talks programme MAY-JUly 2019

May 1st Dan Eatherley Hunting the Snake: The Story Behind the Bushmaster
Exeter-based author and former wildlife filmmaker Dan Eatherley will talk about the story behind his book "Bushmaster: Raymond Ditmars and the Hunt for the World’s Largest Viper".
"Bushmaster" is the story of one man’s obsession with an enigmatic and deadly reptile. Raymond Ditmars (1876-1942), the first curator of reptiles at New York’s world-famous Bronx Zoo, popularised cold-blooded animals as never before. His love for snakes, insects and other misunderstood creatures was conveyed in books, lectures, and pioneering motion pictures. But his expeditions to the South America jungles during the 1930s in search of the legendary bushmaster – the world’s largest viper – really captured the public imagination.
In "Bushmaster" the author follows in Ditmars’s footsteps and attempts to achieve what Ditmars himself failed to do: find a bushmaster in the wild. Eighty years on, will Dan have any more luck? Or will a bushmaster find him first?
Copies of "Bushmaster" will be available for purchase at a special price of £10.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 8th Alex Leger Blue Peter: Behind the Badge
Alex produced, directed and filmed the Blue Peter show for 36 years. Millions of children grew up with Blue Peter, with its famous badges, its daring presenters and lovable pets. For more than 50 years, youngsters watched their favourite faces take on death-defying stunts, tough challenges and champion vital causes, while also learning to make numerous models and handy items with the ever-present sticky-back plastic.
Alex will be recounting his experiences and memories of the presenters, the stunts, adventures and the challenge of producing a show for such a long period.
Alex has written a book, "Blue Peter: Behind the Badge", about his adventures.
In it he writes about some of the best-loved presenters and recalls favourite memories such as free fall parachuting, filming an erupting volcano and dodging bandits in Peru.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 15th The Exeter Forum Annual General Meeting
_______________________________________________________________________
May 22nd Mark Richardson Food Banks
Mark Richardson is the Manager of Exeter Food Bank.
It has now been just over 10 years since Exeter Foodbank first opened its doors and Mark will be explaining how they operate and how they are used.
The Exeter Foodbank has a very informative website at https://exeter.foodbank.org.uk .
_______________________________________________________________________
May 29th Maggie Draper Hospiscare and Supportive Care
Maggie Draper, Hospiscare’s Assistant Director Supportive Care and Quality will be giving a talk titled "Hospiscare and Supportive Care".
Hospiscare is a local adult hospice charity, providing high quality care and support to people with any type of terminal illness, and those close to them, in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.
Hospiscare has a very informative web site at https://www.hospiscare.co.uk/
_______________________________________________________________________
June 5th Dr. David Jenner All of a Flutter: Chasing Britain's Butterflies
David will give a highly visual presentation detailing his successful quest to find and photograph all of the UK's 59 species of butterfly .
He will explain some of the lengths people go to in order to see them and he will describe the intricate life cycle of some of the species.
As most of our butterflies are declining in number he hopes to inspire people to support conservation efforts to help them survive
There are some very informative sites on the internet with information about British butterflies such as http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk and https://butterfly-conservation.org
_______________________________________________________________________
June 12th Seona Ford The Life and Works of Dorothy L. Sayers
Seona Ford, Chair of The Dorothy L. Sayers Society, will be giving a talk titled "The Life and Works of Dorothy L. Sayers".
Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.
She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, which remain popular to this day. However, Sayers herself considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work. She is also known for her plays, literary criticism, and essays.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 19th Brian Freeland George Bernard Shaw: Playing the Clown
George Bernard Shaw called the clown “the best part of the circus” and wrote “all my life I have been merely playing the clown”. Brian's presentation tells Shaw’s story with respect, with admiration, and - as Shaw himself always told it - with humour. Brian is both narrator and player, adding memories of his overseas tours to his light-hearted chronicles of the life, the works, the correspondence and the complicated personal relationships of the “best playwright since Shakespeare”.
Brian’s theatre career started in 1959, direct from National Service, as Trainee Manager at the London Palladium, and has taken him to forty-three different countries including three residencies in the Middle East; eight tours of the Indian sub-continent and two circumnavigations of the globe. He has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells and London Festival Ballet Companies, Scottish Opera, Nottingham Playhouse and Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop Company. He has written a number of plays and books, including his autobiography “Meanderings: A River and a Life” .
