THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS
OF
THE WINDSOR AND ETON SOCIETY
This brief history of the Windsor and Eton Society during its fifty years is a remarkable account of the influence of public spirited citizens on the life of their local community. It tells how men and women, of all political parties and none, have voluntarily joined together in order to think and act to enlarge the social and cultural life of their towns, and to maintain and enhance their historically unique environment. Many of the local voluntary organisations furthering such aims are the offspring of its parentage. Its current vitality, as it addresses today's concerns and opportunities creatively, indicates it has lost little of its vigour as it embarks on the second half century of its life.
The Windsor and Eton Society grew out of the widespread national determination following the Second World War to build a better society in Britain. The hardships that so many had suffered during the war and the inter-war years were to become things of an unhappy past as the nation set out planning for a future of greater opportunity and material benefit to all. It was a mood dramatically expressed in the General Election of 1945 bringing to power a Labour Government with Clement Attlee as Prime Minister.
Leading citizens of Windsor and Eton were similarly determined that these two closely involved towns should take on a new and better life especially for the benefit of their young and returning ex-service men and women. Even such facilities as a local library were lacking. New houses were required for large numbers in the Armed Forces who had married during the war and had yet to set up a home of their own. The Workers Educational Association, like the Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA), had provided lectures and classes for discussion of such social issues, stimulated by the Beveridge Report, the 1944 Butler Education Act, the Abercrombie Plan for the Rebuilding of London, and countless others for the rebuilding of other cities after their devastation by wartime bombing. Windsor must develop to the west and Eton in Eton Wick. The general pattern of what was needed was very clear. The Local Authorities, however, were beset by the day to day problems of grappling with an era of universal shortages. Prominent local Councillors were only too eager to encourage the setting up of a grass-roots organisation to generate detailed local plans and to press for them to be implemented.
Sir Owen Morshead, Royal Librarian, and Dr Robert Birley,
Headmaster of Eton College. The first two Presidents of the Society.
From the first, Sir Owen Morshead, Librarian of Windsor Castle, Mr R Weatherall, Eton 'beak', Mr Raymond South, Windsor Councillor and History Master of Windsor County Boys' School, were involved. They saw the urgent need for establishing such a local citizens body. As a result of their discussions, a meeting was arranged at Windsor Guildhall on Friday, January 18th 1946. The large attendance unanimously agreed to the formation of a society to be called THE WINDSOR AND ETON SOCIETY. It was to be non-party and non-sectarian and the first of its objectives was to encourage among people of Windsor and Eton an active interest in the history, present affairs and future prospects of their towns and to afford them the opportunity for constructive suggestions. The meeting was presided over by Sir Owen Morshead, Royal Librarian, and Alderman Procter and Mr R Weatherall explained the general purpose of the proposed society. Alderman Procter was at that time Chairman of the Council Housing Committee and Mr R Weatherall a very active member of the Workers Educational Association. The proposed aims of the Society were:
To encourage among the people of Windsor and Eton an active interest in the past history, present affairs and future prospects of their towns, and afford them an opportunity for constructive suggestions.
- To maintain and extend the present amenities of the two towns, and in particular to care for old and interesting buildings.
- To provide encouragement and facilities for the enjoyment of the arts and sciences, recreation and culture.
- And so in general to enhance the good names of Windsor and Eton, and increase the esteem in which they are held.
- The Society shall be non-party and unsectarian, but shall not thereby be prevented from organising events of political or religious interest."
These were outlined to those present, and the motion to establish a society to pursue them was unanimously accepted. This was the first meeting of the Windsor and Eton Society.
The subscription was fixed at 2s.6d. (12½p) for adults and 1/- (5p) for those under 18 years. (It was hoped that members would donate more as some capital would be needed to get the Society off the ground.) The financial year would run from October to September and the Annual General Meeting would take place in October. It was agreed that it was desirable to hold no less than six meetings per year.
