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Public Speaker in West Sussex, Peter Lovett

Areas:

Surrey Sussex

Categories:

Birds/Animals/Reptiles Educational Gardens/Gardening History Natural History Political

Peter Lovett

Location: Haywards Heath, West Sussex

About me...

After a business career in scientific instrumentation, working and living In Italy, The Netherlands, former West Germany, Ireland and the UK, my focus is now on Natural History and History.

About my talks...

The talks are all power point presentations.
The nature talks cover subjects including birds, reptiles, mammals, native orchids, spiders, butterflies and other insects of Sussex, Surrey and Kent. My cameras function as notebooks, magnifying glass and a telescope, seeing things that would otherwise escape the naked eye.
Animation is integral to these talks, which requires my own PC and video projector. A screen and extension cable is also available.

Fee:

My fee for 2017 is £75.00 plus travel costs from my home in Haywards Heath, West Sussex at 50p per mile plus incidental costs: tolls, parking etc.

Evening bookings that are more than 20 miles or 35 minutes from RH17 5LN are reluctantly declined.

My Contact Details:

Phone:

01444 415367

Email:

peter.lovett@gmail.com

The Natural Year in Focus

Summer is glorious for flowers and insects: in September a rare Brown Hairstreak lays eggs on Ranmore Common on the North Downs. Insects are mating, although some damselflies come to an unexpectedly violent end.
Sex & violence appear in these talks but only in the insect world.

The picture shows a female Banded Demoiselle damselfly by the river Arun in Sussex

The Native Orchids of Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Sutherland

Our native orchids are exquisitely beautiful and extremely variable, growing in habitats as diverse as deep woodland shade, chalk downs, waste tips and disused quarries, to sphagnum bogs and wind-swept hillsides in Scotland.

This talk details how the flowers of the rare Early-spider Orchid in Sussex (and other species) rotate as they grow. More species are shown than “The Natural Year in Focus” talks. Twenty three species of native orchids are shown in their natural settings and in close-up, plus a few from Italy

The picture above is of Green-winged Orchids in a Sussex churchyard.

The Extraordinary Lives of Wild Bees and the Important Role of Gardeners in Their Survival.

Public Speaker Peter Lovett talks about Bees.

The life cycle of bumblebees is shown with animated diagrams plus identification of common species. Bumblebees, solitary bees and cuckoo bees are shown from my own wildlife garden and various nature reserves in Sussex and Surrey.

Bumblebees are of major economic importance and are under threat from disease and insecticides. Gardeners can play an important role in providing a bee-friendly habitat: chemical free and with wild areas for nesting sites.

Wild flower meadows in the UK have disappeared at an alarming rate since the second world war and bumblebee species have become extinct.

Yet there is hope. We all can play a part as gardeners so that nature, especially bees, can thrive. Take heart and enjoy observations from a Sussex garden throughout the year. The picture is a Common Carder bee on Horseshoe Vetch.

The exotic spices, nuts, fruits, vegetables, plants and insects of St. Lucia

Your kitchen spice rack will have new relevance after experiencing this talk. The talk also has relevance to Historical societies. During the American revolutionary war, King George III considered the island of St Lucia (a little bigger than the Isle of Wight) as more important to protect Britain’s commercial interests in sugar from the French, than the prosecution of the war in the thirteen colonies. He diverted thousands of troops and naval ships from the American eastern seaboard to St Lucia — a factor in the UK losing the war.

Pictures are annotated with plant names and historical notes making it a relaxing talk to follow and enjoy.
Topics covered include;
Coconuts, Bananas, Cassava, Yams, Breadfruit, Akee & Papaya,Cashews, Almonds, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Climbers, Insects, Birds, People and Slavery

A couple of my History talks

The Influence of Invasions on the English language

The influence of invasions on the English language looks at place names and English history… revealed in our language”. For example, the suffix “-ham” dominates Sussex and is absent in areas of the north where -”by” prevails. Danish words are still in dialect and the Normans gave us “dents de lion”, picture right.
And just why does our tax year start on 6th April… all is revealed in this romp through English history – revealed in our language.
English is my mother tongue and I also speak Italian, German, Dutch and French.

The American Revolutionary War or War of Independence, 1775-1783

Talk by Public Speaker Peter Lovett - The wealthy merchant, John Hancock above in 1765 signed the Declaration of Independence with a large bold signature – allegedly so George III could read it without his glasses.

After the Seven Years War (explained graphically in this talk), known in North America as the French and Indian war, Britain wanted the colonies to pay for their own defence. The radical politician, Samuel Adams, illustrated here, petitioned King George III with the reasonable request that there be no taxation without representation. George III was unyielding and the relations between the American colonies and the British government gradually deteriorated into war.

Protagonists on both sides are shown in the vivid paintings by Copley from the Boston Museum of Fine Art plus pictures from other museums.
This animated talk focuses on the people and events leading to a humiliating exodus from Boston by English soldiers, women and children.

Picture: The wealthy merchant, John Hancock in 1765 signed the Declaration of Independence with a large bold signature – allegedly so George III could read it without his glasses.

The Bloody History of the Adur valley and Seven 1,000 year old churches

Public Speaker David Lovett talks about St Mary De Haura, New Shoreham, Sussex shows the transition from Norman to Early English architectural style.

Steyning’s role with the kings of Wessex is explained graphically and then we follow the evolution of the Normans and the De Braose family from the first Lord of Bramber who fought with William Duke of Normandy in 1066, to his son, who fought in the crusade to a successor who became wealthy under King John’s patronage before a brutal fall from power and into exile.

We look at seven churches: at Steyning, Bramber, Upper Beeding, Boltophes, Coombes, Old and New Shoreham.

The evolution of church architecture from Norman to Early English is shown in these churches. The original choir of St Mary De Haura (now the functional nave) is contemporary with and is contrasted with that of Canterbury Cathedral.

Picture: St Mary De Haura, New Shoreham, Sussex shows the transition from Norman to Early English architectural style.