New appointment
helps conference
planning

The Society has appointed a
Geographical Officer to help run
the programme of environ-
mental conferences and techni-
cal meetings held at 1 Kensing-
ton Gore.

Alison Glazebrook, a geog-
raphy graduate with first class
honours from Bristol Polytech-
nic, joined the RGS last month.

The three year appointment
is funded by the Baring Foun-
dation, to strengthen the Soci-
ety’s role as a forum for debat-
ing environmental issues.

The Princess Royal was greeted by
RGS President Sir Crispin Tickell
when she opened the Ethiopian Tril-
ogy Exhibition of photographs by
Santha Faiia, (above right) and tra-
ditional crafts from the three prov-
inces of Gondar, Harar and Borana —
in September.

Letter from the Director

‘.41. V4; - ,_v:_-

November is increasingly becoming
the ”expeditions month" at the RGS. The
centrepiece of this activity is the training
weekend; the Planning a Small Expedi-
tion Seminar”, when some two hundred
delegates descend on the Society's House
from all parts of the country. It is a very
lively gathering.

The Expedition Advisory Centre as-
sembles a galaxy of experts, to advise on
every aspect of expedition organisation.
There are meetings on such common con-
cerns as team management, financial con-
trol and bugdeting, medicine, research
methods and fund-raising.

At other times, workshop sessions tackle
logistical aspects of different terrains, such
as deserts, tropical forests, caves, moun-
tains and glaciers, or oceans. Other panels
deal with the scientific objectives of small
expeditions, suggesting research opportu-
nities and outlining working techniques

Lowther Lodge really comes to life, and
I am sure that the great explorers whose
names look down from the lecture—theatre
cornice would be pleased to see what is
happening, gratified by the numbers of

enthusiastic delegates, and envious of the
superb new equipment available to them
and the ease of reaching remote destina-
tions.

This year there have been innovations
in the expedition training programme. One
was an Expedition Road Show in which
our assistant director, Nigel Winser, and

Nicholas Mc William of the EAC took their
advice to regional centres.

Another new venture was on Saturday
27th October. During that afternoon there
was the Expeditions Forum, at which a
dozen expeditions were invited to make
presentations about their achievements to
a concerned and critical audience of fellow
expeditioners. That evening , there was the
traditional Welcome Home Party. This is
the gathering at which each year's crop of
expeditioners can meet others, and swap
yarns about their adventures.

Shane Winser, who runs the EAC so
admirably, will shortly annonce another
new eventfor next spring: a seminar on the
special needs of women travellers, to com-
plement the very successful Independent
Travellers Seminar. Shell International
generously sponsor the Expedition Advi-
sory Centre. They are well pleased with its
success, for in addition to all these meet-
ings, the EAC publishes a range of excel-
lent manuals and daily dispenses advice to
dozens of enqu irers. This country is proudly
the world leader in the number of expedi-
tions leaving our shores. Their growth and
achievements owe much to the efforts of
Shane Winser's team.

DR JOHN HEMMING

In brief.....

The Geographical Iournal has re-
sponded to requests from teachers for
more detailed information about the
results of the 1987/88 RGS Maraca
Rainforest Project in Brazil by pro-
ducing supplement sets of three key
papers from the latest edition (No-
vember) of the ]ournal.Contact the
General Office for details.

There will a book sale in the Li-
brary from Monday 7th to Monday
21st January 1991. Fellows and Mem-
bers are welcome. Library opening
hours are 10 - 5 Monday to Friday.

Picture Library Manager, Rachel
Duncan, has a stock of empty boxes
for 35mm slides available, free to
Fellows. Call in to pick them up be-
fore the end of the year.

Don't forget that excellent lunch:
are served at the RGS from 12.30pm to“

1.45pm, Monday to Friday.

Fellows‘ Forum

A generous note from Cypriot Fel-
low, Onisiphoros Neophytou: ''It will
be my pleasure if any of the Fellows
from England visits Cyprus, my coun-
try, to receive him and give him any

possible help."l-lis address: Kavafi 7, '

Nicosia 130, Cyprus. Tel: 02/423657.

For a bibliography of Charles
Tilstone Beke 1800-1874; author of
numerous books, articles, and letters
on biblical matters and Nile explora-
tion. I will appreciate information or

I
1
i

1

any collections of his works and any}

bibliographic sources. Contact: Burke l

E Casari, 1436 C Street, Lincoln, NE
68502, U.S.A.

David Iohnson, Head of Geogra-
phy at Bentham School, has uncovered
a stock of back issues of the Geographi-
cal Magazine - mostly in good condi-

tion. Those available are: all issues from R

1960-1977 and incomplete runs for 1957-
59 and 1978-86. Contact Mr Iohnson at
Bentham School, Lancaster, LA2 7DB.

If you have any information or
requests for Fellow 's Forum in

February 1991, please write to
Debbie Macklin at the RGS be-

fore 15th Ianuary 1991.

l

KENSINGTON

40?

G O R E London SW7 2AR

The Newsletter of the Royal Geographical Society

 

Remote Source at the RGS

Remote Source, the picture
library whose photographers
reach parts of the world others
only dream about, will merge
"rith the RGS next month.

The Remote Source collection,
with its emphasis on contempo-
rary shots of places, people and

\d

Discovering the joys
of the road!

A compact version of the RGS Expe-
dition Advisory Service set off a na-
tionwide tour this month, for the first-
ever expedition training roadshow.
Edinburgh, Durham, Manchester,
Leeds, Sheffield and Bristol were the
ports of call for Assistant Director,
Nigel Winser, and the EAC adminis-
trative assistant, Nicholas McWi1liam.

~\, The mobile training seminars

stressed the importance of careful plan-
ning and realistic research objectives.
According to Nigel Winser, student
expeditions can play a valuable role
in collecting environmental data from
all parts of the world - if they get it
right.

The tough travel schedule posed
no problems for the new Discovery
vehicle - kindly donated for the tour

by Landrover, one of the RGS Corpo-
rate Patrons for 1990.

 

cultures in remote corners of the
globe - will complement the So-
ciety's own picture library of
150,000 slides and prints, which
includes unique archive records
of historic moments in explora-
tion dating back to the 1850's.

Remote Source also operates
a directory of more than 200 se-
lected photographers, whose
skills behind the lens are matched

by their wanderlust.

Set up five years ago, Remote
Source developed a strong repu-
tation among picture research-
ers, book and magazine editors,
advertising agencies and design-
ers for providing rapid access to
one-off shots of arctic wastelands,

November 1990
Editor: Debbie Maokiin

 

windswept plateaux or steam-
ing rainforests.

The combined collections and
directory service - to be man-
aged by RGS picture library
manager, Rachel Duncan - now
represent Britain's definitive
source of modern and archival
expedition images.

Fears for the Map Room Grant

The Govemment’s Office of Arts
and Libraries has appointed an
independent consultant to re-
view the use of the RGS Map
Room and make recommenda-
tions for the future.

At stake is the £54,000 annual
grant, paid by the government
towards maintenance of the col-
lection on the condition that it is
open to the public. The grant has
not been increased since 1985,
and is now the only direct pay-
ment from the Office of Arts and
Libraries to a recipient organisa-
tion. All others are channelled
through intermediary bodies,
such as the Arts Council.

RGS Keeper, Peter Clark is
worried that the review could
lead to the grant being with-
drawn, because of the way the
government appears to be as-
sessing value for money. If that
happens, the Map Room might
have to close to the public, and
the service to Fellows reduced.
The final report of the review is
expected in February 1991.

RGS Corporate Patrons 1990