Sir Owen Morshead was unanimously elected President and he proved to be a very active officer in the coming years. Mr R Weatherall, a member of Eton Rural District Council, became Chairman, Coun. S R South, Vice-Chairman, Mr D Balfour, Treasurer, and Mrs Burnett, Secretary. The Committee included Mr John Counsell of the Theatre Royal, Mr Spencer Denny, in whose café in Peascod Street the Committee meetings were held, Mr H Fairhurst, Headmaster of Windsor County Boys' School, Mr F Graves, the Editor of the Windsor and Eton Express, Mr H Quinton, Art Master at Windsor County Boys' School and Lt Col H Pennel, Military Knight and prominent member of the Boy Scout Movement. Sub committees would be set up as required.
EARLY ACTIVITIESDuring the first year of the existence of the Society five public meetings were held on subjects relating t the towns with speakers such as Miss Taylor on the Youth Club,
Mr H Proctor, Vice-Chairman of the Windsor Gramophone Society, Mr J Y Foster, Probation Officer and Mr Chitty, sponsor of the redevelopment plan for Dedworth and Clewer. Windsor County Boys' School conducted a survey on these plans for the development of West Windsor and on 2nd October, 1946 a meeting was held in the Guildhall to discuss the 'Chitty' Plan. Among issues raised in discussions of the Society were smoke abatement, the provision of a municipal golf course, the opening up of the riverside and a Windsor and Eton Relief Road. At a later meeting Councillor South announced a competition for "The Most Constructive Criticism of the Chitty Plan", with £15 for the first prize and £5 for the under 18 class. The winner was Mr J A Gurney and the junior winner was David Willmott. During the first year an invitation was received for a representative of the Society to join the Windsor Divisional Executive Committee of the Berkshire Education Committee.
At this time there was great anxiety at the lack of Community and Youth Centres in Windsor and Eton. Eton wished to be considered on its own and a committee was set up to approach the Baldwin Bridge Trust towards opening up an institute in the town. In Windsor, the Theatre Guild greed to donate profits from their October 1946 production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" towards a Social Centre. It was clear to all that there was an urgent need for a Community Centre and a major endeavour of the Society over the next few years was to see that one was established.
In 1947 two outings were arranged. Mr Weatherall took a party of 30 members round Eton College and Sir Owen Morshead took an even larger number round the State Apartments in Windsor Castle. On 13th January 1952 he took a party of the children of members round the Royal Library. The
first Annual General Meeting was held on 24th October 1947 and all present were rightly pleased with the first year of the Windsor and Eton Society's work.Arising from these early interests and concerns a pattern began to emerge in the Society's activities and the organisation was developed to further them. The principal activities fell into the broad fields of -
- stimulating and enlarging the cultural life of Windsor and Eton and
- local action for their social and environmental improvement.
Progress in each of these fields, although, of course, occurring in parallel, is presented separately.
STIMULATING AND ENLARGING THE CULTURAL LIFE OF WINDSOR AND ETON
A regular series of approximately monthly meetings, during the winter months, was established. They were to enhance local knowledge of the history and treasures of Windsor and Eton. For the most part they have been held in the richly decorated surroundings of the Council Chambers of the Guildhall or correspondingly distinguished rooms of Eton College. Such talks have embraced the lives of Kings and Queens and their impact on the locality, writers at the Castle, public figures like Charles Knight (founder, with his father of the same name of the Windsor and Eton Express, national publisher and philanthropist), and the lives of the poor living in the unreconstructed Goswells and low-lying Eton subject to flood. They have concerned the local architecture and unique collections of art and furniture, of silver and porcelain, books, manuscripts and memorabilia that are part of the outstanding local heritage. A Local History Society, of which Raymond South was also a founder member, has continued to add to knowledge of the local past and its researches presented to joint meetings with the Society. Such interest has also extended to local Natural History in talks and films on surrounding wild life and to past and ongoing military and industrial involvement in the life of the locality. There are few aspects of the life of Windsor and Eton in which members of the Society have not been active and their interest or expertise offered to the entire membership through a regular programme of talks by knowledgeable speakers.
