Membership of The Friends of Markenfield for one person. You will be invited to renew your membership from 1st January the following year (unless you join after 1 October, in which case you will be invited to renew the year after next).
Miles Young was elected 48th Warden of his alma mater, New College, Oxford, in 2016. The first person from the world of business to hold the role, he is now Chair of the Governance Forum of the Conference. His business career has been spent in advertising and marketing, most recently as Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy and Mather, a leading global communications network. More than half of that was spent outside the UK, in China, and then in North America.
He is currently overseeing the construction of New College's £36m new campus, the Gradel Quadrangles, which includes additional student accommodation, student study space, a 100-seat music hall and facilities for the adjacent New College School, plus a tower and gatehouse. Join us to hear his reflections on this bastion of British education, his life there and its future.
Pamela Hartshorne began writing novels to fund a PhD in medieval history, and has since written over 80 books, both fiction and non-fiction. Here she will explore her 'time slip' novels, based on her research of Elizabethan York, and the challenges of treading a fine line between historical accuracy and a compelling story.
At the bottom of a sharply descending street - in the topographical sense - in Edinburgh's Georgian New Town, new residents have moved in to number 44 Scotland Street, joining the already well-known and much-loved denizens of that remarkable building. They appear to be a bit of a mystery, but so, too, do other things. What exactly did Sister Maria-Fiore, the aphorism-coining socialite nun, find on the No. 23 bus? Could it be the remains of a hitherto unknown Neanderthal, homo Watsoniensis?
In a Time of Distance’, the poem from which the collection take its title, was written at the start of the global pandemic which struck at the start of 2020, here the author reminds us of what is important in life and to focus on love, friendship and family. And it is this approach to life that makes this collection a captivating celebration of love and friendship, of Scotland and people, of animals and books. Looking at the world through the lens of this writer, it is a better, more humane place. Throughout the collection there are moments of swoop and soar, descriptions that will make you laugh and realign your view. The author reminds us to look at the world differently, to stop once in while and look up at the sky.
Stories do not have to be long. In the space of a couple of sentences - or even a page or two - we may see the human heart exposed in a way that is more powerful than occurs in many much longer narratives.
In Tiny Tales Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness and happiness in thirty short stories that range in length from the short to the minuscule. The settings are as diverse as the characters - Scotland, England, Australia, the United States - combining to create a rich and surprising tableau. An Australian pope? A persuasive cosmetic surgeon? The world's laziest cat. A group of students living together and getting romantically entangled? All human and animal life is here - in miniature.
There is evidence indicating that the 3rd Lord Grantley, during his ownership in the C19th, had many trees planted to create a landscape more resembling the Park that once it had been; eventually seeing that the land around Markenfield was transformed from simple farmland under crops, to a fitting setting for this once-powerful home.
Since then, time has passed and many of his trees are coming towards the end of their natural lives and replanting is needed - now especially due to the arrival of Ash Dieback. Gardener Giles Gilbey has devised a new programme of planting that will ensure a succession of trees on the estate for years to come. Can you help by sponsoring a tree?
Clifford Tower stands on York Castle’s mound built by William the Conqueror. In its almost thousand years of history, the Great Tower witnessed every rebellion and siege in the city. As the castle’s dungeon, it hosted prominent criminals throughout the centuries, and its appearance changed almost beyond recognition. Explore the history of Clifford Tower from Norman times to the present day, by studying medieval sources and photographic evidence. Price includes refreshments and lunch.