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No. 77 - Autumn

Monthly Meetings

Monthly meetings form an enjoyable social addition to our programme. These meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 2.30pm at Christ Church, Old Market Avenue off South Street, Chichester.

Entrance to the meetings is free to members, as part of their membership fee.


2011 - 2012 Programme


Date Topic Speaker
September 15th Porgy and Bess

Robert Carrington explores the popular Opera, Porgy and Bess. An amazing achievement for the composer, George Gershwin combining Afro-American music with Opera.
Robert Carrington
October 20th Gardens Around The World

John Brookes has been designing gardens all over the world for about 50 years. He has worked on large and small gardens and he will be sharing his experiences and journeys with us.
John Brooks
November 17th From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate Bar
A thousand years ago it was used as a drink and now it is used in its solid form. Our speaker will talk us through her wide knowledge of making Chocolate and has hinted that she may bring samples.
Dawn Shrives
December 15th Carol Singing and member performance (TBC)

Guest conductor and pianist
 
2012    
January 19th Kathleen Ferrier

Dr Fifield will illustrate his talk by playing several recordings of this great Lancashire born contralto, who died in 1953. For most people she will always be remembered for her beautiful rendition of ’Blow the Wind Southerly’.
Christopher Fifield
February 16th A Soldier’s Story

Diana Beck will give an illustrated talk starting with her Grandfather’s death on the Somme in 1916. She has esearched his life through her family, the internet, National Archives and even ‘EBay’.
Diana Beck
March 15th Passport, Assassins, Traitors & Spies

Martin Lloyd will give us a thrilling account of how passports have been influenced by assassins and spies. Can you believe a passport can be turned into a killer? Sounds intriguing!!
Martin Lloyd
April 19th History of Kew

Sarah Oldridge has worked for the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew for over 25 years and she will lead us through the history and the work of the Gardens at Kew. We shall hear of the Palm House, Pagoda Herbarium as well as many other aspects of the site.
Sarah Oldridge
May 17th AGM

AGM and presentation arranged by the committee
 
June 21st A Passion for Piers

Today’s speaker will talk on the history of that very Victorian edifice, the Seaside Pier. She will show how they developed and were used in by-gone days as well as in more recent times.
Jackie Marsh-Hobbs
July 19th The Human Body

In November 2010 he entertained us all with his super talk on Skylab. We look forward to another amusing and informative talk. This time he focuses on human movement and how statistics obtained by measurements of those movements can be used in various scientific investigations.
Professor Mike Whittle
August 16th Music and Well-Being

Diminish your stress!! John Hursey’s presentation offers us a chance to discover the excitement of music’s rhythm, the expressiveness of its melody and the beauty of harmony. He will explore the road to well-being through music with samples of music, both live and recorded.
John Hursey

2010 - 2011 Programme


Date Topic Speaker
September 16th Weald & Downland Open Air Museum

Our speaker has been a volunteer at the museum for many years - he will describe some of his experiences at the museum and will talk about its future.
Alan Wood
October 21st Secrets of the Royal Pavilion

Our speaker will share the amazing history of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton - its secrets, struggles, magnificent decoration and interior, whilst looking behind the closed doors.
Jackie Marsh-Hobbs
November 18th Skylab - Medicine and Science in Space

The speaker describes his involvement with Skylab. It was the US first space station. Over 100 tons in weight it was in the Earth’s orbit from 1973 to 1979 and was visited by crews in 1973 and in 1974.
Mike Whittle
December 16th No Meeting  
2011    
January 20th Tickled to Death

The crime and comedy writer Simon Brett talks-without too much seriousness-about his work in various areas of the entertainment industry. His works include –After Henry sitcom with Prunella Scales.
Simon Brett
February 17th My Job as Harbourmaster

The captain will talk about his role as Harbourmaster at Langstone Harbour and the range of work covered in such a role.
Capt. Nigel Jardine
March 17th The Royal Yacht Britannia

Our speaker will outline his role as Staff Officer with special responsibility for liaison with the Royal Household on board this beautiful ship. He was on board for over three and a half years and was on board when the withdrawal from Hong Kong took place.
Rupert Head
April 21st The Lion, The Rat and The Dragon

Felicity Heath will talk of her experiences of being on her three postings with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO ). She will reveal her experiences and include the skills and traditions that survive in countries such as China.
Felicity Heath
May 19th Annual General Meeting

We hope to have some entertaining input from members after the official business has taken place.
 
June 16th Around Lake Turkana by Camel

Today’s speaker will describe an expedition by camel in 2006 in temperatures of 40 degrees + and his close encounters with bandits.
John Hare
July 21st The Musical Theatre of Gilbert & Sullivan Bernard Lockett
August 18th Lancing College and its History

Our speaker was an archivist at Lancing College for 18 years and she will look at its history since its founding in 1848. Famous alumni include Peter Pears, Evelyn Waugh and Tim Rice.
Janet Pennington

2009 - 2010 Programme


Date Topic Speaker
September 17th Working In Newspapers

Colin Channon is the Group Editor for Observer Newspapers and he will take us behind the scenes of that fascinating world of 'The Press' including some interesting artefacts from bygone days.
Colin Channon
October 15th A Bold Thing - The Discovery of Vaccination

Patrick Pead, will talk about the history of vaccination from the 18th Century until today - including some of the people involved!
Patrick Pead
November 19th Jane Austen on Film

Ellen Cheshire is an expert and lecturer on the wonderful world of Cinema - she will take us through various interpretations of film and TV adaptions of Jane Austen's novels.
Ellen Cheshire
December 17th

No Meeting.
 
2010    
January 21st Ships Pilot

Michael Sparks will take us through the work of being a ship's pilot.
Michael Sparks
February 18th Just a Line - love Ethel

Steve Harris will show illustrations from his vast collection of picture postvards - some saucy!!
Steve Harris
March 18th Life of Surreal Edward James at West Dean

A well-known speaker on West Deam DCollege talks about the life and times of its most famous owner - Edward James.
Sharon Kusanoki
April 15th Confessions of a Crime Writer

Several of Peter’s crime novels are set in our local area, including ‘The Circle’ (Chichester), and ‘The Headhunters’ (Selsey), giving an added spice to the narrative. Peter is an accomplished and witty speaker and storyteller.
Peter Lovesey
May 20th Chichester AGM Committee
June 17th Aspects of being an Estate Agent

John Corrie - manager of the thriving Henry Adams estate agency in Chichester has stories to tell spanning 25 years in a fascinating people business, involving home selling.
John Corrie
July 15th Chichester City Walls

A talk about Chichester's Historic walls that have seen several centuries of human activity. We shall hear Andy Howard's take on the way in which they were built.
Andy Howard
August 19th Aspects of Public Speaking

Julia Goodman, a well-known former actress, is now one of the top communication and confidence coaches in the country. She will take us through a light-hearted and insightful journey of supporting many people through the years. Julia has also worked fro Dyslexia Action and other charities.
Julia Goodman