Join Margaret for a seasonal hour of Christmas bygones and entertainment as she brings to life the joy of music through the ages at this time of year. She will be delving into the history of the harp and it’s incredible pedal mechanism and exploring  some of the old Christmas Carols and their origins. Margaret will play a selection of festive favourites to get you in the mood for Christmas.

Margaret Watson studied harp under the late Sidonie Goossens OBE and Sussex harpist Helen Arnold. She holds a Diploma in Music Performance on the harp and is also a Fellow of The Guild of Musicians and Singers. Now one of the busiest harpists in the Southeast, Margaret has played for Royalty, given concerts at National Trust properties, played at City Guildhall, Clarence House, The Garrick Club, The Savoy, Ritz, Dorchester and Hilton Langham Hotels in London, Glyndebourne Opera House, Covent Garden and for many weddings, private parties, group meetings, receptions, launches, corporate, civic and charity functions.

This lecture will be preceeded by the AGM
and followed by the Winter Lunch

This lecture explores the life and legacy of Edward Adrian Wilson, the esteemed British physician, naturalist, and artist, best known as Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s trusted companion during the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica (1910–1913). Wilson’s profound passion for the Antarctic wilderness is, as he expressed it, 'a prayer'. His delicate and evocative watercolour paintings remain some of the earliest and most artistic visual records of this remote and hostile environment.

Katherine MacInnes, the lecturer, first started researching polar history when her husband climbed Everest in 2006 and her children were 10 months, 3 and 5. She looked to history and found inspiration from the invisible women – mothers, wives, widows – throughout exploration’s history.  From all this research, she wrote Snow Widows – Scott’s Fatal Antarctic Expedition Through the Eyes of the Women They Left Behind (HarperCollins 2022) and Woman with the Iceberg Eyes: Oriana F. Wilson (History Press 2019). 

Katherine has been shortlisted for the Biographer’s Prize and is a sought after public speaker on polar history around the globe, from Norway to the Royal Geographical Society. 

Toby Faber tells the story of the making of the Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs: both the artistry and creativity that they embody, and how their designs link to the history of the last two Romanov Tsars.

Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Fabergé made fifty jewelled eggs – Easter presents from Russia’s last two emperors to their wives. They have become the most famous surviving symbols of the Romanov Empire: both supreme examples of the jeweller’s art and the vulgar playthings of a decadent court. Given almost total artistic freedom, Fabergé and his designers had to conform to only three rules: that each year’s Easter present should be egg-shaped, that it should contain some surprise to amuse or delight its recipient, and that it should be different from any predecessor. The result was a series of creations demonstrating ingenuity and creativity for which there are few parallels in any other field. The lecture is illustrated with pictures of the Romanovs and their palaces, and, of course, with photographs of the eggs themselves.   

Toby is an experienced lecturer and public speaker who has been accredited by The Arts Society since 2012. He has spent five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press. Toby has written three narrative histories: Stradivarius – Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius; Faberge’s Eggs; and Faber & Faber – The Untold Story, as well as a novel, Close to the Edge. Of these, only the obvious one is published by the family firm.