Wharf Talks

 

FEB 2nd       MY FAMILY IN CHINA 1878 – 2020                By Peter Brinsden                  

PETER BRINSDEN:  Returning to speak to us yet again, Peter is a retired Consultant Gynaecologist and Specialist in Reproductive Medicine. He served as a RN surgeon for 20 years, retiring from the Navy in 1982.

TALK: Peter’s family first went to China in 1980’s as American Presbyterian Missionaries where they served until the 1930’s. Peter was born in Peking (now Beijing) in 1940, the fourth generation to be born in China. Peter has visited China since then on many occasions in the last 30 years t conferences and as a lecturer. He holds four Honorary or Visiting Professorships in China and has le three international groups of Fellows of his Royal College on tours of China. In this talk Peter describes the China of the past, as seen through the eyes of his family, up to the present day. The lecture is heavily illustrated with archive and recent pictures.

 

FEB 9th        A BROKEN NHS and WHY SO HARD TO FIX   By Nigel Cowley                                                                                                                

NIGEL COWLEY: GP fro 40 years. 4 year term as a local councillor.

TALK:  Those in charge of the NHS (if indeed they really exist) would argue that Dr Cowley has no qualifications whatsoever for giving this talk. Indeed they would probably argue that the NHS has rarely been in better shape.

They would say he has never been a government minister or a government health ‘mandarin’ or a leader of business or an NHS manager or one of the myriad of consultants bought in to manage change in the NHS or a health economist.

They would look at his CV and note the only experience of relevance was the fact that he served a 4 year term as a local councillor - when to the credit of the local party it spent as much time on the front page of the local newspaper as its national counterpart.

He has however witnessed a myriad of changes to the NHS in his 40 year career as a doctor, the vast majority as a coal face GP. He will take you on a personal and national journey of the ups and downs of the NHS and its now seemingly inexorable decline. He has been witness to some breath-taking mismanagement (it is no coincidence that every major reinvention of the NHS occurs on April Fools Day). On at least 2 occasions governments have scored spectacular own goals, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

He will, for what it is worth, offer some possible ways forward to curing the NHS, although it is unlikely that anyone who has real power will listen.

 

FEB 16th        HISTORY OF MARY TAVI and WILLIAM CROSSING By Paul Rendell       

PAUL RENDELL: “Mr Dartmoor” is back with us yet again with more of his interesting stories and amazing   knowledge of Dartmoor.

TALK:  The life of William Crossing and how Mary Tavy became important industrial settlement.  William Crossing (1847–1928) was a writer and chronicler of Dartmoor opens a new window and the lives of its inhabitants. He lived part of his life in Mary Tavy and was buried at St. Mary's Church in the village.  Mary Tavy's history evolved from ancient settlement and farming to a major 18th/19th-century mining hub, famous for copper, tin, and lead, centred around massive water-powered machinery at mines like Wheal Friendship, with its name derived from St. Mary's church and the River Tavy. The village, within Dartmoor National Park, saw significant growth from mining, attracting industry before transitioning back to a rural community, leaving behind notable mining heritage and landmarks like Buller's Wheel.

 

FEB 23rd      YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: HISTORY, GAYSERS and WILDLIFE.                                                                                By  Ian Gasper                                       

IAN GASPER: Ian returns to us with his latest talk on his most recent travels. A former head teacher and much-travelled individual known to many through U3A and Probus.

 TALK:  This first ever National Park is a special place: its remoteness in terms of America’s early expansion, its geothermal activity sitting as it does on a super volcano, its wildlife nearer to the pre colonisation of the USA with buffalo, wolves, pronghorn and birds, all of these will be covered in this beautifully illustrated talk.

 

MAR 2nd ST JOHN’S CHAPEL, HOLY WELL and HERMITAGE     By Sharon Gedye

SHARON GEDYE:  an independent researcher and landscape blogger. With an academic background in physical geography, Sharon enjoys exploring all the things that go into making a landscape – its natural and cultural elements. Having taught hydrology, watery themes are a favourite.

TALK:   Today, all that remains of St John's is a 'holy well' which, based on research, is an Edwardian fake. This talk shows how St John's, on the south bank of the Tavy, used to be a religious site, a hospital, and hermitage, serving a role on the main road from the south into Tavistock, across the Great Bridge. The talk will consider the post-dissolution fate of St John's and its final destruction by the railway.

 

MAR 9thTHE LAST HUSKY DOG JOURNEY IN ANTARCTIC   By John Killingbeck

JOHN KILLINGBECK: Worked for FIDS/BAS in the Antarctic for 2 ½ years in the 1960’s. Drove those last huskies dogs and has spent some years lecturing on small ships in the Antarctic. Been on a Russian nuclear powered air-breaker to the North Pole and Franz Josef Land. Taught at Kelly College from 1964-1986

TALK: For 50 years The Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) used Husky dogs to support their scientific work.

This is a story of those dogs, their last journey in the Antarctic and their re-location to the Inuit in Labrador, Canada.

 

MAR  16th     A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND HOW THE TAVISTOCK THEODOLITE HELPED MAP THE WORLD                        By Paul Blowey

PAUL BLOWEY:  Paul grew up on a farm above Morwellham, educated here in Tavistock before training as a Land Surveyor in the early 1980’s, working all over the UK including 6 months in the Middle East.

