March 1st 2010 The first of a series of short video clips of Margaret Mee is launched on this site - see the menu / index - left

November 11th 2009 Rio de Janeiro. An exhibition marking the Margaret Mee's One Hundred Years opened at the Centro Cultural dos Correios de Rio de Janeiro, a modern exhibition space set in the old Post Office building built in 1922. The date of the exhibition does not quite match the day when she would have been 100 - that was on May 22nd but the show arranged by Sylvia de Botton Brautigam contains a stunning display of paintings, photographs, personal memorabilia and video. Sylvia was one of the original team that established the now defunct Fundação Botânica Margaret Mee in 1988. [see left: Margaret Mee's Amazon , Trust Part 2] But it is wonderful to see how Margaret's ideals and inspiration are being remembered. Also it is worth recalling how examples of Margaret Mee's work appeared in a set of Brasilian postage stamps in 1992.

The stamps were issued at the time of an another exhibition in the same building and focused on the environment. The timing was chosen to coincide with the major United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development [UNCED] known as informally as the Earth Summit or Rio 92 and this is inscribed on the left side of each stamp. At the bottom of each is written Homage to Margaret Mee. The flowers depicted are - left to right - Canistrum cyathiforme, Nidularium rubens, Canistrum exiguum, and Nidularium innocentii

The cover for the exhibition catalogue uses a painting dated May 1988 from the Rio Negro the year she was taken there by Nonesuch Expeditions/ South American Pictures. The 1988 journey also known as her Fifteenth to Amazonia was dedicated to a search for the Moonflower cactus [Selenicereus wittii] Details are on the Menu / index - left

The flower is a Loranthaceae, a parasitic plant of the igapos / flooded forest the painting is from a private collection.

November 3rd 2009 Dr.Franz Ressel, known to friends as 'Pancho' died aged 80 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Franz Ressel was an enthusiastic supporter of Nonesuch Expeditions with a close friendship dating back almost fifty years. In 1961 he met the Bristol University Trans-Continental Expedition team when they were in Bolivia. An account of Franz' help and encouragement given liberally in so many ways will appear on this site in 2010.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the genius engineer of the Victorian era.

July 19th 2009 The Incredible Journey Is an Oral History Project from the SS Great Britain team in Bristol. Tony and Marion Morrison who were on the spot filming in the Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas are contributing memories from the time in 1969, when the bowsprit was raised from the bed of Sparrow Cove. And then again from the following year 1970 when they covered the actual salvage.. They will be adding photographs and sound recordings from their collection. The project will be completed in 2010 , forty years after the SS Great Britain was saved and towed back to Bristol

April 2009 After a break of three years Nonesuch News returns on a new site ready to contribute to three special anniversary years. This Nonesuch Expeditions site takes over all the pages from Nonesuchinfo and Margaret Mee's Amazon and will contain more information. It will continue the story of Brunel's SS Great Britain now restored in Bristol and will cover our special contribution to the 'Salvage' project being prepared for 2010 - forty years on from the actual salvage in the Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas. Other pages will be devoted to the University of Bristol Trans-Continental Expedition almost fifty years since its departure for India and South America in 1960. And the News will be remembering that 2009 is the Centenary Year of the University.

April 2006       THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL the visionary and brilliant engineer who conceived the idea of the Steamship Great Britain and much more. As a contribution to the celebration of the life of Brunel Nonesuchinfo is launching three Features about the Steamship Great Britain, designed by Brunel, and launched in Bristol, England in 1843. It is with thanks to the foresight of marine engineering consultant Dr. Ewan Corlett and an extraordinary salvage operation in 1970 that the Steamship Great Britain was saved . It is now one of the most fascinating museums in the United Kingdom

ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL AND THE STEAMSHIP GREAT BRITAIN

August 2005 Reverend Dr. Ewan Corlett It is with immense sadness that Nonesuch News learnt of the death of Ewan Corlett on Monday August 8th 2005. The Reverend Dr. Ewan Corlett as he became known in his retirement was responsible for the first steps towards saving the Victorian Steamship Great Britain.

WITH GREAT CARE The restoration has been made with great care for detail that gives some idea of the grand design created by Brunel in the early years of Victorian enterprise.

Here the restored stern with gallery windows is under the gilded Coat of Arms [armas / escudo] of the City of Bristol. The emblem dating from the 16th century links a flourishing maritime tradition with the strength of the city. The central image is flanked by two unicorns and depicts a sailing ship leaving the safety of Bristol castle.

Unicorns are legendary beasts with the body of a horse bearing a single, long, straight horn. They were reputed to have medicinal properties

June 2005  A BRISTOL ROAD IN INDIA   Pusegaon, Maharashtra State, INDIA  A new road in the small town of Pusegaon has been named "THE BRISTOL ROAD" to commemorate the historic reunion in late 2000 of three members of the team of six graduates from the Bristol University Trans-Continental Expedition [1960-1961]  England and friends they made in Pusegaon in 1960. Back in Bristol the University Vice Chancellor was Chairman of the Finance Committee and The Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor of Bristol was the expedition Patron so support from the City was exceptional.

Apart from studies in India and later in Bolivia the team had a mission to carriy the Bristol name to many countries around the world . The recently named Bristol Road in Puseagon is close to the traditional 'Government Bungalow' where the team lived for two months late in 1960. As Balasahib Jadhav a member of the Reunion 2000 Steering Committee in India said when he sent the picture ' you wouldn't recognise the old road today'.

October 1960  Here some of the team are in the garden of the   Government Bungalow with three students from the High School. The students were fascinated by one of the two Expedition vehicles, an Austin Gipsy provided by an agent in Bristol. Malcolm McKernan is typing notes [seated left], Peter Krinks is explaining the route from Bristol to India and Mark Howell [right] is recording the conversation for a TV film backed by TWW [Television Wales and West] the regional Independent Televison producer at the time. The Puseagon Pages have the story of the Reunion 2000 and copies of the reports Malcolm McKernan sent to the Western Daily Press in Bristol [England]

The team left Pusegaon late in December 1960 and drove south before crossing to Sri Lanka [then also known as Ceylon] and continuing by sea to Singapore