Speakers Corner

Monthly talks at Claygate Village Hall on the first Wednesday of the month at 2pm

Thirty Years in an Aluminium Tube

July 2nd Presenter: Chris Green

My career was as a commercial pilot for 31 years, with British Airways, flying short-haul, long-haul, and charter flights. Following initial training, I spent 12 years flying what was then BEA’s flagship, the de Havilland Trident.

My next aircraft was also a tri-jet, though rather larger – the Lockheed TriStar. This will be remembered, though perhaps not always with affection, by anyone who flew on a British AirTours package tour in the 1970s or 1980s.

The aircraft on which I finished my career was the Boeing 777. At the time this was something of a novelty, being fly-by-wireand very much computer-based, but this has now become commonplace.

Chris Green

Chris was born in Camberwell and has never lived far from London. Hissympathies are entirely with Dr Samuel Johnson, who famously said “Whena man is tired of London, he is tired of life . . .”.A favourite pastime is walking around parts of London, investigating the tiny byways, passageways and flights of steps that are known only to the locals and which the commuter and businessman never visits.

Caversham Park’s 930 years at the centre of history

August 6th Presenter: Dr Stephen Goss

The Cavendish Park estate on the north bank of the Thames was first recorded in the Doomsday Book and has played a central role in British and international history for nearly a millennium.

It was the seat of William Marshall, the so-called ‘best knight whoever lived’ and was owned by cousins of Elizabeth I, who gave their name to current streets in Reading. It was a prison for Charles I and played a role in the Glorious Revolution, the War of Spanish Succession and had connections to the American War of  Independence.

The estate became a refuge in the WW1, and was taken over by the BBCduring WW2, when it became a centre for intelligence throughout the Second World War, the Cold War and the ‘War on Terror’.

Dr Stephen Goss

Stephen is a former lecturer in history at Queen’s University Belfast. A published academic, his area of focus is 19th and 20^th Century British, Irish and Imperial history, with a specialism in the Cold War. He has been a popular speaker for over fifteen years and is a private tour guide at the Churchill War Rooms in London.

Working for Auntie:behind the scenes at the BBC as a graphic designer

September 3rd Presenter:- Christine Green

Christine’s talk will explain how some of the productions she worked on at the BBC were created, from the first briefing to transmission, many of which will be well known to you. They included 'Our Friends in the North', 'Island Race’, ‘Foyles War’ and the ‘Queen’s Christmas Speech’.

Christine will tell us about some of the famous people she met and her BAFTA nomination; showing us storyboards, moving sequences and some unexpected stitch related items (she is a passionate stitcher who has written a book about needlepoint.

Christine Green

Inspired by 'Vision On' and 'Blue Peter', Christine decided at an early age that she wanted to make pictures for television Having completed a degree in graphic design at Kingston Polytechnic, she realised this dream when an assistant job came up at Television Centre. She worked for the BBC for 13 years creating the opening title sequences for some of the best loved BBC programmes.