London meeting 3rd April 2004 by Padmassana
John Douglas was our first speaker this afternoon, who
showed us Norway’s Arctic Highway which begins life further
south as the E6. John's photos took us through the roads
history which began in the 1930’s, through the years of WW2 when
the Germans used slave labour from Yugoslavia to push the road into
previously impenetrable regions. In those days the road was not
much more than a track, a far cry from today’s paved road. The
reason for the improvement to the road in the last thirty years or
so being Norway’s North sea oil, not only paving the road but
driving tunnels through mountains and under fjords and the sea.
John explained that this was partly done for political reasons, to
encourage the population to stay in the north and keep the area
populated during the Cold War. John also showed us the Norway we
expect to see, reindeer, glaciers, snow capped peaks and the Sami
people in their colourful traditional costumes that sadly only come
out nowadays on ceremonial occasions. John finished this
interesting talk with a photo taken near Hammerfest, the midnight
sun giving rise to a magnificent orange sky.
Our second speaker was Karen Neale, an artist’s journey through
world heritage cities and sights. This highly innovative talk
was not illustrated by the usual slide show, but rather by Karen’s
own sketches, which she made as she travelled. Her 5-month journey
was funded by a grant from the Churchill Trust Travelling
Fellowship. During her trip she made over 100 sketches, which
brought the places to life for the audience and for those of us who
have visited some of the places rekindled many memories. Karen left
a rainy London for a rainy Paris in April 2001, but the sun finally
shone for her as she drew Avignon’s Papal Palace. She travelled
into Italy, via Milan, Venice and Rome and into Greece, then into
Turkey, Karen’s sketches of Istanbul’s domes and minarets and the
Grand Bazaar bringing this eastern city to life. Karen’s enthusiasm
bubbled throughout her talk, particularly her sketches in Iran,
from the history of Persepolis, the beautiful drawing of Imam
Square and the most evocative of all the mud walled city of Bam,
which was destroyed in December 2003 by an earthquake. Many Globies
who have been there will no doubt be asking for prints of that
drawing. Karen headed east into Uzbekistan to the fabled cities of
Khiva and Samarkand, where she drew the mosques. A dodgy Uzbek
airlines flight took her to India, where she had difficulty drawing
in the cities as she became an attraction herself, surrounded by
people watching her, but she still managed to bring us colourful
pictures of Jaipur and the temples at Ranakpur. Karen’s was a very
different presentation and I am sure it is going to be remembered
as one of the highlights of Globetrotters in 2004.
Next month
On Saturday 8th May, Liam D’Arcy Brown talks about
China's Historic and Symbolic Borders an 11,000 mile journey to
the country's extreme four corners and after the break, John
Malathronas will give a slide show and talk about Brazil –
Life, Blood and Soul.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court,
behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first
Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but
we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact
the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the
website: www.globetrotters.co.uk