Save the Last Dance for Me was recorded by the Drifters in 1960, with Ben E King on lead vocals, but what single event in the life of it's writers inspired the track? Was Every Breath You Take by the Police really written as a love song? What is the truth about the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and why did George Harrison stop composing for three years in 1976?

We all have personal memories we associate with individual songs, but each song has it's own story. In this lecture, the real stories behind some of the world's best known songs are revealed.

This talk is now available as part of a study day consisting of three 50-minute lectures based on rock and pop song stories from the 60's, 70's and 80's.

Ealing Studios is often hailed as the most quintessentially English of all film studios. Run by Sir Michael Balcon for decades, the studios reached its zenith in 1949,its annus mirabilis,releasing Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore!, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Now most celebrated for these and the similarly magnificent comedies that followed. Ealing's films have a reputation for coziness, whimsicality and an ever-so gentle subversive new.
This talk revisits these films and reads them again, this time in the light of postwar, new waves that were beginning to emerge across Europe. Ealing films-like the masterpieces of Italian Neo-Realism are films set amongst the ruins, documenting the lives of citizens in bombed cities. Viewed as comedies of rubble, they take on a few more serious set of meanings than their whimsical reputation suggests.

In December 2024, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, often referred to as the Soul of the City, reopened to the public after a devastating fire had threatened to destroy it 5 years earlier. A seemingly impossible target had been set by the French President to rebuild;yet huge sums of donated money and teams of expert restorers ensured the timescale was met. 
Such is the symbolic power of this cultural icon in the psyche of the French people and indeed people beyond.

When Edvard Munch created the Scream in 1893, he was responding to an intense emotional experience. Today, we would call it a panic attack. Crippling and anxious making, this primal cry was also a rallying call: for Munch and for the wider world of art. It gave birth to a movement known as Expressionism, showing life not as it is ( Realism) or as it might be perceived in a fleeting moment ( Impressionism), but as it is experienced within the unembellished core of our being.Explosive and emotive, the aftershocks of Munch's vision were felt across the world: in art, music,literature,dance and film. Charting the origins of Expressionism and its historical context, this multifaceted talk embraces artists and thinkers such as Kandinsky, Klee and Schiller, Nietzsche, Freud and Schoenberg, pondering the radical ways in which they both reflected and ignited our inner feelings.

It's said in our theatrical history that there was a Golden Age of British Comedy. It ran from the 1970's to the 1980's and occurred as we started to drift away from theatres and radios, and found ourselves living through a wonderfully rich period of television comedy. Some may say this period has never been bettered.

Taking as it's starting point the curiosity of the human species about ourselves and how we might depict the human form, this lecture assesses the nature of human creativity arising from our imagination--the ability to make meaningful connections from disparate thoughts or events. Justin explores the role of imagination in the creative process across the natural sciences and the humanities, focusing on the visual arts and its interpretation of nature and natural events. With examples from the ancient past through to recent artworks,including computer-generated art,the talk poses the contentious thesis that Art and Science are united by a single quest, to understand the place of humankind, a quest driven by imagination.

Jamie's own personal journey as Associate Director on the original production of Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway. Illustrated with unique film clips of the original rehearsals and world premiere. This lecture looks at the journey, the process, the creativity required for a major musical production, from page to stage, and demonstrates the many elements and talents it takes to produce a West End hit. Producing,directing, auditions,script development, set design, lighting, costumes, orchestrations,choreography,advertising and even the challenge of landing a helicopter on stage! The musical Miss Saigon opened at Drury Lane Theatre in 1989 and continues to cement its reputation with successful revivals around the world.

Akhenaten (c1352-c1336 BC) is probably the most controversial of all the Egyptian pharaohs. He made extraordinary changes to the religion and art, all the more striking when we consider how conventional the ancient Egyptians tended to be in these respects. He replaced the traditional polytheistic religion with the worship of one solar deity,and the art is unlike that of any other pharaoh's reign.
His wife was Nefertiti arguably the most famous queen of pharaonic Egypt. Her bust displayed in Berlin is iconic. Together they continue to fascinate.

