6 October 2024

The AGM was held at the Victory Services club in London on Saturday October 5th.  We had an enjoyable talk from Joe Hollins, author of the book Vet at the End of the Earth. Joe talked about his He will talk about his work in the British South Atlantic Overseas Territories, including the Falklands and Tristan da Cunha as well as his time on St. Helena.  There, Joe looked after Jonathan the giant tortoise [as pictured]; helped the island in its battle against invasive species; and at one point (as reported in a recent issue of the Connection) had to extract a cow that had become wedged in a tree trunk....
 

 

8 October 2023

The AGM was be held at the Victory Services Club in London and we had three presentations: 

Kirstie Ellis, the RSPB's St Helena Cloud Forest Project manager, provided an overview of the project, introducing the amazing and unique habitat (see picture) and why it is so important. 

Danni Sherwood, an arachnologist, talked about her recent research trip to St Helena, aimed at unravelling the biodiversity of the island's spiders.  She enthusiastically presented images and information about the many unique and endemic species found on the island.

The final talk was presented by Sophie Gresswell entitled On the Wings of a Wirebird. Inspired by her personal history and heritage, artist Sophie and her mother June Essex, a professional photographer, travelled to St Helena, the first time they have been able to reconnect with the island since Sophie's grandfather, Donald Essex, left in 1949.  During a six-week residency hosted by Creative Saint Helena, Sophie and June worked with young Saints in schools and hosted community workshops, as well as developing their own work.  The project outcomes will be showcased in an exhibition to be held at the Higgins in Bedford in 2024.
 

16 October 2022

Speaker: Drew Whitworth of the University of Manchester Institute of Education gave a talk about his research into the arrival of the Equiano cable on St Helena entitled The Coming of the Cable: Will high-speed internet access benefit or harm St Helena?

 

16 October 2022

Speaker: Drew Whitworth, University of Manchester Institute of Education: The Coming of the Cable: will high-speed internet access benefit or harm St Helena?.
 

10 October 2021

Autumn meeting and 34th AGM at the VSC. Tara Palembe, the Deputy Director of SAERI (the South Atlantic Environment Research Institute), gave a talk about the organisation’s activities at St Helena. Separately, Edward Baldwin briefly described the effects and management of Covid on the island. He also discussed other developments on the island including the major roadworks involved in widening Ladder Hill into a two-lane road and preparations for the landing of the Equiano cable in January. 

The meeting was conducted in a very cordial atmosphere with friends and acquaintances meeting up who had not seen each other for a considerable time

26 October 2019

Autumn Meeting at the VSC. The Times journalist Michael Binyon gave a talk on "An island for our Times". This described how he accompanied two readers trips organized by the Times at the beginning of 2019 and explained why there is continued interest in St. Helena. He also discussed the prospects for tourism with the new airport and why the island's history still has a fascination for anyone interested in the history of the British Empire.

Due to the Corona Virus national lockdown, the Society was unfortunately forced to cancel both the Spring and Autumn 2020 meetings.

8 June 2019

Summer meeting at the Quaker Meeting House, Oxford. 31st AGM. A talk was given by Simon Pipe on his recent visit to St Helena.  See The St Helena Connection No 26

24 November 2018

Autumn Meeting at the VSC. Dan Yon showed a film, "Mining Memory - legacies of St Helena in the Northern Cape". This tells the story of the St Helenian men who travelled to South Africa in 1907 to work in the copper mines at Namaqualand. Robin Woodruff also gave a talk on the art & handicraft of St Helena's Boer War Prisoners.  See The St Helena Connection No 25

9 June 2018

Summer meeting at the Quaker Meeting House, Oxford. 30th AGM. Talks on Ascension were presented by John Woolven-Allen who discussed Ascension’s history from his perspective as a child on the island in the 1970s and 1980s. This was followed by Polly Burns who talked on her MSc thesis examining Ascension’s changing marine environment, particularly in relation to the occurrence of sharks.   See The St Helena Connection No 24

21 October 2017

Autumn meeting at the VSC. Colin Fox/Dan Yon spoke about the new book A Bitter Draught and Andy Pearson gave a talk about his recent paper entitled Waterwitch: a warship, its voyage and its crew in the era of anti-slavery. See The St Helena Connection No 23

10 June 2017

Summer meeting at the Quaker Meeting House, Oxford. 29th AGM. Philip Woodworth and Matthew Woodthorpe respectively gave talks on Measuring the Tide at St Helena During the Past Two and a Half Centuries and an update on the St Helena Cultural Centre. See The St Helena Connection No 22.

22 October 2016

Autumn meeting and 28th AGM at VSC. Matthew Woodthorpe and Andrew Bell respectively gave talks entitled The St Helena Cultural Centre and A New Ship for St Helena: The Gestation of the RMS. See The St Helena Connection No 21.