Visits and Study Days Visit extra fee Tuesday 27 October 2026 Sold Out but there is waiting list if you want to go. Ian Swankie KINGS CROSS TOUR A Walk in London’s King’s Cross Quarter. Ian Swankie is a charismatic speaker whom we are sure everyone will recall from when he recently delivered an inspirational and very engaging lecture on Battersea Power Station. We are delighted that he has agreed to give TASO Members a guided tour of London’s King’s Cross Quarter which will include both King’s Cross and St Pancras Stations and the King’s Cross Quarter to the north. This is a walking tour exploring the art and architecture of a rapidly changing area which has seen some of the most dramatic urban redevelopments anywhere in Europe. Until just over 10 years ago the stations were neglected, and the adjacent land was a scruffy wasteland full of disused railway buildings, gasworks, noisy industry, off- beat nightclubs and a notorious red-light district. For further details and a booking form please click here. Special Interest Morning, extra fee Thursday 5 November 2026 at Rutland Water Nature Reserve in Egleton, Oakham LE15 8BT Timothy Walker Apart from the pear tree in which sat the partridge, there are no plants in the 12 days of Christmas according to the folk song. Sadly, even that reference is erroneous, because partridges are ground dwelling birds. And yet at Christmas we are surrounded by plants. This talk puts the record straight and rewrites the zoocentric song replacing partridges with poinsettias, and maids with mistletoe. Euphorbia pulcherrima, Yellow and Red in Mexico. Carlos Valenzuela, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Booking forms and further details later.