Guildford Institute Calendar

Wednesday Afternoon Talks
Visits
Special Events

Wednesday Afternoon Talks

From 2.45 to 3.45pm.
All are welcome.
Members free, non-members £3.
Advance booking is recommended. Pre-book at Reception.
Refreshments are available afterwards in the Ladies Room.

Wednesday Afternoon Talks

8 September: Olive Maggs, Raphael’s Tapestries One of the greatest artistic projects of the Renaissance is to be shown for the first time in 500 years at the Victoria & Albert Museum this September. Raphael’s Tapestries from the Vatican are to be displayed alongside his original cartoons at the V&A . To coincide with the exhibition Art Historian and freelance lecturer Olive Maggs will give an introductory talk on four of Raphael’s tapestries for the Sistine Chapel and the full-size designs for them – the Raphael Cartoons. Made 500 years ago, these are the only surviving tapestries designed by Raphael, and are comparable to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling as masterpieces of High Renaissance art.

15 September: Richard Savage, Woking Manor and Palace – 600 years beside the Wey Richard Savage, Archaeologist and Chairman of the Friends of Woking Palace will share the history and archaeology of Woking’s royal Manor. The Manor became a Palace in Tudor times when it was a favourite residence of Lady Margaret Beaufort, her son Henry VII and her grandson Henry VIII.

22 September: Richard Skelton MBE, Behind the Scenes at the Houses of ParliamentA brief history of Parliament with entertaining anecdotes about life in the Houses of Parliament given by the former Principal Doorkeeper to the Gentleman Usher of The Black Rod. Richard Skelton served for 25 years in The Lords.

29 September: The Goodwives of Sussex, Herbs and their uses in Tudor Times The ‘Goodwives’ were formed by a group of like minded people with a passion for history. They have pooled together their wide range of historical knowledge on life in Tudor times. This talk will describe the role of the Apothecary and the use of herbs for healing and for cooking in Tudor times.

6 October: Iris Hawkins, The Friends of Guildford House Celebrate 40 Years Former Curator and Founder of the Friends of Guildford House, Iris Hawkins, will share why the Friends society was started, its aims and development. Also its financial assistance to the Gallery and its purchases in the past 40 years. Plus a little about the history of Guildford House in the same period.

13 October: Stephen Furniss, Hooray for Hollywood! The Golden Years 1930 – 1945 An illustrated talk starting with the growth of Hollywood as a suburb of Los Angeles, the development of the studio system, moving on to the life of an extra, film genre and the influence of Hollywood on fashion and styles. Stephen will cover many aspects of the film industry using original film clips plus a display of film advertising posters, albums of hobby cards and photographs, many of them signed by Hollywood stars.

20 October: Susan Purcell, The Story of Dictionaries

A Tea, Tale & Tour Event part of THE GUILDFORD BOOK FESTIVAL

Most people own at least one dictionary, but we take dictionaries very much for granted. We say ‘look it up in the dictionary’, as if there were only one, but there are in fact, thousands, and all of them are different. In this light-hearted and entertaining talk Susan Purcell, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguists and an author on language and grammar, will show how dictionaries have changed over time and will give you a peek into the world of lexicographers.

The event will start at 2.15pm with tea or coffee and cake; the talk will begin at 2.45pm and will be followed by an optional guided tour of the Institute’s historic Library and local history archives. Cost: £3 for members of the Guildford Institute; £5 for non-membersPlease book through the Guildford Book Festival Box Office.

27 October, 2.30 – 3.45pm: Irene Black, Jacquelynn Luben and Jay Margrave, Music and the Muse A cornucopia of entertainment will be provided by three Guildford writers from Goldenford Publishers. Their selection of music evoked by their novels, takes the audience to exotic places, such as India and Sri Lanka, to Medieval times and Henry VIII’s Court, as well as War-time Britain, the sixties and eighties. References to classical and Indian music permeate Irene Black’s novels, The Moon’s Complexion and Darshan. Jackie Luben’s selections come from her 20th century novels, A Bottle of Plonk and Tainted Tree set in Guildford, while Jay Margrave’s choices invoke her historical mysteries, The Gawain Quest and hercurrent novel, The Nine lives of Kit Marlowe. This event will be held in the Assembly Room in restaurant style, the ticket price includes a pot of tea or coffee and a slice of cake. Cost: members £2.50, non-members £5. Please note the earlier start time.

