Meet the Tutors

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  The Creative Cake Academy

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The Creative Cake Academy
Cake Decoration Workshops
The Creative Cake Academy offers a very modern day approach to Cake Decoration and design, bustling with new ideas, all of which are firmly rooted in the trends of today.  We do not produce cakes for direct sale, but offer workshops to participants at all levels in the art of Cake Decoration.  Cupcakes are very trendy right now and with a little skill and practice, the old fashioned 'Fairy Cake' now appears in a new wardrobe of clothes, becoming the perfect partner not only to serve for special treats, but also very much on-trend for many other occasions.  Cupcake Towers are very fashionable in place of the traditional Wedding cake; they also make lovely gifts when packaged for birthdays and all kinds of celebrations and create wonderful displays at parties.  Our Workshops to be held at Farncombe include Vintage, Flower Garden, Wedding Design and Christmas Cupcakes.
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  Gill Avery

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Gill Avery
Gill Avery was  Health and Wellbeing Coordinator for West Sussex Adult & Community Learning Service. She is an enthusiastic and experienced tutor for Health and Fitness and believes that exercise should be fun! She enjoys rambling and being in her half acre garden where she grows her own organic vegetables.
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  Jan Barley

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Jan Barley
Jan Barley is a laughter facilitator and Life coach.  Following the loss of her father in 2008, she realised that she wanted her work to be more fun, and that she needed to reduce the amount of stress in her working life.  Jan feels passionate about helping others, and loves to see the positive changes that her work brings to people. She says, "There is nothing as fulfilling to me than when I become aware that I have helped another human being to change their life positively. Laughter really is the best medicine." As a qualified laughter facilitator, Jan describes the process as impactful. "When I trained as a laughter facilitator, it was truly cathartic for me. I was still grieving for my dad, and was amazed how deeply the laughter facilitation helped me to feel so much happier in myself."
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  Richard Box

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Richard Box
Crafts and Textiles Tutor
Richard is an artist, a teacher, a lecturer and an author of seven books. He works in watercolours, oils and acrylics as well as his particular form of textile art. Also, as an art historian, he lectures to interested parties such as NADFAS.
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  Swee Tan Caseley

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Swee Tan Caseley
Chinese Brush Painting Tutor
Swee Caseley is from Malaysia and learnt Chinese painting at the Malaysia Institute of Art 1973-1979. She has lived in Bristol for the past 24 years and developed a passion for the changing seasons and used traditional brush strokes to convey atmosphere of local landscape. She has exhibited her work at the Museum of East Asian Art (Bath), WEA, local art shows, demonstration in V and A Museum for year of Rat. She has taught residential Chinese Painting courses around the country for the past 8 years.
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  Ian Coleman

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Ian Coleman
Painting and Drawing Tutor
Ian Coleman S.A.A. (Society of Animal Artists) has been working as a professional artist for over 30 years in the fields of animation, illustration, design and fine art. He has been featured in numerous magazines, books and group shows in the UK and USA and television and is one of the UK's leading wildlife artists with a special interest in sharks and the marine-life world winning two awards of excellence from the USA. Ian is a regular tutor at Farncombe and is well known for providing an enjoyable mix of relaxed tuition and invaluable expertise.
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  Barry Collett

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Barry Collett
Music Appreciation Tutor
Barry Collett was Director of Music at Rutland College. He is a pianist, author, lecturer and for 30 years conducted a full symphony orchestra in a wide range of music. He has just been awarded the Elgar Medal, the highest honour of the Elgar Society, for his work in researching and performing Elgar's lesser known works.
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  Andrew Collis

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Andrew Collis
Making Music Tutor
Andrew is one of the country's leading recorder players and in demand as a performer and tutor at events across the United Kingdom. He studied with Paul Clark and Philip Thorby. He has coached courses at all levels and in a wealth of music from Early to modern and beyond. He is an experienced adjudicator and has begun examining for Trinity/Guildhall.
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  Wendy Cotterill

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Wendy Cotterill
Crafts and Textiles Tutor
After 12 years in the fashion industry as a designer and pattern-cutter, and subsequently teaching fashion subjects, Wendy Cotterill decided to develop her interest in broader textile-related subjects. A fine art degree allowed her to incorporate textiles and mixed media techniques with a platform to make comments on herself (not always a comfortable place to be) and on the world around her. The techniques she currently uses are often described as ‘experimental’: for instance, using a desktop printer for printing onto fabric or melting and texturing fabrics developed for industrial applications. While the techniques she adopts or develops very much embrace all that the brave new technological world has to offer, there remains a respectful nod to tradition.
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  Mark Cottle

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Mark Cottle
History and Architecture Tutor
Mark Cottle was born in the Scilly Isles. A graduate of Birmingham University with a Masters Degree in late Medieval History, Mark has spent more than 20 years lecturing in Anglo-Saxon, Medieval and Tudor History in further and higher education. He started Exploring History, his Devon-based company, in 2001, chiefly as a kind of personal crusade against the ever-increasing decline of medieval history in formal education. Exploring History is about bringing back a sense of the fascination with the richness, achievement and even mystery of a remarkable period in English history. Mark does this by holding study breaks and illustrated talks, to which he brings his own brand of enthusiasm, knowledge and skill.
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  Mike Cragg

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Mike Cragg
Yoga Tutor
Mike has been interested in sport and fitness from an early age. In his teens, he became a karate student and later a teacher, also training in Ju Jitsu and Wing Chun. After a severe sports injury in his late 20s, Mike intensified his interest in Yoga (he had first practiced Yoga with his mother in front of the TV in the early 1970s!) as a way to regain strength and mobility. After many years’ practice Mike qualified with the British Wheel of Yoga as a teacher.  Mike is also a qualified with the Yoga Alliance and certified as a Yoga teacher trainer. He has now been teaching for nearly 20 years and is very eclectic in his teaching style, drawing on the Iyengar method, Astanga Vinyasa, integral Yoga and restorative Yoga. To complement his Yoga teaching, Mike is qualified with the Pilates Institute and has a special interest in working one to one with students with medical conditions, especially for those with spinal problems. He is a qualified personal trainer (CYQ and REPS) and is an certified exercise therapist accepting GP referred clients. Finally, Mike is a qualified mountain leader, has a post graduate teaching certificate for teaching adults and is also a practicing acupuncturist and massage therapist.
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  Alison Crum

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Alison Crum
Making Music Tutor
Alison Crum is known throughout the Western world as both as player and teacher of the viol. She has made around 90 recordings, most often with the Rose Consort of Viols, and directs numerous summer schools and workshops worldwide. President of the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, Professor of Viol at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, and a visiting teacher at several colleges and universities both in Europe and the USA, Alison has been called the 'doyenne of British viol teachers'. She has produced a series of graded music books centred on her highly acclaimed textbook, 'Play the Viol', and her second book, 'The Viol Rules', published in 2009, has received many excellent reviews.
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  Rosalind Davis

