In this lively and evocative talk, former BBC correspondent Nick Higham delves into the hidden history of domestic labour—bringing to light the hard, hot, and heavy work of keeping clothes clean in an age before plumbing, power, and Persil. Expect chamber pots and tallow, corsets and coppers, steam engines and mangles, as Higham guides us from Elizabethan underclothes to Victorian laundries and the rise of the communal washhouse.

But this is more than just a romp through soap-suds and smocks. With dry wit and serious intent, Higham explores how laundry illuminates wider questions—about women's work, economic agency, urban infrastructure, and the invisible systems that underpin everyday life. It's a story that starts at the kitchen fire and ends in the politics of privatised water, told with flair, humour, and a sharp eye for the telling detail. Still no solution to folding fitted sheets but expect atalk to entertain, inform—and perhaps make you look differently at your next spin cycle.

Don't miss it!

ps. This is a free public event organised by The Kingston Society.

No membership is required. Just turn up!