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Speaker Meetings

The Speaker Meetings take place

at 2:00 pm

on the third Wednesday of each month

Wed 20th Sept 2023 - Siobhan Clarke

King and Collector

Siobhan Clarke is a history graduate who is based at Hampton Court Palace and specialises in the life of the Historic Royal Palaces. She visited us last year with her very well-received talk about Queen Elizabeth I and her use of power dressing to dazzle and overwhelm all she came into contact with.

This time she will talk to us about the court of Elizabeth’s father Henry VIII and how he used his commissions and art collection to glorify the king and his realm. Siobhan’s book on the subject explores Henry's life through his collection revealing much about both his kingship and his insecurities.

We meet live at

St. Mary-le-More Church

in Wallingford town centre.

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UPDATE: There is a change to the November Speaker.

It was to be British Humour in Postcards with James Taylor, but he has had to cancel.

Instead we have booked The Mafia and Frank Sinatra with Brian Greenan.

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Speaker Meetings 2023

Jan  Georghi Markhov & the Poison Umbrella Murder - Paul Barfield

Feb  The Musical Theatre of Gilbert and Sullivan - Bernard Lockett

Mar The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill - Stuart Linford

April A Landmark in Time, the World of Wittenham Clumps - Peter Adamson

May  Witty Ditties - Green Matthews

Jun   Superspy Science, Death & Tech in the World of James Bond - Dr Kathryn Harkup

Jul    Rationing and Cooking for Victory - Karen & Bret Wiles

Aug  Summer Lunch Party

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20 Sep  King and Collector - Siobhan Clarke

18 Oct   Mekong - Jim Holmes

15 Nov  The Mafia and Frank Sinatra - Brian Greenan

13 Dec  Sax at Christmas - Jonathan Woodhouse

2024:

17 Jan  Now you see it, Now you don’t - Bertie Pearce

21 Feb  How SODC will meet its CO2 reduction target - Andrea Powell

20 Mar  How to be a 21st Century Gardener - Timothy Walker

17 Mar  The work of the TVAA based at Benson - Air Ambulance

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past Speaker Meetings 2022

Humanitarian Vision    Jim Holmes

How Tropical Rainforests Work    Dr David Jones

Last Supper at Pompeii - Dr Paul Roberts

Charles Darwin and The Beagle  -  James Taylor

Tooth, Claw and Mane - Tom Way

Dr Livingstone, I Presume - Fran Sandham

Honey in History - Graham Harrison

Dress, Dazzle and Display - Siobhan Clarke

A is for Arsenic: the Poisons of Agatha Christie - Dr Kathryn Harkup

The Wind in the Willows - John Ericson

The Bob & Dot Show: A Christmas Entertainment

past Speaker Meetings 2020/21

Wildlife on Your Doorstep  -  Tom Way

Art Inspired by Wine  -  John Ericson 

Music in Art  -  Sophie Matthews

London in times of Shakespear - Tim Barron

House of the Romanovs  -  Siobhan Clark

British Museum Treasures  -  Don Brown

Sing a Century -  Andy Smith

From Barrow to Baghdad and back again  - Philip Caine

Chloroform - Sense and Insensibility - Graham Harrison

Memories of a TV Cameraman  -  Steven Jellyman  

The Land of Giants and Volcanoes  -  Timothy Walker

Remembered, the Commonwealth War Graves -  Julie Summers

The Mitford Sisters in the Cotswolds  -  Muriel Pilkington

600 Years of Christmas  -  Green Matthews

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