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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