AUTUMN 2011


The Vikings at home and abroad/ Birgitta Hoffman
5 Tuesdays: 4, 11, 18, 25 October; 1 November; 19.30 - 21.30h
Glossop Labour Club, Chapel Street, Henry Street, Glossop
Fee £30 (Members £27.50)

The arrival of the Vikings in Iona in 795 changed the face of Scotland forever. The continued assault on the recently formed Pictish kingdom led to its early breakup. The Vikings, established settlements along the coast and, with the establishment of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Jarldom of Orkney, created two more or less independent states. While the latter is often portrayed as the Norse state within Scotland, the former was able to blend Scottish and Viking traditions in unique ways. Both would deeply affect the politics of the British Isles for the next five hundred years. The archaeology of the period is rich in impressive finds from settlement, to boat burials in the islands and the remains of hoards, which may represent the results of raiding. We will look at the rise of Somerled and the Kingdom of the Isles, at the influence of the Jarldom of Orkney before 1300 and evidence from archaeological remains.

 

 

Dragon prow Oseberg Viking ship




The Story of the Violin/ Gordon Gange
10 Wednesdays: 5, 12, 19, 26 October; 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 November; 7 December; 19.30 - 21.30h
Bradbury Community House, Market Street, Glossop
Fee £60 (Members £55)

The story of the violin is one of superlatives: in craftsmanship, virtuosity and composition. It encompasses the craftsmanship of the Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri of Cremona and a  long line of virtuosi from Paganini, Kreisler, Menuhin, Heifetz and Perlman to Joshua Bell and Hagai Shaham. Favourite composers inspired to write for the instrument range from Vivaldi, Beethoven, Bruch, Mendelssohn and Brahms to Elgar, Sibelius, Ravel and Shostakovich. Their music runs the gamut of human emotion from joy to sadness and from the intimate to the grand. It encompasses a range of forms from classical to jazz. The story of the violin will be explored with the aid of classic recordings and live performance.




Four Stradivari - Smithsonian Museum


Pre-revolutionary Russia/ Christopher Binns
5 Thursdays: 10, 17, 24 November; 1, 8 December; 19.30 - 21.30h
Glossop Labour Club, Chapel Street, Henry Street, Glossop
Fee £30 (Members £27.50)

This course examines the extraordinary ferment of change and inertia during Russia's ‘long 19^th century’, unjustly overshadowed by the subsequent period of Soviet power – an exciting and contradictory period of dramatic military action, political and social struggle and an amazing outburst of literary, musical and artistic creativity.  In the first session we examine the 'prehistory' of the period in Russia's development as a major global power and the main outlines of how this was challenged in the course of the 19^th century. Then in the next three sessions we look thematically at major areas of change: economic and social development; politics and administration; and cultural achievement. Finally, we look at the tensions and problems of the Russian situation before the First World War and consider the various possible scenarios of change which eventually narrowed down to the Bolshevik revolution.

 

Old Dacha near St Petersburg



Canals near the Edge/ Ian Moss
10 Fridays: 10, 17, 24 November; 1, 8 December; 10.00 - 12.00h
Bradbury Community House, Market Street, Glossop
Fee £60 (Members £55)

There are several groups of canals near the boundaries of England each constructed for a different and distinct purpose. A canal, later converted to a railway joined Carlisle to the sea, two canals brushed the Lancashire coast, the Shropshire Union Canal served the Welsh borderlands bringing in fuel and sending out food from the area, a small system in Somerset exchanged trade with South Wales, one canal- the Royal Military- was to halt Napoleonic forces (it was not called to do so), a network in the Fens, provided trade via King’s Lynn- and importantly drained the waterlogged area. The waterways to the Humber connected Yorkshire with the coast- and the continent. We shall explore this fascinating variety of Victorian transport, with the aid of a unique collection of illustrations.

 

Marple Viaduct


20^th & 21^st Century British Sculpture/ Christine Musgrove
Day-School: Saturday 29th October; 10.00 - 16.00h
Glossop Labour Club, Chapel Street, Glossop
Fee £25 (Members £20)

This Day School will present an overview of developments in British sculpture from the early 20^th Century until the present day. We shall consider the materials used by sculptors, the themes that inspired them and the reception of their work by the public. The work of Epstein, Moore, Hepworth, Frink, Paolozzo, Caro, Gormley and Whiteread will be reviewed, along with some other recent trends in British sculpture.

 

Sculpture by Barbara Hepworth



A Passage to India/ Creina Mansfield & Alan Sennett
Film-Day: Saturday 1st October; 10.00- 16.00h
Partington Theatre, Henry Street, Glossop
Fee £25 (Members £20)

E.M. Forster’s classic novel A Passage to India powerfully evokes the atmosphere of British India. This day school will use David Lean’s (1984) film adaptation as a basis for discussion. We will identify aspects of British Rule in India; place the work in historical context; compare the film with Forster’s novel and evaluate the qualities of the film. Film Synopsis:  Adela Quested, a young Englishwoman, travels to India in the 1920s to visit her fiancé, Ronny, a British magistrate posted in a small town.  Her travelling companion is his mother Mrs Moore. They want to understand and connect with the “real India” and meet “real Indians”.  However, they are frustrated by the British community’s insistence that relations with the locals are best experienced from a distance. Finally, a friend introduces them to a Muslim doctor, Aziz, who Mrs Moore had met on a nocturnal visit to a mosque. Aziz invites the two women on an outing to the Marabar caves (a local attraction).  What happens there threatens to destroy the uneasy relationships between the British and Indian communities.

