Christmas & Seasonal Poetry

Tea/Coffee and Seasonal cakes included

During the afternoon we will explore and discuss how a selection of poets have treated the theme of Christmas and the Winter season over the past few centuries.  Michael King will be talking us through poems looking at how we celebrate this time and how poems depict the celebrations, interpretations and many aspects of this season.  We will be reading some “old favourites” as well as discovering some lesser-known gems and we shall be considering writers as diverse as Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy and Benjamin Zephaniah.

Saturday 28th November 2026 (1 Session)

13.30 pm – 16.00 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Speaker – Michael King – Cost £15

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The Ottoman Empire – Crisis, Revolution & Collapse 1896-1914

We will explore the mounting challenges faced by the Ottoman State at the end of the 19^th Century and Early 20^th Century which led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.  Using contemporary accounts and materials we will understand the internal and external pressures the Ottoman State faced and the long-term impact of the Ottoman collapse on the modern world.

Tuesdays – 20th October to 24th November – (6 Sessions)

10.30 am – 12.30 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Tutor – Laurie Johnston – Cost £108

Course Outline
This 6-session course explores the final decades of the Ottoman Empire before the First World War.  Once one of the world’s great imperial powers, the Ottoman State faced mounting challenges from nationalism, foreign intervention, economic pressures and demands for reform.  Beginning with the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid III and the Armenian crisis of the 1890s, we will examine the rise of the Young Turk Movement, the revolution of 1908, the empire’s complex ethnic and religious diversity and the growing influence of European powers.  The course concludes with the Balkan Wars and the Ottoman Empire’s precarious position on the eve of the First World War.

Through contemporary accounts, political cartoons, photographs and historical analysis, participants will explore how the Ottoman Empire struggles to adapt to the modern world and why its fate remains central to understanding the history of the modern Middle East, The Balkans and Europe

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Peggy Guggenheim: An Eye in Time

Peggy Guggenheim is one of the most exciting and prominent female patron and curator of the modernist movement in Europe and Americas in the Twentieth Century helping to shape the lives and careers of many artists including Max Ernst, Kandinsky and Pollock.

Thursdays – 12th November to 10th December (no class 26th November) – (4 Sessions)

10.30 am – 12.30 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Tutor – Chantal Condron – Cost £72

Course Outline
American-born patron and curator once said ‘I am not an art collector; I am a museum’.  One of the most exciting and prominent female figures of the modernist movement in Europe and America, Guggenheim helped to shape the lives and careers of numerous artists including Wassily Kandinsky, Max Ernst and Jackson Pollock.  On this course we discover and evaluate her influence both as a collector and as a curator in London, New York and Venice.  This course will provide an excellent contact to the Royal Academy’s winter exhibition Peggy Guggenheim in London. 

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Literature:Books from the 1970s

We will be looking at a number of books published in the 1970s. Our good-natured lively discussions will be guided by philosopher Dr Brandon Robshaw.

Tuesdays – 5th January 2027 to 9th February 2027 – (6 Sessions)

10.30 am – 12.30 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Tutor – Brandon Robshaw – Cost £108

Course Outline
In this 6-week course we will be looking at books from the 1970s which are rich with unforgettable characters, distinctive voices, powerful ideas and offer insights into life, identity and culture of the times. 

We will be reading and discussing: The Guardians by John Christopher / A Clubbable Woman by Reginald Hill / Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor / The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams / The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

The works and our discussions will help us to discover how literature can challenge assumptions, inspire debate and deepen understanding of the world around us.

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Highlights of Tate Britain

The course will provide an introduction to the wide range of artworks held in Tate Britain at Millbank as well as developing confidence and improving visual literacy skills when looking at art works. We will explore the works of a number of prominent artists including Anthony Van Eyck, Mona Hatoum, William Blake and John E Millais.

Thursdays – 7th January 2027 to 11th February 2027 – (No class 28th January – 5 Sessions)

10.30 am – 12.30 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Tutor – Chantal Condron – Cost £90

Course Outline
This course provides an introduction to the wide range of artworks within the British collection at Tate Britain at Millbank. We explore specific works by historical, modern and contemporary artists in relation to wider cultural and social contexts. The aim of the course is to develop confidence and visual literacy skills when looking at and discussing art in London’s galleries. We examine the work of prominent artists as diverse as Anthony Van Dyck, Joan Carlisle, William Blake, JMW Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites, Gwen John, Mona Hatoum and Mike Kelly.

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London’s Square Mile: A History

With an emphasis on social and economic history the course will chart London’s development as a financial and trading powerhouse, from its origins in the medieval banks, trading companies, guilds, and livery companies, through to its zenith in the nineteenth century when it was at the height of its wealth and power. By 1900, the City of London had become a world financial centre and arguably the most influential and historically rich patch of land in Britain.

Fridays – 8th January 2027 to 12th February 2027 – 6 Sessions)

10.30 am – 12.30 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Tutor – George O’Reilly- Cost £108

Course Outline
London was founded in the first century AD, on the north bank of the Thames after the Roman invasion of Britain.  The city would soon be surrounded by walls, parts of which are still standing, at Tower Hil and at St Alphege’s. At just over a square mile in size, the area would later come to be known as ‘the Square Mile’ or simply ‘the City’, even though London itself had expanded to over 600 square miles in area. This small area of London, the City of London, would become the nation’s financial centre and it is the focus of our course.

By the nineteenth century the City of London was offering a range of financial services for investment, banking, trading and insurance. As Britain industrialised and became ‘the workshop of the world’, as its colonial empire grew, and as it became a leading world power so too did the power and influence of the City grow.

The course will also examine some of the City’s iconic buildings, all Grade 1 listed:- the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, the Guildhall, the Mansion House and of course, St Paul’s Cathedral.

Classes are interactive with plenty of discussion and question and answer. Reading and research beyond the classroom are encouraged and can be shared in classes.

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Anarchy & Empire: England in the 12th Century

We will be looking at this turbulent and transformative century in English history by learning more about the powerful Henry 1st, “The Anarchy” between king Stephen and Henry 1^st’s daughter Matilda which threatened to ruin the kingdom and the unifier and empire builder King Henry 2nd.   The course will gather evidence from a variety of different sources and then discuss their impact upon our knowledge and understanding of this eventful period.

Tuesdays –16th February 2027 to 23rd March 2027 – 6 Sessions)

10.30 am – 12.30 pm Enfield Baptist Church

Tutor – Laurie Johnston- Cost £108

Course Outline
The twelfth century was one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in English history. From the formidable rule of Henry I to the bitter civil war between Stephen and Matilda, England experienced dynastic intrigue, rebellion and a struggle for the crown that threatened to tear the kingdom apart. Yet from this chaos emerged the remarkable Angevin Empire of Henry II, stretching from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees.

This course explores the personalities, conflicts and ambitions that shaped medieval England, examining the changing nature of kingship, the growth of royal government, the power of the Church and the notorious confrontation between Henry II and Thomas Becket. It is a story of war, political ambition and the foundations of a new kind of monarchy.

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