Forgotten Force: Art & Memory
2023-05-24 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-26 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-27 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-29 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-31 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-06-02 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-06-03 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-06-07 10:00 - 17:00 UTC and 11 more dates
Forgotten Force was an oral history project by the Piłsudski Institute of London giving first-hand evidence of the past by audio and video recording stories of Polish women survivors of the Second World War who have been residing in the UK for the past seventy years. To help bring these stories to life the Institute invited a London based artist and art conservator, Zofia Wyszomirska-Noga, to interpret the assembled tales and translate them to image.
Ephemeral, monochromatic, charcoal drawings that define the distant memory of a dramatic journey. Marbled paper bursting with splashes of colour embedded in the background; droplets of the past reimagined through an artist’s compassionate eye. Mothers shielding their children, railway tracks, snowy landscapes and angels emerge from the work of Zofia Wyszomirska-Noga to find a way into our hearts and memories.

Temporary Exhibition Gallery.
Included in Museum Admission and Membership.

Friday Morning Talks: Air Power and the evacuation of Dunkirk: The RAF and Luftwaffe during Operation Dynamo - With Dr Harry Raffal
2023-05-26 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join us for our Friday morning talk, where RAF Museum Head of Collections and Research Dr Harry Raffal will be taking us through the use of airpower during the evacuation of Dunkirk, Operation Dynamo.
Taking place on the 83rd anniversary of the first day of the evacuation, Harry will draw on the research presented in his book ‘Air Power and the evacuation of Dunkirk’, to examine how the evacuation of Dunkirk has been immortalised in books, prints and films, narrated as a story of an outnumbered, inexperienced RAF defeating the battle-hardened Luftwaffe and protecting the evacuation. This book revives the historiography by analysing the air operations during the evacuation. Harry draws from German and English sources, many for the first time in the context of Operation DYNAMO, to argue that both sides suffered a defeat over Dunkirk. . This work examines the resources and tactics of both sides during DYNAMO and challenges the traditional view that the Luftwaffe held the advantage. The success that the Luftwaffe achieved during DYNAMO, including halting daylight evacuations on 1 June, is evaluated and the supporting role of RAF Bomber and Coastal Command is explored in detail for the first time. Concluding that the RAF was not responsible for the Luftwaffe’s failure to prevent the evacuation, Harry demonstrates that the reasons lay elsewhere.

This talk will take place onsite in the Museum’s Learning Centre and is included in Museum admission or Annual Membership.
Advance booking required – please reserve your seat via the link below.
Reserve Your Place

May Half-Term: Stop-frame Animation Workshops
2023-05-31 10:30 - 12:30, 2023-05-31 13:30 - 15:30, 2023-06-02 10:30 - 12:30, 2023-06-02 13:30 - 15:30, 2023-06-03 10:30 - 12:30, 2023-06-03 13:30 - 15:30 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join storyteller-illustrator, Isabel Benavides, to help create a stop-frame animation inspired by the important work of women in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, known as WAAFs, at Bentley Priory during the Second World War.
Through extracts from diaries and the museum’s galleries and collections, help build a moving picture of the work they undertook.
This activity is included in Museum Admission and Annual Membership.
Pre-booking advised. You can do so here.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
About Isabel Benavides
Isabel is a storyteller-illustrator based in South Wales. With a background in museums, she’s fascinated by objects and the heritage stories they tell. Inspired by the tradition of fairytales and fables, and focusing on themes including the environment, wellbeing and kindness, she creates illustrated stories and resources that help people to make sense of the world, ponder a topic, reflect or smile.

Friday Morning Talks: Research and Records using the CWGC Archives - With Chris Leach
2023-06-16 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join us for our Friday morning talk about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission archives, with Chris Leach.
The presentation will begin by introducing why the CWGC was founded with particular focus on the contents of their archives during the conception of the commission. It will then explore the contents of their archives today and how they are accessible to anyone wishing to research the casualties they care for. They will then round the things off by showing you some of the incredibly special items stored in their archives, that provide a fascinating insight into the task of ensuring casualties of both world wars are never forgotten.
This talk will take place onsite in the Museum’s Learning Centre and is included in Museum admission or Annual Membership.
Advance booking required – please reserve your seat via the link below.
Reserve Your Place

Father's Day Lunch
2023-06-17 12:30 - 14:30 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Treat a loved one this Father’s Day with a special Ploughman’s Lunch in the Museum’s café.
£15 per adult with gift for fathers / £20 with Museum admission
£10 per child / £13 with Museum admission.
Pre-booking required by Wednesday 14 June

Friday Morning Talks: Flying up the Edgware Road -With Mark Amies
2023-06-30 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join us for our Friday morning talk, where historian Mark Amies will be talking about the important early aviation history taking place locally, which forms the basis of his book ‘Flying up the Edgware Road’.
Flying up the Edgware Road tells the story of how an area of what is now north-west London became a hub of the British aircraft industry in the very early years of the twentieth century. From the Edwardian suburb of Cricklewood out towards the semi-rural hamlets of Colindale and Kingsbury, a collection of factories were established to produce some of the most important warplanes that served in the First World War.
Mark takes the reader through the early days of flying at Hendon, introduces the owners and workers of once-mighty companies, such as Airco, Handley Page and de Havilland, and chronicles the decline and reuse of the factories for a new post-war economy. It is a book that will appeal to those keen to know more about London’s industrial, social and economic past, as well as those with an interest in early aviation history.
Mark will use the contents of his book as the basis of what will be an enjoyable talk. Though the locations are not in the immediate environs of Bentley Priory, it is worth noting that one of the key players in the story, Frederick Handley Page, lived in a sizeable house called The Limes, near Stanmore Common.

This talk will take place onsite in the Museum’s Learning Centre and is included in Museum admission or Annual Membership.
Advance booking required – please reserve your seat via the link below.
Reserve Your Place

Bushey Festival Tours 2023
2023-07-01 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
We are delighted to be taking part in this year’s Bushey Festival!
Join us for a special Museum tour, Bentley Priory: From Where The Battle of Britain Was Won
This tour is available at 11.00am on Saturday 01st July and Wednesday 05th July 2023. The tours will start promptly at these times, so please arrive 15 minutes in advance to check in at reception. The tour is bookable for children but is aimed at an adult audience.
Tour Duration: approx. 1 hour.
The Museum galleries, gardens, temporary exhibition, shop and cafe will be available to visit following your tour. The Museum closes at 5pm.
Please note: Pre-booked tickets are required. Places are booked on a first come, first served basis.
Book here