Following a second career, teaching mainly in Okehampton, Paul is enjoying retirement and has been an active member of Tavistock Lions, for many years.

TALK:  ‘A brief introduction to the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain and how the Tavistock Theodolite helped map the World’

With Englands once World leading reputation as a manufacturer of theodolites under threat with smaller and more accurate versions being imported from other countries.  A meeting was held somewhere here in Tavistock in 1926 between the War Office, the Admiralty, the Ordnance Survey and the leading British Theodolite manufacturers.  At this meeting they compared the specifications of the current top versions and the firm Cooke, Troughton and Simms came up with their own version, named after this town where the meeting was held- but where?

 

MAR 23rdth     DARTMOOR PRISON IN POPPULAR CULTURE    By Paul Finegan

PAUL FINEGAN :  Paul Finegan has been a curator at Dartmoor Prison Museum since 2019. With a background in Museums and historical research he conducts various talks around the county on all aspects of the history of the prison. This will be his third appearance at The Wharf.

TALK: People who have never seen Dartmoor Prison will have heard about from various references in popular culture, not least the Sherlock Holmes Story, Hound of The Baskervilles. In this talk, Prison Museum Curator Paul Finegan highlights how Dartmoor Prison has been portrayed across various media including film, theatre, song and literature.

 

MAR 30th    KIT HILL                                                               By Chrissie Le Marchant

CHRISSIE LE MARCHANT:  A Geologist by initial training, working in prospecting, goldmining and civil

engineering. About 15 years + as a Countryside Officer managing Kit Hill, the Camel Trail and other Cornish sites and latterly self employed as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide all over the West Country and Wales, and as a Tour Manager all over the UK and Europe.

TALK:  The highest point in the Tamar Valley, just over 1000’ amsl, 333.4 m

A blip of granite between Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, with >10,000 archaeological features in its 400 acres (154Ha) … mostly holes in the ground.

Gifted to the people of Cornwall by the Duchy of Cornwall in 1985 to commemorate the birth of Prince William in 1982 and managed now by Cormac as a Country Park.

 

APR 6th      BANK HOLIDAY

 

APR 13th KERNOW TO THE CRYSTAL PALACE: THE REMARKABLE RAMBLINGS OF A CORNISH FISH WIFE                                                                           By Pamela Vass

PAMELA VASS :

TALK:  In August 1851 a curiously dressed, elderly woman was seen trudging along Southampton High Street. Passers by couldn’t fail to notice her, she wore a huge beaver bonnet and carried a corracle-like basket on her back. On being spoken to she said she was a Cornish fisherwoman, in her 84th year, and was walking to London from the Land’s End to see the Great Exhibition.

Mary Kelynack spent her entire life in the small community of Newlyn in the far west of Cornwall. Yet in 1851 she became so inspired by the wonders of the Great Exhibition in London that she resolved to go, one way or another. Travelling by boat or train was beyond her means but there was one thing she could do - walk. Before long she had become quite a celebrity - taking tea with the Lord Mayor, being interviewed by the Illustrated London News, modelled by a famous sculptor, having a polka named after her… and even greeting the Queen.

This illustrated presentation delves into the Cornish legend that is Mary Kelynack, creating a picture of her marathon journey and her adventures in London, including a visit to the spectacular Great Exhibition held in the Crystal Palace.

 

APR 20th FURTHER STORIES OF THE REMARKABLE PINWILL SISTERS        By Helen Wilson

HELEN WILSON:  retired University lecturer, who has applied her research skills to studying the life and work of the Pinwill sisters, ecclesiastical woodcarvers. This research led to numerous speaking engagements and developed into the publication of a book entitled ‘The Remarkable Pinwill Sisters’ in 2021.

TALK: Further Stories of the Remarkable Pinwill Sisters

The Pinwill woodcarving business, Rashleigh, Pinwill & Co. established in 1890, went on to become one of the best in the West Country, with over 650 pieces of work in more than 180 churches. After over a decade of travelling around Devon and Cornwall to visit numerous churches and give presentations, Helen has met many fascinating people, discovered more about the Pinwill work along the way, and accumulated many interesting stories about these remarkable women.                       This presentation follows on from her two previous talks and relates further stories from her experiences.

 

APR 27th THE DIALECT IN LOCAL DARTMOOR SONGS                  By Bill Murray

BILL MURRAY:

TALK:  The Dartmoor dialect lives on in the songs of our area. Bill has chosen eight songs from Dartmoor, seven are humorous, but they all contain dialect words and phrases that need to be explained in order to be understood by posh people or volks who don' cum vrim roun' yer.

Bill Murray moved to North Tawton in 1965. ''On the school bus to Okehampton all the youngsters were Devonshire born and bred; I had to learn their language to survive. I spent many Saturday nights listening to songs from older singers like Reggie Sandercock and Harry Bolt, at The White Hart Inn in the Town and in 1969, I met Bob Cann at The Seven Stars in South Tawton who drew me into his world of Dartmoor music, songs and traditions''.

 

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