Introducing our team...
Dr Anne Davison
Director, TravelSpeakersAnne has spent many years in the field of inter-religious relations with the Church of England and the World Council of Churches. She has led pilgrimages to Israel and Lebanon and was installed in 2001 as a Lay Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral. Anne has lectured on many cruises including Swan Hellenic, Saga, Oceania and Noble Caledonia. This wide experience has given her a unique and sympathetic insight into the needs of both cruise companies and cruise lecturers.
As Director of TravelSpeakers, together with her team of specialists, she is able to offer clients a dedicated and personal service tailored to individual and corporate needs.
Patricia Murray, MA, FCIPD, FIBC, CMC
Consultant & Facilitator, TravelSpeakersPatricia is an experienced international consultant and coach who has presented in Europe and America on public speaking and presentation skills; communications and relationship management; leadership and team building; influencing and persuading.
Her clients have included British Airways, major Banks and Oil Companies.
and some of our speakers ...
Zsuzsanna Ardó
Cultural History and PhotographyZsuzsanna is Hungarian by birth, English by existence, human by inclination, humorous by nature - and a writer and photographer by profession. Her books and articles have been published in various languages, in the UK, US, Hungary, Germany, Russia and Singapore. She has worked as an academic, journalist, editor, and broadcaster; she has translated and edited over 100 feature films, from James Bond to Shakespeare, Her broadcasting experience includes European-wide satellite television series on intercultural communication and management.
Caroline Aston
Writer & HistorianCaroline is a regular contributor to the UK premier royalty magazine 'Majesty' and she has also written for 'The Daily Telegraph'. She was one of the specially commissioned group of essayists who wrote the acclaimed collection of pieces published to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Diana, Princess of Wales' death and HM The Queen's 80th birthday. She has filmed a BBC mini-series on British stately homes and acts as an historical advisor to several BBC stations.
Terry Barfoot
Lecturer in Music and HistoryTerry Barfoot has lectured for some 25 years in Music and History, much of this time in adult education. He now works freelance as a lecturer and writer, and is Publications Consultant to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He also leads residential Music courses both in the UK and abroad for various organisations, including Oxford University, Dillington House, the Farncombe Estate and the Earnley Concourse.
Apart from he running his own company, Arts in Residence, Terry is a prolific writer. He is author of Opera: A History (The Bodley Head, 1987) and has written articles and notes for many music publications including BBC Music Magazine, Classical Music, Opera Now, Musicweb International.
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Jill Billington
Lecturer and Writer in Garden DesignJill Billington qualified at Reading University with a BA Hons in Fine Art (Sculpture). Subsequently she changed direction and became a garden designer thirty years ago and is now a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers. Her practice has included small and large domestic gardens in UK and abroad and she has won awards at the Chelsea Flower Show, for the Sunday Times and Scottish National Trust, for Floreales D'Angers in France and for a Garden Festival.
Leslie Ann Bosher
Speaker & AuthorLeslie Ann has travelled extensively, including countries within the former Soviet Union, Nepal, South America and Australasia. She was once a tutor for the Saudi Royal family in Riyadh, which provided a life-changing experience, one full of fond memories, deep friendships and intriguing stories.
She is author of To the Manor Drawn an entertaining and humorous account of her own experience as an American city girl coming to terms with rural England.
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Mark Butterworth
AstronomyMark studied Astronomy at St Andrews University and researches astronomical history and the history of 19th century photography. Based in Scotland, he is an expert in presenting current astronomical concepts through their historical background. He also specialises in understanding how popular astronomy was presented to the general public in the 18th and 19th century. A frequent lecturer on the Astronomical Society speaker circuit he has given presentations at the Royal Astronomical Society’s annual National Astronomy Meeting, and other International Conferences. He is a regular contributor to Astronomical Journals and the popular press
Ann Clements
Art HistorianAnn Clements read History of Art and English at Manchester University, then worked for the Whitworth Art Gallery, and later for the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art. She was an associate lecturer for Surrey University, has spoken at the V & A Museum and for the National Trust’
Ann is a regular lecturer with NADFAS both in the UK and overseas and has also lectured on many cruise ships.
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Nicholas Courtney
Author, Broadcaster & LecturerNicholas Courtney is an author, broadcaster and lecturer. After graduating from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester he managed two estates in Northamptonshire, then took a sabbatical to travel in Europe and sail the length and breadth of the Mediterranean.