I only write for fame....When Jane Austen declared that she wrote 'only for fame',she was, of course, being ironic: she published anonymously; there is no record on her gravestone that she was a writer; and her books fell out of print shortly after her death. But now, Jane Austen is one of our best loved authors, with legions of adoring fans throughout the world. Her novels have inspired countless stage and screen adaptations, and even provided solace to soldiers in the trenches. She is the face of the £10 banknote, and she adorns tea towels and fridge magnets everywhere. Jane Austen is now very famous indeed. But how did if all happen? This lecture will chart Jane Austen's rise to fame;it will explore the making of a literary celebrity and examine Austen's legacy, 250 years after her birth.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is arguably the most important Indian artistic figure of the modern age. The first Prime Minister of India, Jewaharial Nehru, claimed that he had two gurus: Ghandi and Tagore. A renowned poet, novelist, composer and painter, Tagore is also the only person in history to have written the national anthem for three countries ( India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh). He became a global sensation when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913,the first non-European to do so. This lecture provides an introduction to Tagore's remarkable life and work, including his novels, poetry, songs and paintings. It also explores the role Tagore's art played in the story of India's fight for independence.

Antony Gormley's career spans nearly 40 years, during which time he has made sculpture that explores the relationship of the human body to space, often using his own body as starting point. His work has been shown throughout the world,in galleries including the Tate Modern in London and the Hermitage in St Petersburg, but is also on open display, as public art, such as Another Place at Crosby Beach, near Liverpool. As well as works that he is well known for, like the iconic Angel of the North, this lecture will look at some of his earlier and less well known works, to give an overall view of the development of his work across his whole career, up to present time.

The lecture tells the story of Josiah Wedgwood's Etruria Estate, by the Trent and Mersey Canal, and describes the way the site changed and developed before it was eventually transformed to host the National Garden Festival in 1986, with a vast range of exhibits, art, sculpture etc.
The lecture is illustrated throughout and provides a colourful look back at the Festival, together with archive illustrations and photos showing dramatic changes in this part of the city. The lecture marks the 40th anniversary of the Festival.

In 1965, British music dominated the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and the Beatles were blazing a trail across the world.

However, in America the civil rights and anti war movements were gaining momentum, influencing a new breed of writers and musicians, electric folk was born, album sales started to increase exponentially.

This is the story of the second half of the sixties, featuring the music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

A comparison of the way in which the modern treatment of traditional genres in art is different from that of the Old Masters, the effect of these differences,and whether they add to, or change, our understanding of the subject and its message. 
The lecture will cover all of the traditional genres, i.e. History Painting, Portraits, Genre (pictures of everyday life), Landscape and Still-Life, and we will consider the way in which the treatment of these subjects has changed over the centuries, up to the present day.

Cathedrals are not just buildings- they are treasure houses.
So why are they overlooked as museums?
Simon Hefner, The Daily Telegraph.

This is one of the quirkiest lectures you will ever hear. There is a universal delight in being deceived and in  this lecture Bertie Pearce takes his audience on a whistle stop tour of art which fools, surprises and amuses the viewer. Beginning and ending with the Belgian surrealist, Rene Magritte, it encompasses Tromp L'eoil, Banksy, Bridget Riley, Arcimboldo and Escher to name but a few. Hold on to your seats and get ready to be visually fried.

H G Murphy's greatest misfortune was to die just before the start of the Second World War. The designs and inspirations of the pre-war era were simply seen as passé and totally out of keeping with the new spirit of modernism which quickly grew after the Festival of Britain in 1951. Harry Murphy served his apprenticeship under Henry Wilson, probably Britain's greatest designer goldsmith of the Arts and Crafts era. Here he learnt a wide range of skills and techniques including enamelling, gem-setting and polishing, niello, engraving and hammering.

Lights,Camera, Action! --inside stories of the art and artifice of the early decades of Hollywood. This lecture covers the work of stills photographers, costumiers, publicists, actors and actresses and the movie moguls who made it happen.

