Played in London

Event type: Monthly meeting
Date: Mon 11 Nov 2024
Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm
Venue: St Margaret’s United Reformed Church, N3 1BD
Lord’s cricket ground, London
Credit: Simon Inglis/Historic England

Sports and games have always been played in London. For the Tudors, it was tennis at Hampton Court and jousting at Whitehall. The Victorians established a network of sports clubs across the suburbs, while 20th century Londoners pioneered dog tracks and darts competitions. But as speaker Simon Inglis will show in this illustrated talk, sporting Londoners have also had to battle hard to preserve open spaces – from archers in the 16th century to slum dwellers in the 1930s East End.

Simon Inglis is a specialist in the architecture and history of sport and recreation. He has curated exhibitions for the British Council and been a regular contributor to radio and television. Two of his books were shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, while journalist Frank Keating chose his book on British football grounds as the best sports book of the 20th century. From 2004 to 2015 Simon also edited the Played in Britain series for English Heritage (now Historic England). Copies of Simon's book, Played in London: Charting the heritage of a city at play (2014) will be on sale at the meeting.