1959 BRAINS TRUST
left to right:
Sir Hugh Casson, Mrs Joan Hewitt, Dr Robert Birley, Lord David Cecil, The Mayor, Miss Mary George MBE, AND Mr Robert Aickman.
1949 FETE FOR COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR CLEWER AND DEDWORTH
Centre: Coun Raymond South, John and Hayley Mills, Rev Dymoke-Marr
1961 First Windsor Facelift, Royal Walkabout
Interest in attractive features of Windsor led to broader Town Centre Development proposals about which Alderman Churcher spoke to the Society at the meeting in December 1962. In following meetings the Society placed emphasis on the preservation of the Clarence Crescent Regency 'period piece' and its Garden. The Society also became deeply involved in the formulation of the Town Plan and set up in 1964 an 'Architectural and Planning' Sub-Committee to assist the Town Council in safeguarding local amenities and to alert a wider public to threats to the amenities of Windsor and Eton. The 1965 Annual Report of the Society demonstrated the considerable volume of work undertaken by this Sub-Committee in its first year. It recommended the creation of a 'Landscape Sub-Committee' to maintain a vigilant watching brief on the Royal Borough's heritage of land not already occupied by buildings. This held its first meeting in March 1966 under the Chairmanship of Mrs Joan Hewitt. Its Secretary was Miss Doris Mellor, who was born in St Marks Road, Windsor, and, after spending thirty years teaching in South Africa, returned to join her sister living in the family home and to show what a determined lover of her native environment can achieve. In June 1966 the Society submitted a joint report of the Architectural and Planning and Landscape Sub-Committees to the Town Council with proposals for the development as a whole of the stretch of the riverside area from the Race Course to the Victoria Bridge. It provided the background to much that has since occurred and is even now being discussed and taking place. Undoubtedly, however, the greatest public awareness of the Environmental work of the Society arose over the battle to preserve Bachelors Acre as a green 'lung' close to the centre of Windsor, for the recreational enjoyment of citizens and visitors alike. The Council sought to use Bachelors Acre for the erection of a four-storey City Centre Car Park. Berkshire County Council rejected the proposal and in 1969 members of the Society's Architectural and Planning and Landscape Committees gave evidence, on behalf of the County, against the Borough's appeal to overturn the County's rejection. As a result of Doris Mellor's diligent research into the origin of Bachelors Acre the Society proved that the ground had been left to the people of Windsor for 'sports and pastimes' and the Society succeeded in registering it in 1971 as a Town Green under the Commons Registration Act of l965. The registration was made by Miss Doris Mellor on behalf of and with the full support of the Society.
The registration was opposed by the Borough Council and after hearings by the Chief Commons Commissioner, in the Chancery Division of the High Court, both upholding the registration, the local authority took the case to the Appeal Court. In a reserved judgement given on 20th May 1975 by Lord Denning, Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Browne and Mr Justice Brightman the registration of Bachelors Acre under the provisions of the Commons Act 1965 was confirmed an the Borough's Appeal dismissed. Miss Mellor was awarded the MBE in 1977. The Windsor and Eton Society mounted a plaque on Bachelors Acre, which sadly was stolen only a few weeks after it had been placed in position. However, when Queen Anne's Court was redeveloped in Lower Peascod Street, for which she had also been an energetic protagonist, Mellor House was named and a plaque attached, giving her a continuing memorial.
In 1977, because of the overlap and interactions in their work, the Architecture and Planning and Landscape Sub-Committees were amalgamated to form the current Environment Sub-Committee of the Society. It has the considerable task of monitoring all planning applications and development proposals for Windsor, Eton and Old Windsor and liaising with the appropriate authorities.
1977 Installation of the Plaque to Doris Mellor in Bachelors Acre.
Centre left to right: Miss "Biddy" Meech, Miss Doris Mellor and Mrs Joan Hewitt
In consequence of its extensive experience built up over the years it is frequently consulted in advance by the Borough over major developments, and plays a constructive and occasionally restraining (!) role in the ongoing development of the locality. A longstanding and more recently increasing concern has been congestion of traffic and parking throughout the Borough. As long ago as 1950 members of the Windsor Council met with the Committee of the Society to consider the siting of a relief road and a bridge over the Thames between Windsor and Clewer.