For the series and film Downtown Abbey, Andrew was commissioned to make many jewels for the main characters and this inspired him to create a talk based on this unique period. Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case. In his talk, Andrew guides you through the extraordinary decades and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce jewels and clothes of outstanding quality and glittering opulence. Along with this, he illustrates the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and shows how they were worn with their sumptuous gowns.

Many art historians and critics have compared the work of Stubbs to that of Leonardo da Vinci, one even christening him the 'Leonardo of Liverpool' to reflect his humble origins as the son of a Liverpool leatherworker. The comparison can seem hubristic until one considers the intense scientific method and investigation that lay behind the production by Stubbsof his world-famous Anatomy of the Horse published in 1766--a work which revolutionised the understanding and depiction of equine subjects.

The lecture looks at the life and work of this country's greatest animal painter, putting Stubbs in the context of British Sporting Artists of the eighteenth century more generally.

In 1565, Peter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through Art. 
 Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to drama both sacred and profane. But in Bruegel'shands the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus. Looking at paintings such as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, the lecture explores how Bruegal pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment and our individual places within a shifting cosmos.

The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
( The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York --Roger's Fund, 1919--

www.metmuseum.org)

Vivaldi is the one Baroque composer whose music is a direct reflection of the city in which it was composed. Listen to a Vivaldi concerto and hey presto you are transported directly to the heart of 18th century Venice. The reasons for this are many-- Vivaldi's passion for colour, display and spectacle in his music; the unusual way in which Venice solved its problems with the poor and homeless; Vivaldi's health problems and his eccentricities as a man and a priest.

The discovery of the grave of King Richard 111 in Leicester raised many fascinating new questions. The severe scoliosis exhibited by the skeleton revealed that the twisted physique of Shakespeare's 'Black Legend' was based in fact. But how could a diminutive person,suffering from a significant spinal condition,have become a skilled practitioner of the Knightly fighting Arts? How could he have worn armour and fought in three major battles? What would his armour have looked like? In the case of a King whose Royal legitimacy was questioned by many people, how were the visual trappings of Knightly Kingship used to solidify his claim?

This is the story of the epic rivalry between the two giants of British Art- JMW Turner and John Constable.

they are both so unlike in background as their paintings were in style, these two creative geniuses transformed the Art of Landscape.

This Lecture sets them head to head and examines their differences, their similarities, their battles and their shared triumphs.

But who will ultimately be crowned Star Painter?

MS NICOLA MOORBY

An independent art historian specialising in British art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She studied at the University of York and Birkbeck College, London. Formerly a curator at Tate Britain she has curated a number of exhibitions and has published widely on J.M.W. Turner, including contributions to the forthcoming online catalogue of the Turner Bequest. She is also co-editor and author of How to Paint Like Turner (Tate Publishing, 2010). In addition, she has published on Walter Richard Sickert and is co-author of Tate's catalogue of works by the Camden Town Group.

The Globe, William Shakespeare, Inigo Jones, the Swan, court masques, David Garrick, Victorian penny theatres putting on 20-minute Shakespeare, Sir Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, theatre censorship, stage scenery and make-up - these are just some of the topics explored in this invigorating history of British theatre.

Charles John Huffam Dickens brought into the world a staggering array of wonderful characters with orphans, starving children, misers, murderers and abusive school teachers among them. People such as Mr Micawber, Fagin and Abel Magwitch remain in one’s literary psyche long after the books are put down. Largely self-educated, Dickens possessed the genius to become the greatest writer of his age with 15 major novels and countless short stories and articles. In his lecture Bertie Pearce looks at the life and places of Dickens through his characters. The talk is interspersed with readings of this works. A truly Dickensian experience.

This is the second lecture by Bertie following his highly successful visit in 2022.

Marc has long been a collector of interesting and historical fakes and this talk centres on man’s age-old fascination with faking and forging. Citing some of the greatest exponents of the craft and illustrated with a plethora of challenging examples, you are certain never to look at art antiques in the same way again!

