Tentoonstelling in het Spoorwegmuseum vrijdagmiddag 4 maart

AMSTERDAM BRANCH
Bulletin
PATRON: HER MAJESTY'S AMBASSADOR AT THE HAGUE
2010-2011 season nr. 3. february 2011
Dear members,
This third bulletin is published a few weeks earlier, because of an extra event , the details of which are as follows:
Tentoonstelling in het Spoorwegmuseum vrijdagmiddag 4 maart 2011 13.30 uur
Sporen over zee (met trein en boot naar Engeland)
De afdelingen GNE Amsterdam en GNE Utrecht hebben een extra
evenement georganiseerd, namelijk een inleiding en rondleiding gratis voor
GNE leden, door de conservator van het museum. Tussen 16:00 en 17:00
uur wordt het bezoek afgerond met een kopje koffie (eigen rekening).
Locatie/adres
Spoorwegmuseum: Maliebaanstation 16, 3581 XW Utrecht. Tel: 0302306206
Routebeschrijving
Per auto : Navigatiesysteem: vul in Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 1
Met de bus: Het museum is vanaf Utrecht CS bereikbaar met GVU buslijn 3,
richting Fockema Andrealaan, halte Maliebaan.
Per trein: 12.47 vertrekt de Museumtrein vanaf Utrecht CS. Tarief €. 2.Te voet : Vanaf Utrecht CS is het circa 20 minuten wandelen,
routebeschrijving zie website: http://www.spoorwegmuseum.nl/
praktische_info/adres__route.html
Het parkeerterrein van het Spoorwegmuseum heeft 200 parkeerplaatsen.
Een parkeermunt voor deze parkeerplaatsen kost € 4,50. Tijdens drukke dagen is het parkeerterrein snel vol. Het is
wel mogelijk in de omgeving te parkeren. Voor parkeertarieven klik op de website van de gemeente.
Inschrijving
Kosten: Toegangskaartje € 13,50 p.p. of gratis met museumkaart.
Aanmelden zo spoedig mogelijk doch uiterlijk 1 maart 2011 onder vermelding van:
 Naam, adres, woonplaats;
 Telefoonnummer;
 E-mail adres;
 GNE-afdeling;
 Aantal personen en aantal museumkaarten in bezit.
Aanmelden bij Monty Kraayeveld:
E-mailadres : [email protected]
Via telefoon : 020-3315399
Eventueel aan huisadres : Herengracht 409, 1017 BP Amsterdam.
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Sunday 13th March 2010 3. pm De Veranda, Amstelveenseweg 764
John Pilkington
A stroll through the axis of evil
John`s talk is entitled `A Stroll through the Axis of Evil`; Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran
are in the news for all the wrong reasons. Starting in Beirut, John will unravel a picture
quite different to the news stories as he followed a winding route via the Euphrates, the
Caucasus and the Valley of the Assassins to finish on the Persian Gulf. John Pilkington has been called ―one of Britain’s
greatest tellers of travellers’ tales‖.
In 1983, after journeys in Africa and Latin America, he completed a 500-mile solo crossing of the western Nepal Himalaya, and
told the story in his first book, Into Thin Air. His interest in Asia grew further with the opening in 1986 of the border between
Pakistan and China, making it possible – for the first time in forty years – to retrace virtually the whole of the Silk Road. John
was one of the first modern travellers to do so, and he wrote about the journey in An Adventure on the Old Silk Road. This was
followed in 1991 by An Englishman in Patagonia, recounting eight months spent exploring the southernmost tip of South
America.
In 2000 he became one of only four people in modern times to walk the 1,600-mile Royal Road of the Incas in the Andes of
Ecuador and Peru. In 2003 he explored the Mekong River and, with two Tibetans, reached and mapped its source at over 17,000
feet. In 2006 he turned his attention to the Sahara Desert, and joined a camel caravan carrying salt for 450 miles from the mines
of Taoudenni to Timbuktu.
He is familiar as a broadcaster with the BBC World Service and with Radio 4, for whom he has made adventure travel
documentaries and has contributed to From Our Own Correspondent. John writes occasionally for The Sunday Times, The
Independent and Geographical magazine. In 2006 the Royal Geographical Society presented him with the Ness Award for his
work in popularising geography and the wider understanding of the world.
