 Senior Clinical Psychologist at the  Westminster Hospital; from 1976-2000 Consultant at The Priory Hospital, Roehampton; and in 1977 Educational Psychologist for the Inner London Education Authority.

From 1987 until retirement in 2021 she was in Private Practice, and acted as an Expert Witness in many cases.

She leaves her husband James, her daughter Alyson, and her grand-daughter Seraphina.

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The Chelsea Society has been fighting for many years, with other local people and our successive MPs and Councillors, to protect the houseboat community and the essential character of Chelsea Reach.  This is because the operator of the moorings has been evicting traditional houseboats and replacing them with much larger box-like floating structures.

The Planning Applications Committee of RBKC decided on no less than three separate occasions that this activity constitutes a breach of planning control and issued an Enforcement Notice to compel the removal of two mega-boats. Unfortunately they were overruled by a Government Inspector in respect of those two boats, and there are now four of them in place.

The Planning laws have so far failed the people and the Conservation Area which they were enacted to protect, and the Chelsea Society will renew its efforts to get at least two of the mega-boats removed.

Fortunately, this may not be necessary as the company which owns the company that operates the moorings is now in Administration. The opportunity has therefore arisen for a not-for-profit company owned by the boat-owners themselves to buy the assets of the operating company from the Administrator. We understand that the boat-owners have a corporate vehicle ready to do this, with funds from boat-owners and supporters.

This would solve the problem of restoring the appearance of the moorings and protecting the community without any further recourse to the planning laws, because a company owned by the houseboat community itself would remove the mega-boats and would not in future accept any boats which did not respect the character of Chelsea Reach.  We understand that this would be supported by RBKC, and by the Port of London Authority who own the river-bed on which the moorings stand.

Of great importance for the houseboat community – the owner-occupiers of the boats would get long-term security of tenure, and protection from excessive licence fees, mooring charges and service-charges.

The Chelsea Society gives its full support to the Chelsea houseboat community in this endeavour.

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Prof. Matthias Strohn M.St. (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon), FRHistS is a Colonel in the German Army reserve, and is attached to the German Military Delegation in the UK.

He spoke to The Chelsea Society on 2nd September 2024, when we asked him explain how thinking in Germany about defence had changed from 1945 when nobody wanted a German army, to the present day when Germans and their allies realise that Germany has a vital role to play in the defence of Europe against Russia.  This time we are asking him for an update on whether Germany is yet able to provide a strong military force and an effective deterrent.

Prof. Strohn,  is Professor of Military Studies, at the University of Buckingham, and Head of Historical Analysis at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research. Prior to joining CHACR he lectured at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and at Oxford University. He was also the Military History Instructor at the German Staff College in Hamburg.

He is an expert in the history of war in the 20th century, with special interest in the two World Wars, the inter-war period, command and leadership, the development of doctrine, and the application of military history in today’s context. He has written and edited over 20 books and numerous articles, and his works were chosen as the core readings for Operation Reflect, the British Army’s commemoration of the First World War.

He deployed to Iraq with the British Army, and to Afghanistan with both the British and German Armies. In 2022, he was awarded the highest (non-combat) decoration of the German Armed Forces, the Golden Cross of Honour, in recognition of his services to the German Army and to Anglo-German defence relations.

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Along the River Thames and other rivers and canals people have made their homes on boats. Some people own their boat and others rent it from someone else.

All these boat owners are vulnerable because, if they rent the boat their tenancy may be terminated, and even if they own the boat it may be evicted from its mooring.

Although the boats are their homes, these people do not enjoy any protection from eviction or harassment as do tenants who occupy a house or a flat on land.

The Chelsea Society tried to close this loophole in the law, and proposed the following amendment to the Renters (Reform) Bill which has just received Royal Assent.

“That Clause 64 of the Renters (Reform) Bill be amended as follows:

64. Meaning of “the 1988 Act”

(1) In this Act “the 1988 Act” means the Housing Act 1988.

(2) The definition of “dwellinghouse” in section 45(1) of the 1988 Act shall include a boat used as a dwelling, and the berth where such boat is moored.

(3) References in the said section to a tenancy shall include a licence to occupy such boat and/or berth, and references to a tenant shall include a person occupying such boat and/or berth by virtue of a licence from the person having control of such boat and/or berth.  References to rent shall include a licence fee.”

This amendment was proposed to the Conservative government before the 2024 General Election, and was again proposed to the Labour government after the election.  Unfortunately neither of them acted upon it, and people who live on boats are still vulnerable.

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