Talks
My phone is overheating with WhatsApps from Arts Club members raving about your talk! Your charming, relaxed style, your vast knowledge so lightly worn, and your sheer professionalism and enthusiasm were all superb.
Thank you for being such a brilliant part of this year’s Folkestone Book Festival. Your event was one of the most popular and entertaining of the whole programme, and I know everyone had such a great experience hearing about the history of Folkestone and seaside architecture in general.
The talk made me realise how many unlauded people there are in history who have done worthwhile things and how unsung women are in those histories.
New Talks
Twentieth Century Seaside Architecture: Pools, Piers & Pleasure Around Britain's Coast
British seaside resorts enjoyed phenomenal popularity for much of the twentieth century, and this lecture explores how resort architecture kept pace with changing fashions and the increasing competition from foreign destinations. Using vintage postcard images from her book of the same title, Kathryn showcases the inherent playfulness of seaside architecture as it evolved from interwar classicism, through Art Deco and International Modernism, to Festival of Britain-inspired mid-century style, and later to seafront tower blocks and the artificial beaches of 1970s leisure centres. Featuring a wide range of building types, this talk covers everything from beach huts and bandstands to lidos, piers, theatres, hotels and amusement arcades.
Pure & Free: The Surprising History of Britain’s Victorian Drinking Fountains
Many parks and streets still feature Victorian drinking fountains, but most are now dry, and we walk past without recognising the crucial role these once played in our ancestors’ lives. In 1850, few had access to clean drinking water, so working people turned to beer and gin to quench their thirst, exacerbating crime and destitution among the poor. This talk explores the origins of the Drinking Fountain Movement, designed to change that, and discusses the wide variety of fountain designs and some of the personal stories behind the people memorialised in these structures.
The Wonders of Wembley: Innovation at the Empire Exhibitions 1924 & 25
The 1924 British Empire Exhibition has been largely forgotten, but it was a huge event that provided construction work for unemployed veterans and presented a positive image of Britain and its colonies after the devastation of World War I. Designed to be permanent, it was hailed as the world’s first concrete city and gave us the original Wembley Stadium. Across 216 acres, new design ideas rubbed shoulders with stereotyped depictions of global cultures. This talk takes a look around the vast site which included a 50-acre amusement park, a subterranean reconstruction of Tutankhamun’s tomb, a never-stop railway and electric cars.
Among the many places Kathryn has previously lectured are: The V&A Museum, Turner Contemporary: Margate, The Brighton Dome, Hastings Museum, De la Warr Pavilion, National Maritime Museum: Greenwich, Musée des Beaux Arts: Lyon, National Library of Wales, West Sussex Record Office, Lisbon University, The Alhambra/University of Granada, The National Trust, Off the Shelf Festival: Sheffield, Filey Literary Festival, Folkestone Book Festival, Brighton Fringe, Ventnor Fringe, Art Deco Society of New York, Society of Genealogists, West Pier Trust, National Piers Society.
Watch recordings of Kathryn’s talks for the Seaside Heritage Network seminars online Seaside Heritage Network, Past Events.
