The Harting Society will hear a talk from Harting resident Rebecca Stephens entitled The Beacon that is Everest when it meets at the village hall in South Harting on April 3 at 7.30pm.

Rebecca is best known for being the first British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1993, and to climb the highest mountains on all seven continents.

She has trekked on all three sides of Everest, in Nepal, Tibet and, most recently, Sikkim, to mark the centenary of the famous disappearance, high on the summit ridge, of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine in 1924.

Rebecca is involved with two charities that are legacies of the 1953 British expedition that saw Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay make the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest.

She will talk about the geopolitics that shaped the history of climbing Everest from the 1920s to today, weaving in her own stories of climbing and trekking in this glorious but fragile corner of the world.

The meeting will be preceded by the society’s annual general meeting, at 6.30pm, and the bar will open at 7pm. Non-members and guests are welcome, and invited to make a contribution of £5 towards the society’s costs. For membership enquiries email Sarah Wilcox at swilco149@yahoo.co.uk