With the development of West Windsor and the opening of such a relief road joining the M4 Motorway, morning and evening rush hour traffic through the streets of West Windsor, Winkfield and Imperial Roads and the Straight Road of Old Windsor became an increasing problem. The Society prepared a very comprehensive report in February 1967 on the problem in Windsor and Eton, copies of which were sent to the appropriate Ministries and Members of Parliament. As long ago as the early 70s the Society urged the need for a Western by-pass and further crossings of the Thames to take the growing commuter traffic from the south, arising from the massive new housing around Bracknell and the continued growth of London Airport.
A Chairman of the Society in the late 60s and early 70s, Councillor Richard Shaw, marked his period of office as the last Mayor of Windsor, before the 1974 Local Government reorganisation of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, with strategic questions about Windsor and Eton's future. A successor as Chairman of the Society, Councillor Peter Simpson, was largely responsible for a Ten Year Tourist Strategy Plan of the Council in 1981, proposing new Visitor Handling facilities alongside Alexandra Gardens and a Leisure Complex south of the river between the Relief Road and the Railway Bridge. A soundly based tourist trade was seen as affording a good economic future for the town and could have special benefit for Eton, helping to keep its businesses viable and to prevent the decline which threatened due to their nature and location.
The Tourist Reception Centre has undoubtedly helped. However the growth of coach traffic in Alma Road, burgeoning office development in Windsor and loss of parking through the otherwise desirable pedestrianisation of Peascod Street, have all presented new traffic problems. The Society has therefore urged a 'Park and Train Ride' scheme to free up parking in the town centre for shoppers and those with businesses in Windsor and Eton. Tourists from cars and coaches parking alongside the rail viaduct between Slough and Windsor could then be brought by rail right to the centre of Windsor. Both the Western By-Pass and Park and Ride proposals of the Society have now been included in the 1994 Draft Borough Plan under the Public Enquiry at the time of writing.
The growth of London Airport at Heathrow has not only been a major generator of increased road traffic through and around Windsor but also, of course, of noise and air pollution through increased aircraft movement overhead. Windsor lies directly under the flight path and, especially when landing from the west, aircraft noise is highly intrusive in the open in the Summer and at all times during the night and in the early morning. The Borough Council, with the support of the Society, has joined with neighbouring local authorities successfully to challenge ministerial orders concerning increase in night flights. Although members are included among those employed at Heathrow, the Society is unconvinced that the continued contribution to the national economy from air traffic can only be achieved by a Fifth Terminal in this already heavily developed and congested area.
During the Society's existence two Local Government re-organisations have impinged on Windsor and Eton. The first in 1974 brought them together within the same borough but at the cost of their affairs being combined with those of Maidenhead, where the Royal Borough's administration is centralised. The parishes of Eton and Old Windsor continued to have local councils for the discussion of their concerns. Windsor was left without any such constitutional opportunity. In 1991 the Society invited the various local Residents Associations together with Windsor Heritage to meet annually in a local forum to consider Windsor and Eton's particular concerns. The initiative was welcomed by local members of the Borough Council who subsequently established a consultative Windsor Town Panel. The Society in its third annual forum invited Senior Schools, now required to undertake local projects as part of the GCSE Curriculum, to build such projects around current local issues and to present them to the meeting with County, Borough and Parish Councillors present. The success of this further initiative was such that the schools were asked to make a presentation to the recently established Windsor Town Panel, and it has now set up an advisory group of young people.
