Christine & Keith Hayward
Phone 01252-514421  Fax 01252-378821  E-mail: us@hartcanna.com
27 Guildford Road West, Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6PS, England.
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LECTURES - ENTERTAINMENT - COURSES
 
 

Lectures:

  "Glorious Canna" 
Keith & Christine together giving a talk all about canna.   These gorgeous sub-tropical plants are very popular in our gardens.  Christine does the chatty bits and Keith does the technical bits.  Covers canna history, botany, horticultural development, cultivation, pests and diseases, and a slide show which illustrates the many garden varieties and species.   Keith and Christine are appointed NCCPG National Collection holders for cannas, and also have a business Hart Canna selling canna plants and rhizomes.  The talk includes various anecdotes about having a national collection and also a nursery business. They have presented this talk to many garden clubs and societies, WI gardening sections, NCCPG area groups etc, throughout Hampshire, Berkshire  and Surrey, and are willing to travel further afield.  They come complete with projector, screen, etc.  

"Taking a Stand - Behind the scenes at Hampton Court"
Keith & Christine have been exhibiting at Hampton Court Palace Flower Shows for a number of years.  They have experienced floods, storms and dehydration.   They have been disqualified, and their highest award so far is a Silver Gilt.  They have met celebrities.  It takes years off their lives but still they go back for more.  Hear all about the trials and tribulations of having a stand at Hampton Court.  Christine does the talking while Keith operates the slide projector.

 

Entertainment
Most of the entertaining is just Christine on her own, and comprises songs, poems, monologues and  readings, enlivened by general conversation.  Christine's concerts are mainly presented at retirement homes, day centres, nursing homes, ladies' clubs, Rotary clubs, church organisations, etc.  Each presentation usually has a "theme".   She has now acquired a very large repertoire of items, and can put together a show on virtually any topic.  There is no musical accompaniment unless by arrangement when an accompanist.  There are no pop songs, and no microphone amplification unless the room is very large.

On a Gardening Theme
Suitable as after-dinner entertainment.  Christine entertaining you with songs, poems, readings, anecdotes and stories on a general gardening theme. 

 Victorian Entertainment
Christine has a special interest in the entertainment of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, which include Victorian Parlour Entertainment, The Music Hall, and the entertainment before we had TV, or even cinema, such as the Toy Theatre.   Together with her accompanist, Margaret Searle, she can present a 1 hour show on the history of the Music Hall together with songs, monologues, etc.  They have presented this concert several times, including one as part of an Open University course, when they presented it for students at Walton Hall, the headquarters of the Open University.  Rarely can such an academic session have required students to sing the choruses at the Music Hall!  

Christine plus friends
Together with other performers she can present bigger events such as Victorian Parlour Entertainment, and the Music Hall (together with a Chairman).  She presented her first full Music Hall at the Regency Theatre, Farnborough.  Since then she has organised and presented weekend residential courses on these topics at study centres such as Urchfont Manor in Wiltshire (several times), Denman College in Oxfordshire, home of the WI).  In December 2004 she presented a weekend residential course on "Victorian Home Entertainment" at Denman College, for the WI.

Keith plus friends
For this you need a seriously big room (preferably a theatre or a church).  Keith plus 80 male friends and 2 female friends comprise the Hart Male Voice Choir (the 2 females being the conductor and accompanist).   They will present for you a concert, particularly if it is in aid of some worthwhile fundraising cause; they will sing at your wedding or your funeral.  Keith honestly believes they are the best male voice choir in England or Wales, and maybe the World.  If you don't want them to sing for you, then why don't you sing for them?  New members are very welcome, the only requirement being to be male (or female in trousers with a very deep voice).  They rehearse at the Cross Barn, Odiham, on Wednesday evenings.  It has been said that a male voice choir is the best club a man can belong to.  See  www.hart-mvc.org.uk 

 

COURSES
Singing Masterclass
Nothing to do with horticulture, but everything to do with singing.  Come and learn to sing professionally, or watch other people trying to do it.   Singing Masterclasses with international tenor Wynford Evans, organised by Christine Hayward  see www.singing-masterclass.co.uk

 

OTHER LECTURE TOPICS 
Keith takes the lead in these rather more serious topics, but Christine joins in.   

Faith, Belief and Certainty
A viewpoint on the meanings and implications of "faith" (religious and non-religious); "logic"; what we believe, and what we are entitled to believe for certain.  From an atheist perspective but sensitively presented with a mind to individual beliefs.  Suitable for humanist and atheist organisations, and also broadminded "faith" groups of any religious persuasion.  No fee since we're happy to have a platform. 

The Big Idea:  Language
The "Big Idea" that separates us from the rest of the animal Kingdom.  What it is all about.  Animal language, human language, development of language in children, principles of linguistics.  Suitable for U3a groups etc.  Similarly no fee if reasonably close to Farnborough.

 

Phone 01252-514421  Fax 01252-378821  E-mail: us@hartcanna.com
(from overseas, dial tel 0044 1252 514421 fax 0044 1252 378821)
27 Guildford Road West, Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6PS, England.