A Survivor’s Tale - My Life and Times in the United Nations

The Story of the First Female Under-Secretary General

Dame Margaret Anstee lives about five miles from Huntington, at Knill.  She gained a Double First in languages at Cambridge University, just after the war.  Her maternal roots are in the Welsh Marches, where her mother was born and where she spent her childhood holidays.

She has had a peripatetic life, pioneering the access of women to senior professional positions previously exclusively in the domain of men, both nationally and internationally. She was one of the tiny group of women admitted to the British Foreign Service when it was first opened to women. Later she worked for the United Nations for over 40 years, rising to become the first female Under Secretary General. She then became the first woman to head a UN military peacekeeping force.

She lived in a dozen countries and visited over 130 on official missions. Along the way she had many adventures and was the last person to see Donald Maclean on the night he defected to the Soviet Union in May 1951.  

She will give us a fascinating talk on her extraordinary life from her early days in Herefordshire to the present and will intersperse anecdotes of her experiences with reflections on the evolution and present status of the United Nations. Her autobiography, ‘Never Learn to Type’ explains her four decades with the UN and signed books will be available for sale afterwards. 

We are delighted to have her as a speaker for St. Thomas a Becket Church.  There will be wine and canapés after the talk. 

The peak of the Summer will bring the Friends of St. Thomas a Becket Church a unique evening led by John Madden, from Newchurch. We are honoured that John has composed a new work for the Friends, which will be premiered at St. Thomas a Becket Church.  

John will introduce Jess and Evie Price from Brilley.  They were both pupils at Hereford Cathedral School and members of the award winning girls choir, Cantabile.  They have appeared as soloists in Hereford Cathedral and won prizes at the National Eisteddfod and the Cheltenham Music Festival.  They gave a concert at St. Mary’s Church, Hay-on-Wye during the Literary Festival in 2014, to great acclaim.

John Madden has been composing since he was 14.  He wrote A Song of Creation for the Royal opening of Liverpool Cathedral in 1978, when he was still only 22.  His music has also been included in the Christmas broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge. John conducted the Scottish premiere of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio.  He writes largely to commission and is published by many of the leading music publishers in the world, such as OUP and Novello.  He has taught and been Director of Music at some of the country’s leading public schools, is an examiner with the ABRSM and Artistic Director of the National Schools Symphony Orchestra. 

The recital will consist of popular pieces to please all musical tastes.  Well known music by Vivaldi, JS Bach, Haydn and Gluck will delight concert-goers.  But the highlight will be the world premiere of The Seasons Psalter, a lyrical song cycle for two sopranos and chamber organ, written specially for the occasion by John Madden.  

The recital will conclude with a full reception at Huntington Court with drinks and canapés.

Major General Arthur Denaro was commissioned in the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars. In his early days he served in Libya, Germany and in the war in Dhofar in Southern Oman.  He commanded his tank regiment to liberate Kuwait in 1990/91, for which he was awarded the OBE.  He was COS UN forces during the war in former Yugoslavia, after which he was awarded the CBE.  In 1997 - 2000, he was Commandant of Sandhurst and became Middle East Adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence from 1997 - 2003. 

Arthur retired from the Army in 2003 and lives in Herefordshire but has continued his close associations with the Middle East ever since, advising HM The King of Jordan, The Crown Prince of Bahrain and the Amir of Quatar as well as many British companies in the region.  He is also Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire and an Extra Equerry to HRH the Prince of Wales.

We will hear of Arthur Denaro’s early exploits through to his soldiering days, with comments, anecdotes and many amusing stories with plenty of room for questions, debates and discussion at the end.

There will be wine and canapés after the talk. 

                                                       Major-General Arthur Denaro 

Bob Thompson, whose family have lived at Kinnerton for generations,  gives a fascinating insight into his amazing travels researching and documenting equine sports and cultures in Africa and Asia.   He meets horsemen, finds out what they do and identifies how these equine activities fit within the broader culture. He is passionate about discovering as many examples as he can before these equine cultures die out.  

His illustrated talk opens our eyes to some extraordinary equine facts often uncovered in remote parts of the world not associated with horses. Did you know that one culture holds Dancing Horse Competitions where the horses perform Spanish Riding School movements? Have you heard about the stuntman in Burkina Faso whose horse puts his elbows on his shoulder to walk into the stable? Bob has spent many years travelling and researching with video in one hand and camera in another.  In one remote area there was a discussion as to whether he should be executed...

There will be wine and canapés after the talk.

We all know about the popular TV programme, ‘Call the Midwife’. But what is midwifery like today? Huntington's Dr. Joanna Raven will be telling us of the trials and tribulations of the profession both here and abroad.

Why are women in many resource poor settings still dying during pregnancy and childbirth? What makes health systems unable to provide the care that women, babies and their families need? What can be done about this? And what are the impacts of different cultural and religious practices on childbirth?  

Born and bred in Herefordshire, Joanna is a nurse and midwife with 15 years of international experience. She joined the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine after finishing her Masters in Community Health at LSTM in 2004. She completed her PhD exploring the quality of childbirth care in rural China. She has been a teacher, a programme manager and researcher in Asia and Africa for the last 18 years.  She has travelled to the most remote countries of the earth as she teaches midwives the skills of successful childbirth. 

Drawing on her travel, teaching and research,  Joanna will talk about her life-changing encounters in what promises to be a fascinating talk.  There will be wine and canapés after.

Please note that because of the time of year, the talk will be held in the Village Hall. All other events in 2015 will be held in the Church