Pupils of Windsor Boys and PMRF Schools with the Mayor, Coun. Bryan Hedley and members of the
Windsor and Eton Society Environmental Committee
A Local Government Commission was set up to streamline and bring local government closer to the governed by recommending unitary, instead of two-tier authorities, wherever practical. It encountered particular difficulties in Berkshire. The Society, having experienced delays and frustrations in planning and traffic concerns, as Borough and County separately considered and all too often took different views, welcomed the principle of dealing with a single authority. Initially the County and five of its six boroughs agreed to the abolition of the County and a five unitary authority replacement. The Commission, however, with strong representation from Wokingham, the borough which would have disappeared, produced an alternative five authority plan. It recommended the combination of Windsor and Maidenhead with Bracknell in what would be a massive authority of over 300,000 people and the largest non-urban authority in the country. The Society supported the local Members of Parliament in proposing a six authority solution in which there would be a slightly enlarged Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough. Conscious, however, of the somewhat greater cost of such a proposal, it submitted a reasoned paper to all involved. This called for expert local bodies on which each authority would draw for such services as Education, Social, Library etc., so that each authority would not sextuplicate the services currently supplied by the County. The County has appealed to the Courts that the Minister would exceed his authority in accepting its abolition and the six authority proposal. The issue is currently awaiting the outcome of confused processes, on which a forthcoming General Election may have a bearing.
A present growing concern for the Society is the economic future of Windsor and Eton. With approximately a third of the office accommodation unoccupied and many empty shops and others occupied only on short lease by Charities, local traders have faced great problems over the last few years. Together with the Windsor and District Chamber of Commerce and Eton Traders Association, the Society has initiated discussions with Councillors and their Officers to try to address these most fundamental issues concerning the future prosperity of the two historic towns. Contrary to conventional wisdom, tourism provides no more than approximately 10% of local income and employment. For the large part the employment is low skilled and concentrated in fast food outlets and souvenir gift shops close to the Castle. A robust local economy depends on the incomes of those living and working in Windsor and Eton and the two towns' ability to attract people from round about for goods and services not available in such neighbouring shopping centres as Slough, Maidenhead, Bracknell and Staines. The Society has welcomed the strategic thinking on shopping in Windsor by the owners of the Central Station, L & R Leisure, and their proposals, yet to be implemented, for the Central Station area. A move upmarket in this area, however, calls for wider consideration of the unique role of other shopping areas with special appeal, like the antique trade of Eton, and in particular the local role of Lower Peascod Street and St Leonard's Road.
DISPLAY AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL HISTORY
Concern was minuted in 1948 on the state of Town Records and the need to restore and preserve many items. A small archaeological branch of the Society was formed in that year to gain material on the history of Windsor. Mr Patrick Manley, local dealer in historic prints, and Mr Maurice Bond, Clerk of the Records at the House of Lords and Archivist to St George's Chapel and to Windsor Castle, found that the records were badly housed and needing preservation, an the Town Council agreed to preserve and store items suitably. An exhibition opened from 18th to 25th June 1949 on Windsor History, set up by Miss M Curtis, Headmistress of Windsor County Girls School, Mr P Manley and Mr M Bond. It was held in the Guildhall and over 2,500 visitors attended. Following this success the Guildhall Sub-Committee was formed on the 28th September 1949, consisting of Miss M Curtis, Mr P Manley and Mr M Bond with Mr F M Underhill as Curator. In Festival of Britain year, 1951, proposals were made by the Society to the Council for the restoration of the Guildhall to incorporate a permanent exhibition, and this was agreed in principle. Windsor Guildhall had been used in World War II as a Food Office and there was a great deal of work to be done. However, on 15th May 1951, HRH Princess Elizabeth performed the opening ceremony of the exhibition 'from the New Stone Age to the Present Day' mounted in the restored Guildhall. Mr F M Underhill was appointed Curator of the permanent exhibition and the sub-committee consisted of members of the Society, Mr M Bond, Mr P Manley, Miss Jane Langton and Mr Underhill. To commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the President of the Society presented to the Mayor two silver coasters designed and executed by Mr Leslie Durbin.
