Events

​Throughout the year, we offer a range of events for members and non-members. These include regular speaker evenings covering topical interests – for example we have included subjects varying from preserving the green belt to youth interests in St. Albans.   Following  the success of online speaker meetings in 2021 we have included a mixture of in person and online meetings as part of our regular programme.

There is an Annual General Meeting  when all members are invited to give their views on past and future happenings in our city.

The highlight is our Awards Evening where we celebrate best practice in current architecture and design – for both buildings and our green spaces. This is held every two years with the next one due on 21 May 2024.

Additionally, we have participated in the St Albans Residents First Weekend and Heritage Open Days, and arranged visits to other interesting and historic towns.

Upcoming Events

Details will appear here of our Spring 2024 activities

The Role of Trees in Enhancing St Albans

Date: 20 November 2024
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Cross Street Centre, St Albans AL3 5EE

Past Events

AGM

Date: 17 October 2024
Time: 7:45 pm - 9:30 pm
Location: Jubilee Centre, Catherine Street, St Albans AL3 5BU

Join us for this year’s AGM which is followed by a social event with drinks and nibbles.

The AGM agenda is available here

The accounts for previous year available here

Contemporary Architecture in Heritage Settings

Date: 16 October 2024
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Cross Street Centre, St Albans AL3 5EE

The White Hart – The Story of a St Albans Inn

Date: 18 September 2024
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Cross Street Centre, St Albans AL3 5EE

Blue Plaques St Albans: An event to commemorate and celebrate Dr Nathaniel Cotton

Date: 11 June 2024
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Octagon Room, St Peters Church

From Melancholy to Depressive Illness– The Treatment of Depression across the Centuries

Back in March 2023 a blue plaque was installed for Dr Nathaniel Cotton. He was an 18th-century poet and a medical doctor, who was a pioneer in the treatment of mental health, developing an early form of clinical psychology at a time when many with mental illness were being locked up in appalling institutions like the notorious ‘Bedlam’, St Mary of Bethlehem Royal Hospital, in London.

Nathaniel’s approach to mental health treatment emphasised kindness, understanding, and moral guidance rather than harsh disciplinary measures which were commonly used at the time. He advocated the humane treatment of mentally ill individuals and challenged the prevailing view that they were incurable. The event will start with a short introduction to Nathaniel by Professor Tim Boatswain, followed by the keynote speaker Florian Ruths, a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London. He is a specialist in the treatment of anxiety and depression, and an accredited trainer in Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT) which is a type of talking therapy. CBT includes Mindfulness-Based approaches, all of which are innovative treatments for depression. He will explain what works nowadays for mental health problems, what we have learnt over time, and how Nathaniel Cotton taught us the empathy that modern services so desperately

This is a fund-raising event for the voluntary body Blue Plaques St Albans.
Attendees are asked to donate £10 at the door

Awards presentation evening

Date: 21 May 2024
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Location: Abbey Theatre, Holywell Hill, St Albans AL1 2DL

Please confirm your attendance by email to chair@stalbanscivicsociety.com

 

The Arts and Crafts Movement

Date: 14 May 2024
Time: 7:45 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: St Saviour's Church, Sandpit Lane, St Albans

St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society (SAHAAS), invite us to join them for a talk by Prof. Geraint John, president emeritus of the St Albans Civic Society, about the Arts and Crafts movement of the latter part of the nineteenth century. The talk will cover an introduction to the arts and crafts movement, William Morris and other major figures and initiators and its relevance to St Albans. This is a public lecture, free to attend but please register for this event via the SAHAAS Eventbrite page.

The rail freight terminal – a disaster that can be avoided

Date: 8 May 2024
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Jubilee Centre, Catherine Street, St Albans AL3 5BU

Do you remember the proposal to build a freight terminal on the old Handley Page airfield site at Park Street? Refused by the Council but approved on appeal by the Secretary of State, it was the largest planning application the district has ever seen – almost 500 football pitches, 3000 more lorries using congested local roads each day and 4000 workers going to work by car. Its impact on the whole of the City would be enormous.

Join us on 8th May to hear how a small action group has found a way to challenge this nightmare scenario and get your friends to come as well. This is a real David and Goliath story that will be decided in the High Court later this year. Theresa Smith and Nuala Webb will talk about the action group work and you can find out more at www.savestalbans.com

Samuel Ryder: there is golf but what about gardening and women workers?

Date: 24 April 2024
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Jubilee Centre, Catherine Street, St Albans AL3 5BU

Jill Singer who for many years was a member of the Civic Society Committee is returning on 24 April to give a talk to members on Samuel Ryder and the mark he made not just on the city but also on wider society. With his name given to The Ryder Cup he is known to the world of golf but what he did for women workers and gardening may be his more important legacy. Come and learn about one of the St Albans’ most famous sons.

This talk is arranged through the City Tour Guides whose website contains more details of their programme.

Quiz Night

Date: 22 April 2024
Time: 7:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Location: Lower Red Lion, Fishpool Street
We are holding another Pub Quiz, following on from our last successful event. With a start time of 7.30 prompt, please get there early to ensure the best seats in the house and we will aim to finish around 9.30.  Please note date has changed to MONDAY 22 April instead of Tuesday 23 as previously advertised.
The entry fee is £2 per person, which we will collect on the night. Teams of up to a maximum of 6 will be eligible. There will be a winners pot of £20 and to end the night, we shall, Play your Cards Right, with two prizes of £5. We have spaces for up to 32 people, if you want to take part please send your name and details, including your team name and size to;  maneely56@gmail.com
Cheese and biscuits are included and provided by the Civic Society, with all drinks to be purchased at the bar.
Please come along, to meet and socialise with other members, support your Society, help a great local pub, but most of all have some fun.

Thomas Kitchin: eighteenth century cartographer and his links to St Albans

Date: 31 October 2023
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Marlborough Road Methodist Church, 69 Marlborough Road St Albans AL1 3XG

Blue Plaques St Albans (BPSA) is in the process of installing plaques on buildings in St Albans to celebrate local ‘worthies’, including some who may not already be fully in the public consciousness.

To this end, BPSA will shortly be installing a plaque for cartographer Thomas Kitchin (1719-1784) who came to live in Fishpool Street in the late 1760s and was buried in the Abbey.  Kitchin was Hydrographer to King George III and responsible for engraving and publishing several maps of Hertfordshire, as well as many of the most important maps of the eighteenth century.

To help raise funds for the plaque the St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural & Archaeological Society are holding a talk in Marlborough Road Methodist Church on Tuesday, 31 October at 7.30pm. The speaker is renowned maps historian Laurence Worms. Tickets cost £8.00 a head. For further information and to buy your ticket please visit SAHAAS Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thomas-kitchin-eighteenth-century-cartographer-from-st-albans-tickets-728702547937?aff=oddtdtcreator

Events in 2024

Details of events will appear on the left of this page.  This year’s programme is in person events with a social element as well as a speaker.

 

Join us

Membership is open to all – to everyone who shares our aim to make our City attractive for residents and visitors.

The membership / financial year runs from 1st April through to 31st March but you may of course join at any time so don’t delay, join today!

Become a member