It is 100 years since Winnie-the-Pooh was introduced to children of all ages in the four iconic books created by A A Milne and E H Shepard. First seen in When We Were Very Young (1924), Winnie-the-Pooh, the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood had their own adventures in Winnie-The-Pooh (Oct 1926), with Now We Are Six (1927) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), giving us more wonderful poems and stories which introduce Tigger, Kanga-and-Roo and Poohsticks.

This lecture tells the story of how these much-loved books were created by the genius of Milne and Shepard’s groundbreaking collaboration and why they remain embedded in our national identity.

James Campbell has a BA in History and an MA in the History of Art and a particular interest in the work of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist E H Shepard (1879-1976).

He has been a Trustee of the E H Shepard Estate since 2010 and was was involved in the ground-breaking V&A 2017 Exhibition marking the 90th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh. James’s books Shepard’s War and The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh were published in 2015 respectively.

His new joint biography of A A Milne and E H Shepard - The Men Who Created Winne-the-Pooh: The Lives of A A Milne and E H Shepard - commissioned for the centenary of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, was published in September 2025 by Michael O'Mara Books.

Image credit: Winnie the Pooh, drawn by EH Shepard, © Copyright- The Shepard Trust.d 2017 

Originally intended to house an equestrian statue of William IV, the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square lay empty due to lack of funds for many years. Eventually, it was decided to use it for what has been described as ‘the smallest but most prominent sculpture park in the world’.

The inaugural work, ‘Ecce Homo’, a poignant life-sized figure of Christ in white marble by Mark Wallinger, fittingly presided over the arrival of the new millennium and since then many contemporary artists have had their work displayed there. From horses to hotels, bottles to cockerels, we follow the course of the Fourth Plinth Commission, up to (and beyond) David Shrigley, who gives it a big ‘thumbs up’.

Rosalind Whyte holds a BA and MA from Goldsmith’s College, and an MA (distinction) from Birkbeck College. She is an experienced guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Royal Academy and Greenwich. Rosalind lectures at the Tate, to independent art societies and on cruises.

The Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, 2024. Photo credit Hilary Williams

Every year the Royal Opera House puts on a season of Christmas shows: the Royal Ballet in Nutcracker and Cinderella, the Royal Opera in any piece with a folk tale theme, and either genre if it features snow.

How do we cope with all those magic coaches and snow bags? Not to say 17 Sugar Plums, 12 Princes, and the entire Lower Ballet School backstage?  This talk takes you into the wings, down the traps and under the stage as our legendary Christmas Tree is moved on to its lift. Based on interviews and live video clips.

Sarah Lenton has spent her working life in the theatre: her principal employers are the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Garsington Opera. She writes programme articles, radio scripts, gives lectures on the operas and ballets in the rep. and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radios 3 and 4. She is also a cartoonist. All the talks listed come with audio and/or video clips.

Image attached- Credit- The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, auditorium