Against the Society's wishes, the small Guildhall 'Museum' was closed in 1982 and a smaller display included in the Royalty and Empire Exhibition opened by Madame Tussaud's at Windsor Central Station. When this display was closed, the artefacts were moved to the Council's Tinkers Lane Depot under the care of the Royal Borough's Honorary Curator, Dr Judith Hunter. She arranged for an annual themed exhibition to be mounted in the Guildhall during each Summer so that items from the Collection could be given display. Members of the Society have undertaken a substantial part of the stewarding of such exhibitions.
The Society continued to press for a Town Museum and a body, 'The Friends of the Royal Borough Museum Collection', chaired by Mrs Sheila Banes-Condy, a long time member of the committee of the Society, was formed in 1990. The Curator's role became a part-time remunerated one and, wit the help of volunteers, storage conditions and cataloguing of the material in the Collection greatly improved. There are now small display cases in the foyer of the Council Offices, York House in Sheet Street, and in the new Windsor Library. Two exhibition rooms were made available on the first floor of the Heritage Centre, opened in Windsor High Street in June 1995. A front room houses a permanent exhibition and a rear room is used for a succession of exhibitions of current interest. The first concerned Windsor in World War II. The Golden Jubilee of the Society is being marked by one on its history.
When the eminent archaeologist, Dr Brian Hope-Taylor, undertook a 'dig' in the Kingsbury field of Saxon Old Windsor, between 1953 and 1958, the Society, on the recommendation of Maurice Bond, agreed to make a donation towards the cost. In the event, the Ministry of Works bore the cost of the excavations, which stopped as much of the site of the first settlement in Old Windsor was underneath houses. Some of the artefacts unearthed are in the Royal Borough Collection.
As there was no official town guide, Mr Bebbington and Mr Quinton, Chairman of the Society, both Masters at Windsor County Boys School, agreed in 1948 to prepare a Guide to Windsor and Eton to be published by the Society. 4,000 copies were sold and it was decided that the Society would produce one annually. A special Souvenir Festival Guide was published in 1951 and, when the twinning of Windsor with Neuilly was arranged, the Society prepared special translation of the Guide for the visitors from France. Mr Quinton was also responsible for designing the twinning badge. In 1960 it was reported in the Annual Report that 1,000 copies of the Guide were taken aboard the liner 'Windsor Castle' on its maiden voyage. Sales of the Guide helped to finance the Celebrity Music Concerts initiated by the Society. The Society ceased regular publication of the Guide when the Local Authority and commercial sources took over the task of providing such information more fully.
During the season 1951-52 the Windsor and Eton Society embarked on a programme of music concerts and, on 23rd October 1952, the first of a series to be called 'The Windsor and Eton Celebrity Concerts' was given by the pianist, Yvonne Catterall. For many years the Windsor and Eton Society was the only institution putting on regular concerts and it was decided that four should be arranged for each year. This pattern continued until the Windsor Festival and Subscription Concerts at Eton College extended such musical events. The Society then arranged one annual illustrated lecture on a musical subject sponsored by the Royal Albert Institute Trust
Many famous musicians performed for the Society over the years, but a very exciting extension of the cultural life of Windsor and Eton took place when the Dean, The Very Reverend Robin Woods, was the Society's President. At a Royal Academy Dinner, to which he had been invited, he met Yehudi Menuhin and David Willcocks, both of whom offered to put on concerts in St George's Chapel. He told them that there was a 'little society' in the town which would take on the organisation! Consequently the Society was able to advertise in its programme of celebrity concerts for the season 1967/8 a concert to be given in St George's Chapel by Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin with the proceeds to be divided between two charities. The concert was an outstanding success with the Chapel filled to capacity and soon afterwards, our President, The Dean of Windsor, invited a few people to the Deanery to discuss the possibility of a Festival to be held in Windsor under the artistic direction of Yehudi Menuhin. There soon followed a reference in the 'Times Diary' to the proposed move from Bath to Windsor of the Menuhin Festival in which the writer referred to the Society:
"and in the Windsor and Eton Society, the two towns possess one of the most enterprising and lively local amenity societies, whose help could prove extremely valuable to the Festival's professional organisers."
