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Summer Outing – Visit to Purley Hall and its grounds
Project Purley’s Summer Outing will be a visit to Purley Hall
19th May 2023 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Built in the early 1600s, Purley Hall is a very attractive property set in stunning grounds. It is privately owned, and we are grateful to Mr & Mrs Anderson for welcoming us to their home. Weather permitting, our visit will include time to explore the gardens, which includes a canal, boat house, rustic temple, and walled garden, and also a tour of the main reception rooms downstairs with Ben Viljoen. We will finish afterwards in The Barn for refreshments.
The visit costs £5 per person, which includes refreshments. Advance booking required: contact Catherine Sampson.
Rain or Shine: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
The Rain or Shine Theatre Company will be back in the Barn in Purley on Friday 16th June!
The Rain or Shine Theatre Company is back, hosted again by Project Purley. As usual, we look set for an evening of great acting and much laughter. Do come if you can. Tickets are on sale now at £16 adult and £15 concession either from David Downs face–to–face or on 0118 942 4167, or by card on the box office ticket line 03306 600541 or online at www.bit.ly/PurleyCOE.
Meeting dates 2023
Meetings are held at The Barn, Goosecroft, Purley on Thames RG8 8DR
Friday 20th January, 7:30 pm. Mike Cooper: Tilehurst in the Second World War
Friday 17th February, 7:30 pm. Richard Marks: The History of Sutton Seeds of Reading
Friday 17th March, 7:30 pm. AGM followed by John Chapman: Getting to Know You: how Purley people communicated with the rest of the world
Friday 21st April, 7:30 pm. Catherine Sampson: The River Estate in Images
Monday 8th May, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Small Coronation display on King Charles III & past Coronations in the Barn as part of wider Coronation celebrations in Purley.
Friday 19th May, 2:00 pm. Visit to Purley Hall and its grounds with refreshments afterwards in the Barn. Advance booking required.
Friday 16th June, 7:30 pm. Rain or Shine Theatre Company: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. Tickets are available to purchase from David Downs. Proceeds will go to local good causes.
Friday 15th September 2023, 7:30 pm. Members’ Evening: Fish & Chips supper, followed by “Coronation and Jubilees”. Advance booking required.
Friday 20th October 2023, 7:30 pm. Rob Wallace: Roads Built and Unbuilt in the Purley Area.
Friday 17th November 2023, 7:30 pm. Peter Halman: The Thames from Oxford to Windsor: shaping history through the centuries.
Friday 8th December 2023, 7:00 pm. Rain or Shine Theatre Company’s Cristmas production – details to be confirmed nearer to the date.
Friday 15th December 2023. Christmas Party – details to be confirmed nearer to the date. Advance booking required.
Christmas Party in the Barn 2022
The Project Purley Christmas Party will be held on Friday 16th December at 7:30 pm in the Barn.
There will be a hot supper and a Christmas Quiz. A professional caterer will supply a choice of three different main courses – two curries and one non-curry, and you can pre-order your preference. There will be a small charge to cover the cost of the catering. Before, during and after the food there will be a table quiz, which this year will have a distinctive Purley theme.
Pre-booking is required.
Rain or Shine: Sherlock Holmes and the Music Hall Mystery
Rain or Shine will be back in in the Barn in Purley on Friday 2nd December!
Sherlock Holmes and the Music Hall Mystery
When Sherlock Holmes and his trusty assistant Doctor Watson are asked for help by a music hall performer in distress, the pair spring into action to foil a deeply dastardly plot of national importance that rocks London to the core!
Following on from their previous Sherlock Holmes mysteries – The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Case of Jekyll and Hyde, Rain or Shine Theatre invites you to enjoy an evening of adventure, mishaps, tomfoolery, and lashings of comedy!
Tickets are £12 adult and £8 child (under 15), available from David Downs at a Project Purley meeting or 0118 942 4167, or from the Rain or Shine website or from their box office ticket line on 03306 600541 (card payments).
Rain or Shine: The Recruiting Officer, 16th July 2022
Purley on Thames tour and tea 1st July 2022
Afternoon Tea and Fashion Show
Friday 3rd June 10am – 12 noon
AFTERNOON TEA AND FASHION SHOW
Delicate sandwiches and delicious cakes, amidst a parade of fashions from the seventy years of the Queen’s reign, courtesy of Project Purley – Purley on Thames’ local history society
3 – 5pm (doors open 2.30pm)
The Barn, Goosecroft, off Beech Road, Purley, RG8 8BW (disabled access and toilets, Inductive Looped hearing system)
Tickets £12 (includes afternoon tea) from Marjorie on 0118 941 8856
Pre-booking required
An afternoon of delicious nibbles, relaxing conversation and laughter, and glamourous and distinctive fashion. The Queen’s reign has seen an enormous array of fashion trends from the nipped-in waists of the early 50s, through the mini-skirts of the 60s, and flares and shoulder pads of the 70s and 80s. We celebrate them all and their designers and enjoy a nostalgic look back at the changing trends. Early booking recommended as there is limited seating.
Purley during the Queen’s Reign Exhibition
Thursday 2nd June 10am – 5pm
Friday 3rd June 10am to 12 noon
PURLEY DURING THE QUEEN’S REIGN EXHIBITION
An exhibition showing how Purley on Thames and the life of its inhabitants has changed during the last seventy years, organised by Project Purley and supported by individuals and organisations including Purley on Thames Women’s Institute, Purley Sustainability Group, Home Farm, Purley on Thames Cricket Club and Purley Horticultural Society.
The Barn, Goosecroft, off Beech Road, Purley, RG8 8BW (disabled access and toilets)
Special parking arrangements in place off Goosecroft Lane on the Thursday
Free
No booking required – just turn up
Step back in time to 1952 and discover the changes that Purley and its inhabitants, young and old, have undergone since then – in words, images and objects.

See how changes in technology, transport and inventions have shaped the lives of the community and how the large scale sale of land has changed the shape of the village. Discover the changes to our farms, the church, schools, shops, businesses and social and sporting organisations. Find out how the environment has changed over the last seventy years and how life within both home and garden has altered substantially.
Refreshments are available all day Thursday – so when you’ve spent some time in the exhibition – why not relax afterwards with a cup of tea and slice of cake or a cream tea.