It was then (1970) that his love affair with the Croatian littoral began. On his return to England he was appointed the general manager of the Island of Mustique in the West Indies where he stayed for four years.
He then began writing, at first fiction followed by historical non-fiction. Among his many published works are the best-selling Gale Force 10, the life and legacy of Admiral Beaufort (he of the wind scale), the award-winning The Queen’s Stamps, the Official History of the Royal Philatelic Collection, and Swinley Special.
Sarah Edington
Writer & Food HistorianSarah Edington was a function caterer for 20 years – the great and the good and the ordinary ate and enjoyed her food.
Between 1991 and 1994 she studied English Literature at Kingston University, gaining First Class Honours and winning the English Prize.
In April 1996 Sarah became a London Tourist Board Registered Guide after a six-month practical and academic immersion in English history and culture. She guides in all London sites including the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the British Museum and Tate Modern.
Sarah talks on cruise ships, leads food history and literature tours, gallery visits and walks. She has written five books for The National Trust. She is now working on a second book for the National Maritime Museum.
Adrian Finnerty
MusicologyAdrian is a teacher, lecturer, composer, pianist, organist and music examiner. He is currently working on a Doctorate in Education at the University of Strathclyde. His research interests are wide including Creativity and Co-operative Learning, European Music and Culture, Nationalism in Music and Organ and Choral Music. He has contributed articles and reviews to the Musical Times, the British Journal of Music Education, and Music Journal.
The Rev’d Dr. Nicholas Henderson
Writer & Ecclesiastical HistorianA graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Nicholas trained for the Anglican ministry at Ripon Hall, Oxford. Inspired by a period working on the staff of Coventry Cathedral he has gained a wide experience of international matters. His doctorate is in Lay Ecclesiology based on studies in Brazil, Japan, Uganda and the United States.
Formerly bishop-elect for the Diocese of Lake Malawi in Central Africa, Nicholas knows Africa well. He has lectured widely on international and historical issues.
His other interests have included several years as the London Area Chaplain for the Actors’ Church Union with responsibility for London theatres and chaplaincy. His own theatres were the Theatre Royal, Haymarket and the Strand (now known as the Novello). He has been a Chaplain with Swan Hellenic.
Nicholas Hammond
Wildlife and OrnithologyNicholas was Director of Communications for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and has been Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire & Peterborough since 2000. He has written and edited over 15 books and is a regular lecturer on natural history and the art and history of the study and conservation of wildlife.
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Ben Howkins
Author & Lecturer on WineBen Howkins has had a prestigious career in the wine industry. In 1963 he became the youngest person to be awarded the Vintners Scholarship. In 1972 he was international sales director of Croft Port shippers and in 1978 became marketing director of both sherry and port operations. He was Managing Director of Morgan Furze in 1980 and is a member of many organisations including the Royal Household Wine Committee.
In 1992 he became wine adviser to Lord Rothschild and in 1993 he co-founded the Royal Tokaji Wine Company in Hungary.
Ben has lectured on port and wine in many capacities and has written wine articles for both trade journals and consumer press. He is author of the widely acclaimed book on port Rich, Rare & Red.
Jan Meek
Professional Speaker, Ocean Rower and Polar RacerJan achieved fame in 1997 by rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in 101 days in a 23 foot wooden boat with her son Dan as a team mate. For this she achieved her first Guinness World Record.
Then in 2007 she and her son raced 350 miles to the Magnetic North Pole in the worst ice conditions for years, achieving a second Guinness World Record.
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Nicholas Merchant
Art HistorianNicholas Merchant’s career has mirrored his abiding interest in Antiques. He has worked for some of the major Auction Houses in London and in the provinces, where his wide knowledge of his subject was sought after as a Valuer and in advising clients on the sale of their goods.
His particular interest is English 18th century furniture and Country Houses. However, his interest is broad and he likes to discuss objects, not just for themselves but in their historical context. Lecturing has taken Nicholas to the United States, South Africa, Europe and all over the United Kingdom including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Since joining the panel of lecturers of the NADFAS in 2004 his convivial style of lecturing has resulted in over 250 lectures all over the world.
