As happens with Kingston Borough, they kept this event slightly under their hat. I show here photos from the Saturday and Sunday. First up is the Art Deco tea dance room.
The room is situated in the old cinema now known as the Gala Club. Was it the ABC? I can't remember. The tea dance room is reached via the side entrance.
The cinema has the reputation of being the ugliest in Britain. I can't believe this is so, though the building has the distinction of being sideways on.
The cinema was built in 1935. The present occupant had no idea that the public had been invited to view, but kindly allowed me to take photos. I did not use flash, so caught the dark atmosphere. The present occupiers are Mundo Latino UK, who teach the Salsa. They can be reached on www.mundolatinouk.co.uk and 07775 624089. My thanks go to them.
Next is the Cleaves Almshouses in London Road, originally twelve dwellings built in 1669 but added to in appropriate style, as the next picture shows, as recently as 1989.
The building in the background is the old Bentalls Depository, built in 1939, burned down in the sixties, rebuilt, and now part of a social complex.
The gardens are beautifully kept and, being private, are clear of litter.
This last photo shows the original dwellings, heavily restored and updated.
Next we see the Lovekyn Chapel, just down the road from the almshouses and established by Edward Lovekyn in 1309
After the building became forfeit to the Crown, Queen Elizabeth The First established a grammar school in the building in 1561, the origins of the present Kingston Grammar School.
The chapel butts against an ancient house.
The organ dates from 1830. The chapel can be booked for functions and can hold up to sixty. To hire, phone the Bursar on 020 8939 8825.
The little spiritualist church in Villiers Road is associated with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writer of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
This is St Raphaels Catholic Church on the Portsmouth Road.
It was completed in 1848, and is in the Victorian Italianate style.
In spite of being so beautifully built and appointed, the church was originally intended as a private chapel. An extraordinary call to fame is that the organ is said to have been played by Frederic Chopin.
This year I finally got round to visiting Coombe Conduit. This is on Coombe Hill, on the way to Wimbledon. It is surprisingly big, with two buildings, joined beneath the ground by a corridor. One building was badly damaged by a v.1 flying bomb during the war. I have noted my late father's experience with one of these elsewhere.
The conduit was built in the sixteenth century, to supply fresh spring water to Hampton Court Palace. The trickle of water remains constant throughout an extended period.
The conduit remained in operation up to the late 19c but could have been used later.
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