LECTURES AND TALKS

David Winpenny talks on a range of subjects, including architectural and landscape history, country houses, pyramids and follies - and about the first ascent of the Matterhorn.


 NIJINSKY'S CAMEL -
Gladys, Second Marchioness of Ripon and Patron of the Arts
Gladys de Grey, later Marchioness of Ripon, was a late 19th-century 'fast ' woman, who eventually married 'the greatest shot in England'.  She rescued a moribund Covernty Garden Opera and introduced the Ballet Russe to Britain.

Longer synopsis

 UP TO A POINT -
Pyramids
in Britain and Ireland
Looking at the many structures in Britain buiit in the form of a pyramid -
 from monuments to offices, follies to garden ornaments.


SCANDAL, SPITE AND SHUTTLECOCKS - Wentworth Woodhouse

 The history and architecture of Wentworth Woodhouse, Britain's largest and least-known country house - and its dysfunctional families

A VERY DANGEROUS WORK’ - Gilbert Scott and the restoration of Ripon Cathedral

The life of architect Gilbert Scott and, using Ripon Cathedral as an example, an outline of how he rescued a cathedral from collapse and restored it to its current state.

EDWIN LUTYENS - 'A Singular and Delightful Man' : The life and work of the most famous British architect of the 20th century, from his early country houses, through his work in New Delhi to his final years.

OPENING THE DOORS - A brief history of country house visiting : how from the earliest days large houses and castles were open to guests, and how, over the centuries, guests became visitors and then tourists as owners adapted to new demands and new economic circumstances.

SCIENCE AND SAND : Piazzi Smyth, astronomer and pyramid fanatic : Smyth, who undertook serious scientific research into spectrospcopy and meteorology, was a pioneer of photography - and believed that the Great Pyramid held the secrets of the universe.

HACKFALL - A landscape back from the brink : Hackfall, recently rescued from a century of neglect, is an 18th-century Romantic garden of trees, water and follies, designed by the creator of nearby Studley Royal in North Yorkshire.
ECCENTRICS, EXOTICS AND ERRATICS - Buildings in gardens : looking at garden structures in a variety of styles, including Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Hindu, Egyptian, Druidic and Prehistoric.

THE PLOT THICKENS - A brief history of landscape gardens : from prehistory to the 21st century.

COPYING THE CLASSICAL - Garden buildings in the Greek and Roman styles : the classically-inspired buildings that play such an important role in 18th and 19th century gardens – in styles from the classical to the dotty.

GOING WITH THE FLOW - Garden cascades, fountains, waterfalls and lakes : water has always played an important part in gardens, from the days of the ancient Egyptians to the 21st century.

ARCHITECTURAL FOLLIES  - From Gothic Gates to Perfect Pineapples : buildings have always expressed the personality and whims of their builders, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

PAINTING WITH LIGHT – English stained glass : the development of stained glass from the time of Bede to the 21st century.

HENRY HOLIDAY – Stained glass and more : Henry Holiday was a painter, socialist, dress reformer, Wagnerite - and stained glass artist.

CORONATION -  Myth, majesty and music : the development of British coronations and their music from the 8th century to the present.

LANDSCAPE AND LITERATURE : how writers responded to landscape, and how landscape gardeners took their cues from literature.

HOW TO WRITE A FAKE - Literary forgeries from Pepin the Short to Hitler : a wide range of literary forgeries, including the poems of Ossian and the Shakespeare forgeries of John Henry Ireland.

DEATH ON THE MATTERHORN - The Rev'd Charles Hudson and the mountain's first ascent : the story of the success and failure of a party of English climbers in 1865 (includes excerpts from a feature film made in 1936 about the event).

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