Winter Talks: Jan - Apr 2012

Winter Talks Overview

Written by Viv & Lyn Robins Tuesday, 02 February 2010 20:48

The club has a fine record of providing a winter programme of Wednesday evening talks. The subjects vary widely and there is something that will appeal to everyone during the season. Most speakers are recruited by their reputation and we are always delighted to be entertained by a club member. Subjects have varied from a wide range of natural history and New Forest topics to several sailing and ocean topics as well as local history, outer space, aircraft, Beaulieu Motor Museum and more.

Details of the talks are to be found on the web site, in Tell Tales and on notice boards. The club is open for supper from 6.30.pm and the talks begin at 7.45. pm. Entrance fee - £1.50. Per person. There are no talks during the summer months.

4th January 2012: The Royal Train

By Mick Foster

With the passing of steam, Mick Foster chose to pursue a second railway career with the British Transport Police. His basic training took place at Hendon and as he progressed he attended CID and other specialist courses at Hendon, Preston and the Police Staff College, Bramshill.

Following numerous other responsibilities, he became involved with Royalty travelling around Britain by train. This is the topic of his talk to LTSC. In illustrating his topic he will focus on The Royal Train and its journeys during Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

11th January 2012: Flying Concorde

By Stephen Wand

Captain Steve Wand will give both a pilot's and a passenger's perspective of flying the iconic British Airways flagship. The talk is not technical and will appeal to a wide audience.

Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27 years flying regular transatlantic flights from London and Paris to New York and Washington, profitably flying these routes at record speeds, in less than half the time of other airliners. Concorde's name reflects the development agreement between the United Kingdom and France. The aircraft is regarded by many as an aviation icon and an engineering marvel.

18th January 2012: The Magic of Photography

By Professor Greg Parker

Specialist photography allows one to record images and to "see" things that cannot be captured by the naked eye. In this talk Prof. Greg Parker will describe how specialist photographic equipment together with computer image processing techniques can be used to capture and record the depths of outer space (deep-sky imaging), the vastness of our landscapes and skyscapes (panoramic mosaics), the ultra-small (photomicroscopy) and the ultra-fast (high-speed flash photography). To quote Dr. Brian May in his Foreword to my book "Star Vistas" - "It is as if we are seeing the sky for the first time with God-like eyes."

25th January 2012: "The Peace Keeping Role of British Forces" – a tour of duty in the African Congo

By Monty Woolley

Major Monty Woolley served with the United Nations as an intelligence officer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from September 2010 to May 2011.  After two months running the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) desk at the Forward HQ in Goma, near Rwanda, the Force Commander personally dispatched him to Dungu, an airstrip deep into the forest near South Sudan where he lived for 5 months with a company of Moroccans and a detachment of Bangladeshi Air Force. As a lone officer, his mission was to establish a Joint Intelligence Operations Centre that would unify the efforts of the Ugandan and Congolese armies in their fight against the terrorist group, the LRA. Major Woolley will provide an overview to the complexities that is DR Congo before describing his 'Boy's Own' journey.

1st February 2012: From Palourmaid to Peer

By Sarah Newman

Sarah's talk explores life in several local estates along the Christchurch and New Forest coastline, which were once part of a national scene attracting royal visitors. She also explores the family life of some smaller country houses such as Pylewell, whose Weld Family helped make Lymington a yachting centre.

8th February 2012: The SS Gothic - A Tragedy in the Antarctic

By Eddie Neylon

An account of exemplary courage by a great team of people to battle a raging fire onboard the vessel in inhospitable Antarctic waters. Could we stop the ship from sinking?

Eddie Neylon was a junior Engineering Officer onboard at the time and will give an emotional and harrowing account of the inferno.

15th February 2012: The Berlin AirLift

By Adam Reay

On June 21 1948, the Western occupying powers introduced the Deutsche Mark in Western Germany including Berlin. The Soviets had intended to issue a new currency in their zone known as the "Ostmark". There was a diplomatic deadlock on this issue so the Soviets retaliated by halting all rail and barge traffic in and out of the city.

Surface traffic from non-Soviet zones to Berlin was blockaded, leaving open only the air corridors.

West Berlin had thirty-six days' worth of food, and forty-five days' worth of coal, so in order to prevent starvation and keep the citizens of Berlin warm the West mounted an airlift of gigantic proportions that shipped 2,300,000 tons of food and coal into the city. At its height there were 1,383 flights every 24 hours.

The talk covers the story of the men and machines, the politicians and the administrators who ran the huge ad hoc operation, often controlled with little more than a blackboard and chalk that kept a city alive.

22nd February 2012: Boats and Transport on the Lymington River

By Brian Jackson

The history of the Brockenhurst to Yarmouth rail and sea link is an intriguing story in which the station master and the harbourmaster once vied for control of the river.

The Lymington Town Sailing Club welcomes Brian back on his third visit.

29th February 2012: The Art and Design of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

By Harvie Woolley

Harvie Woolley will present an illustrated talk relating to the career of Charles Rennie Mackintosh who is one of the most influential and intriguing artists of our time. As a man of great vision he mastered the decorative arts, architecture, design and painting he became a driving force behind the approach to modern architecture and is the forerunner of Art Deco and the Modern Movement.

Please note that this is an amendment to the previously advertised talk by Phil Holt - Things That Go Bump in the Flight.

7th March 2012: The Gurkhas and Nepal

By Major Gerald Davies

The talk will cover the country of Nepal, its people and groupings, the early history leading to Gurkhas joining the British Army and the current politics within Nepal.

14th March 2012: The Mysteries of the East

By Colin Boocock

"Eastern mysteries" is based in the Middle and Far East, covering Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, India, China and Myanmar.  This show brings these fascinating countries to life with some stunning images. This is an insight into the amazing antiquities that survive there. Much of the travel there was by train, and some odd sights are revealed.

21st March 2012: The Oil Spill Response Team

By Rob Bly

Rob Bly has just returned from working in Nigeria.

He will describe the complex past and present work of the Oil Spill Response Team based in Southampton.

28th March 2012: My 33 Years with Auntie

By Rona Musker

Rona Musker, a keen sailor, joined the BBC in 1968 and has many intriguing stories to tell about her working life with 'Auntie'.

4th April 2012: 100th Anniversary of the Titanic in Southampton

By Jill & Tom Daniels

On their third visit to the Club, Jill and Tom Daniels provide an illustrated talk in three acts of Titanic's maiden voyage from birth to death.