If you would like to learn more about Brian's work he has an informative web site at http://www.brianfreeland.co.uk/ .
_______________________________________________________________________
June 26th Tom Cadbury Roman Devon and the Seaton Down Hoard
When a metal-detectorist discovered some Roman coins in a field overlooking Seaton he little realised that it would turn into a major archaeological discovery. A week later, once 22,888 coins had been uncovered, he had a fair idea ! The find is the third biggest in Britain and by far the largest in Devon. This talk will sketch out the Roman presence in Devon, from building the military fortress in Exeter in AD 50 to the burial of the Seaton Down Hoard in AD 350, at which point Roman influence takes a nosedive.
Thomas is a member of the curatorial team at Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum and has been at the museum since 2005. He originally came to be part of the museum’s major redevelopment that was completed in 2011 and then stayed ! His family is from Barnstaple and so it has been nice to return to Devon.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 3rd John Maclean Standing on the Shoulders of Greats
In this talk we will look at some of the greatest characters in the history of science including Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Isaac Newton. We will explore their trials and tribulations, their successes and failures and the impact they had on the Universe and, of course, the human race.
John Maclean is an experienced Science Communicator in the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is an award winning Astrophotographer.
John served for 25 years in the UK Military and has travelled extensively including the Antarctic. He has his own, fully robotic observatory used for imaging deep sky objects and studying the Sun. He has a special interest in Asteroids and Cometary science and is a researcher and member of the UK Meteor Monitoring Network.
John is a regular guest speaker on Cunard, Viking and P & O cruises.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 10th Emily Macaulay, Exeter Library Libraries: More than You Think
Emily will be talking about Exeter Library specifically and Devon Libraries more broadly, including about Libraries Unlimited the charity that now runs all of Devon's public libraries. Emily firmly believes that libraries now and in the future will surprise everyone and she hopes to share this passion in her talk.
Emily has worked within Devon Libraries since 2013 arriving as the refurbished Exeter Library prepared to open. Originally a Senior Supervisor for Operations Emily is now the Centre Manager for Exeter Library.
Prior to working in libraries Emily completed an undergraduate and postgraduate degree in Criminology and then worked in the criminal justice system within Devon and Cornwall, for the Police, Local Criminal Justice Board and most recently the Police Authority / Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. It was during this time Emily was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2014 for services to equality and diversity.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 17th David Oates The History of Chivers Jam Factory
David will trace the firm's history from its foundation in 1874 to the end of family ownership in 1960. Chivers became the main employers for miles around his home village of Histon, near Cambridge, pursuing an enterprising self-sufficient approach.
David's family have worked for Chivers for many generations, as builders of the original factory, employees and suppliers of fruit.
The talk is illustrated almost entirely from the firm's original records, carefully preserved by David's father, who became the firm's archivist.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 24th Richard Haigh Buon Gusto: The Story of Italian Food
Richard is a member of the Club Italia of Totnes. He is a retired college principal and an amateur student of Italian history.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 31st Katherine Findlay The Icelandic Adventures of Pike Ward
Katherine will be describing the life of the Devon trader, adventurer, photographer and diarist Pike Ward, who became a hugely important figure in the birth of modern Iceland.
Pike Ward was born into a family of ship brokers in Teignmouth and worked in Iceland between 1891 and the outbreak of the First World War. He travelled by pack horse and steamship through wild terrain and terrible seas, all the while attempting to outwit his rivals and cope with the challenges of surviving in a tough land. He was the first person to pay Icelandic fishermen in cash rather than by barter, taught Icelanders how to salt and soft dry fish for British markets and as such had a significant impact on the development of commercial fishing in Iceland.
Despite his achievements, he had been largely forgotten until Katherine's rediscovery of his diaries and photographs at the Devon Heritage Centre in 2016. Copies of her book based on these documents, The Icelandic Adventures of Pike Ward, will be on sale for £20 (hardback)/£12 paperback.
Katherine is a professional heritage interpreter and, in her spare time, a devoted Icelandophile. She has a degree in Italian from the University of Exeter and a postgraduate diploma in interpretation, representation and heritage from the University of Leicester.
