RLS Club pogramme until July, 2011

March 18: Carry an RLS extract to Heriot Row
We begin the RLS Club’s 2011 ‘season’ with a get together in Stevenson’s old Heriot Row home, courtesy of John and Felicitas Macfie. We asked you to bring a poem to this ‘At Home’ last year. This time we ask you to bring your favourite short extract from one of his works – and read it to us. But not too long! A paragraph or two and certainly no more than half a page. This is a social occasion when we meet to chat over a glass of wine, but we will also discuss our events programme for the year.
The place: 17 Heriot Row; the time: 6.30 till 8pm. To book: call Mr John Macfie on: 0131 556 1896

APRIL 8: Roll up for the Great Debate
Yes, it’s on again! Was Fanny Stevenson a help or a hindrance to Stevenson? Did she light his creative flame or dowse it in iced water? Was she a loose cannon or a loving wife with an awkward husband? Was Fanny a powerful, able woman before her time? Dr Mitchell Manson will speak FOR her; Mr Ian Gardiner will speak against; and Sheriff Gordon Shiach will act as moderator to ensure fair play.
The Place: The Tusitala Restaurant, 47 Buckstone Terrace, off Comiston Road, Edinburgh. Time: 11.00am (coffee served from 10.30am). Lunch to follow for those who would like to stay on. To book: call Mr Ian Nimmo on: 01968 675457.

May 11 – 21: Following the trail of An Inland Voyage
This year is the 135th anniversary of Stevenson’s delightful account of the epic journey by canoe with his friend Sir Walter Simpson. Of course, the RLS Club will be there! We will be following the paddle strokes of the Cigarette and the Arethusa by luxury coach from Antwerp, where the canoes were first placed in the water, down the River Sambre, into the French canal system, and on to the L’Oise as far as Pointoise. We will take part in a two-day Stevenson festival at the little village of Etreaupont and finish with two free days in Paris.
Just in case there is a place left, anyone interested should contact Ian Nimmo quickly.

June 24: Walking boots on for the Cramond Inn
The village of Cramond was a favourite place for Stevenson. He canoed off Cramond, carved his name on a table at the Cramond Inn, and it was on that “dreadful” walk to Cramond in 1871 when he broke the news to his father that he wanted to give up engineering and become a writer. In St Ives RLS writes about the walk from Newhaven to ‘Cramond on the Almond’ – and that is where we are going.
The rendezvous: Meet at the Starbank Inn, Newhaven at 11.00am for coffee and a briefing. The walk: about five miles mostly by Forth-side. Lunch at the Cramond Inn with a talk to follow. Contact: Ian Nimmo

June 20 – 25: Jekyll and Hyde: the Musical
At The Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh, June 20 – 25. Book direct with The Playhouse

July 16: RLS Club AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Robert Louis Stevenson Club will be held on July 16 at 10.30am in the Mackenzie Building of the Faculty of Advocates, High Street, Edinburgh.