Stanfords are hosting an author event with Stuart Maconie. Stuart's book 'Hope and Glory: The Days that Made Britain' [pub Ebury Press] goes in search of the places, people and events that have shaped modern Britain. Starting with the death of Queen Victoria, to the Battle of the Somme and the General Strike, and on to the docking of the Empire Windrush and Bobby Moore raising the Jules Rimet trophy, he chooses a defining moment in our nation's story from each decade of the last century and explores its legacy today.

Saturday 19th May 2012 - 7.30pm in the QEH Theatre Berkeley Place, Bristol BS8 1JX - entrance on Jacobs Wells Rd.

Tickets, £7, should be purchased in advance from Stanfords, 29 Corn St, Bristol BS1 1HT, or by phoning 0117 9299966.

Stanfords are hosting an author event with Tristan Gooley, writer of the book, 'The Natural Explorer: Understanding Your Landscape'    [pub by Sceptre]

In the book, Tristan shows how it is possible to enrich each of our journeys, however small, by heightening our levels of awareness. When we take a moment to read the landscape, we find the subtle connections between the land, sky and nature begin to resonate.

Thursday 29th March 2012 - 7.30pm. In the QEH Theatre, Berkeley Place, Bristol BS8 1JX - entrance on Jacobs Wells Rd.

Tickets, £6, should be purchased in advance from Stanfords, 29 Corn St, Bristol BS1 1HT, or by phoning 0117 9299966.

Our 2012 Wilderness Award winner, James Bingham, his brother Eddy and their colleagues Mark Wynne and Quentin Brooksbank, have returned safely from their expedition "A Short Winter in the Hindu Kush".  Inspired by Eric Newby's writings, the team set out to do a first winter ascent of Mir Samir (19,878ft, 6,059m) , up the north face.  For most people, attempting a peak in the Panjshir province of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains would seem to be enough of a challenge, without the added dimension of a winter ascent. In the event, the team were turned back by heavy snow that restricted them on some days to making only 200m progress. But we are really looking forward to hearing about their various adventures en route to the mountain and on the way back!

David Hempleman-Adams is giving a talk at St George’s in Bristol on the 15 February. The talk is in aid of the Mitchemp Trust, a charitable organisation that aims to help vulnerable children in Wiltshire develop by providing opportunities and support through outdoor education.

Tickets are £12 per ticket, £10 for concessions.

Details are here:

In amongst the spam and the mundane stuff that lands in my inbox I occasionally get an email that really makes me smile. This one arrived from Nick Carter, this week and, with his permission, I'm going to share it with you, I think it's fantastic and you can find out more about Nick and his colleagues at his website  The Adventure Council

" I came to one of the wilderness lectures you organised in Bristol a couple of years ago about a guy who was taking blood samples on Everest to show the effect of altitude. I remember that you asked if anyone else in the audience had climbed Everest. I wanted to send you this e-mail because that statement had a profound effect on me. I realised that I couldn't go on living the mundane life I had been living. I quit my job a few days later and became a public speaker and expedition leader. In the last few years I have done so much more than I would have done otherwise, including climbing Everest myself."