Speaking on Saturday, March 7, 2026, we have :

1st: Dom Joly- the Dark Tourist – Adventures in the danger zone.

Walking across Lebanon, monster hunting in the Congo, coach trips across Korth Korea, hanging out with Conspiracy theorists in Fogo and Denver. 

2nd: Jon Beardmore – The Galapagos Postman: Reconnecting the world one letter at a time.

Jon Beardmore is an adventurer, storyteller and accidental postman who spent a year travelling the world on a mission sparked by love, legacy and a handful of handwritten letters. Blending humour, heart and human connection, he explores what happens when you say yes to the unknown — and how a single letter can change everything.

The Galapagos Postman Challenge is an unforgettable tale of adventure, human connection, and purpose. After discovering the centuries‑old postbox on Isla Floreana — where sailors once left letters to be carried home by strangers — Jon set out torevive the tradition in a modern, global way. His mission: hand‑deliver 50 letters around the world.

Find out more: 

• https://www.instagram.com/bigoadventures
• www.galapagospostman.com

Date & Time: Saturday 7th March 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, May 9, 2026, we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Alan Palmer – Bhutan From Head to Tail – Journeying Along the Back of the Thunder Dragon.

In the past two years, Alan has travelled the length of the country, from the infrequently visited homelands of the semi-nomadic Merak peoples in the furthest east, crossing the land’s higher, cloud-covered central mountains, and arriving at the more recognisable sights of Bhutan’s classic west, all the while uncovering the country’s intricately interwoven history, religion and mythology.

Not content with this, however, he next trekked into the country’s spectacular north-west to attend the Royal Highland Festival, where, to his continuing embarrassment, he unexpectedly kept bumping into the king and queen.

Date & Time: Saturday 9th May 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, April 11, 2026, we have :

1st: Steve Foreman – Maasai Memories

Steve Foreman lived in East Africa for 30 years, spending much of that time working in the safari tourism sector.

He became involved with the Maasai people in Tanzania while managing a luxury tented camp perched on top of the Rift Valley Escarpment overlooking Lake Manyara National Park. On a regular weekly supplies trip to Arusha, he gave a young Maasai woman and baby a lift to the hospital there.

Taking her back the next day to the manyatta where she lived led to Steve growing close with the Maasai community there, learning about their culture, customs, and traditional way of life. He took part in several activities with the warriors in the bush and the elders eventually granted him honorary moran status, which permitted him to have a Maasai girlfriend.

He chose Marita, with the elders’ agreement, and stayed overnight with her on several occasions. Marita, like many adult Maasai women, was circumcised. Steve briefly addresses female genital mutilation (FGM) – a practice he firmly believes should be eradicated – and recounts a funny but slightly alarming incident that occurred when the warriors discovered that he himself was not circumcised.

Steve will also speak about his broader experiences in the manyatta – sitting around the fire at night, drinking fresh milk and cow’s blood, and one occasion when he became so ill that he had to be driven for treatment all the way to Nairobi, Kenya.

When his son Zak came to visit, Steve – and two Maasai warrior friends – also climbed Ol Doinyo Lengai, Tanzania’s only active volcano, situated out on the Maasai Steppe. Ol Doinyo Lengai means ‘Mountain of God’ in the Maasai language and is sacred to them. Although his warrior friends had heard of the mountain, they had never seen it, and Steve describes some of the delightful incongruities of the experience—such as the warriors later staying in his house, watching television, and sleeping on the floor with their swords beside them.

Steven James Foreman is an HM Forces Veteran (Army). In Africa for over 30 years, he worked as a safari guide, camp manager, and mountain and expedition leader throughout East Africa and Botswana. Now retired, he lives back in the UK with his teenage daughter.

Steve is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). He has written articles for many magazines including BBC Wildlife, Soldier, SCUBA, African Travel Review magazine, Land Rover World, The Dar Guide (Tanzania), and the Daily Mail.

His website is: https://bushleader.com/

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

Date & Time: Saturday 11th April 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, October 3, 2026, we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

Date & Time: Saturday 3rd October 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, January 2, 2027, we have :

Around the world in eighty minutes.

10 presentations of 10 slides

The format is talks by eight to ten speakers for ten minutes, giving a fast-paced journey around the Globe.

There are five talks before the break and four to five talks after the break, with each speaker having around 10 minutes to speak. 

If you would like to give a talk, please sign up here.

The sign-up form will be available nearer the time.

Traditionally, we follow this meeting with a New Year’s Party post-meeting.

Everyone is invited to bring food, wine¹, or soft drinks (we are not allowed beer or spirits) and participate!

NB:

1. Permission for Wine is still to be confirmed with the Church of Scotland.

Date & Time: Saturday 2nd January 2027

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, July 4, 2026, we have :

1st: Mary Fogarty – From mountains and men to Speedos and souks.

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

Date & Time: Saturday 4th July 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, November 7, 2026, we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

Date & Time: Saturday 7th November 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, December 5, 2026, we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

Date & Time: Saturday 5th December 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, June 6, 2026, we have :

1st: Speaker to be confirmed

2nd: Speaker to be confirmed

Date & Time: Saturday 6th June 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, February 7, 2026, we have :

1st: Laura Coffey – Enchanted Islands.

Join Laura for on a mythical journey through the real world. Together we will travel through tiny archipelagos and explore mystical Mediterranean islands thought to be the setting of Odysseus’s epic journey.

We will encounter sea monsters and sex goddesses, fragile masculinity, toxic gods, polyamory and plenty of narcissism as we look again at this old text with fresh eyes. Together, we will explore what myths are, the importance of the stories we tell ourselves, and the magical task of mapping imaginary worlds. 

Laura Coffey is not a classics scholar, she cannot read Ancient Greek, often finds herself utterly lost, and so is an unlikely author of a book on mapping The Odyssey.

Stephen Fry said it’s “a magical and hugely captivating journey – a simply marvellous read, hugely recommended”. 

Laura’s book Enchanted Islands: A Mediterranean Odyssey, has also been selected by Wanderlust and Citizen Femme as a top travel book for 2024, and by Blackwells as recommended summer reading. It has been long listed for the Anglo Hellenic League Runciman Award

Laura is happy to sign copies after the talk.

You can find out more about the book: Enchanted Islands: A Mediterranean Odyssey

2nd: Nick Fielding – Crossing from Almaty to the Aral Sea basin.

In May 2025 Nick Fielding took part in an expedition with a group of Kazakhs for more than 2000 miles across southern Kazakhstan, from Almaty to the Aral Sea basin in the west of the country.

For at least the last 50 years the Aral has been drying out as water has been extracted from its two feeder rivers, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, for agriculture. Fielding travelled to the north of the sea, where there are signs that at least part of the Aral Sea is being regenerated, due to the construction of a new dam.

Further south, there is only sand and scrub where there was once an inland sea. He visited the former island nature reserve of Barsa Kelemes, which is now surrounded by an ocean of sand.

He was also able to visit some of the many impressive archaeological sites along the route.

Date & Time: Saturday 7th February 2026

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 before 14:45 and switch your phone to “do not disturb” or silent.

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.

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

For in person tickets at the hall:

For Zoom online tickets: