London’s Lea Valley: Britain’s best kept secret 

The Friends of Holy Saviour Church invite you to their next “Talk & Tea“ event, when Dr Jim Lewis will give an illustrated talk on London’s Lea Valley.

Running from its Hertfordshire source to the Thames in London’s East End, the River Lea and the Lee Navigation have both played a key part in the growth of the metropolis.  Dr Lewis’s talk will tell the story of a region that developed more industrial firsts than anywhere else in the world.

Sunday 4th June at 3pm in Holy Saviour Church, Radcliffe Road SG5 1QG.

Admission £10 (Friends of Holy Saviour £8) at the door.

 

Don’t Drink The Water!

Hitchin, sewage and misgovernment

The Friends of Holy Saviour Church invite you to their next “Talk & Tea“ event, when local historian, Alan Fleck, will give an illustrated talk on Sewage and Misgovernment in Hitchin.

Nowadays we take clean water supply and sanitation in our town for granted. It was not always so; Alan Fleck’s talk will delve into some murkier aspects of Hitchin’s past!

Sunday 26th March at 3pm in Holy Saviour Church, Radcliffe Road SG5 1QG.

Admission £10 (Friends of Holy Saviour £8) at the door.

 


Outing: Crossness Pumping Station

Neatly following “Don’t Drink The Water!“, The Friends of Holy Saviour have booked a trip to Crossness Pumping Station on Saturday 1st April. This was opened in 1865 (the year that Holy Saviour Church was consecrated) as part of Bazalgette’s new London sewage system and is now a Grade 1 listed building. It has huge beam engines and extraordinary ornate painted ironwork. We will have a guided tour of the site.
Travel will be by coach, leaving Hitchin c10:00am for the 90 minute journey. Bring a picnic lunch; tea and coffee will be provided on arrival.
Entry and tour of Crossness will cost £20 pp; coach price to be confirmed. 
To book your place, and for more information please email: alan.fleck@ntlworld.com

The 26th Hitchin Christmas Tree Festival!

This year’s Christmas Tree Festival takes place next weekend (9th-11th December)! 

The Festival is open on Friday 9 December between 3:00pm and 8:00pm, on Saturday 10 December between 12:00noon and 6:00pm, and on Sunday 11 December between 12:00noon and 6:00pm. Admission £5 with accompanied children free.

Do join us to see the church filled with beautifully decorated trees, and enjoy tea, coffee and cake in the Festival Cafe. On Saturday and Sunday there is live music, and hot and cold meals in the Festival Cafe.

We look forward to welcoming you!

A Passion for Places:  England through the eyes of John Betjeman

The Friends of Holy Saviour Church invite you to their Hitchin Festival event, when David Meara, author and former Archdeacon of London, will give an illustrated talk on “A Passion for Places: England through the eyes of John Betjeman”.

This talk will pick out some of the buildings , especially churches, of which John Betjeman was particularly fond, and will illustrate his particular vision of England and architecture, which shines through in so much of his poetry.

Tuesday 19th July at 7.30pm in Holy Saviour Church, Radcliffe Road SG5 1QG.

Ticket £12 (includes welcome drink on arrival) from Hitchin Festival Box Office, or at the door.

 

“Bless, O Lord, Us Thy Servants”

A concert to mark the retirement of Trevor Hughes from the post of Organist & Music Director of Holy Saviour Church

After 27 years of wonderful music-making at Holy Saviour Church, Trevor Hughes is retiring from the role of Organist & Director of Music.
Trevor’s last service will be on Sunday 29 May (9.45am) and on the evening of Saturday 28 May he will direct a concert in the church, featuring both of our choirs.

The concert will be performed by Holy Saviour Church Choir, and The Radcliffe Singers, conducted by Trevor Hughes, with soloists David Butler (violin), Gillian Hughes (clarinet) and James Risdon (recorders).

Holy Saviour Church, Radcliffe Road, Hitchin, SG5 1QG
Saturday 28 May 2022, at 7.30pm
Admission £10; Students FREE (tickets available at the door).

 

Sisterhood, Embroidery & Social Change

The Friends of Holy Saviour Church are delighted to announce that they have been able to reschedule their Talk & Tea event, “Sisterhood, Embroidery & Social Change”, and it will now be held on Sunday 3rd April at 3:00pm.

In this talk, author and architectural historian Dr Kathryn Ferry will reveal the origins of the Anglican Sisterhood of St Margaret, founded at East Grinstead in 1855 by prominent High Churchman, John Mason Neale .

Sister Elizabeth, known here at Holy Saviour for her beautiful embroidery in the Alleluia altar frontal and her work at the Radcliffe Road Orphanage, was a member of the Order.

Originally a nursing order helping the rural poor of Victorian Britain, the Sisters also ran an internationally renowned school of embroidery, as well as schools and orphanages, including the one started here in 1873. 

In an era before the campaign for women’s emancipation got underway, the Sisters of St Margaret were able to work as teachers, social workers and administrators with incredible dedication and remarkable success.

Sunday 3rd April at 3:00pm in Holy Saviour Church, Radcliffe Road SG5 1QG.

Admission £10 (Friends £8) at the door.

 

Hitchin Christmas Tree Festival

The Festival – our 25th – will come back home to Holy Saviour Church this year. We’re reducing tree numbers slightly, and making a few other changes to ensure the Festival is as safe as possible. But the magical display we know and love will be just the same!

Do join us on Saturday 11 December between 10:30am and 6:00pm or on Sunday 12 December between 12:00noon and 6:00pm! Admission £5 with accompanied children free.

This year, shops and businesses in the town are being invited to take part by decorating their own trees in their windows for the Festival weekend, and being included in the programme.

The David Parr House – an extraordinary Cambridge home

The Friends of Holy Saviour Church invite you to their next “Talk & Tea“ event, when Tamsin Wimhurst, of the David Parr House Trust, will give an illustrated talk on “The David Parr House”.

Decorated in the late Victorian era this house lay undiscovered until a few years ago when its extraordinary story began to be uncovered.


David Parr was a ‘decorator artist’ who worked for some of our best known Victorian designers of the day such as William Morris and George Bodley. He decorated churches and palaces for those who could afford such decoration but in his spare time he came home and decorated his humble terrace house in the same style.


Lived in by his granddaughter until a few years ago its interior remained a wondrous hidden secret. Now it is being saved, restored and opened up to the public so that many more can enjoy its unique atmosphere.

Sunday 10th October at 3pm in Holy Saviour Church, Radcliffe Road SG5 1QG.

For tickets (£10) and information, ring Alan on 07494 867275.

The Unexpected History of the Garden Gnome

As part of the Hitchin Festival 2021, The Friends of Holy Saviour Church invite you to their next event, when Dr Twigs Way will give a talk on “The Unexpected History of the Garden Gnome”.

The talk will be given online using Zoom on Wednesday 21st July 2021 at 7:30pm. Ticket-holders will be provided with a link to enable them to access the event.

Tickets cost £10 + £0.84 booking fee; tickets are available from the Hitchin Festival website (https://www.hitchinfestival.co.uk/whatson).