_______________________________________________________________________
Exeter-based author and former wildlife filmmaker Dan Eatherley will talk about the story behind his book "Bushmaster: Raymond Ditmars and the Hunt for the World’s Largest Viper".
"Bushmaster" is the story of one man’s obsession with an enigmatic and deadly reptile. Raymond Ditmars (1876-1942), the first curator of reptiles at New York’s world-famous Bronx Zoo, popularised cold-blooded animals as never before. His love for snakes, insects and other misunderstood creatures was conveyed in books, lectures, and pioneering motion pictures. But his expeditions to the South America jungles during the 1930s in search of the legendary bushmaster – the world’s largest viper – really captured the public imagination.
In "Bushmaster" the author follows in Ditmars’s footsteps and attempts to achieve what Ditmars himself failed to do: find a bushmaster in the wild. Eighty years on, will Dan have any more luck? Or will a bushmaster find him first?
Copies of "Bushmaster" will be available for purchase at a special price of £10.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 8th Alex Leger Blue Peter: Behind the Badge
Alex produced, directed and filmed the Blue Peter show for 36 years. Millions of children grew up with Blue Peter, with its famous badges, its daring presenters and lovable pets. For more than 50 years, youngsters watched their favourite faces take on death-defying stunts, tough challenges and champion vital causes, while also learning to make numerous models and handy items with the ever-present sticky-back plastic.
Alex will be recounting his experiences and memories of the presenters, the stunts, adventures and the challenge of producing a show for such a long period.
Alex has written a book, "Blue Peter: Behind the Badge", about his adventures.
In it he writes about some of the best-loved presenters and recalls favourite memories such as free fall parachuting, filming an erupting volcano and dodging bandits in Peru.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 15th The Exeter Forum Annual General Meeting
_______________________________________________________________________
May 22nd Mark Richardson Food Banks
Mark Richardson is the Manager of Exeter Food Bank.
It has now been just over 10 years since Exeter Foodbank first opened its doors and Mark will be explaining how they operate and how they are used.
The Exeter Foodbank has a very informative website at https://exeter.foodbank.org.uk .
_______________________________________________________________________
May 29th Maggie Draper Hospiscare and Supportive Care
Maggie Draper, Hospiscare’s Assistant Director Supportive Care and Quality will be giving a talk titled "Hospiscare and Supportive Care".
Hospiscare is a local adult hospice charity, providing high quality care and support to people with any type of terminal illness, and those close to them, in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.
Hospiscare has a very informative web site at https://www.hospiscare.co.uk/
_______________________________________________________________________
June 5th Dr. David Jenner All of a Flutter: Chasing Britain's Butterflies
David will give a highly visual presentation detailing his successful quest to find and photograph all of the UK's 59 species of butterfly .
He will explain some of the lengths people go to in order to see them and he will describe the intricate life cycle of some of the species.
As most of our butterflies are declining in number he hopes to inspire people to support conservation efforts to help them survive
There are some very informative sites on the internet with information about British butterflies such as http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk and https://butterfly-conservation.org
_______________________________________________________________________
June 12th Seona Ford The Life and Works of Dorothy L. Sayers
Seona Ford, Chair of The Dorothy L. Sayers Society, will be giving a talk titled "The Life and Works of Dorothy L. Sayers".
Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.
She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, which remain popular to this day. However, Sayers herself considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work. She is also known for her plays, literary criticism, and essays.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 19th Brian Freeland George Bernard Shaw: Playing the Clown
George Bernard Shaw called the clown “the best part of the circus” and wrote “all my life I have been merely playing the clown”. Brian's presentation tells Shaw’s story with respect, with admiration, and - as Shaw himself always told it - with humour. Brian is both narrator and player, adding memories of his overseas tours to his light-hearted chronicles of the life, the works, the correspondence and the complicated personal relationships of the “best playwright since Shakespeare”.
Brian’s theatre career started in 1959, direct from National Service, as Trainee Manager at the London Palladium, and has taken him to forty-three different countries including three residencies in the Middle East; eight tours of the Indian sub-continent and two circumnavigations of the globe. He has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells and London Festival Ballet Companies, Scottish Opera, Nottingham Playhouse and Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop Company. He has written a number of plays and books, including his autobiography “Meanderings: A River and a Life” .