John Pilkington is a loyal friend of GNE and has told us about his various travels in beautifully illustrated talks on several
occasions. When he last visited GNE he was preparing for another long trip, to complete the part of the Old Silk Road he was
unable to cover on his previous trip to the area. He promised to come back and tell GNE all about it.
John started his trip later than originally planned and has literally only just returned home. We are very pleased that he is willing
to come over to tell the GNE branches all about his latest adventures.
A Stroll through the Axis of Evil
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran are in the news for all the wrong reasons. Starting in Beirut, John unravelled a picture quite
different to the news stories as he followed a winding route via the Euphrates, the Caucasus and the Valley of the Assassins to
finish on the Persian Gulf. He enjoyed unbridled hospitality from a spectacular variety of people - Druze, Mennonites, Arabs,
Kurds, Armenians, Azeris and both Shi`ite and Sunni Iranians - and found families and whole communities working together to
survive the harsh climate and political strife.
Sunday, April 3rd 2 PM (please mind the time!)
Venue: Amsteldijk 89 (near Ceintuurbaan)
Seventeenth-Century English Opera on stage
(Zeventiende-eeuwse Engelse opera in opvoering)
For the presentation of this Sunday we are invited to the beautifully restored and spacious home of Juul and Frans Muller. There
is plenty of free parking space, there will be coffee and biscuits during the interval and the afternoon will be concluded with a
glass of good wine and various snacks. The lecture will be in Dutch. We hope to see you all!.
Immediately after the Restoration in 1660, Charles II founded two acting companies. His love of the fairly new phenomenon
opera was even greater than that of plays and he encouraged the development of the genre in English, using not only English
libretti but also moveable scenery.
The greatest composer of English opera was of course Henry Purcell. We can hear his opera music regularly nowadays, often
even with Baroque instruments. The scenery, costumes, gesture and dancing are always modernised, however, leaving the audience without a clue as to the meaning of the operas and what they really looked like.
Frans and Julia Muller have reconstructed parts of Dioclesian (1690) and The Fairy Queen (1692) and can
show what is missing. Several animations give a good idea of what audiences would have seen and understood
about underlying meaning at the time.
About Mr & Mrs Muller:
Dr. Julia Muller earned her PhD in English Language and Literature at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, with a thesis
entitled Producing The Prophestess; or, The History of Dioclesian. She taught at the Hogeschool Holland
and the Vrije Universiteit and since her retirement she has specialised in coaching early music singers and choirs in English texts
and pronunciation before 1800.
P.T.O
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Frans Muller
is a designer, who started working for the stage with the English Speaking Theatre of Amsterdam (ESTA).
He has specialised in the reconstruction of the Dorset Garden Theatre in London (where Purcell's operas
premiered) and of the sets and costumes of the period.
The National Final of the BBC Young Writers
and Public Speaking Awards 2011 will take
place on Saturday April 9th 2011 at 1pm in
Amsterdam, Auditorium of the University of
Amsterdam, Singel 411 (corner Spui).
GNE Members of all branches, are most welcome at
this highly interesting and rewarding event. These days,
there’s much criticism on the level of secondary
education in our country, but attending this event will
convince you that there are many exceptions proving
the rule. Over the years, he level of both the speeches
and the essays has been high and has increased
considerably and the Amsterdam Committee is certain
that you will have a great afternoon! Please inform the
organisers by e-mail: [email protected] that you are planning to attend.
Sunday, 8 May 3. pm De Veranda Amstelveenseweg
Dr Christopher Ridgway: Castle Howard and Brideshead: Fact, Fiction and In-Between
About the Speaker:
Dr Christopher Ridgway has been Curator at Castle Howard since 1985, with responsibility for
the internationally important art collections that were assembled by successive generations of
the Howard family ever since Castle Howard was built by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1699.