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Rosalind Davis
Crafts and Textiles Tutor
Rosalind Davis is a London-based mixed media painter, creating paintings which incorporate paint embroidery and floral-print. A graduate of the RCA and Chelsea College of Art, she has exhibited nationally and internationally with work in private and public collections. In 2010, Rosalind was selected for the UKYA, ING Discerning Eye and Lynn Painters Stainers Prize. In 2011 she exhibited in Vienna, India, CoExist Arts, Phoenix Brighton and in 2012-13 she is part of the Courtauld Institute East Wing X Material Matters Exhibition. Rosalind has had a number of solo shows in London since 2005 and is a lead curator for the ‘First Thursdays’ events at The WhiteChapel Gallery and for the South London Art Map. As a writer, she has contributed to The Guardian and is an acclaimed blogger.  She has create and delivered mixed media workshops (in drawing, painting, embroidery and collage) for a number of years across all levels of education across the country including the Historic Royal Palaces, West Dean College and Brighton Phoenix. Visit  www.rosalinddavis.co.uk
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  Dan Evans

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Dan Evans
Singing and Voice Workshop Tutor
Dan Evans was told as a child that he couldn’t sing and was made to mime in the school choir.  He is now the UK's leading exponent on the dulcimer and he accompanies his fine baritone vocals with dulcimers and guitars.  With 4 CD albums and 13 international tours under his belt, Dan has won the respect of many of the world's leading players and the hearts of audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.  He is also an inspirational tutor, who has a real flare for bringing out the best in people. 'I can't praise Dan highly enough for his superb tuition and his incredible humanity - I leave energised and confident - I don't think it could honestly get any better than this'
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  Doug Eyre

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Doug Eyre
Drawing and Sketching Tutor
Doug developed as a commercial artist working across a wide range of subjects, formats, and materials. He has worked on lettering, graphic design, technical illustration, mural painting – both fine art and modern – portraiture, caricature and cartoon art, lightning sketches and trompe d’oeil. He is highly skilled at capturing the essence of a subject and creating successful design. Doug’s perfected techniques are matched by his ability to share his talents. Doug has been involved in corporate caricature work for over twenty years; he has sketched thousands of people in this country and abroad at major conventions and sporting events.  His framed caricatures adorn office and study walls all over the world.  They include people from ordinary life to more recognisable celebrities and royalty.  In addition, he has produced many cartoon pictures for industry and commerce.
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  Ferret

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Ferret
Crafts and Textiles Tutor
Ferret came to quilting via an uncoventional route, starting out life as a rocket scientist, followed by a stint as a computer programmer before finally settling down as a professional quilter. Ignoring those who told her she'd never be able to make a living out of it, she went ahead and did it anyway, and now finds herself with a packed schedule, quilting for customers as well as teaching and speaking to quilt groups around the country. She not only enjoys making traditional quilts, but has also repaired teddy bears, bound sword hilts for a local blacksmith, and made bullet proof vests and silk négligées for race cars. However, she is probably best known for her art quilts, which have won awards both in the UK and internationally. She lives in London with a long suffering boyfriend in a house packed full of fabric, along with large collections of books, cats, cars and motorbikes.
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  Clare Ford-Wille

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Clare Ford-Wille
Clare Ford-Wille has lectured on many areas of European art, architecture and sculpture for over thirty years, primarily for the University of London and the National Gallery.  Other regular commitments include courses and lectures for Morley College, the City Literary Institute, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Art Fund, the National Trust, Wandsworth Prison and NADFAS.  Other projects include reviews for The Art Newspaper, articles for Encarta and The Companion Guide to European Art. During the summer months Clare teaches at various summer schools for Cambridge and London Universities and takes groups abroad for leading art tour companies.
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  Derek Forss

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Derek Forss
Following the Introductory course ‘Taking Better Pictures with a Digital Camera’, or if you already understand the basics of digital photography, you may like to consider the next stage, ‘Get to Grips with Adobe Photoshop Elements’. With the advent of digital technology, the way we take photographs has been transformed almost beyond recognition. However, it would be a mistake to assume that a computer with image manipulation software makes the act of photography any easier. Computers enhance the photographic experience, they do not however, replace the skills required for taking a successful picture. ‘Get to Grips with Adobe Photoshop Elements’ commences with a photo-shoot around the Farncombe Estate, followed by computer adjustments to improve the image where techniques are shown that cannot always be carried out in camera, demonstrating a seamless process from observation to accomplishment.
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  Alice Foster

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Alice Foster
Alice Foster is an established tutor with Farncombe.  She also lectures for NADFAS and for many years has lectured for the Continuing Education Department of the University of Oxford.  She has been a lecturer for Learn Italy Ltd since its inception in 2003 and has guided groups to the major cities in Italy. She also runs independent classes in Oxfordshire and organises group tours to other parts of Europe, Istanbul being the latest.  Recently, Alice was appointed President of Banbury Fine Arts Society.
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  Lynne Gibson

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Lynne Gibson
Lynne is a freelance lecturer and artist. She specialises in talks covering the subject of Critical and Contextual Studies in Art (Understanding Art) and in teaching Drawing and Painting. Following a Fine Art foundation at Reading University, Lynne's initial degree was in Fine Art and Education, B.Ed Hons (2.1), 1981, Sussex University. Her MA in 'Language, The Arts and Education', 1991, Sussex, was a mixture of Arts Theory and Practice, led by professor Peter Abbs. She also holds a certificate in Printmaking, (distinction), from Brighton University, 1992. Lynne has devised courses for the Art National Curriculum and been involved in In Service training for teachers, lectured to PGCE students, undergraduates and in Continuing Education at Sussex and Bristol Universities. She has also lectured for ARCA colleges, given talks for the National Trust, and art galleries and museums. Lynne's etchings and paintings have been included in a number of publications and  exhibited widely.
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  Nicholas Gill

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Nicholas Gill
Nicholas Gill has been playing classic jazz piano professionally since 1992.  His music encompasses the classical ragtime of Scott Joplin, the early jazz compositions of “Jelly Roll” Morton and the school of Harlem Stride Piano.  He now performs regularly at National and International jazz festivals, while locally also providing music for private parties and community fund raising events.  While being grounded in classic jazz piano, Nick has succeeded in developing his own individual musical style and sees himself as a creative musician working within a genre, but happy to test its boundaries and innovate new ideas.  He composes songs and instrumental piano pieces. Always keen to spread awareness of classic jazz, Nick has been involved in an education project at Chipping Norton School, from which a jazz band doing its own gigs has emerged.  He gives talks to various groups both solo and with colleagues from “The Oxford Classic Jazz Band”.   These have included in the last year WI branches as well as The West Oxford Community Centre.  The talks aim to be both educational and highly entertaining, with plenty of live musical illustration and racy anecdotes about the colourful jazz geniuses of the past.
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  Judi Goodwin

