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GNE-Interesting-links

British Embassy

Visit their website: http://www.ukinnl.fco.gov.uk
Foreign policy news and travel service, visit: http://www.fco.gov.uk
To read blogs, visit: http://blogs.fco.gov.uk 


The British Council

The British Council in the Netherlands aims to promote the use of the English language. They do this by arranging English language examinations, by providing information on English language courses and by collecting other useful resources on the English language and British Studies. Find out more at this website: www.britishcouncil.org/netherlands


ACCESS

Established in 1986 the Administrative Committee to Coordinate English Speaking Services -ACCESS- in short, was the grass root initiative of the members of the international community in the Netherlands who felt the pressing need for an organisation that would answer their needs, provide peer support and help cope with the challenges of expatriate living.
Today ACCESS has evolved into a dynamic volunteer, not for profit organisation that serves the needs and interests of the international community, namely by:
  • Providing guidance, advice, information to help individuals with settling, and/or living and working in the Netherlands,
  • Promoting friendship, understanding and well-being of the members of the international community in the Netherlands
  • Contributing to community development through skill training schemes and courses
  • Serving as a bridge between local and international communities
 
Well into its 25th year ACCESS has become synonymous with outstanding personalised service, empathy and insight. All ACCESS volunteers, trainers, counsellors, Dutch or international, have been expatriates themselves and know first-hand what the extra hurdles are to living away from a familiar environment. They add value to what we do, and how we do it. Just as importantly, they do so voluntarily - generously giving their time, sharing their unique skills, experience and diverse cultural backgrounds.
Visit their website.


Literature

Waterstone`s booksellers have a combined total of 23,055 years bookselling experience and one in eight of them have been with the company for over 10 years.
Many of Waterstone`s booksellers have gone on to become successful authors including David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, who worked at Waterstone`s Canterbury.
Click on  to get to their website.

Waterstone`s has one shop in the Netherlands, in the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam.

The best known and probably most complete on-line bookstore is www.amazon.co.uk. When you want to find a book long out of print try www.bookfinder.com. Another useful one is www.onelook.com, which provides you with 626 dictionaries.

 


Gardening

www.gardenworld.co.uk is a website that contains lots of useful information and links about gardening.
Lectures given by Daphne Foulsham of the National Garden Scheme. The foundation has its own website with information about the organization, garden stories, the yellow book, news and interesting links. You can`t miss it at www.ngs.org.uk.

Traveling and photography

Traveller and photographer John Pilkington has been lecturing for GNE about his travels to Bolivia. Would you like to know more about him and the places he has been, or send him a message, check out his own website: www.pilk.net.
Information about England`s countryside, coastline and historic environment and builidngs www.nationaltrust.org.uk,www.english-heritage.org.uk

News and press

BBC: www.bbc.co.uk or www.bbcnews.com
Of course, all British newspapers are on Internet. Try www.newsunlimited.co.uk and www.sunday-times.co.uk etc.
A great site to find information and links to hundreds of newspapers all over the world is www.kidon.com. Don`t surf there if you`re pressed for time, for a visit to that site is addictive.

Jane Austen

The Dutch website about Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817), one of the most important and popular  English novelists that England has ever produced.

De Nederlandstalige website over Jane Austen, schrijfster van Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey en Persuasion.

Click on Jane Austen


Koninklijke Zangvereniging Excelsior Den Haag

Concert op 12 november a.s.: `Programma: A Child of our Time (Michael Tippett) en Five Mystical Songs (Ralph Vaughan Williams)`.
Zie voor verdere info: Website www.kzvexcelsior.nl  en de Agenda


The English Theatre

For more information about The English Theatre and their productions, click on their website.


Celebrating the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens


This year, 2012, will be marked as the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens. The year will bring many special events and activities to commemorate the 200th anniversary of one of Britain`s greatest novelist and story teller. Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and died in 1870.

Although he was born in Portsmouth (February 7, 1812) , no other English writer is more closely associated with the city of London in the Victorian age. But also Historic Rochester inspired the author so much that he featured it in his work and many buildings found in the historic High Street carry plaques giving details how Dickens incorporated the site into his novels, while a gentle stroll around local sites and graveyards reveals where he found the names of many of his characters.
But in particular London, its streets and its people provided an enormous inspiration for Dickens. He wrote all-encompassing novels which give us a vivid image of the size, condition and character of London and Londoners in the 19th century.

A full calendar of Dickens Bicentenary events can be found at many Institutions and organisations all over the world. The life and work of Dickens is regularly celebrated in festivals and outdoor activities around the World.

Activities in the Netherlands :
www.dickensfestijn.nl/

For other information you can visit:
www.dickens2012.org/

www.visitlondon.com/events/special/dickens-2012

www.visitmedway.org/special-interest/dickensian-medway-and-dickens-2012

 

 
events

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.

Boughton AwakensMore information...
 
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.

Christmas at ChatsworthMore information...
The Gardens at ChatsworthMore information...
 
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.
 

Walking in the London Wetland CentreMore information...
 
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.

Going DutchMore information...
 
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.

Faith, Fun and FellowshipMore information...
The Seven Deadly SinsMore information...
 
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.

Een middag met Redmond O`HanlonMore information...
 
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.

Below StairsMore information...
KNOLE and the SACKVILLES More information...
 
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’.
 

Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and Domestic PhotographyMore information...
Virginia Woolf and AestheticsMore information...