Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:
Our speaker for March, Paul Whittle, had previously given us two very interesting and enjoyable presentations about railways. This time his subject was completely different – a short history of St. Petersburg from its founding in 1703 by Peter the Great – and, once again, Paul did not disappoint us. His relaxed style of adding a professional commentary to a Powerpoint presentation had his whole audience enthralled and many compliments were paid to him at the end.
To the many photographs taken personally by Paul of modern-day St. Petersburg, he added ancient and current maps of the city, together with images of the Romanov royal family and other personalities, who figured prominently in the history of this World Heritage Site. What could have been a straight travelogue metamorphosed into a wonderful re-telling of the story of St. Petersburg, illustrated by the many excellent and relevant slides.
Past-Chairman, Leslie Cowie, gave the well-deserved vote of thanks and members will be pleased to note that Paul has already been booked for another presentation next year.