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Judi Goodwin
Judi Goodwin is a freelance journalist who runs writing and creativity courses for colleges, businesses and communication professionals throughout Britain.  She has contributed to The Daily Telegraph, Radio Times, Homes and Gardens and BBC Woman’s Hour.   More than ten of her students have had books published and many more have sold articles to newspapers and magazines. Judi believes that learning should be fun and takes a whole person approach to training.  Her most challenging assignment was teaching interview skills to Romanian journalists in Bucharest. They spoke no English and she speaks no Romanian.
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  Rosemary Hale

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Rosemary Hale
Rosemary Hale is an experienced and popular tutor who has run courses at Farncombe for several years. She is known around the country as a masterly painting demonstrator as well as a patient and good-humoured tutor who is particularly good with beginners. Consequently she is in demand as a tutor for art trips abroad plus she is planning to run her own painting holiday next year on the magical Isle of Skye, an artist's paradise. Based in Staffordshire, Rosemary runs courses regularly for weekly students, teaching a wide variety of subjects in most media. Her main interest is with watercolour landscape although she is recently enamoured with the relatively new interactive acrylics. She is also kept busy with writing articles for Leisure Painter magazine as well as travel and art related pieces in other publications.
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  Mike Hall

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Mike Hall
Mike Hall is a jazz saxophonist and educator. He began his musical career with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra which led to work with composer/pianist Michael Garrick with whom he toured Malaysia and made numerous recordings and broadcasts. More recent work has included a week at Ronnie Scott’s Club with the Echoes of Ellington Orchestra, the World Saxophone Congress in Slovenia with Andy Scott’s Sax Assault and a series of dates with his own quartet. He has recorded as soloist with Cambridge Chorale and Keswick Hall Choir and regularly freelances with the RLPO, BBC Phil and Halle Orchestras. As well as maintaining a busy performing schedule Mike heads Jazz Studies at the RNCM where he is tutor in saxophone, teaches jazz improvisation, theory, history and directs the RNCM Big Band and Jazz Collective. He is composer and consultant for the ABRSM and runs several other jazz workshops around the UK and France.
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  John Haynes

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John Haynes
John Haynes won the Costa Award for poetry in 2006, the Troubadour Prize in 2007 and was shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize in 2010.  He has also won prizes in the National Poetry and Arvon competitions. He has published four books of poetry: Sabon Gari (London Magazine Editions), First the Desert Came and then the Torturer (under the name of Idi Bukar, Rag Press, Nigeria), Letter to Patience (Seren) and You (Seren).  He has also written children’s fiction, literary criticism about African Poetry, and about linguistics. He was a lecturer at Ahmadu Bello Unversity, Zaria, Nigeria for 18 years. Now he spends his time writing and delivering creative writing course and lecturers occasionally at Winchester and Chichester Universities near his Hampshire home. He is completing a new book of poems, probably to be called Accompanying.
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  Sue Hazell

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Sue Hazell
Sewing and Textiles Tutor
Sue holds the National Teaching Certificate & lectures nation-wide, training interior designers' staff & those wishing to furnish their homes or start a business. Students have travelled from as far as Victoria BC Canada, Florida, Eire, France, Spain, Finland, Belgium, New Delhi, NSW Australia, New Zealand to Edinburgh. Sue contributes 'How to Make' articles for various sewing magazines. The BBC Good Homes Show brought audiences of 200 plus to see Sue demonstrate her skills in 11 sessions over a period of 5 days.  She showed how to have 'High Style Window Dressings at Low Cost'. She runs her own Soft Furnishing Business, being a specialist in Arch Window Treatments and Loose Covers. Her approach is the easier way to make soft furnishings from low cost fabrics with emphasis on style, taking the 'mystery' out of working with fabrics, and also knowing how "Adults learn best".
"I enjoyed Sue's course so much. It was a wonderful day with great company and professional, fun tuition and I have great plans for future projects – all thanks to you. Good luck in everything you do in the future and I hope we shall meet again."
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  Peter Hodge

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Peter Hodge
Peter Hodge has been a professional artist for almost thirty years and is best known for his highly evocative and atmospheric watercolours of the villages and landscapes of the Cotswolds and Vale of Evesham.  His paintings sell world wide as originals, limited edition prints and greetings cards. In recent years he has diversified and now passes on his knowledge and skills in a series of art workshops in which he demonstrates and teaches a wide range of subjects and techniques, especially watercolour, sketching and mixed-media. The workshops are informal, fun and packed with insights and helpful tips and are suitable for beginners as well as those looking to expand their artistic repertoires.  He strongly believes that anyone can be taught to draw or paint and does his best to bring out the creativity in us all.
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  Barry Hunt

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Barry Hunt
Barry had been a songwriter and performer since the 1970s and has recorded three original CDs and had his songs played on radio all over Europe. In addition to having music teaching qualifications, he also is one of only 150 people worldwide who have achieved a Masters Degree in Song-writing. He runs a successful guitar school and provides song-writing workshops in schools and colleges throughout the Midlands. Still performing live with his daughter Chloe, he is also actively using his home recording studio to produce new songs and ideas for other performers. Barry has hands-on industrial experience having worked with London- based producers, writers, publishers and artist managers. However, his first love is to help beginners find their way into this creative world by being prolific with their writing and understanding how the greatest writers achieve their success.
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  Jeremy Jackman

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Jeremy Jackman
Jeremy Jackman is a leading figure in English choral music and has inspired many thousands of music-lovers throughout the world.  As a much sought-after choral director, he is able to draw on his experience as a chorister, lay clerk and free lance soloist as well as 10 exciting years with The King's Singers when he performed in all the major concert venues around the world.  He is musical director of the English Baroque Choir, the Cecilian Singers (Leicester) and chorus master of OSJ Voices.  Jeremy is frequently invited to give workshops and masterclasses with established choirs both in the UK and abroad.  He is a noted composer and arranger and his music has been performed from Twickenham to Taipei.  He hopes that participants will leave Farncombe feeling refuelled and eager to put new ideas and techniques into practice.
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• Lucien Jenkins

