Bentley Priory Museum

Remembrances of War
2024-04-27 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-01 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-03 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-04 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-08 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-10 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-11 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-05-15 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) and 13 more dates | Bentley Priory Museum, Mansion House Drive, Stanmore, HA7 3FB, United Kingdom
Paul Joyce has provided the opportunity for Bentley Priory Museum to present, for the first time, his unique collection of pictures inspired by his memories of The Second World War. His paintings combine personal impressions of earth-shattering events with received images, which we have scarcely recovered from eight decades on. His claim to be the sole remaining artist still dealing with the emotional and psychological effects of a conflict which ended with the only time nuclear weapons have been used in battle, is probably accurate. We are pleased to present these unforgettable events, honed by his particular vision, to the public as a premiere event.
Paul Joyce’s work is held in many private and public collections, including: The Royal Collection of Queen Elizabeth the Second; The Department of the Environment, The Arts Council of Great Britain, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, London, The Tate Gallery, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, The National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, The American Film Institute and The Library of Congress, as well as a number of institutions and universities in the UK, Europe and the United States.
LUCIDA PRODUCTIONS HOMEPAGE

FULLY BOOKED -Friday Morning Talks: WW2 Codebreaking and Intelligence - People and Places - with Ron Koorm
2024-05-03 11:00 - 12:00
Please note that this talk is now fully booked. If you would like to be put onto a waiting list for any potential places, please contact enquiries@bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk
Join us for our Friday morning talk, where Ron Koorm will talking to us about some of the key people and places involved globally during the 2nd World War.
Ron was commissioned to write a glossary on WW2 codebreaking in three parts, the first for release in summer 2024 is subtitled ‘People and Places’. This is not just about what happened in the UK, but also across Europe, and the world at the time. It aims to give a better understanding and balance to the reader and researcher of what really happened in the build-up to the war, the war itself, and some post-war developments. Some of the research on People and Places impacting on gathering intelligence from the enemy and trying to break the enemy ciphers will be discussed in this talk.
Although there will be famous people and places included, others will be much less known to the public. Thus, people who operated codebreaking machines at outstations, engineers, mathematicians, military officers, Y-station personnel, politicians, and others all played a part, and many of them were outside the UK. Some were inventors and innovators, either of machines or of systems and processes. A brief selection of people and of places will form part of this talk, and may give those attend the inspiration to find out more, in their own time.
The build-up to D-Day, June 1944, is an interesting period, inasmuch intelligence gathering and decoding enemy messages became critically important to the allies. The activities and preparation proved largely to be successful, but it was not all plain sailing. It could have so easily gone wrong, so risk and reward had to be considered in detail, and balanced.
Part of the content of the talk will discuss some of the options that the Allies had at the time, and also the enemy perspective of the allies, too.

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 note that this talk is now fully booked. If you would like to be put onto a waiting list for any potential places, please contact enquiries@bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk

Friday Morning Talks: London's Industrial Past - With Mark Amies
2024-05-24 11:00 - 12:00
Join us for our Friday morning talk, where Mark Amies returns by popular demand to talk about London’s Industrial Past.
London was once a hive of manufacturing industry producing an enormous variety of products from biscuits to fighter aircraft. Sadly since the 1960s so much of that industry has disappeared, with much of it leaving the UK altogether. Referencing his book of the same name, the author, Mark Amies will talk about the familiar names, many still with us today, whose goods were once made in the capital. The presentation will include a varied selection of images that should be of great interest.
As a special for the talk, he will mention a few factories that were in the local area, not mentioned in the book.
Mark may be familiar to some who came along to his talk about aircraft manufacturing in North West London, last summer.
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

Intelligence and Invasion Stripes
2024-05-25 10:00 - 16:00, 2024-05-27 10:00 - 16:00, 2024-05-29 10:00 - 16:00, 2024-05-31 10:00 - 16:00, 2024-06-01 10:00 - 16:00
May Half-Term: Intelligence & Invasion Stripes
Saturday 25 May – Saturday 1 June, on Museum open days*.
Find out more about the RAF’s role in the D-Day Landings in June 1944 with themed activities in the Museum’s galleries.
*Museum Open Days – Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays + Bank Holiday Monday, 27 May
Included in Admission or Membership.

Friday Morning Talks: D-Day (Uxbridge Bunker) -With Dilip Amin
2024-06-07 11:00 - 12:00
Join us for our Friday morning talk, where Dilip Amin’s talk will help us mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.
Dilip Amin is a military historian, public speaker, and published author. His previous talk on his book ‘Enemy Sighted’ was widely praised. Hear him now bring the remarkable story of how control of the air was fought for and won in the build up to, and beyond D-Day eighty years ago.
Pivotal to the telling of this story is the 11 Group Operations Room, from where aircraft had been controlled to protect troops at Dunkirk … directed to save Britain from Nazi invasion in the Battle of Britain … and were now coordinated to help the Allies gain a foothold on the beaches of Normandy.

About the speaker:
DILIP AMIN is a retired police chief superintendent, with a life-long interest in military history, military aviation, and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He volunteers as a tour guide at the Battle of Britain Bunker and relishes the opportunity to share its rich and fascinating story with visitors, bringing its history to life as a tribute to those who served there during the dark days of war. He now puts the investigative and presentational experience gained whilst in the police to good use, devoting much of his time to researching and writing about his field of passion.
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

**SOLD OUT - Operation Nep'tune' - A D-Day 80 Commemoration - SOLD OUT**
2024-06-08 15:00 - 15:45
**This Performance has now sold out and is no longer available to book.**
Operation Neptune, better known as D-Day which took place on 6 June 1944, was the operational codename of the naval and assault landings of Operation Overlord (the invasion of and battle for Normandy).
To mark the 80th anniversary, members of Tonic Choir present a collection of songs and readings in the very building where some of the planning for the operation and the progress of the landings were observed on D-Day itself. Visitors on the day included King George VI, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Dwight D. Eisenhower – the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.

From the team that brought you previous Bentley Priory Museum shows: Fighter Command and the Battle for Britain (2015), Beyond the Trenches (2017), Flying without Feathers (2018), The Bentley Priory Chronicles (2023). This performance by members of the Tonic Choir will include many of the best hits from the previous shows.
Approximate running time is 45 minutes.
Performance ticket holder access to the Museum will be available from 2pm. The Museum galleries will be available to view before and after the performance. The café will be open, serving light refreshments before and after the performance until 4.30pm.
Limited seating available, so book early to avoid disappointment! Tickets must be pre-booked for the performance.
Tickets: Adults £10, Children £5.00. This is not included with annual membership.
This performance has now sold out.
Or contact us using the details below if you are unable to book online.
Email: enquiries@bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk | Telephone: 020 8950 5526
Please note: Admission to the Museum on this day for non-performance ticket holders will be limited to 10am – 1pm. Advance booking is not required for normal museum admission.
