Friends Programme, April 2007For the April Friends meeting on Wednesday 11th April we were very pleased to welcome Leslie Thorogood, a Maidenhead Thames Rotarian – who gave a truly riveting talk entitled “The Origins of English”. Leslie is a Fellow of the Institute of Linguists and is a Senior Business Manager, Consultant, Language Teacher, Lecturer speaking French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, Italian, & others. Leslie charted the evolution of the English Language from the Copper/Bronze Age to the present day – a very interesting story. For the May Friend’s meeting we are very pleased to welcome back for the second time David Duff whose previous talk was the Sea Battles of Trafalgar, Jutland and Midway and this time his talk will be The Waterloo Campaign – the three days leading up to the famous battle. David has also kindly agreed to speak in 2008 on the actual Battle of Waterloo itself The Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815, was Napoleon Bonaparte's last battle. His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of France. The Battle of Waterloo also marked the end of the period known as the Hundred Days, which began in March 1815 after Napoleon's return from Elba, where he had been exiled after his defeat at the battle of Leipzig in 1813. After Napoleon returned to power, many countries which had previously resisted his rule began to assemble armies to oppose him. The principal armies of Napoleon's opponents were commanded by the United Kingdom's Duke of Wellington, and Prussia's Gebhard von Blücher. These armies were close to France's north east frontier, and Napoleon chose to attack them rather than wait for them to cross into France. While the campaign hung in the balance for most of its duration, the decisive battle became the Battle of Waterloo. However the three days before the decisive battle were very important and will be explained by David. As previously David’s brief CV shows he could be a ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’ – modesty I am sure having met him last year. Apparently in his life he has been an art student, a building-site labourer, a soldier, an insurance salesman, a long-distance lorry driver and when all else failed he fell amongst rogues and villains in that final refuge for rascals and second sons, the second-hand car trade. However information from his friend and former Friend of the Rotary Club of Ascot, Roy Towndrow, now living in Sherborne, reveals that David is also Director of the local Sherborne Amateur Dramatics Society and as last time we are in for a quite a presentation. We look forward to greeting David again, coming from Dorset, bringing his Whiteboard and all this varied background to present another of his passions – the Battle of Waterloo. Format for the evening:-
Peter Short |