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Lucien Jenkins
Former contemporary music correspondent for Classical Music magazine,  Lucien Jenkins is also founder editor of Early Music Today and editor of Music Teacher.  Lucien writes for the Guardian on ICT and is a Member of the National Music Education Forum. Co-author of Collins Classical Music Encyclopedia (2000), editor of Rhinegold Dictionary of Music in Sound (2002) and series editor of Rhinegold’s GCSE, AS and A2 Drama, along with Music and Religious Studies books. He is a former governor of the Poetry Society, former writer in residence for Open University, author of Laying out the Body and editor of Collected Poems of George Eliot.
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  Sue Johnson

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Sue Johnson
Sue Johnson is a writer, artist and musician. Her short stories have appeared in a variety of women’s magazines. She is published as a poet and her first novel ‘Fable’s Fortune’ was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing in 2011. Her second novel ‘The Yellow Silk Dress’ will be published in early 2013. Sue has produced four booklets in her ‘Writer’s Toolkit’ series and two visualisation CDs – designed to help writers of all levels of ability.
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  Letta Jones

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Letta Jones
Letta Jones MA, is a freelance Landscape Horticulturist who teaches Garden History and Horticulture for the KIngcombe Field and Farncombe Centres, South London Botanical Institute, and for the WEA. She lectured at Birkbeck and Capel Manor Colleges for 15 years.She specialises in amenity trees, medicinal plants and the history of public parks, from a botanical and contemporary perspective. She has taught at Marlborough College Summer School since 2002, and will offer new courses at Earnley Concourse and Denman College in 2012. Her courses successfully combine illustrated theoretical studies in the classroom with practical and enjoyable trips to arboreta, parks and gardens. Identification of plants is included. She completed her MA at Birkbeck College in 2001 and the Schumacher College Certificate in Education for Sustainability in 2009. Letta was a volunteer guide at the Chelsea Physic Garden for 17 years,where she orgainised their Medicinal Plants Summer Schools. She has been a  Green Flag Parks Judge since 2008.
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  Roger Jones

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Roger Jones
Roger Jones is Senior Tutor for activity holiday company AUTHENTIC ADVENTURES, developing and leading painting holidays throughout Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Jersey and elsewhere. He works in watercolours, oils and pastels, running workshops at home in Gloucestershire, and courses at the annual Marlborough College Summer School. He gives demonstrations and workshops throughout the UK, and illustrated talks about wildlife film making and past exploits as senior producer at the renowned BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol. He has studio exhibitions at home and contributes regularly to the autumn exhibitions of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (Menena Joy Schwabe Memorial Award 2011) and the Royal Society of Marine Artists.
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  Hazel Jones

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Hazel Jones
Hazel Jones taught English Literature at Exeter University and has been tutoring adult residential courses since 1996 on Jane Austen's novels and her life and times. She is a confirmed Jane Austen addict, having fallen in love with Henry Tilney at 11 years old, although she freely admits to being unfaithful to him on numerous occasions with Mr Darcy, Captain Wentworth and George Knightley. She is a member of the Jane Austen Society and Chawton House Library and a founding member of the South West branch of the Jane Austen Society. Her first book, 'Jane Austen & Marriage' was published by Continuum in May 2009 and she is currently working on 'Jane Austen's Journeys' for the publisher Robert Hale. Her latest book is 'A Celebration of Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen's Darling Child', co-authored with Maggie Lane.
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  Norah Kennedy

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Norah Kennedy
Norah made her first basket nearly thirty years ago and then trained with Swindon based basketmaker Bryn Mathews and has travelled to study the work of basketmakers in Ireland andPoland. Norah is now a full time basketmaker and tutor – teaching day and residential courses all year round She works to commission in addition to producing a range of baskets for sale and has expanded her range to include willow Christmas decorations, garden plant supports and living willow structures.  The bulk of her willow comes from Musgrove Willows in Westonzoyland but she also incorporates more unusual coloured willows from Powys and Herefordshire Coming from a farming background the appeal of basketmaking for Norah lies in the combination of natural material with traditional skills.  Her interest lies in making baskets that are “right in themselves and good for use” and in reviving at least a portion of the many traditional uses for willow that have been superseded, but not surpassed,  by synthetic materials
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  Andrew Lacey

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Andrew Lacey
Andrew Lacey completed a first degree in history followed by a postgraduate degree in Library and Information Studies. From 1988 he worked as a professional librarian in a variety of Colleges and Universities, and was College Librarian at Trinity Hall, Cambridge from 1994 to 2005 and a member of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Architecture and History of Art from 2005 to 2008. Andrew has also pursued his academic interests and teaching in continuing education. He is a Tutor for both the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education and the University of Oxford Department of Continuing Education. His teaching and research has included work on the English Civil War and the seventeenth century, the relationship between art and power, and twentieth century European history. He was awarded a Doctorate by the University of Leicester for work on Charles I.
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  Frederica Law-Turner

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Frederica Law-Turner
Freddie is an independant scholar specialising in medieval art, with a particular interest in illuminated manuscripts. She has taught and lectured widely, including courses at the Courtauld Institute of Art and at the University of Kent, and catalogued medieval manuscripts for Sotheby's. She continues to publish her research, from articles in Country Life to a forthcoming book on the famous Ormesby Psalter in the Bodleian Library.
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  Arnold Lowrey

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Arnold Lowrey
Arnold Lowrey has been painting for 40 years. He paints in watercolour, oils, pastels and acrylics and over the last 20 years he has completed  thousands of painting sessions . He regularly demonstrates for Art Societies and runs workshops in all media. His demonstrations are accompanied by a strong sense of humour and clear explanations. He has written four books on painting techniques and has made over  20 DVDs He can be seen regularly on the Painting and Drawing Channel on Sky TV.
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  Charlie Lupton

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Charlie Lupton
I am a versatile artist, enjoying working in a very mixed set of media to create two- and three-dimensional art.  I equally enjoy working in pastel with a modern interpretation or with a chain saw to create larger-scale works of art.  My only major problem with paint and pastel is that I am colour blind, resulting in a few 'interesting' colour combinations.  My family now throw away my pinks and purples so the sky is at least blue! I love working with withies as they are so quick and dynamic.  I love the finished products that have elegance and grace as they are made from a natural product. In my day job, I run sculpture days for children of all ages and facilitate interactive history workshops where children make a 1/3 scale Tudor House or Viking Longship.
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  Drs Geoff Doel PhD and Fran Doel MA

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Drs Geoff Doel PhD and Fran Doel MA
Dr Geoff Doel is an Associate Lecturer for the University of Kent and also lectures at the City Lit and for the WEA; his PhD is on Thomas Hardy. Fran Doel has an MA in Medieval Studies. Fran & Geoff have published 13 books and run several hundred residential courses including for the Universities of Durham, Exeter, East Anglia, Sussex & Birkbeck College and the Earnley Concourse.
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  Alison Crum and Roy Marks

