This summer marked the 20th anniversary of the Primrose Hill Lecture Series. The idea was conceived in 2003 by Robert Atwell, then vicar of St Mary’s, as a means of encouraging discussion on society’s pertinent issues. Since its inception, there…
The Primrose Hill Lecture Series welcomes Simon Russell Beale in conversation with Nick Hytner for a pop-up talk on theatre, film and music. Wed 1 Feb 2023 at 7pm Simon Russell Beale is one of the foremost actors of his…
In this final talk for 2022 from the Primrose Hill Lecture Series, Booker-prize winning author Alan Hollinghurst will offer a rare glimpse into the writer’s process as he discusses how his fiction offers a way ‘to write, obliquely and in…
8 June Charlotte Philby on Espionage In June 1934, Kim Philby met his Soviet handler, the spy Arnold Deutsch. The woman who introduced them was Edith Tudor-Hart. She changed the course of 20th-century history and was then written out of…
Europe’s cathedrals are magnificent edifices, and, in general, grander than most castles and palaces. Simon Jenkins will be giving a talk at St Mary’s on 10 November where he plans to speak about his latest book, Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals.…
When the pandemic began, Kate Bingham was just as at sea as everyone else in respect to vaccines. She is a managing partner at SV Health Investors and worked on medicines for inflammation, cancer and dementia. At weekends she spent…
Local resident Walter Murch has worked in the film industry for decades. One evening, he was sitting in his editing suite when Marlon Brando walked in. Marlon Brando said to Walter, “People say that I mumble.” Walter agreed he had…
By Richard Benson The big red-brick Victorian behemoth of St Mary the Virgin on Elsworthy Road might be known or recognised by many in the community as the church that sells ice cream outside, or as the venue for the…
After a bumper Primrose Hill Lecture Series (PHLS) in the summer of 2019, and successfully moving the whole series online in the autumn of 2020 to very positive feedback, the PHLS committee had a few things to consider for 2021.…
By Giles Watkins. When I was asked to take over chairing the Primrose Hill Lecture Series (PHLS) committee in the autumn of 2018, the outgoing Chair Becky Selman gave me a fabulous handover during a splendid dinner at the much-missed…