He is Co-Chair of the Yorkshire Country House Partnership, a pioneering collaborative
research project between the stately homes of Yorkshire and the University of York. He sits on
the Board for the National Trust for Scotland, and the Attingham Trust Council, and is also
Adjunct Professor in the History Dept at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
He has lectured widely in the UK and overseas on the history of Castle Howard, its
architecture, collections, and landscape, on which he has also published extensively. He is coeditor with Robert Williams of Sir John Vanbrugh and Landscape Architecture in Baroque England; and he is currently at work
on a book-length study of the gardens and landscape, entitled The Landscaping of Castle Howard, as well as a study on the
relationship between the fact and fiction with Castle Howard and Brideshead.
About the lecture:
Castle Howard and Brideshead: Fact, Fiction and In-Between
Used as a spectacular location for not just one but two screen versions of this famous story, just what is the relationship between
Evelyn Waugh’s famous novel, Brideshead Revisited, and the Howards of Castle Howard?
Looking back….
In the Dickens Museum
February 13 gave us an excellent lecture by Florian Schweizer, director of the Dickens Museum in London, on the
writer Charles Dickens and the period he lived in. As a reader one is always so fascinated by his stories that the
writer himself vanishes into the background. Unjustly so: he was a many-sided character and an icon in his days and
would draw great crowds wherever he went. The presentation was followed by a long and lively questions and answers session after which seven of our members stayed to have dinner together.
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A documentary film, Memory in the Mud has been made about the crash of this WW2 bomber near Berkhout.
On May 28 or 29 this film will be screened for our members.
More information will be available in our last Bulletin of the season
June 18th National Event.
Please keep this date free in your diaries!
More information will be available in our last Bulletin of the season
Orkater: Richard III met o.a. Gijs Scholten van Asschat
Stadsschouwburg Amaterdam 17-21 en 23—26 augustus
Richard III is een muziektheaterversie van Shakespeares beroemde klassieker, met Gijs Scholten van
Aschat in de titelrol en muziek van Tom Waits en Katleen Brennan. De reacties van pers en publiek
zijn unaniem lovend.
Richard III gaat over de opkomst en ondergang van een meedogenloze carrièreman. De koningszoon
Richard heeft drie oudere broers. Het is ondenkbaar dat hij ooit op de troon zal komen. Maar daarin
ligt voor hem nu juist de uitdaging. Manipulerend, versierend, dreigend en bij gelegenheid
moordend, baant Richard zich een weg naar de macht. Eenmaal aan de top wordt hij geconfronteerd
met de pijnlijke vraag: En nu? Is dit alles?
Alle voorstellingen worden in het Engels boventiteld.
GNE Twente's silver jubilee celebrations on 10 September 2011
To mark our silver jubilee, GNE Twente will be organizing a National Day on Saturday 10 September to which all
GNE members and their partners are invited. Come and enjoy our beautiful Twentse countryside and let us show you
something of of the Dutch/German borderlands and the landscape which has inspired great art!
More details will be announced later but you may like to make a note of the date now. Don't miss the GNE Twente's
silver jubilee celebrations on Saturday 10 September!
The British Consul, J. Cameron-Webb proposes to organise a week-end for us to the WW1 battlefields in Flanders and/or the
Somne this spring or in October..
If you are interested, please inform Ingrid de Beer (030-6924747 evenings. mail: [email protected])
Details can be found on page 5 of this Bulletin
Addresses you might need:
Mrs Kitty Kruijswijk-v.d.Woude
Chairman & secretary a.i.
Hoge Horn 109
1506 MS Zaandam
Tel.:075-6169936
Email: [email protected]
Bank account: 4677160 of
GNE Afdeling Amsterdam
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Mr Monty.Kraayeveld
(vice-chairman.)
Herengracht 409
1017 BP Amsterdam
T: 020-3315399 (away 24-28/2)
Vacancies: We’re urgently in need of
one of our members willing to become
member of our Committee. For info,
please contact one of the Committee members
THE FOUR BATTLES OF YPRES
BATTLEFIELD TOUR
The First World War was a turning point in world history and its effects are still felt today, even in countries which were noncombatant. Today books, films and documentaries are being written at an unequalled pace and revisionists are enjoying a new
look at the war, as new documents and facts come to light. At the same time as the last Tommies pass away, our perception of
the war is forever changing and we are now reliant solely on written ―history‖ with all its subjectivity, mistakes and interpretations.
