Reading 1960: Barstow, Reid-Banks & Amis
Join us in discussing three short novels published in 1960. We’ll begin with The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid-Banks, a novel that looks back to the 1950s. For the second session we’ll consider Take a Girl Like You, by Kingsley Amis. For the … More details …
Reading 1936 part 1: Discussing Greengates, by RC Sherriff
Has this novel been undervalued in the past? RC Sherriff’s name is more commonly linked to his 1928 play, Journey’s End, a WWI drama, or with some of the Hollywood film scripts he wrote. He opens this novel on the … More details …
The Life and Art of Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch is known throughout the world for his iconic picture ‘The Scream’, but this great artist produced art of the highest quality for some sixty years. He depicted all stages of life in a colourful, varied and expressive way, … More details …
Reading 1936 part 3: Discussing South Riding, by Winifred Holtby
This much-loved novel has been adapted for screen four times. The first was completed in 1938. It’s also been dramatised for radio several times. What is it about this story that keeps writers and directors returning to it? Published posthumously, … More details …
Reading 1936 part 2: Discussing The Weather in the Streets, by Rosamond Lehmann
Virago Modern Classics described this novel as ‘years ahead of its time’. It was an instant best-seller, in Britain and France. Is it still a satisfying read? Lehmann presents us with characters who inhabit a different sphere of society to … More details …
Anthony Trollope’s The Last Chronicle of Barset
The sixth and final novel in Trollope’s Barsetshire Chronicles reunites us with a cast of characters we have come to know over the previous novels in the series and introduces us to a few new ones. The novel moves between … More details …
More Patchwork and Quilting
Make a lap-sized Sampler quilt whilst learning many different hand sewing patchwork techniques. Then quilt and assemble using a Quilt-As-You-Go method. Ideal for beginner and experienced sewers alike. Although a continuation of the previous 5 week course, all the basics … More details …
The Messiah G.F. Handel
Handel’s Messiah is a work that transcends, genre, and even time – it is the greatest choral work ever created and a piece that to this day brings joy to the world. Our day course will explore the origins of … More details …
A Century of Irish Poetry
Over the last hundred years, Ireland has produced an astonishingly rich range of poets from Yeats to Seamus Heaney and up to the present day. In this day course we will explore the works of men and women poets and … More details …
Two Novels by Kazuo Ishiguro
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017, Kazuo Ishiguro has written many fine novels. We shall be looking at two of these, The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, exploring their distinctive styles and … More details …
What is a Revolution?
Join Dr Jo Edwards for an exploration of historical revolutions. What is a revolution compared to a rebellion or a revolt? What do we mean by the term, and when is it misused? Was there an ‘Age of … More details …
Beginners Patchwork and Quilting
This is the first half of a hand sewing course. Starting with a basic Nine Patch Block then adding and building on skills each week, including applique, curved piecing, creating a three D effect, inset seams and hand quilting. The … More details …
Discussing Burmese Days by George Orwell
Join us on this day course to share your thoughts about Orwell’s depiction of Colonial Burma, in general and by looking closely at the characters, settings and scenes. There will be some background on the author and his legacy, … More details …
The Coen Brothers: from Blood Simple to Buster Scruggs
From their 1984 debut, Blood Simple, to their latest film, the Netflix funded The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel and Ethan Coen have established themselves as a unique creative force in modern cinema. The day will examine how, with films … More details …
The Small House at Allington: Trollope
The fifth novel of the Barchester Chronicles is The Small House at Allington. This novel introduces us to a new range of characters whilst still maintaining contacts with established favourites. The story concentrates around Lily Dale a character about whom … More details …