Why were MI5, MI6, Special Branch, the CIA and the FBI so interested in a resident of a hotel which once stood on Dulwich Common in the aftermath of WW2?

Along Dulwich Common and within a distance of no more than 100 metres, three different nests of spies existed in World War Two. Follow the incredible story of MI5’s tracking of spies, traitors, Nazis and secret agents in Dulwich during WW2 with local historian Brian Green in this illustrated online talk.

In 1898 Charles Booth surveyed the area of East Dulwich as part of his studies of poverty in London, and defined many streets in East Dulwich as a mix of poverty and comfort.

Into the 1970s housing in East Dulwich, east of Lordship Lane, was approaching 100 years old. One small part of the area was declared a statutory housing action area (HAA) to concentrate resources on improving properties and helping households.

A talk by Duncan Bowie covering birth control and moral hygiene and sex reformers, housing and planning reformers and anti-slavery campaigners, all of whom at one time lived in Dulwich. Includes Annie Besant, Alice Vickery, Havelock Ellis, Ebenezer Howard, Rev John Harris and Alice Harris and more.

There has been a pub on the corner of Dulwich Common and Lordship Lane since the early 18th century and possibly earlier. Originally called the Green Man, it was known as Bew's Corner in the early 19th century and, from the 1860s, the Grove Tavern.

The existing building dates from the 1920s and this illustrated online talk covers not only the buildings themselves but also the men who ran the pubs as well as some of the characters who used them.

Just like the Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks, Dulwich also had its tragedies. Mr Russell who lived at Pond Cottages had five sons and the youngest was about to be called up for service. The vicar of St Barnabas wrote that he thought his four brothers had already been killed.

This talk by Brian Green recalls the enlistment of local men in August 1914 at the rate of 250 per day, the care of wounded at Southwark Military Hospital (Dulwich Hospital), the story of Dulwich’s volunteer battalion and everyday life for civilians.

Join Duncan Bowie to learn about some of the many political activists and social reformers connected to Dulwich who were active at a national and international level.

An online illustrated local history talk of fascinating comparisons of Dulwich then with Dulwich now. Spot the difference and see how much (or how little) has changed. Brian Green has a lifetime’s collection of images of past Dulwich together with first-hand memories, interviews with past residents and hours spent in the archives.