Recent Events
New Year Lunch
After many cancellations and postponements the New Year lunch finally look place in the Village Hall on 26th January. Our celebration lunch was a great success where, in spite of so much on in Ashtead that week, over 60 members enjoyed an excellent meal and the chance to mix and chat, mask free, in a relaxed atmosphere.
Ashtead U3A Art Group Evening Exhibition
On the 6th November 2019 The Ashtead U3A presented its 3rd Art Exhibition. In the past, we have exhibited our paintings for a month In The Leatherhead Theatre, but this year, we changed tack and arranged a one-night Exhibition in The Ralli Room in the Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall.
Also invited were the two U3A Craft Groups and the U3A Photographic Group, both of which displayed some amazing talents.
We in the Art Group displayed a total of 128 paintings, the most ever, and all the paintings were of a superior quality ranging in subject from landscapes, animals, birds, popular cartoons and flowers. We even managed to sell some pictures!!!
The Photography Group presented a rolling slide show of members pictures on a TV screen.
We laid on copious amounts of finger food and canapes and wine and soft drinks were also available. We had an immense response from our U3A members, plus friends, family members and the general public. It was deemed a great success by all who attended. Hopefully we will hold another exhibition within the next two years.
Recent Ashtead U3A Speakers
At each Monthly Meeting a speaker is invited to give a talk on a specialist subject, these can range from history, arts, science, etc.
Below are some examples of recent talks that the members have found both varied and interesting. Please see the events page for a list of the future planned speakers.
Month | Speaker | Talk | Subject | |
June | Gerald Smith | History of Nonsuch Palace | ||
May | Andy Thomas | Conspiracy History of the World, 2018 Crop Circles, 2019 History of Christmas | ||
April | Colin Summerhayes | Climate Change, Energy Use and Peak Oil, 3 sides of a triangle | ||
March | AGM + Ian Bevan | Climate Change, Energy Use and Peak Oil, 3 sides of a triangle | ||
February | Mark Lewis | Notable Watercolourists of the 20th Century | ||
January | David Allen | Black Teeth & Dirty Fingernails- The Great Unwashed of Victorian London | ||
December | Clive Woodward | A Celebration of Life - Poetry | ||
November | Mike King | The Sacred & Ancient Art of Bodging | ||
October | Paul Barwick | The Mystery of the Body in the Bag -The Gareth Williams Story | ||
September | Chris Grayling | Social event | Refreshments and chat! | |
July | Jenny Malin | My Grandmothers Legacy | 5 generations of the British Raj - Life, Occupations and history during the Raj | |
June | Peter Stammers | How WW2 ended | Little known detail of exact moves to bring about peace | |
May | Steve Short | Morecambe & Wise | The life story of how they met and entertained the world | |
April | Helen Naylor | The Spirit of Westminster | The Story of Gin | |
March | Alan Blower | Royal Parks & Palaces | A walking tour of royal properties near the Thames | |
February | Sally Schofield - Bank community Liaison Officer | Scam Awareness | Including COVID scams | |
January | Paul Whittle | Burmese Days | Travel & history | |
November | David Williams | Churchill, His Most Agonising Decision | His family background, army career, early politics, marriage and family, World War 1, his 'wilderness years' and the most agonising decision he ever had to make after Dunkirk in 1940. | |
October | Andrew Baker | Donald Trump | Can you believe it? America's 45th President is like no other: a vivid portrait of Trump's past, his style, his ruthlessness, his ego, his connections | |
September | Ian Keable | Century of Deception | !8th Century Hoax tales, Hoaxes of the 18th century, cartoon history, 18th century mysteries | |
March | Liz Lee-Kelley | From Laundry to Chop Suey | Why the Chinese came to UK and what they did | |
February | Ian Keable | Charles Dickens, Conjuror | Dickens' hobby as amateur conjurer, and some of his tricks from shows | |
January | Professor David Phillips | Chemistry in the Atmosphere and Climate Change | Chemical composition of atmosphere, ozone layer, various accords to address climate change |