Speaker Programme
Throughout the year speakers are invited to give talks on many and varied topics ranging from the History of Pub Signs, to navigating interplanetary satellites. The list will be updated as speakers are booked.
In anticipation of a return to our usual club meeting, a number of talks have been planned as follows:
2024
9th January: Rod Muttram - The TPWS Story - How Britain's railways became among the safest in the world
13th February: Colin Johnson - Geographic Profiling in Action - Identifying the Bus Stop Serial Killer
14th May: Neil Sadler - Come Fly With Me: Odd things happening at the airport.
11th June: Steve Bird - The Fall of Singapore - lost before it started
10th September: Pauline Lane - The importance of bees as a pollinator and the threat from the Asian Hornet
8th October: Sheila Willis - Whodunits
12th November: David Bickerton - The Pursuit and sinking of the Bismark
Our Past Speaker Programmes
- Year 2023
10th January - Richard Chaundy His subject- Ernest Shackelton
14th February - Ray Dunnett: His subject: - Dick Turpen
9th May - Stephen Chater - Madam Geneve; The 18th Century gin craze
13th June - Barry Friend; The Stay Behinds: the ‘butchers, bakers and candlestick makers’ who would go to earth to defend Britain if Hitler had invaded in 1940
11th July - Richard Everitt - Dover Port
12th September - Steve Bird - The Further Adventures of an HR Man
10th October - Tim Redmond - Big Ben
14th November - Peter Stammers - The Dam Busters..
- Year 2022
08 Feb - Ernest Lucas - club member - Star Of Bethlehem The Star of Bethlehem
Johannes Kepler, discover of the laws of planetary motion and ‘the father of modern astronomy,’ initiated modern scientific discussion about the Star of Bethlehem in the early 1600s. The debate that has continued since raises interesting issues: an error in the calendar we use, an explanation of why the planets sometimes seem to travel backwards, the existence of exploding stars. Maybe, however, the answer to the question, ‘What was the Star of Bethlehem’ has been lying for millennia in ancient Chinese records.
10th May - Bob Foley - My Life in Broadcasting with BBC TV
About his life in broadcasting with the BBC TV. It will include video clips of various ‘historic TV productions he had been involved in including details of how the BBC brings major sporting events to the UK viewer ( eg the Olympic Games ,World cup etc) Also some footage from a documentary he worked on making of the ‘Battle of Britain’ film.
14th of June - Bob Sinfield will give a talk of The Gag Trade
12th July - Stephen Chater - Ruin, Wren and Renewal - The Fire of London
13th September Alan Walton His subject: My career in the NHS, and health and social care workforce development. A European and global perspective
11th October - Steve Bird - A humorous talk on the industrial relations in the Ford Motor Company during the 1970s to 1980s
- Year 2021
14 Sept - Andrew Bustin - My Life as a Film and TV Extra. Andy started in the film industry in the mid 1990’s, and worked with many famous people along the way. His talk includes a lot of background information on the way TV programmes, films and adverts are made, and the different approaches adopted by the Film Companies to achieve the final product, interspersed with examples of the work he has been involved with and amusing incidents that have happened. He has also appeared on stage, in many semi-professional productions, and in 8 Television quizzes. In his talk (which lasts about 45 minutes) he will show you several TV adverts in which he has appeared. He will talk about things like Continuity, and errors that he (and others more famous than him), have made. How much filming is actually achieved in a day, and how many people are used to achieve that, and what actually happens on a film set.
12 Oct - Judie English - Cranleigh the Early Years. " Cranleigh, The early years." Occupation in the Cranleigh area started in prehistory and the story since has been one of alternating wealth and poverty with Roman villas yet , later, starvation and disease, before the development of the village as we know it.
9 Nov - Richard Chaundy gave and interesting talk about the Isle of Guernsey
Year 2020
14th January: The speaker for January will be our Chairman, Richard Chaundy. His subject will be 'Isadora Duncan' the dancer.
11th February: Shaida Dorabjee: The Talk will be about the work of the Air Ambulance service.
SPEAKER PROGRAMMES were suspeded due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Year 2019
8th January: Ian Currie talked on "Making Sense of the Weather"
12th February: Jim Kemp will talk on "Brunels Billiard Table - Early Years of the Great Western Railway"
14th May: Robert Avis His subject will be: "Baden-Powell and his Scouting Legacy"
11th June: Brough Scott His subject: "Churchill at the gallop"
9th July: The Story of Henimihi: The extraordinary story of how a small Maori meeting house came to rest in the grounds of the National Trust's Clandon Park, far from her native New Zealand.
10th September: Judie English She will tell us about " Cranleigh. Regrettably this talk had to be rescheduled to 9th June 2020 due to the unfortunate cancellation of the September lunch.
8th October: David Wilson His subject: "Early Flying at Farnborough"
A brief history of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and a brief coverage of some of the more notable achievements of the Establishment in its long history.
12th November: Barry Stephens: "The Romans in the South East."
"This is the story of the Roman invasions of Britain which started in the South East before heading north. The Romans left a rich legacy throughout Britain, but this story will explore some Roman sites in the South East".
Year 2018
13th February: Dick Elsey spoke on "The Golden Age of Wireless"
8th May: Colin Summerhays talked about "Melting Ice- Rising Seas: Antarctica & Climate Change"
10th July: Andy Thomas: gave us a lecture of "Unexplained Mysteries and Cover-ups"
9th October: Alan Gallop: told the story of "The Tolpuddle Martyrs"
13th November: David Roe: gave is the history of "Pub Signs and Their Stories"
