The talk to be given on 19 July will instead be given by George Hislop and is titled “Lifeboats”. George's talk will cover the whole range of RNLI activity, from history to crew training, the various boats, lifeguards, some rescue stories, and something on their overseas work.
The talk due to be given by David Brandreth on 19 July 2023, "Jane Austen's Purse - History of Coins from the Restoration to the Great Recoinage of 1817" - cannot now be given on that date. This talk has been rescheduled and will now be given on 25th October 2023.
The talk to be given on 19 July will instead be given by George Hislop and is titled “Lifeboats”. George's talk will cover the whole range of RNLI activity, from history to crew training, the various boats, lifeguards, some rescue stories, and something on their overseas work.
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The speaker due to present to us on October 26th, Mike Richards, has had to postpone his talk "A History of Exeter Hospitals", for personal reasons. Instead we will hear a talk by Geoff Pettinger entitled "A romp through a lifetime of domestic appliances".
Mike hopes to be able to give his talk in early 2023. The speaker originally booked to visit us on October 5th has had to withdraw at short notice.
Fortunately our speaker secretary, John Davidson, is able to present in her stead. His talk is titled The River Exe floods from 1286 to the present day." The entertainer booked to appear at the Exeter Forum meeting on Wednesday 17 August has had to postpone her performance until September due to a family bereavement.
We have been unable to arrange an alternative speaker at such short notice, particularly as it is in the main holiday period. There will therefore now be a three week summer break in Forum meetings, with no meetings on Wednesdays 17, 24 or 31 August. The first Exeter Forum meeting after the summer break will be on Wednesday 7 September at the usual time in the Mint Methodist Church Hall when Becky Trout will be talking about “The roles and rescues of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust” . The talk on Wednesday, 6 July, was due to be about Exeter’s Mediaeval Exe Bridge and was to be given by Bill Ford. Unfortunately Bill will be unable to give the talk on this day but we hope to be able to arrange for it to be given later in the year.
We are grateful for our Chairman, Geoff Pettinger, for volunteering to give a talk next Wednesday, 6 July. The subject of Geoff's talk will be "The Silk Road" and he will describe the development of trade between China and Europe from 130 BC and the consequences arising from this, such as the introduction of silk, paper and gunpowder, and the rise and fall of the great trading cities like Samarkand. The speakers kindly supplied a couple of photos they had taken just prior to the start of the meeting on 26th January. Sharing those photos seemed worthwhile along with a short report.
The National Coastwatch Institution is, I think, not well known. In part this could be because it is a relatively new body, being formed as a charity only in 1994. Like me you might have thought that coastal safety was adequately covered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the RNLI. However, after the Government of the day decreed the retrenchment of the Coastguard, such that only a very small number of coastal stations remained in operation, there was a fatal marine incident off Cornwall, which, had it been noticed earlier, might have saved the 2 lives lost. By 1994 this tragedy had resulted in the creation of something to fill the gap in physical observations - the National Coastwatch Institution. It is self funded - each station is responsible for finding its own running costs - and the charity receives no money from central Government. Today there are 57 stations dotted around the English and Welsh coasts. Each is manned entirely by volunteers who, after thorough training, maintain a watch from each station during daylight hours throughout the year. The Exmouth station, which occupies the building that used to be manned by the coastguard, is the second busiest in the country and costs some £6000 to run each year. Our hard-working Speaker Secretary, John Davidson , has now managed to fill the outstanding date in our pre-Christmas talks programme, December 15th.
The date will be filled by David Pugsley, Professor of Law, who will tell the story of the famous duel at Haldon Racecourse between the hero of the 1832 Exeter Cholera Outbreak, Dr Peter Hennis and Judge Sir John William Jeffcott. David Pugsley was born in Tiverton. He was a European civil servant in Strasbourg for 3 years and taught law for 40 years in the universities of Southampton, Johannesburg, Bari and Exeter. Since 1993 he has been the Hon Archivist of the Western Circuit. He has a special interest in causes célèbres in the West Country in the 19th century. The Exeter Forum is moving into the 21st century, before it transforms into the 22nd century having now set up a Twitter account. The account can be accessed at @ExeterForum.
Why not add a comment to the feed? Better still, why not set yourself up as a follower and stay up-to-date? Since we restarted meeting in person, at the beginning of September the number attending each time has gradually risen. A clear demand from members and visitors to meet up in spacious surroundings has therefore been demonstrated despite the ongoing pandemic risks. In consequence it has been decided to recommence our traditional pattern of weekly meetings. The programme until the end of the year can be found here: Talks Sept 2021-Dec 2021.
Unfortunately, Mike Richards is unwell, and his talk on Humour in the Police Force will now be given to the Exeter Forum after the Christmas break.
Instead, TOMORROW, Wednesday 6 October, John Davidson will give a talk titled Rewilding - Will it save our wildlife? Many species in the UK are in decline and the idea of rewilding places has received considerable attention in the last 20 years. This talk will look at what rewilding means, and what is involved in rewilding a landscape. Plans to introduce missing species such as beavers and large predators like the wolf or lynx will be discussed. The talk will also consider the importance of rewilding (or wilding) smaller areas in cities like Exeter or in rural areas and why human intervention may be required to help natural processes. |
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