You can now watch the live session with Helen on our channel here.

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Rick Mayston interviews Helen and takes a deep dive into the hilarious and alarmingly honest memoir by one of Britain's first female stand-ups of the 80s - when Alternative Comedy created a whole new generation of TV heroes.

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Helen is one of Britain's best known familiar faces in the field of comedy, writing and acting. She is thrilled to still be alive and kicking. 

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Helen is probably best known for her role as the dippy ‘Catriona’ in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ alongside Jennifer Saunders in all six series and more recently in ‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’.

 

A comedy writer with an extensive portfolio that includes writing and performing her own material, not only as a stand-up comedian but also as a comedy novelist and contributor to various respected publications.​

You can now watch the live session with Stephen on our channel here.

Stephen joins Rick Mayston on the HLF stage to talk about growing up in Belfast at the height of the war, and how he came to the East End of London, aged just 9, and rose to the top of the underworld.

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In his early twenties, he received a 17-year sentence as a “category A prisoner” serving 12 years in prison being labelled one of the UK’s most dangerous prisoners. He hit rock bottom, lost everything, he learned he had to change his mind set and actions if he wants to survive. 

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Transforming his life he is now a CEO & TV personality. Stephen is the Author of two books, all of his work his true calling.

 

His life mission is to continue improving, supporting, and elevating the hundreds of millions/billions of people worldwide who need second chances and opportunities, just as he did. ​ https://stephengillen.com/

Join us as Tim talks about his latest No.1 best selling book. Space. It's the biggest geopolitical story of the coming century – new from the multi-million-copy international bestselling author of Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography

 

Spy satellites orbiting the Moon, space metals worth billions. Humans on Mars within our lifetimes! This isn’t science fiction. It’s astropolitics.

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Tim is a leading authority on foreign affairs with more than thirty years of reporting experience. He was diplomatic editor at Sky News and before that worked for the BBC and LBC/IRN radio. He has reported from forty countries and covered conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo to name a few. He is founder and editor of the current affairs site TheWhatandtheWhy.com.

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Watch Tim at The Royal Institution last year talking about how the race for dominance in space is shaping the future of humanity here >

Richard's grandfather, Sir Lionel Faudel-Phillips was the last owner of Balls Park, the Grade I Listed mid-17th-century house in Hertford. The estate and house are set in over 63 acres of parkland and has been claimed to have been the inspiration for Netherfield in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.

 

Richard is currently writing the family history during the time they lived there, between 1880-1945 and is joining us to talk about this fascinating subject.

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Richard Francis Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey, Kt. PC , usually known as Sir Richard Needham, has spent over 45 years in business and politics.

He is widely recognised throughout Northern Ireland as the man responsible for turning round and regenerating both the North’s infrastructure and economic base.

 

In recognition of his work, he was made a Privy Counselor in 1994 and knighted in 1997. 

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After having to give up her role due
to health problems, she discovered that
Medical Cannabis was not only an appropriate, but more effective substitute for Opioids to treat herpost-stroke Neuropathy.

 

Carly was the first person in the UK to receive a prescription for herbal Cannabis privately since the law change in 2018. She now advocates for patient access to Medical Cannabis as director of Cancard.

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Cancard is an ID card. Patients unable to afford a costly prescription are stuck in limbo and Cancard aims to bridge the gap between patients, doctors and the police.

 

With a membership of 85,000 people Cancard has stopped arrest in almost 5000 cases and saved the tax payer 1.6 million pounds.

 

Carly claims she is just getting started... 

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Cancard.co.uk

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil is the 7th Marquess of Salisbury and lives in Hatfield House, home of the Cecil family since 1611.

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In 1611, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury built his fine Jacobean House adjoining the site of the Old Palace of Hatfield.

 

The house and surrounding park have been the setting for a huge variety of film and television productions including Harry Potter, Bridgerton and Tomb Raider.

 

The Rainbow Portrait and The Ermine Portrait of Elizabeth I are in the main house, along with her hat, gloves, and a pair of her silk stockings, thought to be the first hosiery of its kind in England.

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Lord Salisbury will be joining us to talk about the history of the House and the Estate as well as setting out his hopes and aspirations for the future.

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Matt explores the imminent convergence of three critical drivers of our future - data, artificial intelligence, society's intricate social graph, and warns of a looming crisis that threatens to challenge the very foundations of liberal democracies.

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By exploring the emerging vistas of artificial intelligence, technological architecture and political power, we will outline a vision for a decentralized future that aligns our technologies and societies with our liberal, democratic ideals.