If you would like to learn more about Brian's work he has an informative web site at http://www.brianfreeland.co.uk/ .
_______________________________________________________________________
June 26th Tom Cadbury Roman Devon and the Seaton Down Hoard
When a metal-detectorist discovered some Roman coins in a field overlooking Seaton he little realised that it would turn into a major archaeological discovery. A week later, once 22,888 coins had been uncovered, he had a fair idea ! The find is the third biggest in Britain and by far the largest in Devon. This talk will sketch out the Roman presence in Devon, from building the military fortress in Exeter in AD 50 to the burial of the Seaton Down Hoard in AD 350, at which point Roman influence takes a nosedive.
Thomas is a member of the curatorial team at Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum and has been at the museum since 2005. He originally came to be part of the museum’s major redevelopment that was completed in 2011 and then stayed ! His family is from Barnstaple and so it has been nice to return to Devon.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 3rd John Maclean Standing on the Shoulders of Greats
In this talk we will look at some of the greatest characters in the history of science including Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Isaac Newton. We will explore their trials and tribulations, their successes and failures and the impact they had on the Universe and, of course, the human race.
John Maclean is an experienced Science Communicator in the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is an award winning Astrophotographer.
John served for 25 years in the UK Military and has travelled extensively including the Antarctic. He has his own, fully robotic observatory used for imaging deep sky objects and studying the Sun. He has a special interest in Asteroids and Cometary science and is a researcher and member of the UK Meteor Monitoring Network.
John is a regular guest speaker on Cunard, Viking and P & O cruises.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 10th Emily Macaulay, Exeter Library Libraries: More than You Think
Emily will be talking about Exeter Library specifically and Devon Libraries more broadly, including about Libraries Unlimited the charity that now runs all of Devon's public libraries. Emily firmly believes that libraries now and in the future will surprise everyone and she hopes to share this passion in her talk.
Emily has worked within Devon Libraries since 2013 arriving as the refurbished Exeter Library prepared to open. Originally a Senior Supervisor for Operations Emily is now the Centre Manager for Exeter Library.
Prior to working in libraries Emily completed an undergraduate and postgraduate degree in Criminology and then worked in the criminal justice system within Devon and Cornwall, for the Police, Local Criminal Justice Board and most recently the Police Authority / Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. It was during this time Emily was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2014 for services to equality and diversity.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 17th David Oates The History of Chivers Jam Factory
David will trace the firm's history from its foundation in 1874 to the end of family ownership in 1960. Chivers became the main employers for miles around his home village of Histon, near Cambridge, pursuing an enterprising self-sufficient approach.
David's family have worked for Chivers for many generations, as builders of the original factory, employees and suppliers of fruit.
The talk is illustrated almost entirely from the firm's original records, carefully preserved by David's father, who became the firm's archivist.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 24th Richard Haigh Buon Gusto: The Story of Italian Food
Richard is a member of the Club Italia of Totnes. He is a retired college principal and an amateur student of Italian history.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 31st Katherine Findlay The Icelandic Adventures of Pike Ward
Katherine will be describing the life of the Devon trader, adventurer, photographer and diarist Pike Ward, who became a hugely important figure in the birth of modern Iceland.
Pike Ward was born into a family of ship brokers in Teignmouth and worked in Iceland between 1891 and the outbreak of the First World War. He travelled by pack horse and steamship through wild terrain and terrible seas, all the while attempting to outwit his rivals and cope with the challenges of surviving in a tough land. He was the first person to pay Icelandic fishermen in cash rather than by barter, taught Icelanders how to salt and soft dry fish for British markets and as such had a significant impact on the development of commercial fishing in Iceland.
Despite his achievements, he had been largely forgotten until Katherine's rediscovery of his diaries and photographs at the Devon Heritage Centre in 2016. Copies of her book based on these documents, The Icelandic Adventures of Pike Ward, will be on sale for £20 (hardback)/£12 paperback.
Katherine is a professional heritage interpreter and, in her spare time, a devoted Icelandophile. She has a degree in Italian from the University of Exeter and a postgraduate diploma in interpretation, representation and heritage from the University of Leicester.
_______________________________________________________________________