The moving image has been a powerful source for imagination from the first moment a magic lantern flickered into life in the 17th century. In this lecture we will be looking at how the Motion Pictures industry first developed throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. How it then went on to change the face of entertainment and inspire the imaginations of some of the greatest artists of the early 20th century. 

Uzbekistan in the heart of Central Asia boasts glittering mosques, madrassahs and minarets in the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. These contrast wonderfully with the brutalist Soviet buildings of Tashkent, Urgench and Nukus. This lecture is an overview of the country, and a primer for anyone thinking of visiting. We explore the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, with the second largest collection of Russian Avante Garde Art, collected at a time when these artistic styles were banned by the state. We explore the revival of Islamic miniature painting in Bukhara and the resurgence of handicrafts all over the country that ceased during the 1930s and the Soviet drive to make everything factory-based. Embroidered suzanis from Nurata, stunning ceramics from Rishton, and the production of silk and velvet in Margilan. Plus, what are the ways that tourism is helping and hindering the production of high-quality handicrafts?

The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history since 1066 and has dominated the London skyline for centuries. One of the most famous historic places in the world, it conjures up images of battlements, arms and armour, executions and ravens. But it’s very misleading to think of the Tower only in terms of torture and execution, despite its gloomy reputation. Discover a colourful royal palace, menagerie, armoury, royal mint and home to the spectacular Crown Jewels. Still officially a royal residence of HM the Queen, it owes its survival to the 19th century Gothic revival, tourism and its ability to adapt in an ever-changing world.

From the late 1850s to the mid-1870s a new craze gripped the world. Photography had just begun to be popularised, and suddenly nearly everyone could afford a portrait of themselves to share with others. These small photographic portraits mounted on card were shot professionally in studios and handed out like business or greetings cards – just like we share ‘selfies’ on today’s social media. Across nearly two decades, over 400 million cards were estimated to have been printed and shared with friends, family, and fans. We think we invented the ‘selfie’, but we didn’t – welcome to the Victorian carte de visite.

In this highly visual and relevant lecture, we’ll look at the rise and fall of the fashion, learn how these cards were used, and find ways of dating cards from clothing and hairstyles. We’ll examine in detail the hidden meanings behind the poses, facial expressions, backgrounds, and choice of clothes to reveal the fascinating histories behind these cards that were used by everyone from royalty to the man in the street.

The Hindu temple complex of Angkor in Cambodia is the greatest archaeological site in Asia. Within an area of 400 square kilometres there are dozens of temples, many covered in jungle, but the most important of them all is Angkor Wat. Built in the 12th century, Angkor Wat is the biggest religious monument in the world and measures a square mile. This mystical temple is a recreation on earth of the Hindu cosmos, brilliantly constructed to align with the sun and moon and covered with exquisite carvings. This illustrated lecture will focus on the artistic heritage and religious symbolism of Angkor. It will reveal the historical background and show the evolution of the Khmer empire and its flowering of sculptural art which was dedicated to religious building. Other temples will be highlighted, such as the Bayon, swathed in mystery, and Banteay Srei, with scenes of the Hindu epics delicately carved in pink sandstone. It concludes with contemporary Cambodia and the role of Angkor today and the revival of the living arts, especially the classical Khmer ballet performed at the temples in celebration of the gods. Gorgeous dancers in shimmering silk costumes re-enact scenes from the Ramayana as the sun sets. As the last rays touch the sandstone, it turns gold and red, before darkness finally falls and the magnificent structure once more becomes part of the jungle

By 1960 interest in rock 'n roll had started to fade,its biggest star was moving on and a new generation of teenagers were seeking something different. It came in the form of the Beatles, who broke all the rules and all the records. This is the story of the first five yearsof the 1960s, one of the most creative and  innovative periods in the history of music, featuring all the major artists, important songs and principal genres.

