Speaker Event

Anne Strathie is a researcher and writer of three biographies featuring Scotland’s Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers (the first Scot to the South Pole) and other members of Scott’s *Terra Nova* expedition. This talk will draw on Anne’s latest book, *A History of Polar Exploration in 50 Objects*, and feature objects associated with Scottish explorers including James Weddell of Leith, John and James Clark Ross, Dr Harry Goodsir (Franklin expedition), John Rae, William Speirs Bruce, ‘Birdie’ Bowers, geologist James Wordie (*Endurance*)and Aberdeen’s James ‘Scout’ Marr. **Tickets** - General admission – £15 - RSGS member – Free - Students and Under 18s – Free

A hugely popular speaker, Mark returns to explain how, in 2023, after a month of serious trekking through the mountains and wilderness of the awe-inspiring Cascade Range in America’s Pacific Northwest, it struck him as a good idea to cycle back home to the UK. Finding himself near the town of Boring, Oregon, he felt compelled to ride to the village of Dull, in Scotland, joining together two unlikely communities that are “paired for the ages” through their tedious names. And to make it more interesting, he went via Iceland! What unfolded was a unique trans-continental adventure of almost 4,000 miles, brought about by coincidence and an eye for opportunity. **Tickets are also available to buy at the door with cash or card** **Tickets** - General admission – £15 - RSGS member – Free - Students and Under 18s – Free

Sir Ernest Shackleton remains one of the most inspiring leadership figures and best loved polar explorers of all time. We hear a lot about his various expeditions, but less perhaps about that fact that Shackleton lived and worked in Scotland for a formative period of his life. Join our Chief Executive who will shed light on Shackleton’s life and his connections. It will outline the fundamental role of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and how Shackleton’s connections in Scotland played such a crucial part in furthering his aspirations and future endeavours. ***\*Tickets are also available to buy at the door with cash or card*** **Tickets** - General admission – £15 - RSGS member – Free - Students and Under 18s – Free

We’ve told supernatural tales at midwinter for a very long time. In this talk Kirsty Hartsiotis takes us back to the earliest winter tales of the Middle Ages and the age of Shakespeare and Marlowe. We then explore the lost years of the 17th and 18th centuries, where it’s often thought that Christmas wasn’t celebrated much – but ghost tales at Christmas-tide were very part of the season. In the 19th century many traditional Christmas ghost tales were collected, and even now it’s considered one of the spookiest times of the years. We draw on midwinter tales from all around Britain in this talk and explore links with European midwinter traditions. This is a special Christmas lecture that draws on Kirsty’s long experience as an oral storyteller and writer and teller of local ghost and folk tales. You may well come away with a shiver running down your spine and with seasonally spooky stories to share around your fireside at Christmas! **Kirsty Hartsiotis** was the curator of the decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham from 2008 to 2023. She is currently a curator at Swindon Museums, where she also worked prior to 2008. At Cheltenham she looked after the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection, which includes the important private press archive, the Emery Walker Library. She’s curated many exhibitions on the Arts and Crafts and Private Press Movements, including Ernest Gimson: Observation, Imagination & Making. Passionate about sharing her deep love for and knowledge of the arts, she’s also a freelance researcher, currently researching Arts and Crafts war memorials and the work of Arts and Crafts designers in churches in the South West. She’s also been an oral storyteller for over 20 years, and has published a number of collections of stories. She’s the Editor of the Journal of William Morris Studies, and was the newsletter editor for Society of Decorative Art Collections. She is a regular columnist for Cotswold Life, and writes for diverse other publications on art history and folklore. Guests are warmly welcomed at lectures, in person or online. Guest tickets are £10 and are available on the door, on the [TASDAG](http://www.tasdag.org.uk/) website or at [Midsteeple Box Office](http://www.dgboxoffice.co.uk/). **Tickets** - £10 – guest tickets

John, descended from one of Edinburgh’s most distinguished mapmaking families, draws on his book, *Mapping the Pentland Hills*, to explore how generations of mapmakers captured this much-loved landscape and, in doing so, revealed changing attitudes to geography, settlement, land use and natural resources. From the earliest surviving maps to modern cartographic interpretations, he traces how the Pentlands have been perceived, recorded and transformed over nearly four centuries. Combining a lifelong passion for cartography with a deep affection for the Pentlands, this highly visual and thought-provoking talk offers a fascinating journey through time. Offering a fresh perspective on a familiar Scottish landscape, it invites audiences to see the hills through the eyes of those who mapped them. ***\*Tickets are also available to buy at the door with cash or card*** **Tickets** - General admission – £15 - RSGS member – Free - Students and Under 18s – Free

Isolated by natural barriers, Chile is remarkable for its geographical and biological diversity, with the world’s driest desert, highest volcanoes and physical dimensions that frustrate cartographers – this talk brings together a unique blend of cultural observations, geographical description, and remarkable landscapes. A keen observer of landscape and people, Bruce Gittings is enthralled by Chile and will be sharing his passion for this intriguing country, arguing that Chile’s culture owes as much to Britain as it does to Spain, and that its recent history remains shaped by the descendent of a French immigrant. ***\*Tickets are also available to buy at the door with cash or card*** **Tickets** - General admission – £15 - RSGS member – Free - Students and Under 18s – Free

Julie Summers, best-selling author, will talk about her most recent book, *The Everest Mystery,* which tells the story of the fascinating search for the truth about Sandy Irvine, her great uncle. She will introduce her audience to a young man who was nicknamed Sandy by his Scottish Irvine cousins in 1909 and who lived life with exceptional energy and enjoyment, detailing his brief but action-packed life in the lead up to his disappearance high on the slopes of Mount Everest with George Mallory in June 1924. His inclusion in the 1924 Everest expedition has often been questioned but this talk will, she hopes, lay that to rest and give him his rightful place in the history of the mystery of Mallory and Irvine ***\*Tickets are also available to buy at the door with cash or card*** **Tickets** - General admission – £15 - RSGS member – Free - Students and Under 18s – Free