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Helena Matheopoulos
Writer and Journalist in Music and OperaHelena studied Medieval History and now combines this with her love of music and opera. She has lectured in many parts of the world on subjects from Maria Callas to Fashion Designers at the Opera. She is multi-lingual and is author of several books including Juan Carlos I; A King for Today. Helena has been Special Adviser to London’s Philharmonia Orchestra and Artistic Adviser to Athens Megaron
Sandra Millikin
Architectural HistorySandra was educated at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA and at the Courtauld Institute in London where she studied under the famous English architectural historian Sir John Summerson. She was assistant Curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects Drawings collection, where she contributed to Encyclopedia Britannica for which she wrote the articles on Robert Adam and part of Neo classicism. For many years she wrote the articles on Architecture and on Art Exhibitions for the Britannica Book of the Year.
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Dr Richard Parkinson
EgyptologistRichard Parkinson was trained at Oxford, and after holding a teaching positions and a junior research fellowship, he joined the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, where he has worked ever since. His personal research interests centre around the interpretation of Ancient Egyptian literature and the history of sexuality, and he is regarded as the leading international authority on Middle Kingdom poetry. He teaches regularly in England and Germany, and lectures internationally. As well as articles in specialist journals and popular Museum guides, books include Voices from Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings (1991), the award-winning The Tale of Sinuhe and other Ancient Egyptian Poems (1999); Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment (1999); Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection (2002); Reading Ancient Egyptian Poetry: Among Other Histories (2009).
Carol Rayman
Lecturer & Art HistorianCarol has lectured both in the UK and the USA on a range of subjects from Samplers, 18th Century Porcelain and Antique Paste Jewellery, Egyptology, Royalty and Gardens. In the USA she gave the keynote lecture at Baylor University for their ‘Women in History Programme’.
She was an official guide at the British Museum for over ten years, has guided Art Groups in Florence, Venice and Rome and conducted literary and art tours in many parts of Europe.
Nicholas Reed
Classical and Archeological HistoryNicholas originally trained in Classics and Archaeology at Oxford and has taken part in 30 excavations in Britain and abroad. He has been a NADFAS lecturer since 1991 and has written five books on Art History and French Impressionism. He has led archaeology tours in France, Italy, Greece, Crete and Turkey and lectured on many cruises.
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Dr Michael Scott
Lecturer, TV Presenter and Writer in Ancient History and ArchaeologyMichael Scott is the Moses and Mary Finley Research Fellow in Ancient History at Darwin College,Cambridge. He has worked extensively in Greece, Turkey and around the Mediterranean, and specialises in ancient Greek politics and religion. He is the author of a recent popular history of the ancient world From Democrats to Kings and also a monograph for Cambridge University Press on the ancient sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia.
Michael has presented several TV documentaries for the History Channel, filming in Greece, Turkey and Egypt. He ran the route of the ancient Marathon in Athens in 2007 and has acted as guest lecturer and site guide for adult, university and school tours. His website address is www.michaelcscott.com
Robert Shearman
Author and PlaywrightRobert Shearman is a dramatist for theatre, radio and TV. He has received many international awards for his theatre work, and his work for BBC Radio won him a Sony last year. But he's probably best known as a regular writer for the BAFTA winning revival of the television series Doctor Who. He is also a director for the stage, his most recent production being the centre piece at the Old World Theatre Festival in Delhi.
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Laurie Taylor
MusicianLaurie is a talented and versatile musician. With years of experience in the music world he is equally at home with a big band, a duo or single in the piano bar.
He gives interesting talks on anything from the Rat Pack to Berlin and has travelled with many cruises, including P&O and Swan Hellenic.
M Tracey
LecturerTracey started life in the theatre and then went into the travel industry. She has since travelled most of the world in various capacities.
As a Tour Manager she visited the Baltic and U.S.S.R. She was once Cruise Manager on the Nile and was able to watch the High Dam being built which involved the moving of Abu Simbel. She has taken Safaris to Africa and Tours to India.
Tracey is a London Blue Badge Guide. She has been a Foyle’s Lecturer and is currently lecturing on cruise ships.
Major General Peter Williams
Military HistorianAfter studying History at Cambridge University Peter Williams spent more than 30 years in the British Army (Coldstream Guards) and enjoyed an unusually varied career. In the 1980s he spent time in Berlin and East Germany as a military spy in the British military liaison mission to the Soviet forces in Germany for which he was awarded an MBE. Between 1993-4 he commanded his Coldstream Guards battalion in Bosnia on UN peacekeeping operations and was awarded an OBE in 1994.
His final posting was from 2002-05 in Moscow at the end of which he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and awarded US, Belgian and Russian medals.
Peter is a member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides and gives talks on cruise ships and to schools and other audiences about Cold War and other current and historical issues.
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