A Passage to India - DVD cover



SPRING 2012

The Financial Crisis/ Michael Moran
5 Mondays: 16, 23, 30 January; 6, 13 February; 19.30 - 21.30h
Bradbury Community House, Market Street, Glossop
Fee £30 (Members £27.50)

The great financial crisis that began in the UK in 2007 was the most catastrophic failure of financial markets since before the First World War.  It has saddled the citizens of Britain with stunning debts and  with years of austerity.  Internationally, it has caused misery and mass  unemployment and, in some countries, near total economic collapse. The course examines how this catastrophe could have been allowed to happen; considers what lessons can be learnt from this once in a century catastrophe and asks who should bear the burden of clearing up the mess.

 

Northern Rock - Newcastle-upon-Tyne



Text and Testament/ Ian Stubbs
5 Mondays: 20, 27 February; 5, 12, 19 March; 19.30 - 21.30h
Bradbury Community House, Market Street, Glossop
Fee £30 (Members £27.50)

Critical analysis of biblical texts, together with archaeological discoveries, has revealed much concerning the construction and history of the New Testament. Such research has given new perspectives on what is often referred to as ‘Gospel truth’ and a different account of who Jesus was and what he taught . This is a tale of policy and purpose, of inclusion and exclusion. It reveals a fascinating insight into the history of the early Christian Church and the foundation of Western Culture. The course will consider the experiences and opinions of those who produced these texts, the formation and transmission of the texts, the contradictions inherent in them and the reasons for their erstwhile obscurity. It will also look at the significance of more recent finds in Upper Egypt of early Christian books, lost for centuries, that did not make it into the orthodox canon. This is a course that will challenge and transform what you know (or think you know) about Christianity.

 

Papyrus P52 ~ fragment of St John's Gospel




Britain in the 1950s/ Alan Sennett
10 Tuesdays: 17, 24, 31 January; 7, 14, 21, 28 February; 6, 13, 20 March;19.30 - 21.30h
Glossop Labour Club, Chapel Street, Glossop
Fee £60 (Members £55)

This course looks at Britain in the 1950s focusing in particular upon questions of social, political, cultural and economic change. We will examine Britain’s role in the emergence of the Cold War, women’s post-war social roles and intellectual trends.  Britain’s retreat from Empire and responses to the development of the Common Market are also considered.  This course is well illustrated with film clips from newsreels, documentary and feature films.

 

Festival of Britain - poster



Voyages of Biological Discovery/ Robert Callow
10 Wednesdays: 18, 25 January; 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 February; 7, 14, 21 March; 19.30 - 21.30h
Bradbury Community House, Market Street, Glossop
Fee £60 (Members £55)

The great navigations of the 15^th and 16^th centuries opened up new worlds to European explorers. Towards the end of the 16^th century, naturalists were beginning to accompany the voyagers, making detailed notes of their experiences and collecting large numbers of specimens of animals and plants. These collections were financed in a variety of ways. Joseph Banks and Charles Darwin funded themselves; Hans Sloane and Joseph Hooker served as Surgeons; Henry Bates and Alfred Wallace financed their exploration by selling specimens, publications and  illustrations. The vast numbers of specimens returned to Europe constituted major challenges to classification and theology. These challenges in turn inspired Linnaeus to develop a revolutionary system of classification and Darwin to advance his theory of natural selection. They also had substantial commercial and political repercussions.





HMS Endeavour - Austrailan full-size replica




Writers of the Edwardian Age/ Creina Mansfield
10 Thursdays: 19, 26 January; 2, 9, 16, 23 February; 1, 8, 15, 22 March; 19.30 - 21.30h
Glossop Labour Club, Chapel Street, Glossop
Fee £60 (Members £55)

The years between the death of Queen Victoria and the outbreak of the First World War are often referred to as the golden age. A ‘long garden party’, it ended catastrophically. Its literature suggests a turbulent struggle between old and new, presaging the changes that were to come. Our texts will be: (i) Father & Son by Edmund Gosse, (ii) The Man of Property by John Galsworthy, (iii) The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers and (iv) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. We shall consider the rise of modernism. What did Virginia Woolf mean when she said ‘On or about December 1910, human character changed’?

 

Heart of Darkness - book cover



Good Night and Good Luck/ Creina Mansfield & Alan Sennett
Film-Day: Saturday 11th February; 10.00- 16.00h
Partington Theatre, Henry Street, Glossop
Fee £25 (Members £20)
This day school examines George Clooney’s (2005) film.  We consider the historical context of America in the early 1950s and of 2005 when the film was made.  We will examine Cold War tensions and the impact of McCarthyism upon politics, television and wider society.  As we view the film in sections, we will discuss its production context; view clips from other films that deal with McCarthyism and hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and ask whether the issues are still relevant to today’s media-conscious society. Film Synopsis:  During the early 1950s, the presumed threat of Communism created an air of fear and paranoia in the United States, an atmosphere exploited by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. CBS reporter Ed. Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly, took a stand against McCarthy’s wild accusations and helped expose the shallowness of his claims.

 

Good Night and Good Luck - film poster