Highgate offers a packed programme of events and activities, many of which are open to the public as well as our School community.
In September 2019, pupils from Highgate School organised the first ever Environmental Sustainability Conference for young people
The inspiring all-day event, designed for young people who want to be involved in sustainability initiatives, hosted keynote speakers from the world of science, politics, charity and activism.
‘Night at the Museum’ is a series of talks (one per term) by external speakers and Highgate teachers on a wide range of subjects. It replaces the successful ‘Mondays at the Mills’ programme that ran for four years from September 2016.
Unfortunately, our planned events for Summer 2020 have been postponed in light of Covid-19, but we will keep this page updated with new dates as soon as they are available.
Talks are normally held in the School Museum/Tabernacle starting at 7pm, with refreshments, including wine, available from 6.30pm and afterwards.
Tickets for ‘N@M’ events can be booked on this page. If you have any questions, please contact the Development Office, by emailing development@highgateschool.org.uk
Dr Roger Bowdler
Highgate Cemetery is of world renown as a destination for the picturesque tourist. There is a long tradition in Britain of churchyards and monuments being popular destinations for sight-seeing. Not only did they embody history: they provided a moral experience for the living by bringing them close to the dead. This far-from-gloomy talk will look at tombs and their audience.
Roger is currently a heritage consultant with Montagu Evans, providing expert advice on historic environment matters, and he also teaches university students about British history and heritage. For many years he was Director of Listing for Historic England. He has a PhD from Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge on ‘Monuments of Decay and Resurrection – Images of Mortality on 17th Century English Church Monuments’ and has written extensively on the topic of sepulchral art. He is a former Highgate parent.
Deri Tomos has supplied a list of references and further reading on a page on his blog: https://deritomos.cymru/darlithoedd-cyhoeddus/kyffin-and-colour/ A recording of Deri’s lecture can be viewed by going here: https://www.highgateschool.org.uk/about/museums-and-archive/ and scrolling down to ‘Latest News’.
Hugh Aldersey-Williams OC (WG 1971) was in conversation with Heritage Officer David Smith about his recently published biography of Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens, an arguably overlooked giant of 17th century science who had the misfortune to have been a contemporary of the more celebrated Isaac Newton.
The handsome volume is a very good read. Hugh has also recorded a couple of podcasts about his book: www.tttpodcast.com and www.spectator.co.uk
Visits to the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden as well as to the house that both Christiaan and his father Constantijn had lived in on the outskirts of the Hague are also highly recommended.
Dr Roger Bowdler
Highgate Cemetery is of world renown as a destination for the picturesque tourist. There is a long tradition in Britain of churchyards and monuments being popular destinations for sight-seeing. Not only did they embody history: they provided a moral experience for the living by bringing them close to the dead. This far-from-gloomy talk will look at English tombs and their audience.
Roger is currently a heritage consultant with Montagu Evans, providing expert advice on historic environment matters, and he also teaches university students about British history and heritage. For many years he was Director of Listing for Historic England. He has a PhD from Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge on ‘Monuments of Decay and Resurrection – Images of Mortality on 17th Century English Church Monuments’ and has written extensively on the topic of sepulchral art. He is a former Highgate parent.
The 12th Annual Kyffin Williams lecture given by Oliver Fairclough, former Keeper of Art at Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales, Cardiff, introduced the collections at the NMW, including the invaluable contributions of the Davies sisters, went on to explore the question as to whether the institution is a museum of Welsh art, or a gallery of Western European art located in Wales and also described how Kyffin Williams, a generous benefactor of the museum, was outspoken in his belief that the NMW should present a canon of Welsh ‘greats’ at a time (the 1980s). Information about Sir Kyffin Williams, who was Art Master at Highgate from 1944-73, can be found here: https://www.kyffinwilliams.org.uk/ and this page outlines the development of the NMW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_Cardiff
Professor Joanna Haigh from Imperial College London, where she was co-Director of the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, spoke about the scientific evidence for climate change and discussed how physics is used to construct computer models to investigate past and future climate and what needs to be done for the world to avoid dangerous levels of warming. Her conclusions were:
Professor Haigh recommended a few websites:
Tessa Boase
Obviously Tessa Boase’s book, Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather, should be the first port of call and you can find out more about Tessa herself from her website.
