All posts by London Meeting

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Speaking on Saturday, March 2, 2024, we have :

1st: Jay Ginn – Peru and Ecuador

Jay went to Peru in 2008 to explore its fascinating history, its current situation, and the fabulous scenery of the Andes range. Leaving crowded Lima, she went on to visit the vast Lake Titicaca with its islands, where indigenous Quechua-speaking campesinos live; also the floating sedge islands which are home to fishing families. A ride northwards along the Andean range then took her to sprawling Cuzco, once the capital of Peru. Here, modern buildings mix with older ones and ancient dry stone walls.

From Cuzco, she took the train to Aguas Calientes on the Urubamba River, and from here it was a bus up the steep switchback road to Machu Picchu far above. The remains of this world-famous Inca city reveal its architecture, terraces and Sun Temple.

Following this spectacular visit, the tour bus descended down towards the Pacific Ocean, taking in Colca Canyon, and then the old colonial city of Arequipa with museums illustrating Peruvian history and customs. At the coast, she visited giant sand dunes, took a boat to a sea lion colony and then returned to Lima.

From here she took a bus north to Ecuador, arriving in Quito to find the Mayday demonstration in full swing. After this came an unwelcome surprise…

2nd: Nick Marchant – A Toast To Georgia

A land of beautiful landscapes and passionate people, where guests are ‘gifts from God’, I tell the story of my five trips to this dramatic Caucasus country, from its post-Soviet and civil war chaos in 1996 to its modern 21st century West-leaning democracy. With Russia to the North and Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran to the South, it has always been at a critical juncture in geography and civilisation.

Visiting mostly the same family over almost 30 years, I describe how the country seems to have changed. A country steeped in tradition where the custom of ‘toasting’ with friends and family at a table laden with their delicious cuisine and local wine is a wonderful, joyous way of celebrating life. What characterises the Georgian people and what might survive of that character? And how might I have changed as a result of my three decades of friendship with this fascinating country and people?


Date & Time: Saturday 2nd March 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


For in person Tickets at the hall:

Get in Person Tickets at Eventbrite

For Zoom online tickets:

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Speaking on Saturday, January 4, 2025 we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

By tradition we follow this meeting with a New Year Party post-meeting


Date & Time: Saturday 4th January 2025

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, July 6, 2024

Speaking on Saturday, July 6, 2024 we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed


Date & Time: Saturday 6th July 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Speaking on Saturday, September 7, 2024 we have :

1st: Chris Grant – Ethiopia

2nd: Jessica Finnamore – South America


Date & Time: Saturday 7th September 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Speaking on Saturday, November 2, 2024 we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed


Date & Time: Saturday 2nd November 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, June 8, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday)

Speaking on Saturday, June 8, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday) we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Mary Fogarty – Northern Greece and Macedonia: in search of family roots


Date & Time: Saturday 8th June 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, May 11, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday)

Speaking on Saturday, May 11, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday) we have :

1st: Simon Banks – Down and out in Oz & NZ – lessons in life

2nd: Marco Carnovale – Maldives

Marco has traveled to the Maldives a dozen times over the last twenty years or so. As always, he preferred going off the beaten path, which in this case meant off the beaten island… He mostly sailed around the archipelago on small boats and while island hopping he stepped down and visited remote villages and deserted sand banks where few tourists ever venture.

He stayed with local families and ate their food, always curious about the culture of this small and proud nation. Drawing on his background as a political scientist, his presentation will touch on the society, the politics and the economics of the islands, as well as on the inescapable religious dimension of Maldivian life.

An avid SCUBA diver, he logged hundreds of dives and in his presentation he will share photos of the underwater wonders of the Maldivian coral reefs, a fragile environment that is threatened by climate change and uncontrolled pollution.

Marco has written a book on his Maldivian travels: “Journeys through the Maldives” which was published on Amazon.co.uk in paperback, hardcover as well as in e-book format. He will be happy to sign your copy after delivering his talk. An Italian version is available as well.


Date & Time: Saturday 11th May 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.


Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, April 13, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday)

Speaking on Saturday, April 13, 2024 (on the 2nd Saturday) we have:

1st: Jacqui Trotter – Homegoing: Part 3.

Jacqui will be talking about travelling in 2019 back to Australia through pre-COVID Tibet, eastern China, Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand. From -20’C in Harbin to 38’C in Ayutthaya, I wanted the trip to go on and on.

Independent travel through China was much easier than I expected and Vietnam was a delight. Cambodia was fascinating and visiting Angkor Wat was a long-held dream! Thailand was a great place to take stock, play tourist and still visit places I had not been before.

Going home was something I had done many times before but this time was different – it would be my home for the next five years (and still is) and the world of travel would not be quite the same for any of us ever again.

2nd: Lucy Lethbridge – Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to find themselves

Lucy Lethbridge, author of Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to find themselves, will look at the rise of popular tourism in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. It is a story of business titans, new technologies, commerce, invention, snobbery, vision and nostalgia – and, with its apotheosis in the self-contained world of the beach resort, even a search for Eden.

Find Lucy on Twitter – @LucyLethbridge


Date & Time: Saturday 13th April 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.


Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Speaking on Saturday, December 7, 2024 we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed


Date & Time: Saturday 7th December 2024

Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.

We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.

Admission costs:

  • £7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
  • £10 for non-members. (save £3 if you join at this meeting)
  • a recording to watch later will be available to members and non-member ticket holders.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the door prices to cover our costs as our venue hire costs have increased.

Please sign up for meeting updates to get notifications for future meetings.


Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.