Arts Society Chipstead

Special Interest Day

Wednesday  18th June 2025

Paradise, Beauty and Botanical Enlightenment

Lecturer -  Timothy Walker. Botanist, Gardener  and Author

Timothy read Botany at University College Oxford. From 1988 to 2014 he was director (Horti Praefectus) at the Oxford Botanic Garden during which time the garden won 4 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show. Since 2014 he has been a tutor in Plant Biology at Somerville College Oxford.

At: The Community Hall, Park Road, Banstead, SM7 3AJ

              9.30  Registration and coffee

             10.00  The evolution of the creation of gardens

             11.00  Coffee/tea break

             11.30  The garden as art

             12.30  Lunch

             13.30  A life among plants

             15.00  Finish

Cost - £40 which includes a packed lunch

Click this link for the application form  SID TW form 2025

We are providing a lecture for the festival on Friday, 24th May at 7.30 p.m. entitled Two Hundred Years of the National Gallery. More information about the lecture and the lecturer can be found in the News section of the website.

Our Special Interest Day held in the Community Hall on Saturday 23rd March was a great success.     Our speaker Mark Cottle led 62 members and visitors eloquently, delivering three lectures on the subject of Polar Exploration.   Mark took us from the depth of tragedy to the heights of triumph.    We heard tales of dreadful suffering and death, but also amazing feats of heroism which demonstrated incredible grit and determination in the face of what seemed impossible odds.    The story of Shackleton and the Endurance which was the subject of the last lecture held us all spellbound.    The photos, paintings and drawings with which Mark illustrated his lectures were fascinating and brought a whole new edge to the story.

Coffee and biscuits, a delicious picnic box lunch for everyone delivered to the hall by Edibles and a glass of wine complemented Mark’s lectures.    Altogether it was a day to remember.

Few stories in exploration are as fascinating as the early attempts to find a way through the North-West Passage and the expeditions to be first at the North and South Poles.

In the most hostile environments on earth, men perished, survived and occasionally triumphed. This is their story.

The day school will focus on three areas: 

1. The search for the North West Passage, from Frobisher and Davis in the 16th century to Roald Amundsen in the early 20th century. 

This search was to overlap with various attempts, some as desperate as they were imaginative, to reach the North Pole.  These expeditions culminated in the Englishman, Wally Herbert’s remarkable journey at the end of the 1960s. 

2. Robert Scott, Roald Amundsen and the Race to the South Pole. 

With the help of the evocative photographs of Scott’s photographer, Herbert Ponting, this session focuses on the so-called Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, in particular the journeys by Robert Scott and his rival, Roald Amundsen to be first at the South Pole.

3. Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition. 

This session focuses on one of the most dramatic escapes from disaster in polar history.  Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, got trapped and eventually crushed in the pack ice.  With the help of the expedition’s photographs by Frank Hurley, we will follow the saga of this escape against the odds. 

Tutor 

Mark Cottle was born on the Isles of Scilly and educated at Truro School in Cornwall and Birmingham University.  He has spent his career, at home and abroad, in teaching, training and lecturing.

The aim of the day is that it should be interesting, enjoyable and thought-provoking.  I hope it will also stimulate further reading of an endlessly fascinating subject. 

The Arts Society Chipstead

CANCELLED

SPECIAL INTEREST DAY – SATURDAY OCTOBER 21st

With very great regret, we have to announce the cancellation of the Special Interest Day on Pots and Porcelain on 21st October. Our lecturer, Lars Tharp, has cracked a rib and is unable to lecture. 

We are extremely sad about this and will process refunds to everyone who booked a place as quickly as possible. This may take a little time so please bear with us.

Special Interest Day - Saturday 22 October
The Housekeeper's Tale
given by Tessa Boase

Well what a treat!  Beautifully researched, this Special Interest Day tells the story of life below stairs of three formidable Housekeepers who ran Britain's country houses, given by Tessa Boase.    

Tessa has brought to life and given deserved recognition to three otherwise invisible women, Sarah Wells of Uppark, Hannah MacKenzie of Wrest Park and Grace Higgens of Charleston, tracking their fortunes during a period of relentless social change.  Each one is unusual in some way and not the stereotypical housekeeper you might expect.

Mughals and Rajputs: Courts and Palaces of India

A look at the art, architecture and magnificent royal courts of the Mughal emperors of India, whose creative building culminated in that most sublime of monuments, the Taj Mahal. The Rajput rajas and maharajas, subject first to the Mughals and then the British, were well rewarded for their loyalty and service. They built majestic fort-palaces in their state capitals where they held glittering courts and sponsored artists and craftsmen.

Sue Rollin works as a Tour Guide in both India and the Middle East. She was formerly a tutor and lecturer in Assyriology and Ancient History at the Universities of London and Cambridge.

This event is cancelled

It was with a certain amount of trepidation that the committee met up at The Community Hall on 14th March.  Having been instructed to stay away from large gatherings we wondered how many of those who had reserved places would actually come. We had received a few apologies.....but how many would turn up?

The Hall was prepared..... chairs spaced rather further away from each other than usual....then wiped down with disinfectant wipes.  The tables for lunch were set up.....cleansed and covered with cloths.  Notices were put up advising people to clean their hands.  And then the wait.....would they come?...of course they would....and they did.

Our lecturer Mark Hill gave two lectures in the morning. In ‘Undressing Antiques’ he explained that collecting antiques was something we could all do and that it was not an interest exclusively for those with an enormous bank balance.  He showed examples of items which were very collectible, not expensive and most importantly pleasing to the eye.

After coffee and biscuits we had the second lecture, ‘Cracking Glass’, which explored the different glassmakers, their styles, their technique, and the value of their work in today’s market.

Both lectures were excellently illustrated and delivered in a very easy and entertaining manner.  Definitely an Arts Society rating of Outstanding .....times two!

After an excellent lunch, brought to us by Edibles of Banstead, served by committee members, resplendent in aprons and protective gloves, and wine provided by The Society, we settled down to listen to Mark’s views on the interesting variety of ‘treasures’ brought by members. His knowledge of the various items, their provenance, use and histories kept us all enthralled.  Indeed there was not time for him to scrutinise all the items but he very kindly agreed to talk to people individually when the session ended.  It certainly was an excellent day.

Thanks must go not only to Mark for such an outstanding day but also to Alice Baines, who had so carefully organised the day and thought of many measures to make it safe - and then was unable to attend as she herself was unwell!

Lecturer Mark Hill:

Following a degree in the History of Art and Architecture (BA Hons) Mark worked at Bonhams and Sotheby’s where he became a specialist in the Collectors department. He has travelled and lectured widely, is a co author of the biennial international “Miller’s Collectable Price Guide”, a publisher, a columnist for The Daily Mail and Homes & Antiques magazine. He is more widely known to the general public as an expert on the Antiques Roadshow since 2007 and other television programmes featuring antiques. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and is also a Freeman of the City of London.  

Please click here for further details.