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: Speaker to be confirmed

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.

Tickets go on sale just before the meetings.

Speaking on Saturday, January 3, 2026, 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.

https://forms.gle/YmP6AheWexDGZqeWA

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 3rd January 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.

On Saturday, November 8, 2025, we have :

AGM: The club AGM starts at 12:30 (card-carrying members only)

Speaking at 2.45 pm, we have: 

1st: Toral Dixit – Journeys Through the Lens: 30 Years of Global Discovery

With a 30-year career in filmmaking, documentary filmmaker Toral Dixit has journeyed to some of the most remote corners of the world—living among indigenous communities and excavating 2,000-year-old Mayan ruins deep in the jungles of Guatemala. She will share insights from these extraordinary experiences in her upcoming talk.  

2nd: Richard Loosley – A Butterfield’s Overland to India in the 1970s by Public Transport.

Join lifelong traveller Richard Loosley, who will talk about his early experiences on the overland route to India that he took with his business partner, Ashley Butterfield.

Richard retraces his journey across ten countries to India—armed only with a backpack, a sense of humour, and public transport. In this vivid memoir of the 1970s, Loosley shares tales of border crossings, hashish-laced buses, and the raw charm of a bygone era of travel.

A celebration of spontaneity, grit, and the joy of getting gloriously lost.

You can review Richards book at https://richardloosley.com/

Date & Time: Saturday 8th November 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 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:

Speaking on Saturday, December 20, 2025, we have :

1st: Shafik Meghji – Small Earthquakes: A Journey Through Lost British History in South America

In his new book Small Earthquakes, award-winning travel writer and author Shafik Meghji uncovers the fascinating story of Britain’s forgotten connections with South America, from the Atacama Desert to Tierra del Fuego, Easter Island to South Georgia.

Focusing on Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, the book tells a tale of footballers and pirates, nitrate kings and wool barons, polar explorers and cowboys, missionaries and radical MPs.

From a ghost town in one of the world’s driest deserts to a far-flung ranch in the sub-polar tundra; rusting whaling stations in the South Atlantic to an isolated railway built by convicts; the southernmost city on the planet to a crumbling port known as the ‘Jewel of the Pacific’, Small Earthquakes brings to life the past, present and future of this remarkable continent.

‘Meghji has the true travel writer’s eye for the comic, pathetic and tragic, and for the places where they collide… This is writing full of rust, wind and sadness. It captures splendidly the air of South America and the long, withdrawing roar of an empire whose influence once reached far beyond its political borders.’ – The Times

‘Rekindles a sense of wonder and expands our idea of what travel can be… Combining the immediacy of a travel memoir with the depth of a scholarly history lesson.’ – BBC Travel

Shafik will be happy to sign copies of the book after his talk.

2nd: Justyna Hellebrand – Three trips to Paraguay.

Justyna will present her journey to Paraguay, a country often overlooked, this captivating nation is a hidden gem, offering a truly unique experience for those fascinated by rich biodiversity, or natural wonders such as the Monday Falls and Cerro Koi.

A country with the remarkable story of a Catholic bishop who ascended to the presidency, a traditional “sopa paraguaya” that’s actually not a soup but corn bread  and the origin of mate drinking,(not a beer with your mates 😉 a practice first discovered by the indigenous Guaraní people.

She’ll tell the story of a sticky situation (for not having an entry stamp in her passport!) and talk about 2 Christian communities –   Mennonites, who, originated from a region of Poland occupied by Prussia, have played a pivotal role in flourishing Paraguayan agriculture and the Bruderhof community, with whom Justyna has maintained a personal connection for over 40 years.

Expect the unexpected as we weave in a surprising mention of origami and the intriguing tale of how she met the “German Super Papa” – a man who adopted many children in Paraguay and faced a 30-month prison sentence. She’ll also talk about ñandutí lace and the enchanting melodies of the Paraguayan harp.

This talk will be an unforgettable adventure into the soul of Paraguay – a country waiting to be discovered!

Date & Time: Saturday 20th December 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 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.