The Abinger Eighty Club was formed in 1972 to provide lectures and talks to its members in the winter months. It got its name from the original number of members; it had nothing to do with its members' ages! It has recently been renamed as above.
The talks are on the first Monday of the month from October to March, and they cover a wide range of subjects, including travel, art, music, literature, architecture, science, history and natural history. They are mainly given by professional speakers and illustrated with slides or other material. The current season featured talks on "St Petersburg", "Behind the scenes at the House of Lords" (very funny - given by a former Principal Doorkeeper), "A Ranger at the Grand Canyon", "John Betjeman and English Architecture", "Salvador Dali Explained" and "Forestry in Iran".
Meetings are held in Abinger Hammer Village Hall, with coffee at 19:30 and the talk at 20:00, followed by questions. Membership is currently £22 per year which is incredibly good value at under £4 per meeting. See
Events page here for forthcoming meetings.
The schedule for the season is as follows:
- 3rd October 2011. The witty and erudite Dean of Guildford, the Very Revd. Victor Stock, will speak on "The Power of Imagination: The Dean and the Gallery", the fruit of his visits to Galleries and Museums all over the world.
- 17th October 2011. Ralph and Brenda Todd will give their talk "On the Trail of the Crane" postponed from last December. Ralph is RSPB Local Representative for the South East.
- 7th November 2011. The distinguished academic Professor Michael Wheeler, Ruskin scholar and curator of the exhibition Reading the Book of Books: Then and Now (in Winchester Cathedral until 3 Oct.) will come to give his lecture "Habitual Music: Ruskin and his Contemporaries reading the King James Bible" (to celebrate its 400th anniversary.
- 5th December 2011. "Trompe l’oeil: The Art of Illusion" is the title of Tom Errington’s fascinating talk. Tom has been a practising artist, gilder and painter of murals and trompe l’oeil for more than 25 years.
- 9th January 2012. We shall hear from Susan Purcell on "The History of Dictionaries".
- 6th February 2012. Terry Stevens a National Trust volunteer will tell us all about "Tyntesfield - a 19th Century House for the 21st Century". Tyntesfield is a “time warp” house near Bristol, and we hope to put on an outing there in the summer of 2012.
- 5th March 2012. The season will end with a welcome return visit from John Pilkington. His title is "A Stroll through the Axis of Evil" and takes in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Jordan, gaining added relevance since the “Arab Spring” of 2011.
We welcome new members; please contact the Honorary Secretary
William Crane Tel: 01306 731292 email:
cranem@btinternet.com