Please see  http://www.morrissociety.org/2008uk.html for a full list of Morris related events. Unless otherwise stated, ll lectures are at Kelmscott House and tickets for these cost £4 for WMS members and £5 for non-members. Write for tickets to Ticket Applications, The William Morris Society, Kelmscott House, 26 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, London W6 9TA, enclosing payment (cheques payable to “The William Morris Society”) and a stamped addressed envelope..21 - 24 July Visit to the Lake District There may be a few places available for this trip. If you want to be kept informed of the situation, please write to Kelmscott House with a self-addressed envelope, and mark your envelope “Lake District.”Saturday, 16 August, 2.30 p. m. Arts and Crafts in Chelsea This afternoon’s walk will pass along the eastern edge of Chelsea, redeveloped from the mid-1870s, looking at the tall red brick houses, encrusted with oriels and terracotta sunflowers, in the then novel and cheerful Queen Anne manner. We shall see houses by such noted practitioners of that style as Norman Shaw, A. H. Mackmurdo, C. F. A. Voysey and Earnest George. The walk will end at Sloane Square where we shall visit Holy Trinity Church by J. P. Sedding, well-known for its wealth of Arts and Crafts decoration and its glass by Morris and Christopher Whall. We can then find refreshments in the new food store that occupies the former Peter Jones shop off Sloane Square. Those coming on the walk should meet in Basil Street, behind Harrods, a few moments from Knightsbridge tube station.Tickets from Kelmscott House at £2.Saturday, 6 September, 2.15 p. m. William Morris and the Great Story of the North This lecture, a synopsis of which will appear in the next edition of the UK Newsletter, will be given by Simon Dentith, Professor of English at the University of Reading. He has a lifelong interest in the work of William Morris, especially in Morris as a utopian thinker and as a poet. He lives in Gloucestershire, a county which has fostered his interest in the arts and crafts movement.Saturday, 20 September, 1 - 5 p. m. London Open House DayThis annual event is becoming ever more popular, certainly as far as Kelmscott House is concerned. We have five hundred visitors in the space of four hours. It is therefore evident that we need a team of volunteers to monitor the afternoon, both on and off duty. A detailed knowledge of William Morris’s life is not essential; we have notes to help in this way. We are appealing to the membership to support the stalwarts who already do their duty, to contact our curator, Helen Elletson at Kelmscott House
For the 2nd year running local arts group Antiscrap are holding an exhibition at The Changing Room Gallery, Walthamstow and inviting people to submit work that was inspired by William Morris. See their website for more details:Â www.antiscrap.co.uk
Fight the Height is campaigning against the hugely unpopular 18+ storey building being built at the top of Walthamstow Market. This week they posted worrying reports about St Modwen’s delaying developments and demanding compensation from other local authorities for the downturn in the property market. Read the news on their site or in the local paper. They also announced some concessions made in the fight against the large TV screen planned for the Town Square. Plus see recent coverage of their campaign on YouTube.Â
The only theatre in the borough is due for demolition, 2 local 15 years old have started an active campaign to restore the theatre rather than demolish it. Please see their campaign website and sign their petition here www.walthamforesttheatre.comÂ
Waltham Forest Council have stopped the Friends of William Morris Gallery from meeting at the gallery! To ask the council why, please email Cllr Geraldine Reardon to ask why cllr.geraldine.reardon@walthamforest.gov.ukÂ
Peter Cormack and other previous staff of William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum worked hard to achieve MLA accreditation, it was finally achieved last month - and the Council have taken credit for it - despite the Council ensuring the exit of the very staff who made this accreditation possible!Read more in the local Guardian. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/search/display.var.2387142.0.credit_for_gallery_should_go_to_its_former_curator.php
The friends scheme is renewing it’s membership currently, please support the gallery by joining the scheme. You will be invited to events, talks and exhibitions, be updated with the newsletter and meet others. Please see the latest friends newsletter.
To become a friend of the gallery, please fill in this form and send back to:
Hon. Secretary, Helen Dunstan-Smith
21 Barrett Road
London E17 9ES
After a fraught year with the uncertainty of the future of the gallery, the friends have now launched a programme of events. Please do come along to the following events:
18 May
12-4pm Family activities at the gallery.
May 24
The friends have organised a visit to the fabulous Christ Church, Southgate, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1862 which has a stunning array of windows by Morris & Co’s principal designers: Sir Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris,
Ford Madox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, along with layout and ornamental detail by Philip Webb. Please download and fill out the booking form.
This will be a wonderful start to a new season of visits and lectures. Come along and meet the other Friends, wether you are a member, or not, it promises to be a good day out for all the family with a chance to see some stunning art. Southgate is at the end of the Piccadilly line and we need to be at the Church, a ten minute walk from the station, by 10.30. It is important to get a ticket, or to let the organisers know you are coming, so we can get the numbers for tea sorted out.
June 21
The last and greatest work by Edward Burne-Jones, The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (1881-1898), will return to the UK for the first time in forty years when it goes on display as part of the major re-hang of the BP British at Tate Britain in April 2008. This enormous painting, measuring over six metres in width, is being loaned to Tate Britain with Frederic Leighton’s masterpiece Flaming June (1895) from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico, while its galleries undergo a major renovation and expansion during 2008. These important paintings will be shown alongside other masterpieces of late Victorian art from the Tate Collection. The Friends have arranged a tour of the Gallery – a truly unqiue opportunity to see these extraordinary works.
12 July – News From Nowhere
Peter Cormack will be lecturing on William Morris – not overtaken by History for the News from Nowhere Club at The Epicenter, 41 West Street Leytonstone E11 4LJ. The evening will begin at 7.30 for 8pm. There will be refreshments, visitors are asked to contribute to the buffet if possible. Enquiries:020 8555 5248 or check for online: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/News_from_Nowhere_Club Â
July 15
Our Annual General Meeting will be held at Greenleaf Road Baptist Church Hall. We would warmly welcome your attendance.
July 20
We shall be taking a stall at the Green Fair, which will be held between 1pm and 7pm in Lloyd Park. This is Waltham Forest Council’s annual environmental event and this year’s fair is host to creative and musical works by young people inspired by the cultural legacy of William Morris.
The council has organised a consultation for friends of William Morris Gallery about the latest proposals for development of the gallery and the plans for submission of a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The meeting will be hosted by Lorna Lee, Head of Libraries, Museum and Gallery and Jemma Taylor, Museum, Gallery and Archives Manager. Other members of the Project Board will also be present. This will be an opportunity not only to find out about the long-term plans for the Gallery but also to meet the new manager and hear about current developments.
 The meeting will be at William Morris Gallery, 21 May 2008, starting from 7.30pm.
Voluntary Action Waltham Forest are a major player in the social infrastructure of Waltham Forest borough. They are committed to shaping the future of the borough in partnership with its inhabitants, the local council and community groups. They were asked by the council to draw up a report on the Hoe Street and Wood Street areas under the Better Neighborhoods initiative, to outline the problems and make recommendations.
A lot of work went into it, lots of people were consulted and the result was a good report, a fair, balanced and comprehensive look into the difficulties facing us and the resources available to deal with them, it was well received. Critical of the council in some areas, it pointed out solutions that involved working with the community groups and local people in ways that extended democracy and participation. Genuine involvement of the local population in their own lives.
That was the problem, the report exposed the councils lack of commitment to real participation. The council banned the report, but you can read it at the antiscrap site, www.antiscrap.co.uk and click on “involuntary action”