THE second meeting of the Dartmoor Decorative and Fine Art Society takes place on Wednesday March 14.

The group held its inaugural meeting at the Charter Hall last month, with a talk by historian and broadcaster Rupert Willoughby.

For March's meeting, Dr Geri Parlby will give a talk entitled 'The Art of the Da Vinci Code'.

The lecture will take a closer look at the artworks that inspired the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, and a successful Hollywood blockbuster. Dr Parlby will aim to uncover just how much of the book can be said to be based on historical fact.

Dr Parlby is a former Fleet Street journalist. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute and a Theology doctorate from Roehampton University.

All are welcome, with tickets costing £6 on the door. A year's DDFAS membership costs £45 (or £85 for two) and provides a quarterly arts magazine and nine lectures a year on a diverse range of topics. Other planned talks for 2012 include Samuel Pepys' London, and the Pre-Raphaelites.

Doors open for tea and coffee at 10am, with the lecture starting at 10.30am.

If you would like to join the society, you can e-mail the membership secretary Alex Crosthwaite Eyre at [email protected]">[email protected] or visit http://www.dartmoor-dfas.org.uk">www.dartmoor-dfas.org.uk