Thus was the Windsor Festival born and our Chairman at that time, Councillor Richard Shaw, and later in turn the Mayor of Windsor and of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, was appointed a director, and Miss 'Biddy' Meech, senior mistress of Windsor Girls School and Chairman of the Musical Sub-Committee of the Society was put on the Advisory Committee. Richard Shaw continues as a director of the Festival with which the Society has had a personal link throughout its existence.
1967 CELEBRITY CONCERT IN ST GEORGE'S CHAPEL
Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin, Dean of Windsor and Richard Shaw, Chairman
Outings, initially to nearby places of interest, as first arranged in 1947 by Sir Owen Morshead and Mr Weatherall, became a regular part of the Society's programme. They take place in the summer months and relate on occasions to subjects of the winter meetings' programme. They have progressively extended further afield and a pattern was established of all day visits in May and half-day visits each September. The Society has been able to arrange private visits to country houses and collections not generally open to the public and often, at National Trust and other such properties, to enjoy a tour conducted by a member of the family resident and long associated with the House. More recently over or a considerable period the development of such outings, which have been popularly supported, has been an especial contribution to the Society of Mrs Dorothy Massey (previously Miss Dorothy Burch) one of the Society's present Vice Chairmen.
An inaugural Annual Dinner of the Society was held at the Castle Hotel, Windsor, on 1st February 1961. The Guest of Honour was the first President of the Society, Sir Owen Morshead, and a broad representation of the Civic life of Windsor and Eton and the Society's members enjoyed a notable local social occasion. The Committee in organising its successor for early February 1962 called for less overheating of the Dining Room and noise from adjacent rooms! Apparently such shortcomings must have been overcome as the occasion has since been a regular feature of the annual programme of the Society. It has regularly been honoured by the presence of the Mayor and Mayoress of the day and brought to the Society a wide range of Guests of Honour distinguished in many fields of National Life. They include a former Defence Chief and Governor of Windsor Castle (Viscount Slim), Lord Chancellors (Lords Goodman and Hailsham), Town Planner (Prof. Colin Buchanan), Broadcasters (Mr Huw Wheldon), Economists and International Society Reformers (Lady Jackson, nee Barbara Ward), Artists, Politicians, Businessmen and local Prelates, Provosts and Headmasters of Eton. One of the largest attendances was in 1987 when, following their liberation, the former Governor of the Falkland Islands, Sir Rex Hunt, was the Guest of the Society.
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
Among the earliest of the Society's concerns, already referred to in "Early Activities", was that of providing Community Centres where young people of Windsor and Eton could meet. In Eton the Baldwin Institute was use for an increasing range of activities but, with Eton Wick becoming the growth centre of Eton and hence the main concentration of its young people, its Youth Centre was opened there. In Windsor the buildings of the Imperial Service College in Alma Rod seemed an excellent prospect. However, when the Council received back its buildings, after a well attended meeting on 5th February 1948, it was decided to use the Kipling Buildings for Council Offices and the ground adjacent for the Refuse Department. Much later the present Youth Club was opened in Alma Road. In 1948 the Society sponsored and financed a meeting at which the Community Association in Clewer and Dedworth was formed and, with the setback in respect of Alma Road, concentrated on achieving a Community Centre for the new growth area in West Windsor. Prominent in the opening of this new facility in Clewer and Dedworth were Coun Raymond South and Rev Dymoke-Marr, Rector of Clewer, each of whom served as Chairmen of the Society.
In the dreary aftermath of the war, beset by balance-of-payment problems and shortages of all kinds, as the nation sought to make good the ravages of war and to rebuild its economy, thoughts turned to ways of brightening up and restoring pride in our towns. This endeavour culminated nationally in the Festival of Britain I 1951 on London's South Bank of the Thames.
