During the GNE lecture season, events are regularly held and talks are given about once a month and unless otherwise stated, these are delivered in English. The visiting speakers are all experts in their chosen fields and their lectures are both informative and entertaining. They may feature different aspects of British life, arts and culture, places and people. Occasionally we are also treated to a traveller`s tale. Wherever possible, lectures are illustrated.
An overview of this year`s programme is given below. For more details on our events and talks please click events & talks. For the full programme with dates, venues and entry fees per branch, please click branches.
Lance Goffort-Hall:
Lance is Landscape Manager at Boughton House. His background is in landscape construction and Arboriculture. He was trained at Merrist Wood (Guildford) and is a registered project manager. His work experience has covered 25years in the UK, Bermuda, Jersey and New Zealand working predominantly in large parks and historic gardens. He manages a multiple range of large scale works at Boughton along with the day to day running of the teams. He has now set up a subsidiary company of Boughton Estates called ‘Contour’ to carry out external landscape and waterscapes contracts within the UK and Europe.
Christine Robinson:
With a degree in History, Christine took on the role of Housekeeper for the visitor route at Chatsworth in 1981. Chatsworth has grown to become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. Her own role within the enterprise has developed to that of Head Housekeeper and Head of Visitor Welcome, so that she now has the pleasure of ensuring a warm welcome for all the many visitors, and making sure that the House is fit for them to see. She is also leader of the team preparing special Christmas displays for visitors in the months of November and December.
Unity Harvey :
Unity Harvey obtained her Certificate in Education in 1960 and a Diploma in Education in 1982. She married in 1964 and raised a family. During her career, she taught in mainstream schools and hospital settings as well as working with motor-impaired children. In 1994, she became a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.
Since the year 2000, when she retired from teaching, she has had a regular voluntary job as guide at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) London Wetland Centre.
Prof.W.R.F.Cunningham:
Professor of Economics at the Maastricht School of Management. Director of Studies, Stanford Hall Management Centre, Loughborough England. Senior Lecturer, UK Civil Service College. Various posts in Public Sector in UK and Zambia. Visiting professor in Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, China, and Peru, Adviser/Consultant to World Bank, E.U. and UNDP.
Michael Burgess:
After university Michael lived for a year in Rotterdam and worked with the Missions to Seafarers. His first parish was a mining town near Newcastle - then he moved down to parishes in Cornwall, and then into Wales to serve as subwarden at St Deiniol`s Library, Hawarden - a library founded by Gladstone in the Victorian period which trained ordinands and welcomed guests from all over the world. In 1991 he returned to parish life. He is the Rector of Oughtrington and Warburton. He also has been involved in clergy courses and for the last 8 years served as chaplain to the diocesan Mothers` Union.
Redmond O`Hanlon:
Dr. Redmond O`Hanlon (Dorset, 1947) is een Brits schrijver. Redmond O`Hanlon genoot zijn universitaire opleiding in Oxford. Redmond O`Hanlon werd lid van de Society for the Bibliography of Natural History in 1982, lid van de Royal Geographical Society in 1984 en lid van de Royal Society of Literature in 1993.
Gedurende vijftien jaar was Redmond O`Hanlon redacteur van The Times Literary Supplement op het gebied van natuurlijke historie. In 2009 voer Redmond O`Hanlon mee op het schip dat de historische reis van Charles Darwin met de Beagle herdacht door deze te herhalen.
Peter Gillman:
Born in Cape Town and learned Afrikaans at school as his second language. He spent his working life running libraries and information centres in industry. For five years he lectured on the Masters course in library management and information retrieval at University College London. In 1999 he began working for the National Trust at Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, as a room steward and leading guided tours. For five years he has been a member of the Trust’s Speakers Panel, giving around 50 talks a year on behalf of the Trust.
Prof. Maggie Humm:
Maggie Humm is a Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of East London. Her books include Border Traffic, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, Modern Feminisms, Feminism and Film, Modernist Women and Visual Cultures: Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell. She was an editor of the Routledge Encyclopaedia of Women and has been a Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at many universities including Massachusetts, San Diego State, Stanford, Rutgers, Queen`s Belfast, and Karachi. Her most recent book is ‘The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and the Arts’.