Picasso told his biographer, John Richardson, that his work was like a diary – “To understand it, you have to see how it mirrors my life”. This lecture examines the way Picasso’s emotional life influenced what he painted and how he painted it. His response to each new love in his life can be seen in the different styles in which his many women were represented. When he fell out of love, that fact would be revealed first in his paintings. The lecture concentrates on the seven most important women in his life (two of whom he married).

When Conan Doyle was 15 and on his first visit to London, he saw and admired Henry Irving as Hamlet. Within 20 years he had progressed from star-struck teenager to author and dramatist. Although he claimed not to be very successful in this area, in one year he had two plays running in the West End and several provincial tours: an enviable achievement and part of the story explored by this lecture through programmes, postcards and contemporary magazines.

A copyright battle evolved into a determined effort to put Sherlock Holmes on stage, just one of the stories investigated here. Others revealed include one-act pieces such as A Pot of Caviare with its devastating sting in the tail, and lavish melodrama in the form of his Regency epic The House of Temperley.

Among those performers we will encounter: the great actor Lewis Waller, who embodied two diverse heroes in Brigadier Gerard and The Fires of Fate; Dorothea Desmond, who proved an ideal heroine in two plays; H A Saintsbury and Lyn Harding matching wits twice over in The Speckled Band; and not forgetting Sir Henry Irving himself as old Corporal Brewster in Doyle’s Waterloo. From the hazards of staging boxing matches, to the challenges of working with a rock python named ‘Mystery’, this is a story with all the makings of a classic Conan Doyle tale.

(Richard will bring original magazines, programmes and theatre postcards to the lecture.)

Gustav Klimt and his colleagues broke away from the arts institutions in Vienna in 1897 and formed the Secession. That was the same year that Mahler arrived to take charge of the Opera House. This lecture places them in context, asking what links and what divides them.

The 'Gilded Age' was a time of huge social, economic and technological change in late C19 New York.  'New' money vied with 'old' money in social rank and art and design played a crucial role in the process. We will explore who painted the society portraits, designed the mansions and clubs, and created the fashions.

From the begiining of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread. With the emergence of the Music Hall magic gained a new respectability and audiences flocked to see the Great Illusionists. Even today in our super- technical age the wonder of surprise and magic is as popular as ever

The greatest legacy of Quin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, was born out of his obsession with immortality which materialised in the form of the Terracotta Warriors. David explores the excavation and re-creation of the terracotta army and other significant finds.

The exquisite paintingsby Jan Vermeer with their luminous colours, gradation of light and unpretentious subjects are admired everywhere.. This talk will be illustrated with some of the artist's serene, mysterious paintings and put them in the context  of their time in 17th. century Holland.

Evelyne  is well known to our members since she has been our speaker on six previous occasions.

from Bartholomew Fair to Marks and Spencer via Ppetticoat Lane and market crosses  Andrew explores the lively 1000 year history of "shop till you drop". John Sainsbury,   Harrods, and WHSmith all the big names are here. Illustrated with a profusion of vintage posters, packaging and old shop fronts

Eric Ravilious was only 39 years old when he was killed on active sevice. He is best Known today for his haunting watercolours, including lighthouses, white horses, empty rooms and downland paths which become marvels. This talk illuminates the life and work of a playful, enigmatic artist. The paintings are a delight and the Ravilious story funny, sad and full of surprises.

Was she  simply a clothes horse for dress designers and jewellery makers or did she have a heart that was misunderstood? The story of how in the 1930s she was unacceptable as Queen of England,  who was this womann and what was the power she held over king Edward V11.

John was with Phillips, the auctioneers, for 25 years, latterly as International Director of Jewellery. Since 1999 he has been an indepenant Jewellery consultant. Many members will recall his highly entertaining lecture " At The sign of The Falcon " on his previous visit to our society,

From the most basic cuts to the perfectly proportioned round brilliants of today John shows how man has mastered the technique  of cutting and polishing the hardest material on earth.

John has delivered lectures and workshops in the USA, Beiging, Malaysia and the UK. He was awarded the Beckman Memorial Prize for Painting and went on to be Artist in Residence for the state of Texas. John has taught at a number of universities both in the UK and overseas.