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Alison Crum and Roy Marks
Alison Crum is well-known throughout the Western World as both as a player and teacher of the viol. She has made around ninety recordings, most often with the Rose Consort of Viols, and directs numerous summer schools and workshops worldwide. President of the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, Professor of Viol at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, and a visiting teacher at several colleges and universities both in Europe and the USA, Alison has been called the 'doyenne of British viol teachers'. She has produced a series of graded music books centered around her highly acclaimed textbook, 'Play the Viol', and her second book, 'The Viol Rules', launched in November 2009, has already received excellent reviews Although Roy Marks played the piano since childhood and the guitar since adolescence, it was as an artist that he always considered his  vocation to be. Roy studied at the Royal Academy in London and for many years taught painting and drawing in adult education. In his late thirties however, upon hearing someone playing Telemann, he put down his brushes and has since devoted himself almost entirely to Early Music, studying first the recorder, then the viol and, latterly, the lute. As well as teaching and performing, Roy also composes music for period instruments, some of which has been performed and recorded.
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  Stuart Marshall

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Stuart Marshall
Stuart Marshall is a guitar/singing teacher and musician with over twenty years experience working with students of all ages and abilities. He has taught hundreds of budding guitarists the secrets of successful playing on his own popular guitar workshops and weekend courses in Cornwall and at events throughout the UK. Stuart has been active in the music business for over twenty years; as a singer songwriter and performer, producer and teacher. Previous musical projects in the UK and abroad include performances at The Red Sea Jazz Festival, The Royal Academy of Music, The Jazz Cafe London and The BIC Bournemouth.
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  Nick Meers

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Nick Meers
Nick Meers grew up in the Cotswolds, and has been taking pictures professionally for over 25 years. His lifelong fascination with the effects of natural light has brought a wide variety of commissions from national magazines to book publishers, including over thirty travel books from Paris to Hawaii to the Canadian National Parks. The National Trust has a large collection of his images, and he has given masterclasses in both England and the USA. He is a Member of the International Association of Panoramic Photographers, and the Association of Photographers, has been a judge on many photo competitions, and is a passionate believer in the importance of copyright control for photographers.
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  Robert Meikle

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Robert Meikle
Robert Meikle’s career was principally at the universities of Glasgow and Leicester and at the time of his retirement he was Head of the Music Department at the University of Birmingham. He has taught music specialists and non-specialists, music undergraduates and Open University students and has presented a number of popular music appreciation courses at Farncombe. His enthusiasm for the compositions of Franz Schubert's grows with each passing year.
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  Christopher Morley

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Christopher Morley
Born in Brighton, Christopher Morley graduated as Bmus at Birmingham University in 1969, and has stayed in the city ever since. His teaching experience embraces twenty years as head of department in both comprehensive and grammar schools, as well as at Birmingham Conservatoire, but he has also developed a parallel career as a music critic and lecturer. He has been chief music critic of the Birmingham Post since April Fool's Day 1988, and is the Midlands correspondent for Musical Opinion, Opera, Music Teacher and Opera Now, when time permits, his relaxations are cricket, literature, history, decent ale, and his beloved, tyrannising cats.
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  Crysse Morrison

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Crysse Morrison
Crysse writes both prose and poetry, and leads creative writing groups and workshops both in the UK and abroad. She was hailed by The Times as ‘a superb story-teller’ for her debut novel Frozen Summer and her short stories have been widely published and broadcast. She also writers drama for stage and and is involved with various community events in the southwest of England through poetry performance and as Spoken Word Coordinator for the Merlin Theatre in Frome where she now lives.
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  Keith Morton

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Keith Morton
Keith's art education was gained during four years at Hornsey College of Art. He is an enthusiastic tutor and believes that good observation leads to good paintings. He now tutors Portraiture, Still Life and Life workshops, demonstrates Portraiture and Still Life to art societies, undertakes commissions, and paints people he admires. To date, his most famous sitters have been the jazz pianist and composer Stan Tracey OBE and the actress Siobhan Redmond. Keith has been short-listed for The Garrick Milne Prize, exhibited with The Discerning Eye (2008, 2009), The Royal Society of Portrait Painters (2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011) and The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (2010).
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  Bob Neill

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Bob Neill
Bob Neill has always been involved in art and craft.  He studied at Cardiff College of Art, Birmingham University and Trent University, Nottingham.  He lives in Derbyshire, but travels widely.  For more than twenty years, Bob taught art in London and Derbyshire, and helped to develop basic design ideas in art and education.  During the 1960s and 1970s his large abstract paintings, mosaics and metal constructions were exhibited in galleries across the country.  He has designed and made toys for disabled children, and in 1975, he exchanged ideas with toy designers in the USA and Canada thanks to a Winston Churchill Travelling Scholarship.  By the late 1970s he had joined the pyrographic revival.  His decorated turned work developed through his many contacts on the craft circuit and teaching at Craft Supplies.  In 202, he was awarded a Shackleton Trust Scholarship to tach pyrography in the Falklands.  He can be seen demonstrating at many of the major woodturning shows in the UK, Norway, Belgium, Germany and the USA.  
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  Jonathan Newey

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Jonathan Newey
Jonathan Newey is an award winning artist with over 20 years of experience in drawing and painting. He is the 4th generation artist in his family and has exhibited widely both in the UK and abroad including the Mall Galleries, London; West of England Academy, Bristol and the Affordable Art Fair, London. He is experienced in a variety of mediums including watercolour, pencil and acrylic and is well known for his drawings and paintings of wildlife.
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  Paul Nichol

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Paul Nichol
Paul is a botanist, author and adult education tutor with a special interest in fungi. Following undergraduate studies and postgraduate research at Durham and Sussex Universities, he took up a position as lecturer in Botany and delivered evening courses for the WEA in Sussex on Natural History topics. Finding adult teaching particularly rewarding, he took up a position as Tutor Organiser for the WEA in the East Midlands where he organised and managed course programmes for voluntary groups throughout Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Paul founded the Nottinghamshire Fungi Study Group, which allows enthusiastic amateurs to develop their interest further. During this time he published a guide to Identifying mushrooms and toadstools which is used widely by fungi groups and tutors teaching courses on fungal identification. Now living in Cumbria, Paul continues to teach courses on fungi at residential centres, to groups interested in wild food, training wildlife rangers and those involved in recording fungi. He is the County recorder for fungi in Cumbria.
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  Jessica Norrie

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Jessica Norrie
Jessica Norrie has taught languages since the 1980s, with learners aged five to adult. She currently trains non linguist teachers to teach primary French and Spanish, and teaches Spanish in a London school. She taught in adult education for many years, and was an Associate Lecturer in French for university teacher training courses. She co-authored “Célébrons les Fêtes” which teaches French through celebrating festivals, and is a qualified translator. Jessica believes everyone has the capacity to learn another language, with enjoyable, encouraging, flexible teaching. She is sympathetic to those with unhappy memories of language lessons, and sees learning languages as an adult as a chance for personal development for all who take part. It’s fun and a privilege to help people move forward from their individual starting points as they discover the pleasures of using a foreign language.
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  Valerie Oxley

