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Fast living surrounded by bright young things; that's the image we have today of the Interwar Years, between 1918 and 1939, when fast cars, fast women, lots of alcohol, and an abundance of glamour and glitter was the order of the day for England's upper classes. However, there is much more to the story. This lecture will go back hundreds of years, beginning in the 17th century, when the turf ruled the aristocratic taste for racing and horses were de rigueur for gentry and upper class. From Goodwood House in Sussex, home of the Glorious Goodwood festival (Thoroughbred horse racing), one of the highlights of the English social season, to Higham Park in Kent, one of the first centers of auto racing in the early 20th century, this lecture will cover horse, auto, and airplane racing at English country houses. From the Rothschilds to James Bond's ancestry and car, from the finest stables in the world to the Flying Duchess - Mr. DiCamillo will investigate stories of sexual escapades, sabotage, and prison, all mixed carefully with soaring ambition and stunning houses filled with exquisite art.

Before accepting his current position as Executive Director of The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA, Mr. DiCamillo worked for 13 years for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He has written and lectured extensively in the U.S, and abroad on the subject of English country houses. For the past nine years he has continued to develop an award winning database on the Web ( www.dicamillocompanion.com) that is attempting to document every British and Irish country house ever built, standing or demolished. In recognition of his extraordinary work in preserving British architecture, he has been presented to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. He is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and an alumnus of The Attingham Summer School for the Study of Country Houses.

This event is co-sponsored by the Royal Oak Foundation.

During World War II, numerous country houses in Britain were used as training schools for the now-famous Special Operations Executive (SOE), established by Churchill to "set the world ablaze" by sparking resistance in enemy-occupied Europe. At these schools, SOE agents, both men and women, were given commando-style training to prepare them to lead clandestine lives, endure interrogation by the Gestapo and use complex codes. The seventy-odd houses requisitioned by the SOE included rectories in the Home Counties, Highland shooting lodges, scores of manor houses and impressive country seats such as Audley End, Gorhambury, Thame Park and Milton Hall. One contemporary wag suggested that SOE actually stood for "Stately 'omes of England." In his lecture, Mr. Binney explores a fascinating chapter in the history of the British country house.

MARCUS BINNEY, CBE (Eton, University of Cambridge) Dr. Marcus Binney co-curated the exhibition "The Destruction of the Country House," in 1974 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, with Roy Strong and John Harris, which helped spur the movement to conserve deteriorating country houses in Britain. The following year SAVE Britain's Heritage, which champions the cause of endangered historic buildings, was formed with Dr. Binney as its president, a position he still holds today. In 1975 he was awarded the London Conservation Medal and in 2004 he was made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In recognition of his services to conservation and Britain's heritage, he was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1983, and advanced to Commander of the British Empire in 2006. From 1977 until 1984 he was the Architectural Editor of Country Life magazine and continues to contribute articles to the magazine. He has been the architectural correspondent of The Times since 1991. Some of his many books include Country House: To Be or Not to Be, Winfield House, Great Houses of Europe, In Search of the Perfect House, Secret War Heroes: The Men of Special Operations, The Women Who Lived for Danger and Save Britain's Heritage. Dr. Binney has lectured extensively on architectural preservation and history and hosted the thirty-nine part series, Mansions: The Great Houses of Europe, which aired in the United States between 1993 and 1997.

This event is co-sponsored by the Royal Oak Foundation.

Award winning garden designer Xa Tollemache has been creating gardens around the world since 1996 and has been awarded both gold and silver gilt medals at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. Although many of her projects are traditional in theme, each has its own character, designed to fit in with the surrounding landscape and architecture. She feels passionately that above all every garden must relate to the particular landscape and architecture of the house, as well as to the people living there.

In her Seeds for Thought lecture for Royal Oak in the Spring 2010, Lady Tollemache will illustrate some of the very different northern and southern British gardens that she has designed using scale, proportions and a balance of planting paired with her keen sense of form and color. Some of her projects range from small courtyard gardens to large estates, and include the Millennium Garden at Castle Hill in Devon; work for Lord and Lady Astor at their homes in Oxfordshire, Northumberland, and Belgravia; an internal courtyard garden at Wilton House for the Earl of Pembroke; a walled Kitchen Garden at Arundel Castle for the Duchess of Norfolk; and the Cloister Garden at Wilton House near Salisbury as well as the extraordinary garden at the Tollemache family estate, Helmingham Hall in Suffolk.

Xa's dedication to being a 'hands on' gardener quickly led to recognition by Rosemary Verey - who considered Helmingham Hall's garden to be one of the most outstanding in the country and featured it in her TV program and companion book, The English Country Garden. Xa began to take outside garden design commissions in 1995 and was immediately asked by Lord and Lady Astor to do a planting scheme at Ginge Manor, Oxfordshire. Many commissions in Britain, France, Italy and America followed this success. Xa won a gold medal for her The Evening Standard Garden at the 1997 Chelsea Flower Show and a silver gilt medal in 2001 and 2003. Lady Tollemache is a member of The Herbaceous Perennial Committee, the RHS committee, and judges frequently at the RHS shows.

Her international garden design work has been featured in many publications, including House & Garden, The Telegraph Saturday Magazine, Sunday Telegraph Magazine and the Mail on Sunday YOU magazine.

This event is sponsored by Royal Oak Foundation. Click here for event details.

The 2010 Annual Region VIII Meeting will be held on May 14 - 16 in San Diego, at the Best Western Inn by the Sea. It is being hosted by the the San Diego Branch. All members are invited to attend. Please email the branch for more information.

The 2009 ESU Annual Conference in New Orleans was a great success!

The 2010 Annual Conference of The English-Speaking Union of the United States will be held September 22 - 26, at The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Check the National ESU website for more!