Dear All, I thought I would send out a copy of my quarterly letter on mail chimp as well as adding it to our website. So if you have already read it on one of these platforms you need go no further. Its hard to believe we only have 3 lectures of the current “ academic” year left. I imagine the most recent, on the Rijksmuseum, has inspired a few to think about a trip to Amsterdam. To find the tulips you could include a visit to the world famous Keukenhof gardens which will be open until mid-May. By the end of April we should know a great deal more about the Baroque Style in English furniture. In May we learn about Artemisa Gentileschi, who has been the subject of several articles in the press recently as she is being recognised as one of the great artists of the past but underestimated with the passage of time because she was a woman. I suppose she would have to be a great mistress, which does not sound as flattering as a great master! Then in June we will hear about the healing power of plants. Though we all know these are the source of most herbal remedies some of the compounds still used in more conventional modern medicines also derive from plants as do some potent poisons. I hope there is something there to stimulate your interest. As you know we are a relatively new committee and it has taken some time to find our feet and appreciate how much work our predecessors put in to keeping the show on the road. Our current published lecture program was compiled by our previous programme secretaries Janet Barker and Jill Engert but after November 2024 it will be the new secretaries who’ve organised things. The programme is in its final draft and looks excellent. (at least in our opinion!) Please feel free to make any suggestions for topics or lecturers you would like us to include in the future. We have had fantastic feedback for our lectures since September 2023 thanks to those of you who complete the forms, and appear to be getting a reputation amongst the lecturers as “ a good society to come to.” One of the key things that impresses them is our excellent IT. This is thanks to Ben Charles who is the “man in the box" at Queens. We owe the staff ,including the lovely Emma who is moving on, a great deal of thanks. We are planning on holding an extra meeting one evening in December 2024. It is hoped that this will give members an opportunity to meet each other and the committee. Provisionally it will be on Thursday 5th December. Further details to be announced in due course. Now that the evenings are getting lighter I hope we will see you in Queens Hall soon. Gillian Bryce |