The Society, inspired by Mr Bebbington and Mr Quinton in 1948, had encouraged shops and houses in the centre of Windsor and Eton to decorate their premises with window boxes and hanging baskets. In 1950 they circulated a leaflet eloquently appealing for a Floral Competition. A Challenge Cup was provided and presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Society. In 1951 the Society, as part of the national Festival of Britain, provided two seats for the Church Street Rose Garden and sponsored the cleaning of the Robert Keayne plaque in River Street. Another concern was the nature of shopfronts and signs in the historic streets of Windsor and Eton. This was raised by the Society and after extensive discussion on the subject, the Borough adopted policy guidelines within which planning applications for shopfronts and signs would be judged. These proposals were warmly welcomed by the Society.
The preservation of trees became a particular concern of the Society in 1958 with the burgeoning new development that began to take place from the late 50s. In 1964 the Society received an undertaking from the Council to replace the trees felled in Bachelors Acre. In the early 70s the Society made a major survey of all significant trees, which was submitted to the District Planning Officer for Tree Preservation.
Two recent examples of the Society's continuing efforts in respect of trees in the local environment concern Victoria Barracks and the former site of Burnell House in Bolton Avenue. When the rebuilt Victoria Barracks presented a massive windowless wall to the Sheet Street approach to Windsor, the Society urged the planting of trees which have since been introduced to ameliorate it. When the County decided to sell the site of Burnell House for development the initial plan for 14 houses involved felling two outstanding mature trees, one a Giant Sequoia. To preserve them the Society was able to help "The Boltons Residents Association" to modify the plan to one of 8 houses. The benefit is acknowledged in the name of the development - "The Redwoods"!
In 1960 the National Civic Trust, to which the Society had been affiliated since its foundation, promoted the "facelift" of the centres of historic towns such as Norwich, and Windsor was among the first to take up this challenge. One of the Society's members, a local trader and President of the Windsor and District Chamber of Trade, Mr Freddie Shenston, enthusiastically persuaded his fellow members of the Chamber to make the result in Windsor a national model. On 12th May 1961 Mayors from more than sixty other towns and cities gathered together for a walkabout, led by HM the Queen, to see the striking transformation of Windsor's historic core, aided by local architects Edgington Spink and Hyne and the Colour Advisory Service of ICI's Paints Division in Slough. From this beginning "Windsor Heritage" was born, under the Presidency of Mr Shenston, devoted to the clean-up, maintenance and improvement of the "Guildhall Island" and heritage sites close to the centre of Windsor. With the practical support of members of the Society it has since raised finance and organised renewal "facelifts" at approximately five-year intervals. Between these events it has transformed the Parish Churchyard, cleaned up and renewed the George V Memorial, the area around the statue of Prince Christian and replanted Romney Walk. It has also restored the
ancient drinking fountain to the north of the Guildhall, continuing to maintain and enhance many such engaging features of the local scene.
Looking back over fifty years of such creative activity, much has been achieved and fresh challenges have arisen. The next fifty years seem just as likely to need pro-active citizens seeking single mindedly the future well-being of the local community. Of more recent years Councillors and Leaders of Schools, although always ready to respond to the Society's initiatives, have been less directly involved in its affairs. Perhaps that is a reflection of the growth of party politics in local government and its increasing demands, like changes in the schools, on the time of Councillors and teachers. Happily, a growing body of diversely skilled people and those freed earlier from large organisations are now able to offer their expertise in constructive local problem solving. In a world of increasing short term pressures, there has never been a greater need for strategic thinking from those uncompromised in the day to day struggle and capable of innovative action.
For, as the Society's first Vice-Chairman, Raymond South, said:
"The past lives in Windsor and Eton but they do not live in the past."The first fifty years shows that in the Society Windsor and Eton have an ongoing group of citizens, eager to preserve the best of the past while pioneering an imaginative course for a changing future.
The Society gratefully acknowledges the work of Beryl Hedges and John Long in compiling from its records this account of its first fifty years.
It is also much indebted to Graham Brown for his help in the work and especially for his guidance concerning the presentation of the material. Alan Bowers, 'Biddy' Meech and Raymond South have all provided input from personal recollection and read the text in proof to check accuracy. The Society appreciates, too, the kind permission of the Windsor and Eton Express and the Windsor and Eton Observer to include photographs which first appeared in their pages.