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06 October 2026Around The World in Stunning Aviation Posters
03 November 2026Lady Butler; Battle Artist
01 December 2026'Harp and Holly' – its history, design and music with a seasonal flavour
02 February 2027Insatiable Appetites : Eating out in Georgian England
02 March 2027The Jurassic World of Mary Anning
06 April 2027Dumfries House: An Exceptional Commission
04 May 2027Spread a Little Happiness: The Story of the British Musical
01 June 2027Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales
06 July 2027The Life and Times of Samuel Pepys
07 September 2027Everything stops for Tea! A Social History of Drinking Tea
05 October 2027The Art and Architecture of St. Petersburg
02 November 2027The Wartime Films Of Britain and Hollywood
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Around The World in Stunning Aviation Posters Mark Ovenden Tuesday 06 October 2026

Graphic designer, writer and broadcaster Mark Ovenden gives us an overview of aviation posters and maps in his talk ‘Around the World in Stunning Aviation Posters’, reminding us of the pleasures of travel. WWI led to great advances being made in aviation technology, so by 1919 the first scheduled international flights began. Airlines needed to show an initially wary public where their services ran and in so doing created some of the most beautiful and iconic travel posters. Advertising routes became a big driver of travel poster production from the late 1920s onwards and we'll see examples of posters from several major airlines including Lufthansa and Pan Am. Many of the latter’s having become sought after collectors items. Mark will lead us through Art Deco streamlined planes, to satellite images of the planet. This world-wide journey will be a visual delight and inspired dreams of far flung destinations in vivid colours and styles.

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Mark Ovenden is a broadcaster and author who's sold a quarter of a million books and appeared on many TV and radio programmes. He specialises in the subjects of industrial design and architecture - especially in the world of public transport. Since he became AS accredited in 2018 he's delivered scores of lectures to societies all over Britain and also in Europe: the most popular being his talk on the London Underground.

His first book (a New York Times "Bestseller") was a guide to the maps of Transit systems across the planet and it's been re-issued many times. His works have been translated by Penguin and others into half a dozen languages. His titles include two books about the Paris Metro and others about: Railway Maps, the New York Subway; the London Underground; typeface design; Manchester's Metrolink; Airline Maps; Underground Cities and Cartography design.
He is also currently reading as a mature student online for a Masters in Railway Studies.