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Welcome to The Marlow Society
The Marlow Society is a registered charity whose efforts are devoted to the preservation and development of Marlow and the surrounding villages and countryside.
We seek to represent all those who enjoy living in, working in, shopping or just visiting our beautiful town situated on the banks of the River Thames, in the foothills of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
These pages are regularly updated, please select here to view the latest version.
There's lots to do .. if you can become actively involved in furthering the aims of the society, please contact us - tmssecretary@ marlowsociety.org.uk
An active group within the Marlow Society is the Local History Group. Researching, producing history articles, conducting guided walks and answering questions about the history of Marlow and the surrounding area are some examples of what they do.
Read more about the Local History Group.
If you have any questions about Marlow's history you can contact the group at:
tmslocalhistorygroup @marlowsociety.org.uk
The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a European Union legal instrument ensuring the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.
The GDPR policy of the Marlow Society can be found here.
Please help us stay in contact by emailing tmschair@marlowsociety.org.uk with the message 'GDPR. I/We agree to the Marlow Society holding my/our personal details.', followed by your name(s).
Parking Meters in Marlow: There is an intention to put parking meters on town centre parking bays that are currently free to park on for a short stay.
Status May 2018: After a strong campaign (see below) and very high response opposing the intended imposition of this parking policy by BCC, it seems probable that this issue will go on hold now that the County Council's emphasis has turned to the debate on the decision by the Secretary of State on the choice of one or two Unitary Councils for Buckinghamshire. Nevertheless, the Society will remain vigilant.
A petition against this ran from 17th October to 14th November 2017 and collected over 7400 signatures voting for BCC to withdraw the proposals. There is information on the petition result at - https://democracy. buckscc.gov.uk/ mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx? ID=4302
BCC continued with the next stage, which was a consultation period for one month from 9th February to 10th March 2018, with a drop in session on 15th February at Sir William Borlase's school. There is more information about this and other proposals in the Buckinghamshire County Council document Marlow Key Decision Report (pdf 283kb).
The online consultation questionnaire and more information was available on the BCC website at https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/... . this has has now closed.
The Society has worked closely with the Marlow Town Council and the Chamber of Trade and Commerce to oppose the Bucks County Council plan to change this currently free parking in Marlow to paid parking. The Society's submission to the consultation is here (.pdf) - March 2018.
Unfortunately, we feel that the whole procedure adopted by the County Council has been a mixture of misinformation, concealed information and worse. The statistics used to support its argument have been shown to be selective in the extreme. We await the next step.
Annual General Meeting 2018.
was held on Thursday 03 May 18
19.30 for 20.00 start
Liston Hall, Marlow
An informal discussion at 19.30, followed by the main meeting, followed by briefings on the proposed restructuring of the Local Councils and on the Local Plan 2013-2033.
... more information and minutes
Planning Overview - November 2017: Subjects include: Parking issues, Applications worsening the parking situation, Marlow Society response to the Local Plan, 4 town houses impact on heritage buildings, New Court, Marlow Sports club pavilion, Some words of praise where due, Please help us speak up for the preservation of the character of Marlow. ...visit page
Marlow Bridge Protection: Current thoughts on how to protect Marlow's beautiful bridge. ...visit page
Marlow Bridge Study - Oct 2017
a report commisioned by Transport for Buckinghamshire
extract: The purpose of this report is to explore the current measures and to analyse other options to reduce the risk of overweight vehicles from accessing the bridge....
view / download report (.pdf size 3Mb)
Appeal for Info and Photos -
Bisham Church War Memorial
As part of our current project to record and preserve war memorials in the Marlow area, we are looking for records and photos relating to the war memorial inside Bisham Church.
The memorial was maliciously damaged sometime in the 1980s and the heads were broken off the statues of Saints Michael and George.
We are particularly interested in obtaining photos of the memorial prior to the damage.
If you can help please contact Geoff Wood on 01628 475475 or tmsheritage@ marlowsociety.org.uk
Marlow Society Photo Competition 2017 - Winners.
The winning entries of the photo competition - helping to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of conservation areas - have been announced.
more information and the winning entries can be viewed here
Current and Forthcoming Events:
The Marlow Museum feature display is
Hidden Bisham
open: Sat, Sun 1 - 5 pm. Wed 2 - 5 pm.
Marlow Museum, Court Garden, SL7 2AE
Bisham, listed in the 1086 Doomsday book as Bistesham, has a long and rich history - The Knights Templars, Anne of Cleeves, the Hobys, the Vansittart-Neales, and village life centred around the manor for centuries, until a major change in 1965...
more information on Marlow Museum website (opens in a separate window)
Some Forthcoming Events:
Events by groups other than the Local History Group (LHG) are annotated with (oth).