3 November: Rupert Matthews, The RAF in Surrey A professional Historian and author who has written more than 6 books on the RAF, Rupert Matthews will look at the history of the RAF in Surrey. He will explain why Surrey was important to the RAF, where the bases were located and follow the careers of some of the men who fought here in World War II.

10 November: Colin Jones, Gardeners London London is the greenest capital city in the world with over 600 public parks and gardens covering 67 square miles. The density of trees technically qualify it to be classed as a forest. Colin will show the oldest, the newest, the highest and arguably the best gardens and floral displays that the city has to offer as we follow the seasons through a perfect year.

17 November: Dr Colin Summerhayes, Melting Ice – Rising Sea Dr. Colin Summerhayes, a Marine Geologist is Emeritus Associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute of Cambridge University. He will discuss the fact that despite global warming, the ozone hole is keeping Antarctica colder than it would be otherwise and making sea ice grow. The Antarctic Peninsula is warming, affecting penguins; East Antarctica, however, is still cold. Warm ocean currents reach the continental shelf off West Antarctica, melting glaciers from beneath and making them speed up. Antarctica and Greenland are now both losing land ice, making sea levels rise faster than expected. In future the continent will warm more, land ice will melt, sea ice will shrink, and penguin productivity will drop. There are significant implications for coastal communities in the impending sea-level rise.

24 November: Bill Turnill, The Latest from Space The latest news from Space starting with the Sun and moving out through the Solar System to the farthest reaches of the Universe from Bill Turnill from the Guildford Astronomical Society.

1 December: Graham Thorp, Bach for Christmas Graham will introduce organ music by J.S. Bach that he will be playing in a lunchtime recital at St Mary’s the following Wednesday 8 December at 1pm. Following his talk last Easter, this will include more preludes from the Orgelbüchlein, this time on Christmas chorales. He will also demonstrate Bach’s supreme compositional skills in one of his last works, the joyful, intricate Canonic Variations on Von Himmel hoch and discuss how the Classical Organ at St Mary’s can convey Bach’s intentions. He will illustrate the talk on the piano in the Assembly Room and with recorded excerpts.

8 December: Sheila Davidson, The Development of Christmas Traditions Using historical data, legends and myths, the talk will cover the possible origins of many of our Christmas traditions, and the way they have changed over the centuries due to changing social conditions. Among the subjects covered will be Christmas greenery, the burning of the Yule Log, the roles of the erstwhile Lords of Misrule and Boy Bishops, festive food, the introduction of the Christmas Tree, Christmas crackers and Christmas cards, and the first appearance of a Nativity Scene in a church service.

Visits

If you would like to reserve a place for any of the following visits, please book at reception as soon as possible

LOCAL VISIT

Surrey Police Museum, Mount Browne, Guildford Tuesday 14 September 2pm

Opened in 2001 to mark the Force’s 150th anniversary, the museum is located in the Victorian Manor House at Mount Browne, home to Surrey Police Headquarters. You will be given a guided tour covering how prisoners were held in the early days, the Guildford riots of the 1860’s, the Surrey Constabulary during the War, the introduction of the police dog and transportation through the years. You will see how the Force first used photography to help solve crime – and be brought right up to date with the latest developments in forensic science.

Assemble outside the museum at 1.45pm. The car park can get very busy so please share cars if possible. Cost: members £5, non-members £6.

MAKE YOUR OWN WAY VISITS

‘The Holland Park Circle’ Artists’ Houses & Leighton House Thursday 7 October 11am

‘The Holland Park Circle’ included artists and architects such as Frederic, Lord Leighton, GF Watts, Luke Fildes and William Burges. Their homes in and around Melbury Road were exquisite show pieces open to the public once a year on ‘Show Sunday’. With this guided tour you will walk along Melbury Road to see the artists’ houses and continue along Holland Park Road for an exclusive tour of the interior Leighton House. Recently reopened, the house is one of the most remarkable buildings of the 19th century and was the former home and studio of the leading Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton. It was embellished over a period of 30 years to create a private palace of art. The Arab Hall is the centrepiece of the house, designed to display Leighton’s priceless collection of over a thousand Islamic tiles, brought back from Damascus. The opulence carries throughout including Leighton’s grand painting studio. Cost: members £12.50, non-members £15.

