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Programme 2025

Tuesday 11th February 2025

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A Brief Story of Wine

Presented by David Wright

Wine has been part of our global society for over 7,000 years, and the story tells of its origin and appearance in...

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Thursday 27th February 2025

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There are now only a few places remaining for:

Special Interest Day 10:30am to 3:15pm

Unravelling the Silk Road:

Wool, Cotton, Silk.

Presented by Chris Aslan

Multiple Silk Roads created an overlapping network that linked communities, objects & ideas, cultures & religions from Japan & Eastern Asia to Scandinavia & Britain.

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This Special Interest Day will be held at Beech Village Hall commencing at 10:00am for 10:30am start untill 3:15pm approx.

CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 11th March 2025

The Field of Cloth of Gold; 6000 Englishmen in France for 18 days - How Did They Do It?

Presented by Joanna Mabbutt

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June 1520 Henry VIII and Francis I meet to ratify an Anglo-French alliance and celebrate the betrothal of Henry’s daughter Mary to the Dauphin.

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Thursday 20th March 2025

11:00am to 1:30pm

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Headmasters House

Winchester College

College Street, Winchester.

Visit to Winchester College

Showcasing one of the most famous academic institutions in Britain, which dates back to 1382, this two-hour guided tour includes  the Treasures and Archive of the College, the Treasury Museum, and its stunning medieval library. We will also learn the history of the College through the books, rare art and ancient artifacts. It will be a most interesting morning visit.

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This visit is now fully booked. If you would like to join a short waiting list please complete the booking form below.

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Porters Lodge

Winchester College

College Street, Winchester.

SO23 9NA

Thursday 3rd to

Tuesday 8th April 2025

5 day visit to The Historic Houses

& Heritage of Yorkshire

Including:

Hardwick Hall

A guided walking tour of Harrogate

Fountains Abbey

Studley Royal Water Gardens

Beningborough Hall & Gardens

Aldborourgh Roman site

Rippon Cathedral

Ripley Castle

Renishaw Hall & Gardens

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Tuesday 8th April 2025

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Double Dutch symbols, emblems, double-entendre in Dutch genre paintings

Presented by Lynne Gibson

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The merchants of seventeenth century Holland filled their town houses with paintings. A favourite subject was scenes of everyday life: depicting behaviour both good … and bad. 

But these upright Calvinist citizens rejected Catholic Baroque melodrama.

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 13th May 2025

Dame Laura Knight: from Newlyn to Nuremburg

Presented by Bernard Allan

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Laura Knight was the first artist to be made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British

Empire, and in 1936 she became the first woman elected to the Royal Academy since 1768

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 10th June 2025

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The Medieval Guildhall

Presented by Ian Swankie

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In the centre of the City of London stands its ancient headquarters, the medieval Guildhall, one of the capital’s hidden gems.

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 9th September 2025

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Prague - The City of the Winter Queen

Presented by Douglas Skeggs

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Prague is one of the great treasure houses of Europe. Reduced to a near ruin under the communists, it has now been restored to its former glory

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 14th October 2025

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The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Architecture of Frank Gehry

Presented by Siân Walters

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Bilbao is now the Basque Country's most important city thanks in no small part to the impact of the Guggenheim Museum, completed in 1997 to huge critical and popular acclaim and described by the celebrated late architect Philip Johnson as "the greatest building of our time”. 

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 11th November 2025

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The Art of Atonement; How Germany commemorates the Second World War

Presented by Angela Findlay

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In the context of our World War centenaries, anniversaries and the current debate about statues and monuments, the subject of this talk is hugely relevant. In this country, relatively little is known about Germany’s complex post-WW2 process....

 

This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 9th December 2025

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A Very Ceremonial Christmas

Presented by Graham Jones

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This very light-hearted lecture, looks at the various ceremonial events that take place around Christmas time. Carol services, concerts and even Changing

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Programme 2026

Tuesday 13th January 2026

The Virgins of the National Gallery

Presented by Anthony Russell

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The National Gallery has an extraordinarily rich collection of images of the Virgin Mary, especially for a nation that formally broke the ties with the Church in Rome. It is sometimes

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 10th February 2026

The Art of Courtly Love

Presented by Sally Dormer

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“Love is a certain inborn suffering, derived from the sight of and excessive meditation upon the beauty of the opposite sex”.

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 10th March 2026

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Brett Whitely's Lavender Bay

Presented by Paul Chapmen

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Brett Whiteley is one of Australia’s most admired painters. After spending the 1960s in London and New York, Whiteley returned to Sydney in 1970 and made Lavender Bay...

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 8th April 2026

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In the National Interest:

Art, The Sun King and the Academic Revolution

Presented by Richard Whincop

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​The Academie Royale de peinture et de Sculpture was founded in 1648 under Louis XIV of France, the 'Sun King', and placed the visual arts under direct royal control.

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 12th May 2026

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Wonderful Things Tutankhamun's Tombs and Treasurers

Presented by Lucia Gahlin

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The unearthing of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 was arguably the greatest of all archaeological discoveries. The name of this boy-king...

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 14th June 2026

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What Really Happened at the Yellow House in Aires in 1888?

Presented by Julian Halsby

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In October 1888 Paul Gauguin arrived in Arles to stay at the Yellow House with Vincent van Gogh. At first the friendship worked well...

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 8th September 2026

Banksy - Fraud or Genius

Presented by PepeMartinez

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The lecture will trace the story of Banksy’s humble beginnings as a tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980’s to one of the most recognisable names in the art world.

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

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Tuesday 13th October 2026

She Loves You, Music of the 60's

Presented by Steve King

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By 1960 interest in rock ‘n’ roll had started to fade, its biggest star was moving on and a new generation of teenagers were seeking something different.

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 10th November 2026

Osborne, Pinter and Co; Post War British Theatre

Presented by Giles Ramsey

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In 1956 British theatre audiences heard a harsh new voice in John Osborne's play "Look Back in Anger". Within two years Pinter's extraordinary play "The Birthday Party"....
 

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

Tuesday 8th December 2026

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht

The story of the world-renowned Christmas carol

Presented by Peter Medhurst

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The Austrian carol Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht - Silent Night, Holy Night - came into being just over 1800 years after the birth of Christ, and....

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This lecture will be held at Martin Read Hall at Alton College commencing at 7:30pm (doors open 6:45pm) CLICK HERE to see directions.

© 2025 The Arts Society Alton

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