Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 85

NBC Interview

Well yesterday evening saw Roger Johnson, Jean Upton, Kristina Manente, myself (and others) interviewed by American broadcaster NBC in the vicinity of the Sherlock Holmes pub. The evening temperature was not exactly warm so I daresay whatever footage of yours truly that makes it into the final programme will make me look a good deal more terrified than I actually was (I was pretty terrified though).



NBC were actually in London to film a variety of pieces in connection with the Olympics. I'm still not entirely sure where Sherlock Holmes fits into the Olympics but there you go. Hopefully the completed programme will make things clear.

I very much hope some photographic evidence of proceedings will become available. When it does I will (if I can) post it.

Barts Lecture

If you will be in London on June 27th and want to come along to my lecture at Barts you can register here:

http://sherlocksociety.eventbrite.co.uk/

This will be an entry level lecture so will focus on basics that will be known to experienced Sherlockians.

Barts in days gone by

ACD and Whaling

On March 22nd I attended a talk on Conan Doyle and the whale which was held at the National Liberal Club in London. The talk did not exactly revolve around Conan Doyle but used him as a starting point from which to discuss the whole whaling industry which, when Conan Doyle experienced it, was starting (mercifully) to decline.

Conan Doyle (far right) on the Hope
The speaker, Philip Hoare, clearly knew his subject and the audience were left in no doubt of the impact the experience had on Conan Doyle at a time when his writing career did not really even exist. He was still yet to qualify as a doctor at this point.

The interesting news of the evening was that Conan Doyle's Whaling diary (from which we heard some excerpts) is soon to be published.

Save Undershaw is relaunched

The Save Undershaw website has had a face lift. You can now pledge future donations to the cause. Check it out here.

More on Barts Lecture

Mytalk on Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle and Barts is now officially set for June27th at 7pm. My understanding is that priority for seats will begiven to students and staff at the hospital but that should not deter peoplefrom applying. At present I have no details of exactly how you go about bookingbut as soon as I know I shall post details.

Thiswill be very much an introductory talk that assumes minimal familiarity withthe books. Therefore if you know your Holmes this may not be for you.

Undershaw limerick

There once was a house in Hindhead
That looked rather sad and neglected
Conan Doyle - in his grave
said "get a move on and save"
so the UPT rose up and directed

Updated book purchase page

I've revamped my page advertising An Entirely New Country. It now includes a list of topics. Purchasing links are at the foot of the page.

Here

Undershaw article in Haslemere Herald

The article below appeared in the Haslemere Herald on February 24th. Many thanks to reporter Caroline Toms for permission to display it here.

Visit the Haslemere Herald on-line version at http://www.haslemereherald.com/

The Undershaw Preservation Trust – How you can help

The Undershaw Preservation Trust is the organisation solely responsible for bringing about the Judicial Review (being held on May 23rd) that will hopefully reverse the decision of Waverly Borough Council permitting the carving up of this historic home into a series of separate dwellings.

For legal reasons I won't go into here (and don't fully understand), the UPT is not permitted to fund raise in connection with the Judicial Review itself but can bring in revenue to fund the campaign to raise awareness of the house's plight.

You can contribute to this in one of several ways:

1. You can buy items from the UPT shop http://www.saveundershawshop.com/index.html - Money raised from sales goes towards raising awareness and towards the UPT's day-to-day running costs (website etc).

2. You can buy my book An Entirely New Country . 50% of the book's net royalties go to the trust for the same purpose.



3. I believe there is a plan to allow people to pledge money to the UPT until such time as it is able to receive formal donations (which it cannot do at present). In due time people will be able to pledge on the website. However until such time as this can be done, pledges can be made via emails to info@saveundershaw.com

So now you know how you can help.

Undershaw Preservation Trust - back online

After their ISP suffered a hack over the last few days - the UPT website is back up and running:

http://www.saveundershaw.com/