Both these empowering and successful films have been made into musicals. Dancing with its soaring language of the human spirit is seen against the harsh world of strikes and unempl;oyment in the industrial north.

The Benin Bronzes are amongst the most important and valuable works of art from Africa. The superb workmanship and outstanding aesthetic quality of Benin's royal sculptures rivals the very best work of the Italian renaissance. The lecture reveals the sophisticated processes, the symbolism and ritual use of the bronzes as well as exploring the response of avant garde artists like Piccasso and Matisse.

Having previously worked at the V&A and lectured there and at the University of Warwick  Dr.Walsh now lectures for The Open University. She has lectured widely in Britain and abroad and has numerous publications.

One of the innovations of the second half of the 20th. century was Pop Art , a figurative, realistic, brightly coloured response to the world of consumerism, youth culture and the mass media in Britain and the USA. Pop artists were fascinated by their own modern era - the world of post-war advertising, Hollywood films, pop music, comics and the world of celebrity.

Val is a lecturer and guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, many other London Galleries and for various art organisations. She is a former member of the teaching team at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Lecturer to The Arts Society (formerly NADFAS) throughout Britain and to related organisations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera have iconic status in Mexico. The revolution of 1910 swept away the old regime and banished European influence in the arts. Khalo and Rivera in their different ways helped to shape the cultural identity  of 20th. century Mexico. Rivera's panoramic images adorn the walls of public buldings, combining social criticism with faith in human progress. Compared with the monumental scale of Rivera's work Khalo's work is small in format. Arguably Mexico's most original painter she made herself the principal theme of her art. Her paintings reflect her experiences, dreams, hopes and fears.

Chloe is a freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. She has lectured widely in the UK and abroad and has curated exhibitions for the BBC and Channel 4. She is a research assistant in The Department of World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Ohtli medal by the Mexican government for her longstanding commitment to Mexican  culture.

Looking at evidence through still-life and genre paintings of the time momentous changes in kitchen gardens and orchards will be seen, following the discovery of strange new foods such as sweetcorn, potatoes and tomatoes from the Americas

Dr. David Bostwick is a lecturer and consultant in the cultural history of the Medieval, Tudor and Stuart periods. He is a consultant on historic buildings and their interpretation to The National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Scotland.

Wool, cotton and silk have each played a crucial role in the fortunes of Central Asia. Wool created the clothing and housing needed by the great nomadic cultures of middle Asia. Silk was more valuable than gold and was used as a currency, creating a network of trading routes. Cotton was the cause of the Russian then the Soviet colonisation.The textiles of the Silk Road became symbols of wealth, religion and politics, changing the fortunes of this extraordinary world where Mohammed and Marx meet.

Chris was born in Turkey and spent his childhood in the Middle East. He studied media and journalism at Leicester University. Subsequently he established a UNESCO workshop in Ubekistan reviving 15th. century carpet designs and embroideries and so creating an income for local women. He has recently finished studying and rowing at Oxford University and is now a curate at St. Barnabas, North Finchley

Why was the best paper made from the worn-out clothes of peasants? Why is gold leaf so thin that it cannot be touched with bare hands?  Why is the art of bookbinding as beguiling and enchanting today as it was when invented on the banks of the Nile 2000 years ago? This lecture tells the story of everything that makes a traditional hard-backed book.

Dominic Riley is a bookbinder, artist and teacher. He first learned bookbinding at the age of 16 from the Benedictine monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked for the V&A and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco.  He is Vice-President of the Society of Bookbinders and has won many prizes in design competions, 

Eva Le Brun was portrait painter to Marie Antoinette. She survived the French revolution, fleeing France with her young daughter. While on the run she lived and worked in Italy, Austria, Russia, Germany and England, painting all the grandees of Continental Europe.

Lucrezia Walker studied in Venice and Perugia and has lived and worked in Rome. she is a lecturer at the National Gallery and has 20 years experience leading cultural tours to major European cities. She is the author of several books on 19th. and 20th. century artists and art movements.

