Events
Brackley U3A Monthly Speaker Meetings
The Monthly Speaker Meetings take place at 09:45 on the 3rd Thursday of each month at Brackley Baptist Church, Waynflete Close, Brackley (NN13 6AE)
Next Monthly Speaker Meeting (Posted 06/04/2024)
| Thursday 18th April | Peter Barratt | "My Suffragette Grandmother" | Sharing the story of his Suffragette Grandmother, Alice Hawkins, and how she and others tried to get the vote for women. |
Information about all our speakers for 2024 are detailed below.
2024 Meeting Schedule
| Thursday 18th January | Peter Gill | "Surviving the Great War - The Songs that kept the country going” | How great songs, poetry and satire all worked to keep spirits up during the devastation of the First World War |
| Thursday 15th February | Joanna Bogle | "Britain’s Traditional Feasts and Seasons" | A professional journalist, author and broadcaster talks about recapturing the lost traditions surrounding our major feasts and festivals, based on her book which has become a well-loved source book all over the world. |
| Thursday 21st March | Barbara Meyer | “Wildlife Conservation - Different ways to help endangered species” | So many species of animal are under threat in our fast-changing world. How can we help to protect them for future generations? |
| Thursday 18th April | Peter Barratt | "My Suffragette Grandmother" | Sharing the story of his Suffragette Grandmother, Alice Hawkins, and how she and others tried to get the vote for women |
| Thursday 16th May | Roy Smart | “The Last Naval Hero” | The extraordinary story of First Earl David Beatty, his meteoric rise from Naval Cadet to First Sea Lord, a renowned hero of the Great War, his married life with the opulent, hedonistic American socialite, Ethel, Countess Beatty. A tale of immense riches, marital strife and scandal! |
| Thursday 20th June | Philip Caine | “From Barrow to Baghdad” | His working life and experiences in remote and dangerous places across the world, including an oil rig in the North Sea, to the Soviet Union and an encounter with the KGB and the Russian mafia, some time in Africa and the Middle East for good measure! |
| Thursday 18th July | Fran Sandham | "A Solo Walk Across Africa" | Critically acclaimed author and former Rough Guides editor who walked over 3,000 miles across Africa from Namibia’s Skeleton Coast to the Indian Ocean near Zanzibar, entirely on foot. |
| Thursday 15th August | Open meeting | ||
| Thursday 19th September | Bernard Bale | “You must remember this!” | A step back in time to childhood, going to school, growing up and living through the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 70s. Remember gob-stoppers, Spangles, woollen swimming trunks, Dickie Valentine, Watch with Mother, Dick Barton special agent, the music, the fashions, the stars, the coach outings, the way we were. This is a fun look at life as it was. |
| Thursday 17th October | Alex Leger | "Blue Peter and working with the Military" | Working for the BBC as a producer and cameraman and seeing how it has developed and changed. |
| Thursday 21st November | Carl Whitmore | "Robert Falcon Scott of the Antarctic" | Past Times convenor Carl Whitmore speaks on the story of Scott and his ill-fated 1912 expedition attempting to be the first to reach the South Pole |
| Thursday 19th December | Xmas Social |
Previous Speakers:-
March 2024 Speaker Meeting - Barbara Meyer Presented – Wildlife Conservation
Barbara's knowledge about wildlife conservation is based on her work with trail cameras in the East Midlands, her research of issues for British wildlife and big cats for publications plus her visit to South Africa, where she explored different approaches to wildlife conservation. This excellent talk, along with her own absolutely stunning photographs, looked at issues for wildlife in their natural environment and the work, which is done by conservation groups to help different wildlife species in different ways, including rehabilitating and managing natural habitat areas. The Q&A following the presentation showed just how many of our members are interested in Wildlife Conservation.