She also recommends the following sources:
Dr Mohamed Ramy El-Maarry, Birkbeck, University of London
For more information about ‘small bodies’ in general you can visit this site, for example: https://lco.global/spacebook/solar-system/ and click on Asteroids, Comets and Dwarf Planets.
Specific information about the New Horizons mission to Pluto and Ultima Thule can be found here: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
Estelle Lovatt
Information about the current exhibitions of Leonardo’s drawings from the Royal Collection can be found here.
The most recent biography (well reviewed) is Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. Martin Kemp is possibly the most respected Leonardo expert so his book Leonardo should be considered too. Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind by Charles Nicholl is also recommended; and if you want to see his pictures and drawings there is apparently no better book than Leonardo da Vinci: Complete Paintings and Drawings by Johannes Nathan.
Dr Philip Aherne, Highgate School
This Phil’s book, on which his talk was based:
https://www.palgrave.com/la/book/9783319958576
He also recommends the following titles:
Information about a Coleridge event that took place in Highgate in June 2018 can be found here.
The Friends of Coleridge have a comprehensive website: http://www.friendsofcoleridge.com/
Dr Ines Schlenker, independent art historian
A summary of Milein’s life and work can be found here and for a much more comprehensive account Ines Schlenker’s book Milein Cosman: Capturing Time is recommended.
Dr Serena Repetto, Highgate School
The following links are recommended for further reading –
An article on black hole X-ray binaries from the American Astronomical Society:
https://aasnova.org/2018/11/14/a-black-hole-x-ray-binary-rises/
An article on supermassive black holes from the Royal Astronomical Society:
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/research-highlights/matter-falling-black-hole-30-percent-speed-light
An article on the discovery of gravitational waves:
https://astrobites.org/2016/02/11/opening-our-ears-to-the-universe-ligo-observes-gravitational-waves/
This site, on which graduate students write summaries of research papers for the public, is excellent: https://astrobites.org/
An article on how it will soon be possible to image the shadow of a black hole:
https://astrobites.org/2018/01/24/hunting-for-new-physics-in-a-black-holes-shadow/
Will Blackshaw, Highgate School
Will recommends the following classic inspirational reads:
Mountains of the Minds by Rob Macfarlane
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer
Touching the Void and The Beckoning Silence by Joe Simpson
Into the Silence by Wade Davis
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
He also recommends keeping an eye on the Royal Geographical Society website, as they often have great guest speakers of an exploring/mountaineering nature.
And if anyone is looking to go on a course to get into it all, Plas y Brenin – the National Mountain Sports Centre in Capel Curig – is a good place to start!
Nigel Lowey
The History Press has published a book to mark the 150th anniversary of the terminus: St Pancras International: 150 Facts for 150 Years. It reveals many little-known details about the long history of this iconic building and its local surroundings.
David Smith, Highgate School
To learn more about Kyffin, his two volumes of autobiography are the best places to start: Across the Straits and A Wider Sky.
Biographies include:
Obsessed—The Biography of Kyffin Williams by David Meredith and John Smith
The Light and The Dark by Rian Evans, with photographs by Nicholas Sinclair
David Smith, Highgate School
Michael Faraday: A Very Short Introduction by Frank James gives a succinct overview of many aspects of his life.
The Royal Institution website has some good links to various pages about Faraday: http://www.rigb.org/our-history/people/f/michael-faraday.
The film Prelude to Power: the story of Faraday and the Induction Ring can be viewed here: http://www.rigb.org/our-history/bragg-film-archive/ri-history/prelude-to-power.
Elizabeth Crawford
Elizabeth Crawford’s website is a mine of information on this topic.
Manuel Oliveira
An example of the game-based learning that Manuel talked about can be found here.
Dr Georgina Meakin, University College London
Georgina works at the UCL Centre for the Forensic Sciences: which is part of the Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science.
Jenny Williamson, Easel Painting Conservator
Jenny is a Trustee of The Institute of Conservation. She works for both the National Library of Wales and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.