Kent Branch : Diary of Events 2008

Saturday 15 March

AGM and talk by Professor Vivien Jones

The Annual General Meeting will take place at Goodnestone Park. The day will start with coffee and biscuits at 10.30 am, followed by the AGM at 11 am. Lunch will be served at 12.30 pm in the tearoom, and there will be an opportunity for members to explore the gardens, if the weather is kind. At 2 pm there will be a talk in the Fitzwalter Room by Vivien Jones, Professor of 18th Century Gender and Culture at Leeds University, on 'Austen's Nieces'.

Following the talk, tea and cakes can be purchased in the tearoom. The AGM and coffee are free to members, lunch costs £12, talk only costs £8, and lunch and talk costs £18. Please apply to Janet Cheshire Martin using the form in the Newsletter.

Saturday 29 March

Spring Discussion Group, Pluckley.

Topic for the Spring Discussion Group will be 'Travel and Visits in Jane Austen's Life and Novels'. The Group is invited to meet at Forge Cottage, Pluckley, at 12.00 for 12.30 pm (please bring a packed lunch) by kind permission of Angela Bates. Please contact Bridget Duckenfield for more details.

Saturday 7 June

Study Day at Godmersham Park

The title for the day will be 'Life in a Country House'. The morning session will be devoted to looking at gardens and landscape, and the aftenoon session to houses.

The morning speaker will be professor Malcolm Andrews from the University of Kent speaking on 'Jane Austen and the Vogue for the Picturesque', and in the afternoon Professor Claire Lamont from the University of Newcastle will be speaking on 'Living in Jane Austen's Houses'. Members will be invited to bring picnics to eat in the grounds of Godmersham (in the Orangery if wet) and there will be an afternoon cream tea, also in the Orangery. More details to follow.

Saturday 22 November

Annual Luncheon at Broome Park, Nr Barham.

The annual luncheon and lecture will again take place at Broome Park, after the success of the 2007 event. More details to follow.