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Valerie Oxley
Valerie Oxley is an experienced and enthusiastic teacher, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, member of the Society of Botanical Artists and the Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration.  She is Chairman of the Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens and Vice President of the Northern Society for Botanical Art.  Valerie developed the Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the University of Sheffield, and her own artwork has been exhibited widely.  She is the Art Editor of the book 'Wild Flowers of the Peak District' published by the Hallamshire Press and is the author of 'Botanical Illustration' published by the Crowood Press.
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  Colin Palmer

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Colin Palmer
Having completed his apprenticeship as a draughtsman, Colin decided he wanted to follow a more creative path. Thus he spent the next three years studying Architectural and Technical Illustration at art college in London. After a career spanning some twenty years working in studios and agencies in and around London, Colin settled in Marlborough, Wiltshire where he works from his studio/gallery shared with other artists. Working with architects, designers, property developers and publishers Colin produces accurate and detailed artists impressions for planning applications and marketing material he also takes commissions for house portraits. Following his commission to paint every building along Marlborough High Street, Colin's original paintings and fine art limited edition prints have been in much demand and he continues to sell his work throughout the Southwest of England
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  Jacky Pearson

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Jacky Pearson
Jacky Pearson was born in the UK and moved to New Zealand in 1991. She has painted and drawn all her life and, following a career in environmental conservation, now paints full-time. Solo exhibitions have included 40 paintings representing the complete series of all New Zealand's classical coastal lighthouses. She is a member of Watercolour New Zealand, represented New Zealand at the 2006/7 International Biennial Watercolour exhibition/competition and was subsequently selected to represent the country in its permanent collection at the International Museum of Watercolours in Mexico. Jacky has won numerous awards including the 2009 Raye Hannan Memorial Trophy for Best Watercolour in all categories at the Royal Easter Show in Auckland.
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  Lara Platman

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Lara Platman
Lara Platman is a Photographer and Journalist, who specialises in dance, portraiture, British eccentrics and more recently, Motorsport. Lara is a fellow of the RSA a Brother of the Art Workers Guild and has her photographs held at the Australian National Library. She has published two books: Art Workers Guild 125 years (Unicorn Press) and Harris Tweed (Francis Lincoln). Ultimately I am very nosy and being brought up surrounded by theatrical costumes and the people that made them, I originally thought that I would like to make theatre sets, but when I was studying Fine Art I realised that I wanted to document and investigate. But as with all art forms one has to find a way of making a living and my photography soon turned to portraiture.
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  Tim Porter

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Tim Porter
Tim Porter trained as a musician, but has always studied history, and his two fields have cross-fertilized.  For many years, he worked in touring theatre, writing music, scripts, and sometimes directing his own works.  These included the folk-opera “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, as well as more challenging modernistic pieces. Tim quit the theatre in 1986, to pursue a career as an itinerant lecturer, and now splits his time equally between Music and Medieval History.  He works for 2 museums,  for several adult residential colleges, as a tour guide, and as a freelance on a large lecture circuit. Tim is a member of the NADFAS register.  Photography is an essential sideline, to produce the fine slides for which he’s become well-known.
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  John Preston

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John Preston
John Preston worked for many years as a senior social services manager, counsellor and lecturer in adult education. For five years he trained as a monk at a Buddhist meditation monastery. Returning to lay-life, he now teaches meditation as an entirely secular practice promoting personal growth.
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  Paul Priestley

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Paul Priestley
Paul Priestley was the Head of the Art Department  in a Southend  School for over 10 years, before moving to Herefordshire where he established his own business "Filbert Arts".  For the past few years he has developed his own unique painting and drawing courses at venues in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and numerous other places around the country.  Corporate clients have included Eastnor & Sudeley Castles, HSBC & Land Rover. Paul also re-enacts, for the corporate market, the lives of artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso and Salvador Dali, together with related teambuilding events. His paintings have been exhibited in various  places throughout the UK.
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  Jennie Rayment

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Jennie Rayment
Internationally acclaimed tutor, lecturer and author - totally obsessed with twiddling, fiddling, nipping, tucking, manipulating and manoeuvring! Shortish, skinnyish, somewhat whacky - her ingeniously original ideas are the product of her fertile imagination and skillful fingers. Author of many books and patterns on the fascinatingly diverse world of surface texture and fabric manipulation - all of the techniques are easy, divertingly different, an absolute must for all 'Nippers and Tuckers' of any age. From the sewing machine to the overlocker and even by hand - all stitch enthusiasts will be addicted to her innovative designs. Jennie's work is exhibited internationally in many countries. She is a fully qualified teacher who instructs in a clear,concise yet humerous manner and despite her scary nature when peering over her glasses, you'll learn not just the technique but much more.
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  Francis Roads

  Singing Tutor

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Francis Roads
Francis Roads studied music at Pembroke College, Oxford and the Royal College of Music, London, before a thirty year teaching career. Following early retirement he has devoted himself to researching, editing and performing West Gallery music. In 2002 he was awarded a PhD by the University of Liverpool for researching some Manx West Gallery manuscripts. In 1997 he founded London Gallery Quire, which is dedicated to reviving the performance of West Gallery music in the London area. He has run many West Gallery workshops in England, and some in the USA and France. He is an active member of the West Gallery Music Association. The fruits of his research may be seen on his website where 250 West Gallery pieces are available for download free of copyright restriction. The course repertoire will be mainly from this resource.
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  Chris Rowbury

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Chris Rowbury
Chris Rowbury has over 25 years’ experience of teaching singing, voice and theatre. He has worked all over the world as a teacher, director and performer. He runs regular singing groups and community choirs as well as working as a freelance workshop leader and performer. Chris is a member of the Natural Voice Practitioners’ Network and shares their belief that everybody can sing regardless of experience or background. His approach to singing is informal, energetic and empowering with plenty of fun and laughter! His speciality is unaccompanied harmony singing from traditional cultures across the globe, especially Africa and Eastern Europe. He will have you producing gorgeous harmonies in a matter of minutes!
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  Trevor Rowley

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Trevor Rowley
Trevor Rowley studied under the great landscape historian WG Hoskins and has written extensively on aspects of English history and landscape. His professional life has been spent as an adult educator. Among the positions held, Trevor has been Honorary Secretary of the Council for British Archaeology and President of the Oxford Historical and Architectural Society. He has travelled widely and is a practicing field archaeologist. He was Director of Public Programmes in Continuing Education at Oxford University and is a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. His books include 'Landscape Archaeology' (with Mick Aston), 'Villages in the Landscape', 'The Normans', and 'The English Landscape in the Twentieth Century'.
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  Salsarah

