NEWS FROM NOWHERE CLUB
Patron: Peter Hennessy
‘Fellowship is life and the lack of fellowship is death.’ William Morris
PROGRAMME 2015
VENUE Epicentre, West St. Leytonstone
E11 4LJ
TIMES 7.30 Buffet: please bring
something 8.00 Talk and
questions/discussion
TRAVEL
Leytonstone or Stratford tube, 257 bus or Leytonstone High Rd overground, short
walk
All welcome, just turn up. Free.
Donations welcome. Car park. Quiet kids welcome.
Enquiries: 0208
555 5248 or 07443 480 509 info@newsfromnowhere
club.org.
Saturday 10 January 2015 Bollington: Utopia in Cheshire?
and Letchworth Garden City: Health of the Country,
Comforts of the Town Speakers:
Jim Hoyle & William Armitage
Jim moved
from Birmingham to Bollington in 2012, having fallen in love with it. He has
not been disappointed. His talk will consider every aspect of this unique
Cheshire town. Its history, rich cultural life, demographics and campaigns will
be covered in a witty presentation……. In 1898 Ebenezer Howard, Letchworth’s founder, had
a vision: through careful planning we could elevate many of the desperately
poor living & working conditions in towns & villages. Today Letchworth remains close to its
original ideals. William, Board Member of Letchworth Heritage Foundation,
was Managing Director of David's Bookshop in Letchworth for 40 years.
Saturday
14 February 2015 The Bethnal Green Tube
Shelter Disaster
Speaker: Joy
Puritz
One
evening in March 1943, 173 people, including 62 children, were crushed to death
trying to enter a station shelter. This talk is a description of the
circumstances which led to the worst civilian disaster of WWII in this country,
whether it could have been avoided & if anyone was to blame. Many have
thought there was a cover up. Poignant anecdotes will be related. Joy has been
closely involved in the Bethnal Green Memorial Project, an oral history project
organised by the University of East London & has studied witness statements
taken for the Government enquiry in 1943, interviewed survivors, shown visitors
around the memorial sculpture & written texts for the project’s archive
& guidebook.
Saturday
14 March 2015 The Life of Bees Speaker: Ian Nichols
Ian,
a local beekeeper and active member and Trustee of Essex Beekeepers
Association, initiated, as Annual Conference Chair in 2013, a forum on ‘Plants,
Pollinators and Pesticides’, with lectures by leading experts. He has worked
with prominent figures in the bee world, has done much to promote awareness of
the plight of bees in the wider community & was delighted with the award of
First Prize and Best in Show for his honey & photography at the Essex Show
in 2014. He will give his high speed talk covering: A Short History of the
Honey Bee, Life inside the Hive, Bee Products, Danger & Threats to Bees. He
will also be selling his award winning honey.
Saturday 11 April 2015 'The most lovable
figure’: George Lansbury and East End politics Speaker: Professor John
Shepherd
'The
most lovable figure in modern politics' was how A.J.P. Taylor described
Christian socialist and pacifist, George Lansbury. At 73 the former rebel in
1932 took over the helm of the Labour Party of only 46 MPs in the Depression
years. Throughout a remarkable life, the immensely popular Lansbury remained an
extraordinary politician of the people, associated with a multitude of crusades
for women's enfranchisement, social justice and universal disarmament. He was
twice jailed for his political beliefs in 1913 over 'votes for women'
and during the 1921 'Poplar Rates Revolt,’ when 30 Labour councillors
willingly went to prison in defiance of the government, the courts and their
own party leadership. Lansbury never sought personal wealth, travelled
everywhere by public transport and made his family home in impoverished East
London. His final years were spent in a tireless international crusade,
including visits to Hitler and Mussolini in 1937, to prevent the drift towards
another world war.
Saturday
9 May 2015 Permaculture: Working with
Nature Speaker: Ros
Bedlow
Take
a walk in Epping Forest. Trees, grasses, fungi, birds, insects, squirrels,
foxes, all going about their business. Things change, but the forest keeps
going: sustainable in the true sense of the word. What is it about an ecosystem
like this that keeps it going & can we learn anything from it?
Permaculture, developed in Australia in the 1970s as a response to agricultural
practices which were degrading the land, was based on observation of nature
& provided a framework for designing sustainable food growing systems. Ros
has taught permaculture since the 1980s
& is particularly interested in the way permaculture ethics &
principles can be applied to groups, communities, indeed to any system, to
increase their sustainability.
