Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)

I was listening this morning to Today on Radio 4 and heard Andrea Wulf describing how little known Alexander von Humboldt is to the English-speaking world today - at least, before the publication of her prize-winning biography The Invention of Nature.

So it's nice to remember that the Revd Robert Barlow of Hutton Rudby was a reader, boasting in Chapter 1 of his fictionalised semi-autobiography Remarkable but Still True:

... I myself am a great reader of all sorts of books, from Baron Humboldt's 'Cosmos,' down to the veriest romance, at times, to relax the tension upon the mind and memory necessary for the profitable perusal of scientific reasoning.

This was no idle boast - he had indeed left notes from his reading of Cosmos in one of his notebooks.

We can all expect to hear more of von Humboldt now that Wulf's biography has been awarded the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2016.

History of Hutton Rudby Choral & Dramatic Society

Malcolm McPhie been interested in the history of the Hutton Rudby Choral & Dramatic Society and been collecting material about it for years.  I've known he was planning to find a way to make this fascinating local history available to the general public, and have wondered how he would do it.

And here at last his long-awaited message!

I have finally reached the point where I can now share the information I have and tonight launched the Facebook page listed below:

Hutton Rudby Choral & Dramatic Society - History

Currently this covers the period 1920 to 1950, which I know won't be of interest to everybody. If your particular interest is in later productions I suggest you "like the page" to receive notifications of updates, or save the link so you can call back after I've added further material. 

If I see a reasonable amount of interest in these pages, I may add more material on, say, a weekly basis. 

A brief explanation of my reasons for creating this are in the "Welcome" album. I also recommend you take time to read the story of Walter Lyulph Johnson (Watty) the Founder and original President of the Society. I can guarantee you will learn more than you ever knew about the Johnson Room and its benefactor.

Please feel free to leave comments and reminisce with others who visit the site.

However, if you spot any mistakes (and there will be plenty) it will keep the pages tidier if you message me rather than clutter the pages with corrections. I'll add them all to a list for correction.

Malcolm McPhie

I've put a permanent link to it at the bottom of this webpage.