wilderness LECTURES

Riding High In South America

Anna McNuff - 03/10/2018 19:30

In October 2016, Anna began a journey to cycle along the spine of the largest mountain range in the world: The Andes. By the time she returned home to the UK in May 2017 she had pedalled through Bolivia, Chile and Argentina cycling over some of South America’s most remote and inhospitable regions. She ascended over 100,000 metres on a bike which is more than eleven times the height of Everest. Saddle up and join Anna (and her bike called Bernard) for a return journey to the Andes from the comfort of your adventure armchair.

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Journeys in a Biplane – ‘Following the Female Pioneers of the Air’

Tracey Curtis-Taylor - 17/10/2018 19:30

Flying old aeroplanes fostered an interest in the early pioneers and the recordmaking solo flights of the inter-war period. In 2012 Tracey commissioned the restoration of a 1942 Boeing Stearman for the purpose of retracing Lady Heath’s flight from Cape Town to England in 1928. Accompanied by a support aircraft and film crew, a documentary called T h e Avia t rix was made of Tracey’s flight in 2013 and was screened by the BBC. This was the forgotten story of Mary Heath, one of the most outstanding pilots of the late 1920s and the first person to fly solo from the Cape of South Africa in a light aircraft. Continuing with this theme of celebrating the achievements of the female pioneers, in 2015 Tracey followed the route of Amy Johnson’s solo flight to Australia which was another world first in 1930. In 2016 Tracey flew across America following the historic airmail route from west coast to east coast which took a second attempt a year later after she crashed in the Arizona Desert with an engine failure. Another documentary about Tracey’s flying adventures and the pioneering story is in the final stages of completion. Tracey’s talk is about the story in history and the contribution that these remarkable women made to aviation; the universal dream of flight, and what it’s like to fly a vintage aeroplane across five continents in the modern age.

Continuing with this theme of celebrating the achievements of the female pioneers, in 2015 Tracey followed the route of Amy Johnson's solo flight to Australia which was another world first in 1930. In 2016 Tracey flew across America following the historic airmail route from west coast to east coast which took a second attempt a year later after she crashed in the Arizona Desert with an engine failure. Another documentary about Tracey's flying adventures and the pioneering story is in the final stages of completion.

Tracey's talk is about the story in history and the contribution that these remarkable women made to aviation; the universal dream of flight, and what it's like to fly a vintage aeroplane across five continents in the modern age.

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Flight of the Swans

Sacha Dench - 31/10/2018 19:30

Recently, Sacha has become known for the award winning ‘Flight of the Swans’ expedition where she followed the migration of the endangered wild Bewick swans 7,000 km through 11 countries from Arctic Russia to the UK. To enable her to do this, she overcame a fear of flight to fly a paramotor (hanging from a piece of cloth by strings with a big fan on her back). En route her mission was to speak to people – from nomads to farmers and politicians - and find out why so many swans were being lost. The project generated huge amounts of media attention, debate, and a wide range of practical wins for conservation. She is the first woman in over 50 years to be awarded the Britannia Trophy for this feat of aviation.