Tadley folklore – Did Tarzan ever visit Tadley?

As a local history society we are interested in local folklore that includes oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and even jokes passed down through the generations.  Family stories have been an interesting source of  local history information over the years, When we hear a new one we  […]

Underground Architecture

  The image above is Sudbury Town Tube Station London. London Underground Piccadilly Line station designed by Charles Holden in a modern European style. 1931. The Grade II* listed building was described by Pevsner as “an outstanding example of how satisfying such unpretentious buildings can be, purely through […]

Never had it so good

On  16th Sep 2020 Colin Oakes gave an online talk entitled “Never had it so good”   Colin Oakes is an archaeologist and a London guide who has significant knowledge of London’s history and  superb delivery skills. In the past he has talked about Dickens’ Childhood, The London […]

Jane Austen and the Military – Recent Online Talk

Tadley and District History Society provides monthly external talks on history related topics at 8 pm on the third Wednesday of the month.  This months online talk on Aug 19th 2020 was  by Rupert Mathews. Rupert had come up with what might seem a very strange slant on […]

“Putting Tadley on the map: from Gough to Google.” By John Leighfield

Recent online meeting  17th June 2020 We were  very pleased to have John Percival Leighfield CBE provide our June  talk.  He has a passion for maps since his schooldays and discussed, in a highly illustrated talk, how maps have developed from the 14th century until the present day. […]

Medieval Tadley Ring

Medieval gold ring with a blue stone dating to the late C13th-early C14th This medieval gold ring with a blue stone dating to the late C13th-early C14th was found in Tadley (location unknown). The slender highly decorated hoop is divided into many facets creating lozenge fields into which […]

The Roman Portway

Contents Introduction Ivan D Margary’s’ Roman Roads in Britain’ was published in 1955. Maps of Portway Roman Roads in Britain by Thomas Codrington Are Portway locations on the OS maps correct? Reading University at Silchester Alex Flahive  The Old Road LIDAR References Introduction The Portway is a 58 km […]

Does anybody remember the “1944 Air-Crash” in Tadley?

In 2016, the Railway and and Canal Historical Society (https://www.rchs.org.uk)  published:  “Occasional Paper 2nd Series No. 336 – The Tadley Mustang“   The paper refers to an air-crash near Tadley in 1944 during WWII. A Mustang aircraft crashed almost vertically into the ground, It has never been fully […]

VE Day 75th Anniversary

VE Day – 8 May 1945 Life in Tadley during World War II Wartime memories of Tadley The Americans in Tadley during World War II   Tadley War Memorial – World War II 32 Leading Steward W P Barlow 33 Ordinary Seaman S Bowman 34 Aircraftman 2nd Class […]

Ebook about RMS Titanic

This ebook was given to TADS during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown by the author Rupert Matthews, an established public speaker, school visitor, history consultant and author of non-fiction books, magazine articles and newspaper columns. Rupert thought that TADS members might like to have a PDF copy of his […]

TADS balloon logo ?

For many miles around Tadley people refer to this village, with a knowing smile, as ‘Tadley God Help Us’, Why? Many years ago a balloon made an unplanned descent in a clearing in Pamber Forest. The occupants of the balloon asked of a small group of forest workers, […]

1990 Talk – St Thomas’ Home for the Friendless and Fallen.

 TADS Newsletter April 2020 All previous TADS newsletters are available here Basingstoke’s House for Fallen Women by John Fisher This title conjures up all sorts of ideas and to have one in Basingstoke seems even more unlikely, but at  the TADS Meeting in September 1990,  Mr. John Fisher […]

Past Talk: “William Gill, a Victorian Explorer and Spy.”

TADS Online Talk held at 8pm on Wed 6th May 2020.   By Tony Hadland   May 2020 Newsletter – Review of the Talk   Tony’s book about William Gill is now out of print, but it may be downloaded as a pdf from Tony’s website https://hadland.wordpress.com/category/william-gill/ . […]

Mulford’s Hill

Ever wondered who Tadley Mulford’s Hill was named after?   John Mulford was born on the 1st October 1720. His name is perpetuated in the local street name, Mulford’s Hill.  While no longer a commonly used name, the metal Mulford’s Bridge (601 616), still exists where the A340 […]

Past Talk: The Zulu Wars : End of an Era by Richard Anderson

Talk about a 19th century prince who had a lively life, so also has our Speaker Richard, the ‘galloping major’ from the song of yesteryear. He, with a sergeant major’s voice, didn’t need our microphone. Having spent some time at Sandhurst Military Academy in 1973, he had an […]