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Salsarah
  Salsarah has been a Latin Dance Instructor since 1999 and teaches a range of Latin dance forms, including Merengue, Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Bachata and Samba, as well as the highly energetic Zumba® Fitness. She is an experienced choreographer who also designs wedding routines for the couple’s first dance. Other dance classes are delivered for parties, corporate team building exercises and in schools. Salsarah is happy to give private one-to-one sessions or teach large groups.  Her zest for life is very refreshing, and her welcoming smile and personality will put you at ease. She will work with your own individual style and allow you to become the very best dancer you can be. “Dance is not just about moving your body and feet, it’s about feeling the music,” she says.
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  Alan Sennett

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Alan Sennett
Courses being held by this tutor will be brought to you in 2013. Dr. Alan Sennett is an Associate Lecturer at the Open University and teaches modern history, politics and film at Liverpool universities. He also lectures for a number of adult educational organisations in addition to freelance research and writing.  He studied modern history at Sheffield City Polytechnic, took his MA in Political Sociology at Leeds University and a PhD at Manchester Victoria University.  Research interests include political organisations in the Spanish Civil War and political cinema in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s (including cinema of Empire, Soviet and Weimar cinemas and the documentary film movement in Britain).
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  Jo Sercombe

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Jo Sercombe
Jo Sercombe works in Bath and nationally as a vocalist, Musical Director and workshop leader and is particularly keen to make singing accessible to all, regardless of skill or experience. Her busy workshops schedule is a testament to her flair for encouraging creativity in others as she travels the country working with adult singing groups, community choirs, schools and colleges, businesses and leisure-time learning institutions. She's even taken to singing upon the high seas, working with world cruise passengers sailing round the Far East and the Caribbean! Closer to home, she founded and directs the Bath Community Gospel Choir and the LIFTED all-female gospel group, is a lecturer in Choral Voice Work for Actors at Bath Spa University, gigs regularly as a jazz singer and is President of the Priston Music Festival.
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  Julie Skipp

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Julie Skipp
Julie has almost 30 years’ experience of teaching German to adult learners. She has worked in many further education colleges throughout the West Midlands and also in industry, for instance at as Lucas Aerospace, LandRover and for staff at Birmingham International Airport.  She prides herself on bringing an immense sense of fun to the learning experience.
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  Jennifer Spiers

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Jennifer Spiers
Jennifer Spiers studied Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art, followed by a BA (Hons) from Southampton University in Art History and a Masters Degree in Art History: Art Histories and Interpretations from Bristol University. Jennifer runs study days and courses for major art galleries and art organizations, as well as her own residential and day courses both in the U.K. and abroad.  Jennifer is passionate about her subject and loves to share her enthusiasm with all who attend her courses.
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  Steven Sproat

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Steven Sproat
Steven Sproat is an acknowledged ukulele maestro with over 35 years experience.  He has started many uke enthusiasts on their own journey of discovery and regularly hosts ukulele workshops around the UK.  Steven has taught students of all ages counting TV personalities and celebrated actors amongst his pupils.  Steven is the author of many 'How To' books on the ukulele and is a singer/songwriter and an accomplished guitarist and has performed at Ronnie Scott's, London with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and at many venues and music festivals worldwide. Steven finds his own inspiration from David Gray, Coldplay, Oasis, Travis and David Bowie to name but a few.  He is looking forward to helping students develop their own style in the beautiful surroundings of Farncombe Estate. Steven is supporting Jools Holland in UK concerts throughout 2012 (details from Jools Holland’s tour site.)  His new book, “Starting Ukulele – the Next Step”, is published by Music Sales Ltd.
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  Marion Crombie & Abigail Summers

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Marion Crombie & Abigail Summers
Marion Crombie was born in Oxford and received her training on the viola in Dusseldorf, and at the Royal College of Music in London. She has been teaching since 1972, combining this with playing in orchestras and chamber ensembles both in California and in the UK. An experienced chamber music player, her passion has been to make sure that all players, whatever their standard, can experience the joy of making music with others. Abigail Summers grew up in the English countryside, playing piano and cello from an early age. She studied performance at the Royal College of Music in London and while there took an interest in the Baroque cello and viola da gamba. After moving to California in 1988, Abigail performed in various chamber and orchestral ensembles and has been a private piano and cello instructor for over 20 years. She currently lives in Devon.
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  John Sutton

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John Sutton
John Sutton was formerly Senior Lecturer in History at Anglia Polytechnic University. He specialises in the History of Early Modern England. In 1983/4 he made a television series on the history of the Civil Wars in Eastern England; entitled A War in the Kingdom, which featured programmes on Oliver Cromwell, Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General; and William Dowsing the iconoclast. He lectures at Madingley Hall, and writes on the history of 17th century Staffordshire. He has recently written entries for the New Dictionary of National Biography.  He also regularly gives presentations on P&O, Saga and Fred Olser Cruises.
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  Leo and Tracey

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Leo and Tracey
Leo was born in Buenos Aires to a family steeped in the arts and in particular, Argentine Tango.  Originally taught by his father, he's danced Tango for over 40 years.  He still teaches the original Tango and techniques as taught to him by his father and other great milongueros of the time. For the last 10 years he has lived in the UK where he has continued to teach the authentic Argentine Tango. During these years, he has successfully run Argentine Tango Classes, Dances and Workshops in London and around the UK and is one of the most respected and authentic 'Milongueros' currently living in the country. Tracey is British and has danced for a large part of her life. Her background is a combination of classical ballet, Ballroom and Latin.  She has danced Argentine Tango for 12 years but has had extensive tuition with Leo over the last 4 years and now teaches and performs with him around the UK. For five years, she also ran and taught at the Tango Nirvana Club in Reading, which holds the longest established Tango Dance in the Thames Valley area. Together, Leo and Tracey run '2Tango' and they now teach and perform around the UK. Their many performances include Negracha Tango Club in London, the prestigious Blackpool Tower Ballroom and they are just about to revive the Tango Suppers at the exclusive Waldorf London Hotel. They also run Tango breaks in conjunction with 'Holiday and Dance' (www.holidayanddance.co.uk) at resorts in the UK and they hosted and ran the successful South London Tango Festival in 2011.
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  Beethoven Broadwood Trio

