TOPICS, FEES, EXPENSES, BOOKINGS

Chris Chadwell continues to be available for day-time & evening bookings (incl. weekends) at any venue in the UK to deliver high-quality digital presentations on a wide range of topics of general, horticultural and natural history interest. His style is lively, informative & entertaining - with amongst the best images seen by clubs and societies (current bookings are at the bottom of this page)

He has more than thirty-five years experience speaking to gardening clubs, horticultural societies, national trust centres, natural history societies, U3As and many other groups around the country, not to mention lectures abroad, enabling him to tailor presentations to each audience.

Some of the participants and other speakers at the 'Plant Hunters' Seminar' held at Mt. Stewart, Northern Ireland

Chris has also undertaken four lecture tours in North America, one in New Zealand along with speaking engagements in France, Switzerland, Norway, Nepal & India.

Contact Chris Chadwell at: chrischadwell261@btinternet.com

SEE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR CHRIS' CURRENT BOOKINGS 2021

FEED-BACK FROM PROGRAMME SECRETARIES OF CLUBS AND SOCIETIES CHRIS

HAS RECENTLY GIVEN PRESENTATIONS TO:

"I have had very good feedback from members of our group, they really enjoyed your slides

and found the talk very interesting. We hope to see you again in the not too distant future"

(KASHMIR PRESENTATION to Hughenden Allotment and Garden Association, November 2014).

"I just want to thank you very much indeed for the fascinating lecture you gave ... We were

all particularly impressed with the quality of the photography - especially

the beauty of the flowers, whose appearance was totally unexpected"

(ALASKA PRESENTATION to Reading Centre, National Trust, February 2015)

An audience in West London having a cup-of-tea prior to a Chadwell presentation (December 2014) © Chris Chadwell

An audience in Moulton preparing to listen to a Chadwell lecture (June 2014) © Chris Chadwell

Setting-up digital projector in Amersham (January 2015) © Chris Chadwell

The digital images Chris projects are colourful & bright - audiences often remark that his photos are amongst the best they have ever viewed

Chris provides his own portable but good quality digital projector & lap-top - audiences are pleasantly surprised how reliable it all is

Fees + Travel Expenses

£75 for talks in England Chris can return home from the same night by public transport

£100 for talks requiring over-night stay (dependent upon train times)

Chris offers a reduced fee for nearby small groups (in Slough and surrounding towns/villages, especially if a lift to & back from the venue is provided)

PLUS TRAVEL EXPENSES

These will be in the form of either a return rail fare from Slough or perhaps National Express Coach from Heathrow as Chris does not drive

(the cost will be no more and often MUCH less, than the amount charged for petrol by other speakers, such that the TOTAL can be less than for speakers charging higher fees!) Get an estimate by checking on National Rail Enquiries: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ as to the current Saver Return (using a Senior Citizen's Railcard) to your local station from Slough or on National Express: http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx of the fare from Heathrow, to see if the total cost of booking Chris is likely to be within budget.

Titles of Digital Presentations offered by Chris

'Paradise on Earth: the beautiful flowers of Kashmir' is particularly recommended, if a programme secretary is seeking a recommendation, especially if it is to be the first occasion he will be speaking to a club or society.

Exploring for plants

'PARADISE ON EARTH': The Beautiful Wild Flowers of Kashmir

FLOWERS FROM 'THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH (Borderlands of Western Tibet)

LILIES, LAMAS and LEECHES (Nepal)

MOUNTAIN FLOWERS OF ALASKA

Gardens and Garden Flower Topics

PLANT INTRODUCTIONS AT NATIONAL TRUST properties

GARDENS OF NEW YORK and NEW ENGLAND

General Interest

KASHMIR: 'PARADISE ON EARTH'? - land of lotuses, fine shawls, exquisite papier mache & the world's greatest salesmen!

'LITTLE TIBET': monasteries, prayer flags, high altitude flowers & pashmina goats

WILD ALASKA: Glaciers, King Salmon, Mountain Flowers & Moose

Natural History Topics

WILD FLOWERS OF BRITAIN

WILD ALASKA: Glaciers, King Salmon, Mountain Flowers and Moose

FLOWERS and BIRDS of LITTLE TIBET

Contact Chris for further details: chrischadwell261@btinternet.com

Below are some of the title slides of Chris' digital presentations

Known as the ‘Switzerland of the Himalaya’, Kashmir was considered by conquering Moghul Emperors to be a ‘Paradise on Earth’, boasting as it does, lakes adorned with fabulous lotuses (see above), luxuriant pine forests and colourful alpine meadows, set amongst snowy peaks - to which they added wonderful gardens and handicrafts of the finest quality. Chris visited Kashmir several times in the 1980s. He returned in 2012, after an absence of 23 years (due to serious unrest and high risk of kidnap by militants) securing his best ever set of images, enabling a fresh look into this beautiful but troubled land.

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The borderlands of Western Tibet may be a high-altitude desert but an extraordinary range of flowers are to be found - if one knows where to look. Chris' recent explorations in connection with projects conserving plants utilised in Tibetan Medicine have resulted in a fine set of digital images of mountains, monasteries, local people and stunning flowers. He combines this with an exceptional insight into the customs of those living in remote villages.

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Pay a visit to the amazing temples in 'crazy' Kathmandu and trek amongst the world's highest highest mountain range in search of exquisite lilies, primulas and meconopsis - whilst trying to avoid the attention of troublesome leeches. Learn about the religious beliefs of Nepalese people and the uses to which wild plants are put in their daily lives - such as the extraordinary caterpillar fungus which helped fund the maoist up-rising of recent times.

At the end of a lengthy lecture tour, Chris spent some time in Alaska. Thanks to the generosity of various members of the Alaska Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society, especially Verna Pratt, author of books of 'Wild Flowers of Alaska', he was taken up into the mountains to get a glimpse of this frontier state's wonderful spring/early summer flora - which despite a heavy winter had specimens flowering at their very best for decades (in Chris' honour of course).

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Discover and learn to appreciate the range of specimen trees, shrubs, climbers, herbaceous perennials (such as the peony shown above) and bulbs which grace Trust properties around the UK and learn how they got there. Chris is even related, albeit “unofficially”, to Sir Richard Acland, who in 1944, gave all his lands on the Killerton and Holnicote Estates, including picturesque Selworthy, to the National Trust

Join Chris on a journey around Britain to see just what a rich variety of plants are to be found in woodlands, mountains, coasts and even amongst waste ground and rubbish tips! Information is provided about their uses, from culinary, through religious to medicinal, drawing upon experience undertaking botanical surveys for various nature conservation bodies.

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CHRIS CHADWELL'S SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS 2021

Chris was taken up into the mountains and shown impressive glaciers on the Kenai Peninsula by members of the Alaska Rock Garden Society. He was also treated to excursions by boat to fish

and admire the extraordinary scenery and wildlife in the Kachemak Bay by skipper Peter Garay

(whose day-job is as pilot to large commercial ships navigating these waters)

16th June Garden Club, Buckinghamshire

'PARADISE ON EARTH: THE BEAUTIFUL WILD FLOWERS OF KASHMIR'

14th October Garden Club, Hertfordshire

'THE GARDENS OF NEW YORK & NEW ENGLAND'

12th November Horticultural Society, Norfolk

'FLOWERS FIT FOR A DALAI LAMA - PLANT HUNTING IN LITTLE TIBET'

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