Bentley Priory Museum

Easter Egg Scramble
2023-04-14 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-15 10:00 - 17:00 UTC
Easter Holidays: Easter Egg Scramble

Saturday 1 – Saturday 15 April 2023
Help Scramble find the EGG RAIDS plotted around the Museum and collect your chocolate prize!

Included in Museum Admission or Annual Membership.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Friday Morning Talks: Bombing Britain - With Chris Goss
2023-04-14 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join us for our Friday morning talk, with historian Chris Goss a who will be speaking about the Luftwaffe bombing campaign against mainland Britain. Chris has successfully published many books under Pen and Sword.
When war was declared in September 1939, most German bombers were unable to reach mainland Britain but could attack shipping in the North Sea. There was also an unease about dropping bombs on the mainland in case it caused an escalation. However, following the invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, all of Britain was now within bombing range and the first major attack took place on the night of 18 June 1940. This was then followed by the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the Baedeker Blitz of 1942 and the Baby Blitz of 1944. The talk will show how the German’s bombing war escalated and commensurate with an improvement of RAF night defences. It then waned to such an extent that for the last year of the war, German bombers were almost non-existent over the night skies of Britain.
After a 32-year career in the RAF and three years working for a civilian company as its Head of Operations, Chris Goss is now a full-time aviation author and military historian writing under Pen and Sword. He is the author of over 40 critically acclaimed books covering aspects of the 2nd World War air war over North- West Europe. He is a historical consultant for a number of major projects, such as the recovery of the Dornier 17 by the RAF Museum and Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and for TV channels such as The History Channel and Channel 5’s The Battle of Britain: 3 Days that Saved a Nation.
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

Forgotten Force: Art & Memory
2023-04-15 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-19 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-21 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-22 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-26 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-28 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-04-29 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-01 10:00 - 17:00 UTC and 14 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: Forgotten Force: Art and Memory -With Zofia Wyszomirska-Noga & Olga Topol
2023-04-28 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join us for our Friday morning talk, with those behind the creation our current temporary exhibition, ‘Forgotten Force: Art and Memory’.
Artist and art conservator Zofia Wyszomirska-Noga will talk about her art response in the context of an oral history project and about processes she used.
Olga Topol will talk about her experience of curating the exhibition and introduce the work of the Jozef Pilsudski Institute.
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.

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

Museum Closed for Royal Coronation
2023-05-06 | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom

Friday Morning Talks: The Jewish Chaplains of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War - With Dr Jonathan Lewis
2023-05-12 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Join us for our Friday morning talk with Dr Jonathan Lewis, who will be talking about the role of Jewish Chaplains in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.
Of the 56 Jewish Chaplains who served in British Forces in the Second World War, seven were in the Royal Air Force. Two served in Britain, one in the Far East, one in Europe and three in the Middle East. The Jewish Chaplaincy organised visitation to Jewish airmen serving on RAF stations around Britain. By 1945 synagogues had been established on five RAF stations.
Concern about the state of religious welfare in the RAF led to the establishment in 1942 of courses which were known as courses of instruction and courses in religious training. Now known as moral leadership courses, these courses continue for Jewish serving personnel to this day. National Service saw the creation of RAF station synagogues and the appointment of religious lay leaders. Rev. Malcolm Weisman served for many years in the RAF as the Jewish Chaplain to H.M. Forces. Another minister is currently in training within the RAF Chaplaincy Branch.
Dr Jonathan Lewis studied Law at Cambridge and practised as a Solicitor and a Judge. A member of Pinner United Synagogue, he served for twelve years on the Board of Deputies of British Jews, for six of them as a member of its Executive Committee. He is active in Jewish legal and historical circles, and is married with two sons and three granddaughters.
In retirement Jonathan was awarded a PhD for his research on this topic by University College London. The first ever study of this topic, his work has been published as Jewish Chaplaincy in the British Armed Forces, Captains of the Souls of Men, 1892-2021
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

Volunteer Recruitment Session
2023-05-13 11:00 - 13:00 (Europe/London) | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Love history? Passionate about engaging people of all ages? Or perhaps you’re green-fingered or simply mad about scrumptious cakes!
Whatever you enjoy, we have a volunteering opportunity for you!
Volunteering is a great way to get involved with your local community, make new friends, learn new skills and develop your passion!
Come along to the Museum on Saturday 13 May to meet staff & volunteers and find out what volunteering at Bentley Priory Museum is all about.
Please register by emailing our Front of House Manager, Jackie Goetcherian on visitorengagement@bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk.
Please arrive promptly on the day for an introductory information session, followed by the opportunity to meet volunteers from similar roles and have a look around the Museum and a hot drink.
Volunteer opportunities available include:

Family Activities Volunteer
Garden Volunteer
Hospitality Volunteer in our popular vintage cafe
Reception Volunteer
Room Steward
Schools Volunteer
Tour Guide

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