One of the most effective ways of experiencing history is to visit places and see for yourself where dramatic, world-changing
events took place. Walking into Passchendaele village for instance, is an experience which will stay with you forever as you look
across the ground where such bitter and desperate fighting took place. And when you remember that for every square foot
gained, 35 lives were lost in 1917, actually being there is more effective than reading about it. Likewise, when you have visited
such hallowed places as the Menin Gate or Langemarck and Tyne Cott Cemeteries, ―you will remember them‖
OBJECTIVE:
Broadly speaking, the aim of this tour is to look at the battles of Ypres between 1914 and 1918, to see how they were fought and
how weapons and tactics developed. We will of course be paying tribute to those who fell and ―gave their tomorrows for our
todays‖. But to give credit where it is due, I will pay particular attention to how the BEF developed from being a relatively small
campaign Army of ―Old Contemptibles‖ into the huge fighting force of 1917. Indeed into an Army of specialists, which by use
of infantry tactics, artillery, airforce and tanks eventually, at long last, defeated the enemy in 1918.
However, this tour is also a social event. Input from us all is welcome as I dare say most, if not all of us, have family connections with the war in one form or other. The tour is also a platform for discussions and any contributions which ―pilgrims‖ wish
to make, be it the story of a family member or indeed passing on some knowledge to the group will be well received.
GENERAL OUTLINE:
On Saturday we will rendezvous at the ―In Flanders Field Museum‖ located in the Cloth Hall in Ypres. We will spend approximately 5 hours visiting museums and touring the historical sights in and around the town and salient with me giving talks at various stopping points along the way.
We will then check into our hotel before attending the 20.00 hours Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate. I have booked a table
for dinner at the Old Tom restaurant, this will afford an opportunity to reflect on the day’s impressions and generally ―unwind‖.
On Sunday we’ll spend about 4 to 5 hours once again, touring the area. We will visit various sites and using a copy of the original battle-map, conduct a ―walking tour‖ in the direction of the advance by the 2 nd Canadian Div as they followed the ―creeping
barrage‖ towards Passchendaele in November 1917. After visiting Tyne Cott cemetery, (the largest British cemetery in the
world) we will conclude our tour by visiting Varlet Farm. This farm is situated on the old German front line and the current occupants, the family Descamp-Cardoen, will give us a guided tour showing battle-field debris still found to this day.
I would be grateful if any requests to visit specific locations were made known to me in advance.
Timing/Itinerary:
Saturday:
-07.00 hrs: Depart Netherlands, driving time to Ypres is approximately 3 hours. This departure time allows for break (s) enroute, possible delays and finding a parking space.
-11.00 hrs: RV and visit ―In Flanders Field Museum‖
-12.30 hrs: St. Georges Chapel and Belgian Memorial
-13.15 hrs: Return to cars. Commence driving tour.
Some Examples of stopping points: Essex Farm, Yorkshire Trenches,, Ziegler Bunker, Kitchener’s Wood, Canadian Brooding
Soldier Monument, Gheluvelt Mill, Hill 60-Sanctuary Wood museum.
16.00 hrs:
17.00 hrs:
19.50 hrs:
20.00 hrs:
20.30 hrs:
Tea at Sanctuary Wood museum/ Canadian Hill 60
Return to Ypres, tour of Leonidas Chocolate shop, check into accommodation-Rest
RV at Menin Gate
Last Post Ceremony
Dinner
-09.00 hrs:
-11.00 hrs:
-11.30 hrs:
-12.00 hrs:
-13.30 hrs:
-15.00 hrs:
Sunday:
Check-Out of hotel: Depart for further points along southern ―Salient‖ (Ploegsteert, Messine, Hill 62)
Drive to Passchendaele area.
Walk into and look around village
Visit Tyne Cott Cemetry
Refreshments at lecture at Varlet Farm
Disperse to NL
Data Ook oktober
J. Cameron-Webb
More details can be found on the GNE website
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