NOV/2007 LECTURE REVIEW

Despite a catalogue of setbacks the lecture delivered by Mr Derek Ladkin on Wednesday November 14^th was a major triumph. At very short notice our venue was changed from The Constable Hall to The Lambe School, at a stroke limiting our capacity on seating arrangements for what proved to be a very popular topic – “Life on an Antarctic Base”.  Credit goes to all members who helped set up the hall, projector, and not least the “tea ladies”, the unsung heroines.  Mr Ladkin himself had his troubles with a near disaster causing some of his slides to run out of sequence.

Mr Ladkin proved to be a fine speaker, very human and interesting to listen to, I myself was riveted.  He was describing his son’s experiences out in Antarctica and his research work there. His photographs were excellent, the penguins, memorial to Ernest Shackleton and so many more all taken by his son with a Minolta camera adapted to combat the extreme temperatures. The human touches to his lecture, bringing along a tin with a cardboard cut out to demonstrate the living quarters above and the cold storage below for the supplies, and the innovatory repair of the Doctor’s spectacles provided us with an insight into their time spent there.

 Due to a delayed start and his second batch of slides being in disarray, we now have a second lecture to look forward to at a later date.  Derek was obviously bursting with pride over his son’s success in the Antarctic, I feel, in turn, his son should be proud of such a “Dad”.  I get the impression the Constable Hall may well be filled to capacity on his next visit.

Kate Harrison.