Category: Lecture Summary

    Wednesday 5th December Stuart Gaunt The Defensive Towers of England     Over the past 2000 years, Britain has been attacked by all our nautical neighbours, including Spain, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and America.  Sometimes these threats have been internal, with rebellions and uprising quite common within these shores. The sea has usually…

    Wednesday 29th November Herbie Battye Oil & Gas projects in Ice Covered Waters   Herbie served for 20 years in the Tanker fleet of an oil major followed by a further 20 years in various shore postings worldwide as pilot, marine manager and in terminal projects. His last position was marine coordinator for…

    Wednesday 22nd November Colin Palmer Speed Sailing   Colin is a naval architect by training. In the 1980s he collaborated with Malcolm Barnsley on the design and construction of high speed sailing boats, one of which was a forerunner to Malcolm’s record beating Vestas Sailrocket. Colin sails slowly in an Ovni.  It was…

    Wednesday 6th December Dick Leedham Reminiscences of a Mariner Dick Leedham joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 16 as a deck officer apprentice and was at sea for 17 years. He now runs his own company, specialising in on board navigation training. He sails his Westerly Solway – which he has…

    Wednesday 15th November Tony Roome Massey Shaw     Massey Shaw was built in 1935 to fight fires in London Docks and along the Thames. She saw active service throughout World War 2, being a major part of the effort to save St Paul’s and the City and bringing over 500 men off…

    Wednesday 8th November Sue and Bob Garrett Baltic and Back in a Season     Bob and Sue will tell us about their 6 month tour of the Baltic, starting from and returning to the Solent. They spent 182 days on board and visited 9 countries, getting as far as St Petersburg. They…

    Wednesday 25th October John Blake Charts   John served in the Royal Navy and reserve for 16 years, leaving as Lieutenant Commander. He then opened and  ran several succesful retail stores selling British gift products but also developed an interest in maritime history. He has published several beautifully produced books on sea charts…

    Wednesday 18th October Jules and Vanessa Dussek Cruising the Inland Waterways of France   In 2006 Jules and Vanessa took their Southerly 115 through the French inland waterways to the Mediterranean, a retirement dream, and returned a couple of years ago. They travelled a total of nearly 2,000 miles, embracing small rivers and…

    Wednesday 11th October Dianne Mannering Send Us Some Women     We all know that Queen Victoria was the grandmother of Europe but who, a generation before, became the grandmothers of Australia?  Dianne Mannering’s lively talk Send Us Some Women tells you all about it. When the new Governor of Australia wrote home…