Meet at Leighton House, nearest tube station High Street Kensington or Kensington Olympia.

Behind-the-scenes Tour of the Royal Academy of Arts Tuesday 9 November 11am-12pm

This is a rare opportunity to explore behind the scenes of one of the oldest, richest and least-known repositories of British art in this country. The Royal Academy Collections, which hold important works by many of our most admired painters, sculptors, architects and printmakers, are unique in having been assembled not by museum curators, but by and for artists themselves in honour of their peers. On this guided tour you will discover hidden corners of Burlington House, find the human side of the Academy in its archives – including Queen Victoria’s paint box and Reynolds’s shoe buckles – and see the oldest Fine Arts library in Britain.

Cost: members £15, non-members £18. Space is limited to 15, please book early to avoid disappointment

Nearest tube station: Green Park or Piccadilly Circus.

Special Events

Cream Tea and Jazz Afternoon Sunday 5 September 3pm

Back by popular demand! Treat yourself to a cream tea and some great music while raising some much needed funds for improvements to the Institute. Tickets £5 in advance only from Reception.

Heritage Day Saturday 11 September 10am – 4pm

Heritage Day will offer an opportunity to view a selection of items from the Institute Library’s unique Local History Collection, comprising local history books, ephemera, photographs, prints and drawings relating to Guildford since the mid 19th Century and periodicals from a collection including ‘The Illustrated London News’, ‘The Graphic’, ‘Punch’, ‘The Studio’ and ‘The Engineer’. There will be a display of 19th century and early 20th century books on self improvement of the mind and body, giving a rare opportunity to compare the interests and advice of a bygone era with those of the present day.

We will also be running a short course on Historic Gardens in Surrey from 10am to 12pm. For further details please see our Courses section.

Refreshments will be available in the Institute’s Assembly Room, where there will be an art exhibition from The Alice Holt Artists. In the Old Billiard Room you may view some of the Institute’s collection of prints and engravings of Guildford. Information on all our courses, talks and activities for the autumn term will be available. Come and learn something about the past, present and future of the Guildford Institute.

The Joint Guildford Institute and Guildford Arts Lecture

Guildford’s New Entertainment Venue: a Long Gestation Wednesday 29 September 7pm

Jim Miles, Strategic Director at Guildford Borough Council will explain why it’s taken from 1996 to develop a new entertainment venue for Guildford. He will illustrate the nature of the new building, and talk through who will operate it and what will go on there. Cost (includes a glass of wine): members £3; non-members £5

Guildford Book Festival Events at the Institute *

* Please book with Guildford Book Festival Box Office for all these events

Susan Purcell - The Story of Dictionaries: ‘A Tea, Tale & Tour’ event * Wednesday 20 October 2.15pm

Most people own at least one dictionary, but we take dictionaries very much for granted. We say ‘look it up in the dictionary’, as if there were only one, but there are in fact, thousands, and all of them are different. In this light-hearted and entertaining talk Susan Purcell will show how dictionaries have changed over time and will give you a peek into the world of lexicographers. Susan Purcell has written a children’s dictionary and thesaurus, and co-edited The Puzzler Crossword Solver’s Dictionary. She has also written books on the subject of language and grammar. Susan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguists and blogs as The Virtual Linguist.

Diana Souhami – Edith Cavell * Thursday 21 October 3-4pm

Diana Souhami talks about her new biography of Edith Cavell, the world-renowned heroine of the First World War, whose life and work marks a pivotal point in history, when nursing emerged as both a profession and a vocation. Diana has extensively researched the life and work of Edith Cavell, from her early upbringing to execution by firing squad for harbouring and abetting allied soldiers during the First World War. Diana Souhami has written many books and plays for radio and television. She won the Whitbread Biography Award for Selkirk’s Island, her biography of Alexander Selkirk, or, as he is better known, Robinson Crusoe. Cost: £3 members; £5 non-members