AIM = Archaeology in Marlow, MAS = Marlow Archaeology.
Date
Tues 26-Jun-18
Time
9.00am
Venue
Meet at tba on booking
Subject
Visit to Chiswick House & Hogarth Museum
Speaker/Contact
Early Booking Essential, Peter Bailey 476610
Date
Tues 10-Jul-17
Time
9.00am
Venue
Meet at tba on booking
Subject
Visit to Basildon Park and Falklands Chapel, Pangbourne College
Speaker/Contact
Early Booking Essential, Adam Baxter 475467 or email adambaxter@sky.com or Keith Ray 472579
Date
Sun 22-Jul-18
Time
2.00pm
Venue
meet at Marlow Museum, Court Garden
Subject
Town Walk
Speaker/Contact
Peter Bailey 01628 476610
Date
Mon 20-Aug-18
Time
8.00pm
Venue
Garden Room, Liston Hall
Subject
Looking Back Again
Speaker/Contact
Michael Eagleton
Sad News:
Gordon Hopewell
(24 Dec 1933 - 30 Sep 2017)
We said farewell to Gordon at the Milton Chapel in Amersham on Monday 30 October 2017. It was billed as a celebration of his life and that is exactly what happened ...
read more
News Headlines:
Seat in memory of Margaret and Derek Done
The loss of Margaret Done and then her husband Derek last year was a great loss to their family and many friends and colleagues here in Marlow. Thanks to the Done family we now have a lasting memorial to Margaret and Derek. If you walk down to the Thames Path at Gossmore you have the opportunity of sitting on the memorial bench installed in their memory. Linger for a while, remember them and enjoy the privilege of living in Marlow and having the wonderful views of which the one across the river is one that they loved.
MEB 24-Oct-17
visit page
A Positive Impact
(22 Aug 16 but still valid) This morning I visited the newly opened Marlow Bookshop in Spittal Street to say, on behalf of the Society, how much I appreciated the new shop's façade and, in particular, the high quality signwriting on the shop sign.
visit page
Nesta Liston's gift to Marlow
In response to requests from the Marlow Society and the Marlow Town Council, Red Kite agreed that the picture of Nesta Liston, which has been in New Court House since its gift to the town, should be installed in Liston Hall.
... read more
The Obelisk
In May 2016 MB reported: I began the pressure on Bucks CC in Jul 2012 and today we made the first step on what may just be progress. Six men from Bucks came to town today in 2 vans and coned off the obelisk. See the attached picture. They were joined by 2 specialists in conservation, Annie Jones and me...
visit page for original May 2016 report and August and October 2017 updates.
Windsor House site
(this display has now been removed)
Many of you will have seen the white boarding that was placed in front of Windsor House, at the junction of Dean St and Spittal St ...
This montage of historic pictures is from Michael Eagleton's and Ray Evans' collections in the very location at which they were originally taken.
visit page
A404 Bisham Roundabout - Public Consultation
The Highway's Agency has proposed several options for the improvement of the Bisham Roundabout on the A404. These were exposed at an exhibition on 19 / 20 Jun 15. Details of the 3 prominent options are shown here: visit page. The option of a flyover or an underpass linking the Bisham and Maidenhead roads were displayed. Making changes that speed up traffic on the A404 but which result in longer queues at both ends and the same total transit time makes little sense.
We understand that Highways England is currently (Aug 17) studying a range of traffic works for the Thames Valley including a Junction 3A on the M40 serving eastern High Wycombe. It will be well into 2018 before any further news can be expected.
Some Past Events:
Guided Tour of Bisham Church and Churchyard
Led by John Harper
Saturday 14th April 2018
at 10.30 am.
All Saints Church Bisham, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RW
visit page
OSS-Station VICTOR - Hurley's Secret War
A talk by Philip Williams
Tuesday 27th March 2018
at 8.00 pm.
Liston Hall, Marlow, SL7 1DD
visit page
The Home Front in Marlow, 1917-18
Monday 20th November 2017
at 8.00 pm.
The Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow, SL7 1DD
visit page
Sculls, skiffs and steamers
- the story of Salter's Steamers.
Tuesday 31st October 2017
at 8.00 pm.
Liston Hall, Marlow, SL7 1DD
visit page
Heritage Open Day - Sat 9th Sept 2017
New Court, Marlow
This was a last chance to visit this prestigious Victorian mansion in the centre of Marlow, designed by a former president of RIBA.
All were welcome. Free of charge.
visit page
Marlow Remembers WW1 - Passchendaele.
Sunday 30th July 2017 10:30am - 4:00pm,
The Causeway.
A commemorative event to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele and the role of Marlow men in it.
Free exhibition, displays and songs. Free guided walks at 11:00am and 2:00pm.
visit page
... more in the Past Events section.