Saturday 13 June 2015 “It’s the Monarchy, Stupid”: Why the Crown is the Biggest Obstacle
to Constitutional Reform Speaker: Graham Smith
The
monarchy is the keystone of the British constitution & the source of
political & royal power, the wellspring of the establishment’s culture of
pomposity & authority. Yet it is wrong in principle, wrong in
practice & bad for British politics, the antithesis of the democratic
spirit that drives ever-growing demands for reform & the biggest obstacle
to the radical reform Britain needs. Arguments about devolution, localism
& city mayors miss the point: the democratic revolution must happen in
Westminster first. Without a seismic shift in our political system’s foundation, all else is tinkering at the
edges of a fundamentally flawed system. Graham is the Chief Executive Officer
of Republic campaign.
Saturday
11 July (part of the Leytonstone Festival) “All's Well": A Musical Journey to Antarctica Speaker/
Performer: Jake Wilson
In 2012, guitarist & songwriter Jake
Wilson released "All's Well", a collection of songs marking the
centenary of the deaths of Captain Scott & his polar party on their return
journey from the South Pole. In 2013, Jake received unique permission to
travel to Antarctica & perform his songs in the actual hut where Scott
& his team lived & worked before setting out for the Pole. Jake will be
talking about Scott & his companions, performing his songs & discussing
his own extraordinary musical expedition to Antarctica. For more information: www.jakewilsonmusic.com
Saturday 8 August 2015 ‘It Happened Here’ Speaker: Kevin Brownlow
Kevin
Brownlow, the British film restorer, historian & director recently awarded
an honorary Oscar for lifetime services to cinema, will talk
about his first film It Happened Here, co-directed with
Andrew Mollo when both were teenagers: a counter-factual history of Britain
under Nazi occupation in the closing year of World War Two. Often described as
the best amateur film ever made, superb in its authenticity & attention to
period detail, it contained scenes in which genuine British Nazis were allowed
to expound their views, leading to its being misinterpreted & condemned by
many as pro-Nazi. Kevin, who visited Hamburg in 2014 for the film’s
first public showing in Germany, will talk & show us excerpts of his film.
Saturday 12 September
2015 James Pound, Rector of Wanstead, Natural Philosopher and Astronomer Speaker: Dr John Fisher
In
1707 James Pound survived a massacre at an outpost of the East India Company
near Cambodia. He navigated a small ship through pirate-infested waters. In
1709 he was appointed Rector of Wanstead by Sir Richard Child. Pound, a
Fellow of the Royal Society, sought a solution to the problem of determining
the longitude at sea, before the Longitude Prize was instituted. From
1710 Wanstead became a leading centre of scientific research. Pound worked
with Edmond Halley and Isaac Newton. Pound's nephew, James Bradley, became the
first to demonstrate that the Earth was in motion. The work at
Wanstead led to the solution of determining longitude at sea. Dr John
Fisher lives in Forest Gate, was a factory worker without any educational
qualifications, was one of the first Open University students and
later lectured in the history of science at Imperial College, London.
Saturday 10
October 2015 Walking with Passion: A One Way Ticket to
Jarrow Speaker:
Carole Vincent
Journeying from Jarrow to Trafalgar Square, a group of people from all
walks of life came together in August 2014, planning to walk an historic route
first taken by the Jarrow March for Jobs on 2 October 1936. However, this was
the first of its kind to enlighten communities on route of the devastating privatisation
of our NHS & to muster support for the 'Call999fortheNHS' Campaign.
Carole tells her story of those three weeks & why she walked the 300 miles.
Saturday 14 November 2015 Trauma, Grief and
Resilience in Gaza Speakers: Dr Mohamed
Altawil and David Harrold
What
does it means to be a child in Gaza? You may be surprised by answers from Dr
Mohamed Altawil & David Harrold of Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) who work
with a trauma centre in Gaza helping children & families. The situations
are often harrowing; but the people, especially the children, can be inspiring.
Mohamed & David will show the work of the trauma team, recite some poetry
& discuss future prospects for these wonderful children who have
experienced eight years of siege & four brutal invasions.
Saturday 12 December
2015 The Direct Path to Enlightenment Speaker: Vanaraji
How can we live in a
better world? Changing our mind changes the world. The teachings of the Buddha
help us change how we think & give us a new perspective on life that leads
to freedom from suffering, for ourselves & others. Vanaraji, an
Ordained Buddhist in the Triratana Buddhist Order, will give an overview
of Buddhist principles & practices that free us from mundane consciousness
& help us experience more vividly the Enlightened world.
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