A persuasive introduction to buying antiques, integrating and using them in today's homes. The state of the antique market and the different meanings of "value ". A look at what curent and future generations of collectors are buying and how they are displayed.

Mark is an author, publisher and television presenter and has been an expert on The Antiques Roadshow since 2007.  He is a member of the Antique Dealers Association and a Freeman of The City of London.

Whilst having a chair with a hinged seat under which a chamber pot resides was at times most “commodus”, the commode this lecture refers to served a more decorative purpose and was to be found in the grandest of 18th century rooms. As Sheraton put it, commodes were “...never intended for use but for ornament” Tracing their origin in late 17th century France and development through to the end of the 18th century there and in England provides an insight into the fashions and life- styles of this period. 

Janusz  retired after a 35 year career in higher education. He has been an Art Society lecturer since1982 and has lectured to more than 300 societies.

It is possible to read the passage of time, of movements, cultures and peoples in the architecture and art forms evident in our older English country churches.  We move from the pre-christian era, the arrival of the Romans and onwards to the epoch changing Tudors. Simple indicators are given on how to identify churches with Roman and Saxon origins. The great flowering of Romanesque and Gothic architecture that followed the Norman invasion are explained with illustrated examples. Onward to the tumultuous changes of the Reformation we can see architectural and structural evidence of a period of great change.

Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson is a graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge and trained for the Anglican ministry at Ripon college, Oxford. He lectures regularly and currently works as a parish priest in West London.

This lecture celebrates the 200th Anniversary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who were first cousins and born just three months apart in 1819.  Their shared enthusiasm for art and music endured throughout the twenty-two years of their marriage and they demonstrated their love through the works of art and jewellery they gave each other for birthdays, Christmases and anniversaries.

Victoria and Albert understood and appreciated sculpture more than any of their predecessors since Charles I. They furnished and extended Buckingham Palace, made significant changes to Windsor Castle and commissioned three other royal residences, Balmoral, Sandringham and Osborne – the single most important example of their shared taste. Theirs was a partnership of patronage by a monarch and her consort which is unique in the history of the British monarchy.

Barbara is an historian and London Blue Badge Guide since 1988. Lecturer, Examiner and Course Director on Blue Badge Guide Training Courses and an acknowledged expert on Windsor Castle. A rota guide for the Albert Memorial, British Museum and Houses of Parliament. Has conducted tours for American museums and alumni groups for the past 25 years.

The origins of our English Christmas stretch far back into European history, combining the pagan traditions of the Roman and Scandinavian winter festivals.  Only in the 4th century AD did the Christian Church start to celebrate the birth of Christ. Since then these different cultures have co-existed, changing as the social and political landscape changed.Music, art and folk customs associated with the season have all evolved, producing a rich tapestry of imagery and events that have appealed to every strata in our society.This lecture explores in words, images and music the various strands, pagan and religious, that have created the one festival in our country that touches everyone.

Roger was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with an honours degree in English.  He combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh.

After retiring in 2003 he returned to the south of England.  He is President Emeritus of The Stoke Poges Society and Chairman of Windsor and Maidenhead Decorative and Fine Arts Society.

There are many illustrious gardens on the shores of Lakes Como and Maggiore in the mountainous far north of Italy. Those included in this lecture include a 16th-century parterre and water staircase; a baroque garden in the middle of a lake; two gardens made by rival Napoleonic grandees; and a garden created by two Edwardian romantics as a theatre for sharing their love of art and nature. These achievements and others are set in a climate ideal for garden-making among some of the world’s noblest scenery, where Wordsworth, Liszt and Bellini found inspiration. It could work for you. 

Steven is an independent landscape consultant specialising in historic gardens and architecture since 1985; freelance lecturer, including Universities of Bristol and Oxford; specialist tour leader and lecturer in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. ADFAS lecture tour of Australia in 2010. Writer and broadcaster on historic gardens and related topics. Steven Desmond's book Gardens of the Italian Lakes, with photography by Marianne Majerus, is published by Frances Lincoln