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Beethoven Broadwood Trio
These experienced and encouraging coaches have directed courses for many years and performed as the Beethoven Broadwood Trio.   Frances Mason (violin) is a professor at the Royal College of Music and enjoys giving masterclasses.  James Halsey was the cellist of the Auriol String Quartet for ten years and now plays with the Bingham String Quartet. He is a professor in the Royal College of Music Junior Department and Visiting Professor at N.E. of Scotland Music School. Michael Freyhan’s (violin, viola, piano, harpsichord) career has included leading the National Youth Orchestra and playing violin and viola professionally. He coaches at Pro Corda and in the States. As pianist and harpsichordist he performs worldwide.
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  William Tyler

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William Tyler
History Tutor
William Tyler is an experienced adult educator, who loves to share his enthusiasm for history with others.   He holds degrees from three British Universities and has held senior positions in adult education, including the post of Principal of The City Literary Institute in London, one of Britain's premier Adult Education Colleges.  In June 2009 he was awarded an MBE for his services to adult education.
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  Sue Vize

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Sue Vize
Sue Vize is an award winning botanical artist with a love of fine detail and a passion for pencils.  She is an enthusiastic tutor of botanical drawing, teaching mainly coloured and graphite pencil. Her work is included in collections of the RHS Lindley Library, Nottingham University Plant Sciences Division and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in America.  As a member Sue exhibits annually with the Society of Botanical Artists at Westminster Central Hall in London. In 2010 her work was also included in the 13th International exhibition at the Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh, USA, and at The Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park.  Sue’s detailed drawings have earned her many awards, most recently at the 2012 SBA exhibition, where she won the prestigious Derwent Award for an illustration of a Fern completed in graphite combined with coloured pencil.
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  Paul Weaver

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Paul Weaver
Paul Weaver began his creative career in the Graphic Design and Illustration industry, studying at Brunel College in Bristol and going on to work for several leading design and publishing consultancies across the South West for 20 years. Bringing this extensive design and drawing experience to his painting, he is now a full-time artist and popular tutor with many art groups across the country. Regarding painting, Paul is self taught. His primary inspirations are light and atmospheric effects. Townscapes, markets and the bustle of the city are favourite subjects, as well as landscape, marine and coastal scenes. He currently specialises in watercolour, but also enjoys working in line and wash and oils.
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  Celia Weber

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Celia Weber
After graduating from University College London, Celia Weber taught French full-time for 5 years until the birth of her two sons, when she then became a part-time French tutor at Reading Adult College, also running the local French Circle for many years.  During this time, she wrote the original "Get By In French"  radio series for the BBC, co-authored and illustrated "French for Starters" for Cambridge University Press, and illustrated French, Spanish, German and Italian text-books for various publishers. She currently provides cartoons each month for 2 magazines for adults learning French, "La Vie Outre-Manche" and Le Rendez-vous Français"  She ran French weekends and Summer Schools for very many years at the Hill College Abergavenny, which sadly closed in 2009. Celia has now joined us 3 times at Farncombe, sharing her enthusiasm  for all things French (well, nearly all..!)
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  Chris Wells

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Chris Wells
Chris Wells is a very experienced beekeeper with around 30 hives in the North Cotswolds. He has kept bees for many years and three years ago set up Cotswold Bees Ltd. A professional lecturer, Chris runs courses in beekeeping and is a popular speaker at clubs and societies. He is also the author of the popular "101 Questions A New Beekeeper Should Ask." His presentation style is relaxed but very informative and entertaining.
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  Gillian White

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Gillian White
Dr. Gillian White trained as a historian but was then seduced by history of art. She formerly worked for the National Trust at Hardwick Hall, about which she then completed her PhD at Warwick University. She is now a freelance lecturer specialising in the visual arts of Tudor and Elizabethan England, but occasionally allows herself a foray into the Middle Ages as a treat. Gillian gives presentations to a number of groups, including NADFAS, history societies, National Trust groups and U3A, and has also led day schools and residential weekends at Farncombe and Dillington House. She has contributed to Continuing Education programmes at Oxford, Warwick and Bristol Universities and is also involved in the MA in the Study of the Country House at Leicester University.
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  Simon Williams

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Simon Williams
Listed in the 33rd Edition of Who's Who in Art, Simon is a full-time Natural History and Botanical Illustrator.  He set up SW Illustrations and works freelance for his own clients, agencies and studios.  His work was published in The Art of Botanical Painting and has illustrated a whole book on ocean life, worked on the Wildlife Explorer Cards range by IMP International Publishing and illustrated for Anness Publishing on a book of Wildflowers and Flora of the World.  He was also one of the contributing illustrators to a book on Wildflowers of Britain and Ireland. Simon is a member and tutor of the Society of Botanical Artist, having trained as a Natural History Illustrator at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth from 1996 to 2000.  Shortly after completing the course he submitted work to the SBA and became a member in 2002.
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  Julian Williamson

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Julian Williamson
Julian Williamsons's career, over some 40 years, has been divided between work as a conductor and a lecturer. As a conductor he has directed many orchestras and choirs, giving concerts in all the main London venues, all over the country and abroad. As a lecturer his work takes in regular series of talks in London, courses for many residential colleges around Britain, and work for travel companies - for the past 10 years he has given opera talks for Saga Travel in Italy. He has always tried to make the subject matter of his courses as wide as possible, ranging from particular composers (Monteverdi to Shostakovich), through looking at styles of music (symphonies, concertos, chamber music), to investigating the influence on music of various cities or countries (Paris, London, Vienna, Venice etc). To all these he feels his work as a performer can combine with his research to give a rounded picture of the subject.
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  Graham Winton

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Graham Winton
Dr Graham Winton retired as Principal of a College of Adult Education in 2008 to concentrate on research, publishing and teaching. Graham continues to tutor for the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education and has lectured in the USA and across England.His teaching has predominantly been in adult education at certificate, diploma, undergraduate and masters degree levels. Having enjoyed the experiences of studying and practicing as an historian and amateur archaeologist Graham moved into landscape history and field archaeology which offered the perfect vehicle to bring together all these fascinating subjects. This type of approach allows for a greater degree of empathy with the past, allowing one to appreciate past events, peoples and the landscape in which we ourselves pass through.Making for exciting detective work to understand and recereate the past.
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  Philip Wylie

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Philip Wylie
Philip Wylie a former top class amateur and professional competitor is well known in the dance world and over the last 30 years has organised many dance festivals, dance holidays and recently presented the United Kingdom Formation Championships at the famous Tower Ballroom Blackpool.  For many years he has adjudicated the International Championships at the Albert Hall and has great teaching experience from Beginner through to World Champion.   He is also known for his ability to teach in a friendly, relaxed and practical style suitable for all.  He has been recognised by the world of dance receiving the Carl Alan Award and British Dance Federation Award for 'Outstanding Services to Dance'.  He will be joined by Christine Parsons a former Old Time and Sequence dance champion.
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