Happy Birthday Vic Soc!

[Nemesis]

http://www.victorian-society.org.uk/news/11797/crowds_gather_in_kensington_gardens_as_victorian_society_celebrates_fifty_fighting_years.html

(pics on the website)

Crowds gather in Kensington Gardens as Victorian Society celebrates fifty fighting years

Victorian Society staff and volunteers eat a three-course lunch on the steps of the Albert Memorial
People flocked to the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens this lunchtime to witness the spectacle of three men and four women in evening dress sitting down to a three-course meal to mark the 50th anniversary of the Victorian Society, the charity set up by Sir John Betjeman and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner to campaign to save the nation's best Victorian and Edwardian architecture from the wrecking ball.

Gathering at just after 1pm, staff and volunteers from the Victorian Society sat down to a fully-laid table complete with candlesticks and decorations on the steps of the memorial which the Society campaigned to save twenty-one years ago. Flanked by helium balloons, they toasted the organisation that rescued iconic buildings such as St Pancras Chambers and Liverpool's Albert Dock from plans to raze them to the ground.

‘This was a fabulous occasion,’ said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. ‘It was wonderful to return to the Albert Memorial twenty-one years on from the campaign that saved it. A fantastic example of a historic structure brought back to its former glory, it was a great place to mark the anniversary of the organisation that has done so much to win recognition for nineteenth and early twentieth century architecture; a real chance to celebrate in style.’



Photos available at

http://simontottman.com/galleries/080225_the_victorian_society/index.html

Pics, news and further events taking place this week:

http://www.victorian-society.org.uk/news/11113/nation_prepares_to_celebrate_the_victorian_societys_golden_jubilee.html