Roy Moxham – Outlaw: India’s Bandit Queen and Me * Friday 22 October 3-4pm

Roy Moxham was working as a conservator in Canterbury Cathedral when he read an article about the plight of Phoolan Devi, India’s infamous ‘Bandit Queen’, who had at that point been detained without trial in a Delhi jail for 8 years. Struck by her story, Roy wrote to Phoolan Devi, helped her obtain justice and offered her encouragement when she became an MP in India on her release. He travelled with her for several years before she was assassinated in 2001. Roy gives a fascinating account and reveals the hidden face of India. Roy is also author of the acclaimed The Great Hedge of India Cost: £3 members; £5 non-members

Noel ‘Razor’ Smith & Alex McBride – Two Sides of the Criminal Justice System * Friday 22 October 7pm

Noel ‘Razor’ Smith was a gun wielding bank robber enjoying the excitement of his ‘career’, but he also spent a lot of his adult life in prison. In A Rusty Gun, he recounts how he came to realise that the game wasn’t worth a candle and his journey to be a straight citizen. Alec McBride is a criminal barrister. His book, Defending the Guilty, goes behind the scenes of Britain’s criminal justice system and asks: how do we ensure that the guilty are convicted and the innocent walk free? Alec and Noel discuss their different experiences and views on rehabilitation. Cost: £3 members; £5 non-members

The Book in You - A One Day Life Writing Workshop * Saturday 23 October 10.30am
If you want to start writing, there is no better place to begin than with your own unique story and the good news is that this is nowhere near as daunting as it sounds. Terrie Rintoul'sLife Writing Workshop is both highly supportive andinteractiveand includes practical exercises specially designed to help you to release that book which has been 'in you' all along. Course Code: GI-10-261, Price: £30; Concessions £27

The Sting in the Tale: A Fringe Book Festival at the Guildford Institute

Music and the Muse 27 October, 2.30 – 3.45pm

A cornucopia of entertainment will be provided by three Guildford writers from Goldenford Publishers. Their selection of music evoked by their novels, takes the audience to exotic places, such as India and Sri Lanka, to Medieval times and Henry VIII’s Court, as well as war-time Britain, the sixties and eighties. References to classical and Indian music permeate Irene Black’s novels, The Moon’s Complexion and Darshan. Jackie Luben’s selections come from her 20th century novels, A Bottle of Plonk and Tainted Tree set in Guildford, while Jay Margrave’s choices invoke her historical mysteries, The Gawain Quest and hercurrent novel, The Nine lives of Kit Marlowe. This event will be held in the Assembly Room in restaurant style, the ticket price includes a pot of tea or coffee and a slice of cake. Cost: members £3, non-members £5. Please note the earlier start time.

Poetry Reading and Open Mike Friday 29 October 7pm

Oversteps publishes beautiful books by some of the best and most exciting contemporary poets. Three poets recently published by Oversteps will read their work. Alwyn Marriage, the Managing Editor of Oversteps, will talk a little about this poetry publishing house, and introduce Ross Cogan and Elizabeth Rowe. If you would like to read at the open mike, come early to book your place. Refreshments will be available from the licenced bar. Cost: members £4, non-members £5

Poetry Writing Workshop Saturday 30 October 10am

Alwyn Marriage is a widely published poet, and since 2008 has been Managing Editor of the poetry publishing house, Oversteps Books. If you would like to join Alwyn for a stimulating morning of poetry, come prepared to read poetry written by others, tackle some enjoyable writing exercises and write new poetry of your own. There will be some time available at the end for reading what you have written during the morning, and to look at ways in which it may be improved. Please bring paper and pencils. Cost: members, £9, non-members £10

Mapping Your Story (A Writer’s Workshop) Saturday 30 October 10am – 2pm

Three Guildford authors from Goldenford Publishers take you on a journey through the craft of writing your story, making use of memories and other triggers, for short or long fiction. Through practical exercises you’ll learn how to develop ideas, create characters, plot your story and bring your journey to a pleasing conclusion. Cost: £10 or £8 for members

The Guildford Institute Christmas Lunch

Wednesday 15 December 12.30-2.30pm

A fine vegetarian Christmas feast with seasonal entertainment. Please book early to avoid disappointment.