Special Interest Days
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Tuesday 11th March 2025 at The Henley Rugby Club 10.00am - 3.00pm approximately. (Booking Thursday 16th January 2025). Cost £45.00. Coffee on arrival. 1st Lecture 10.45am - 11.45am. 2nd Lecture 12.00pm to 1.00pm. Sandwich lunch 1.00pm - 2.00pm. 3rd Lecture 2.00pm - 3.00pm approximately. Free parking. For more information on all Special Interest Days please contact Diana Jones on diana.jones@btinternet.com or 0118 947 8762/mobile 07799 661 459.Lecturer: Chris AslanUnravelling the Silk Road Chris Aslan, who has spent fifteen years living and working in this region, will unravel the strands of this tangled history and embroider them with his own experiences of life in the heart of Asia. Chris will attempt to justify his bold assertion that ‘everything is about textiles’.
Three textile roads tangle their way through Central Asia. The famous Silk Road united east and west through trade. Older still was the Wool Road, of critical importance when houses made of wool enabled nomads to travers the inhospitable winter steppes. Then there was the Cotton Road, marked by greed, colonialism and environmental disaster. At this intersection of human history, fortunes were made and lost through shimmering silks, life giving felts and gossamer cottons.
 Thus wool, silk and cotton (pictured above) have each played a crucial role in the fortunes of Central Asia.
Wool created the clothing and housing needed by the great nomadic cultures that were to dominate Middle Asia.
 Silk was more valuable than gold and used as currency, creating a network of trading routes that led to the first outbreak of globalisation. Cotton was the cause of Russian and then Soviet Colonisation and continues to cause controversy today as well as human misery and environmental catastrophe.
 Afghans travelling to the Pamir Mountains (Afghanistan), site of the ancient Silk Road, c.1800; a 19th-century colour lithography. Photo © North Wind Pictures/Bridgeman Images (Please click on the blue print above to continue reading)
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Friday 6th June 2025 at The Henley Rugby Club. 10.00am - 3.00pm. (Booking Thursday 17th April 2025). Cost £45.00. Coffee from 10.00am. First Lecture 10.45am - 11.45am. Second Lecture 12.00pm - 1.00pm. Sandwich lunch 1.00pm - 2.00pm. Third Lecture 2.00pm - 3.00pm approximately. Free parking. For more information on all Special Interest Days please contact Diana Jones on diana.jones@btinternet.com or 0118 947 8762 / mobile 07799 661 459.Lecturer: Timothy WalkerFrom Monochrome to Polychrome - How Colour Transformed the Art of Garden Design This three-hour study day looks at the use of colour in gardening and fine art, and proposes that garden borders and contem |
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Thursday 6th November 2025 at The Henley Rugby Club.10.00am - 3.00pm. (Booking Thursday 18th September 2025). cost £45.00. Coffee from 10.00am. 1st lecture 10.45am - 11.45am. 2nd lecture 12.00pm - 1.00pm. Sandwich lunch 1.00pm - 2.00pm. 3rd lecture 2.00pm - 3.00pm approximately. Free parking. For more information on all Special Interest Days please contact Diana Jones on diana.jones@btinternet.com or 0118 947 8762/mobile 07799 661 459.Lecturer: John SnelsonI Know It So Well: Classical Musicals and their Inescapable Hit Songs
SPECIAL INTEREST DAY Stage musicals have long been a source of some of the most well-known and lasting popular songs. This day explores how these hit songs spread from the stage into shared culture. Using sound, video and live demonstration/performance from the keyboard, examples range from Edwardian musical comedy and Broadway classics to the concert hall, jazz clubs and the pop charts. Such famous creators as Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Noel Gay, Lionel Bart, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim feature in this celebration of musical theatre on stage and beyond. In addition to audio and video playback through PowerPoint, a piano (acoustic or digital) for demonstration and performance is important.
Most of his work has revolved around helping people discover what is so fascinating and engaging in music and particularly in musical theatre and opera. His talks and lectures are all about sharing discoveries and passion, especially if there is a piano on hand for demonstrations. (Please click on the blue print above to continue reading)
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TASH Special Interest Days Booking Arrangements
Members have the chance to experience a topic in some depth during a Special Interest Day. The subject might be one in which you already have an interest or one which just catches your eye as potentially interesting. The smaller group, with refreshments and lunch provided, gives an opportunity for relaxed socialising and discussion.
Unless specified otherwise, Special Interest Days take place at The Henley Rugby Club.
Bookings are at the lecture from two months ahead of the Special Interest Day, or by contacting me.
The charge for these Special Interest Days reflects the cost of the lecturer, the venue and refreshments/lunch. Please note that bookings are not valid until payment has been received.
Cancellation: We regret that payment will only be refunded if the event is fully booked and the place is taken by another member on the waiting list.
Diana Jones is the Committee member responsible for Special Interest Days.
Telephone: 07799 661459 or 0118 947 8762
Email: diana.jones@btinternet.com
