Monthly Meetings
MONTHLY MEETING SPEAKERS 2022 / 2023
- Details
- Last Updated: Wednesday, 29 November 2023 13:11
7th December 2023
The Antique Roadshow Band
A musical afternoon as we are entertained by the Antique Roadshow Band who are a Kent based band playing Rock N Roll, Pop, Country, Rock, in fact most genres.
4th January 2024
Dr JAMES TAYLOR
Brillant British humour on the forgotten art of the picture post cards.
From the Edwardian era to the outbreak of World War II, millions of humorous postcards were produced to entertain, bolster morale, inspire, instruct, motivate and persuade. Discover the popular themes and styles of the period by the masters of the medium such as Mabel Lucie Attwell, Dudley Buxton, Donald McGill and Fred Spurgin, and the reasons why their popularity waned with the British public.
1st February 2024.
ROSS NEWHAM
The History of East Malling Research Centre
Ross Newham is Head of Communications at East Malling Research (EMR) in Kent, where he assists in the delivery of science messages to the many varied audiences of the organisation. His horticultural career started in Bedfordshire, growing veg, salad and cut flower crops, before working at a garden centre producing nursery stock, bedding and pot plants.
East Malling Research celebrated its centenary in 2013. Ross Newham outlines the way its research has changed fruit-growing around the world. The future, he predicts, looks productive and assured, and international collaborations are increasing.
7th March 2024
BARBARA STEVENS
"Stories from my year in journalism "
Barbara, a colourful figure, is a highly recommended for her stories of journalism.
4th April 2024
ADAM TAYLOR
ISLANDS OF THE MEDWAY ESTUARY
Using historical sources, photos, personal experience, and maps from 1500's to present day Adam will show you the once inhabited islands of the Medway Estuary, the shipwreck of a First World War German submarine, inside the abandoned forts which once defended Chatham Dockyard and some of the stunning natural beauty.
2nd May 2024
BRIAN FREELAND
WOMEN IN THE RAJ
Brian Freeland has written a dozen stage scripts (nine produced so far, four of them published). Following comments that he didn’t write many good roles for ladies, he staged a piece about the British women in India during the second half of the Raj:
“Called Letters from the Hen House, it was compiled mainly from letters, diaries and memoirs of the period. Six excellent roles for the ladies and only four men. Elements from that script together with some of the original research material form the basis of this talk. When the Colonial Administrators arrived to take over from the East India Company they were often accompanied by their wives: wives who spoke only English, who mixed only with other wives, and who couldn’t even communicate with their household staff. Wives who made great demands on their husbands. As one Indian wrote later ‘I don’t think they realised what a menace they were. If the memsahibs had stayed in Britain there might never have been a Mutiny’.”
6th June 2024
VERONICA KING
Life as a private investigator
Veronica will tell us how she got into being a Private Investigator and some of the tricks of the trade. Wigs, reversible coats and jackets, reversible bags, and a non-descript car. Never a white car!
An amusing and entertaining talk with many tales and anecdotes of her career including the correct way to deliver court summonses and paper
4th July 2024
ALAN HAINES
BABY BOOMERS
Memories of the 1950s, 60s and 70s are dredged up in this hilarious reminiscence. It explores what shaped and inspired a whole generation which, according to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, “never had it so good'. You'll laugh at the old days and be in stitches at modern times.
1st August 2024
JAMIE BAIRD
MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS
The charity for MDD carries out research into the diagnosis of cancer and other medical conditions/health threats. Mr Baird trains these medical assistance dogs for people with life threatening medical conditions such as aggressive diabetes. He will be bringing one of his retired dogs with him.
5th September 2024
PHILLIP WAITE
“My Life as an RAF Policeman”.
Mr Waite is a retired RAF Police Sergent of 22 years. He served in the UK and Germany, and on a special squadron undertaking Royal Visits, Ministerial & VVIP duties, Ceremonial Occasions. Flying as support crew on RAF operations and the first Gulf War.
3rd October 2024
RICHARD KING
AROUND THE WORLD ON A DOUBLE DECKER BUS.
When nine friends set out from England in 1969 to travel the world in a double-decker bus called ‘Hairy Pillock’, little did they know that they would become honorary citizens of Texas, hold the keys to New York, release a record in Australia, perform for the Shah and Empress of Iran, and appear on countless television and radio shows around the world. Their epic three-year journey, which began as a bet with the landlord of their local pub, took them across perilous roads through Europe to Iran and Afghanistan, through the Khyber Pass to Pakistan and India, then to Australia and, finally, the United States and Canada. Initially planning on getting work as export salesmen, they soon had to supplement their meagre funds by performing the folk songs they sang in the pubs back home, after which they achieved minor stardom as The Philanderers throughout Australia and the US. This light-hearted account follows the group on their trip across deserts and mountains, as they undertook an incredible expedition that would be impossible today.
7th November 2024
MARTIN LLOYD
PASSPORTS, ASSASSINS, TRAITORS AND SPIES
Thrill to a dramatic account of how the actions of a group of assassins brought about a change in the passport regulations; how the unmasking of a spy caused a modification in passport design and how, for one man,
the passport itself turned into a killer.
5th December 2024
OUR OWN -KEVIN STEPHENSON !
GUITAR PLAYER EXTRAORDINARY !
With music from the Beatles and some Christmas songs thrown in for the season !