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Matt gained his PhD in Astrophysics from University College London. Moving from Head of Corporate Strategy at EE, he joined the UK’s Digital Catapult as Head of Personal Data & Trust, helping corporates and start-ups innovate with personal data and AI. During this time, Matt was a member of the Stereo, which established Open Banking. Matt then joined the Canadian AI business Flybits as European Managing Director. Matt is currently working on Neom, the futuristic mega-city in Saudi Arabia. In his spare time, he is a keen landscape photographer and has two wonderful children who will grow up to live in a world very different from today’s.

Aoife speaks candidly about her journey over the past year discovering her estranged fathers past, from his experiences being kidnapped and tortured by the Provisional IRA to learning of his passing.

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Having grown up in rural Ireland with her mother and maternal grandparents on their farm in North Cork, Aoife lived much of her life afraid to ask too many questions about her origins. 

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As different life events passed such as graduating college, getting married and most recently having her children Joseph & Ellen during a global pandemic, Aoife would fantasise where her father was and the type of person he might be. In September 2023, Aiofe took the first steps to enquire as to her father’s whereabouts. 

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What transpired was beyond anything she could have imagined and the journey to discovering her father’s past is still a work in progress.

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Join Aoife as she tells the tale of her fathers past and the fascinating, sometimes harrowing, journey her exploration has led her on.

Join us for a sumptuous breakfast at the Hertford Club followed by a stroll round the corner to The Quiet Man pub for a fan-based talk by film expert, Prof. Des MacHale. Enjoy the first pint (or glass) of the day while we live-stream Des from Cork, Ireland and listen to his fascinating insights on this wonderful, classic film. A must for any Quiet Man fan. 

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Des is Emeritus Professor at the University College Cork and author of four books on John Ford's classic movie The Quiet Man.

 

He has been privileged to Interview Maureen O'Hara many times. Des has been Chairman of the Quiet Man Fan Club for many years. He was born in County Mayo ,Ireland, not far from where the Quiet Man was filmed.

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Breakfast and the talk is £21 and tickets can be purchased from The Club.

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Agent Zo tells the incredible story of courageous resistance fighter Elżbieta Zawacka, also known as Elizabeth Watson but more often as ‘Zo’.

 

During the Second World War, Zo was the only woman to reach London as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, before becoming the only female member of the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the ‘Silent Unseen’. Following secret training in the British countryside, she also became the only woman to be parachuted back behind enemy lines into Nazi-occupied Poland.

 

There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the largest organised act of defiance against Nazi Germany, the Warsaw Uprising, and in the liberation of her country.

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Clare is an author and historian primarily focused on women’s experiences during the Second World War. Recently appearing on the BBC series  The Rise of the Nazis, as well as Newsnight and The One Show.

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www.claremulley.com

Dave will be talking about the scribbles inspired by the rats scuttering around between his ears.

 

Coming from an advertising and design background and with many years in the music business, Dave has always been involved in the creative arts.

 

The desire to start writing just for fun came from having to knock out a 'heck of a lot of PR blurb and copywriting' for hundreds of musicians and acts, forcing Dave into a lot of overtime thinking. "After all, there’s only so much one can say across so many genres!"

 

Writing for himself was an exercise for his imagination - which can be quite dark.

 

Dave says "Sometimes a story has a fast turnaround and other times, even for the simplest tale, it can be a slow process. My science fiction efforts are rather old-fashioned because I decide to ignore some of the stickier aspects of actual science in favour of getting the story across - I can only hope to get away with that!"

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www.spyrepro.uk/links

Sara Challice is the award-winning author of the book ‘Who Cares? – How to Care for Yourself Whilst Caring for a Loved One’.

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Sara cared for her husband for 13 years after he fell ill from a brain tumour, becoming bed-bound needing full-time nursing care. Sara gave up her career to look after him full-time, but became both mentally and physically unwell from the continuous stress of caring. She then found new ways to regain her health and enjoy life again, even whilst caring for a terminally ill husband. 

 

Sara joins us on the first day of the festival to share her story and the ethos she now lives her life by;

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‘Life is not about abstaining and enduring, it is still about enjoying your life, especially if you are a carer.’ 

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www.whocares4carers.com/

Take a journey back in time to the 1500's when Lombard House, now better known as The Hertford Club, was occupied by the Tooke family.

 

John will be giving a fascinating talk about the history of the shields on the central fireplace opposite the front door of The Hertford Club.

 

The shields bear the arms of the Tooke and Tichbourne families, representing the marriage of William Tooke, bailiff of Hertford in 1577, to Mary Tichborne of Roydon.

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John is by profession a Genealogist and Researcher in archives.  He is the Honorary Secretary of the Heraldry Society and a past Master of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners of the City of London. 

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