Previous Monthly Talks

Simon Rous read History then Law at Trinity College, Cambridge. He will recount the extraordinary depth and range of Dutch influence on global commerce, navigation, engineering, agriculture, art, politics and government in his talk with slides.

Les will talk about Exmoor Young Voices (EYV), an award-winning voluntary group of young people whose golden goal is to help young people to stay working and living on Exmoor – and what we can do to help

EYV tackles issues for young people on the moor, including housing, childcare, digital inclusion, employment, communications, travel & local wages.

Their aim is to engage with young people across Exmoor, listen to their issues, offer dedicated support from expert advisers and relay their experiences to key policy decision-makers.

Richard has many years’ experience of policy development and operational management, consulting and advising for the Countryside Agency/Natural England as well as in New Zealand and many European Countries, specialising in protected landscapes and sustainable tourism.

Richard will discuss how Exmoor National Park fits into a global network of protected landscapes taking a conservation approach which links nature, culture and community. Exmoor is a good model of how care for one of the country’s finest landscapes has evolved. However challenges are ever present to keep these living and working areas relevant to society as a whole.

An illustrated discussion on how music affects - and how it can alter - our bodies, environment & the world around us.

After their house in Lady Street, Dulverton, was destroyed by fire, Linda and Justin’s work to rebuild it - and their lives - led to some unexpected personal discoveries.

Using the skills they'd learned whilst rebuilding the house, they built a 15-ton classic yacht, starting with the trees!

For seven years they lived on board, exploring coastal nooks and crannies along the Celtic shores of Scotland, Ireland, France and Cornwall; meeting the characters who live there, finding winter work and picking their way into remote hidden creeks for protection from storms. Eventually they settled back on shore, firstly on the Hebridean island of Islay, and now they're back in their beloved Exmoor.

Issy is Cyber Protect Officer working for the Serious and Organised Crime Investigations Team for Avon and Somerset Police.

The session will highlight current online scams, advising how to protect yourself online, with some simple cyber safety advice. Issy is Cyber Protect Officer working for the Serious and Organised Crime Investigations Team for Avon and Somerset Police.

We will be discussing the golden rule of fraud prevention and break down the stigma associated with being a victim of fraud or cybercrime!

Sir David Calvert-Smith KC will be making a return visit to the Exmoor Friends and sharing with us some professional insights into the issues currently pertinent and making the headlines in our legal system today.

Having donated money last year to Age UK Somerset, we are delighted that Phil Dolan, CEO at Age UK Somerset and Kate Waterman, Finance Manager, will join us for one of our speaker events. Age UK was formed in 2009 upon the merger of Age Concern England and Help the Aged. Age UK has over 130 local brand partners, of which Age UK Somerset is one. The charities have a long history and now form one of our largest UK charity organisations. We will be hearing about its growth and history, as well as its diverse work to support so many people. Age UK is at the heart of many of our communities within the UK, a charity that supports all people, at all ages, in a huge variety of ways.

John worked for Exmoor National Park for ten years, where his life-long association and love of Exmoor flourished. He left to work for BBC Plymouth, from where the door to almost 25 wonderful years in radio was opened. John will explain his childhood fascination for broadcasting and the realisation of his dream to work for the BBC. His talk will cover some of the programmes he worked on for both Radio 4 and for our local Radio Devon. We will hear about ‘ordinary’ people with incredible, colourful and amusing stories to be told, many in their own words.

Alan was Project Leader for the MoD from 1998 to 2001 and then Engineering Director and Senior UK Officer for the four-nations project office in Munich until 2005. Whilst there he accepted the Eurofighter Typhoon into service - the RAF’s main multi-role fast jet fighter. Alan talks about why Typhoon is needed and with the aid of a video demonstrates how it is used. He describes operations undertaken and Typhoon’s development during the largest collaborative programme ever undertaken by the European Defence Industry.

Darren has an intimate knowledge of the dramatic and intriguing Exmoor coastline, its wildlife and huge tidal range. He will share with us the unique perspective of a kayaker’s sea view of our beautiful coastline, most of which remains hidden and inaccessible ……unless you have a kayak!

Liz Musselwhite, a lifelong sewer, colourist and fabric guru will introduce us to this traditional craft. There are beautiful handmade quilts to be found everywhere, in humble cottages and stately homes, some will be hundreds of years old, some merely months. Liz will explain the origins of this ancient craft, illustrating its humble beginnings with her own journey and showing us some glorious examples.