February 2024 Speaker Meeting - Joanna Bogle - Britain’s Traditional Feasts & Seasons
What a talented and learned lady. A brilliant informative and at times humorous presentation that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
January 2024 Speaker Meeting - Peter Gill - "Surviving The Great War –The Songs, Humour and Words That Kept the Boys Going"
A wonderful presentation in words, music and visuals exploring how the Arts helped those embroiled in the devastation of the First World War to survive to the end of the day, or perhaps the week, or even to come home safely again. So many of you took the time to come and say just how much you enjoyed this talk today, ‘the best ever’, so many of you said.
November 2023 Speaker Meeting - Brackley u3a Family History Group
This was divided into three sections:
1. Graham Irvine recited a very amusing, and quite confusing, poem which ended with something like ‘I am my own Grandad’. You had to be there to understand.
2. Bob Israel followed with an informative video and talk about DNA. I’ve done similar research that Bob described, but I think something went wrong with mine as it came back that I’m related to Desmond Tutu!!
3. A delightful play ended the Family History presentation with members of the group re-enacting a crime and subsequent trial at the Old Bailey. It was rather like listening to something on Radio 4 in the afternoon, well presented and obviously well rehearsed. We, the audience, were the jury and had to come to a verdict of guilty/not guilty! I personally went for Ian Nixon who played the part of a policeman! He just looked too innocent for my liking!
Thank you to Graham, Bob and the cast for a most enjoyable hour.
October 2023 Speaker Meeting - Martin Lloyd - ‘Passports-Assassins-Traitors & Spies’.
Author and former immigration officer Martin Lloyd has made the study of passports his passion and has even written the definitive book on the subject. In this talk he revealed how three passports have played an influential role in the course of history: an attempted assassination which altered the regulations for issuing passports; the capture of a spy which caused a worldwide modification to the design of the document; and, for one person, the passport itself which turned into a killer. An excellent presentation without notes or prompts!
September 2023 Speaker- Michael Browns - ‘Death in the Garden’
A brilliant presentation from Michael. We found out about treacherous and peculiar plants, their defensive and deadly traits, as well as the folklore that has ‘grown’ with them. Who would have thought that so many plants can be so very deadly? The only thing I didn’t like was when I overheard Avril asking Michael, ‘So, how many berries from the Deadly Nightshade plant will it take to see off Terry?’
July 2023 Speaker - David Butcher - HS2
Our grateful thanks to David Butcher who gave as an insight into the fascinating workings of the HS2 project in our local area.
June 2023 Speaker - Mike Brook - ‘Musings from the Amateur Stage’
Mike is a retired Chief Librarian who enjoys presenting several different talks around the country. This particular talk included anecdotes about some of the plays and shows Mike has been involved with. He has spent over 30 years with Drama Groups in York and West Berkshire. Mike even presented some monologues written by Alan Ayckbourn and Peter Cook – all from memory! A very pleasant talk that had everyone laughing.
May 2023 Speaker - Andrew White - The life of Brackley Born William ‘Jack’ Lidsey in WW1.
His talk about Brackley born William ‘Jack’ Lidsey’s diaries. Jack recalled events in the units in which he served to produce an excellent account of life in the trenches as a private soldier and second lieutenant, and then as an observer in the RFC. A brilliant and sometimes very emotional presentation from a passionate researcher.
April 2023 Speaker – Andrew Baker - ‘Russia and Vladimir Putin’
What an absorbing and intriguing insight into Russian leaders, from the Tsars to Putin. So many of you spoke to me afterwards and said just how much they enjoyed listening to Andrew. (This was despite a non u3a person who contacted us yesterday wanting us to cancel this speaker)! Who knows where Putin will lead millions of very ordinary Russian people to. It seems he is capable of brainwashing anyone and everyone, and if they don’t agree? I think we all know the answer to that question.
March 2023 Speaker – Mervyn Edwards - ‘Walking The Beat to Nirvana’
What a brilliant talk from Mervyn. Everyone commented that this was one of the best speakers they’ve heard for a long time. Mervyn was a fascinating speaker and gave us an insight into how he moved from being a bus driver in Banbury to a firearms office charged with protecting Margaret Thatcher!
Mervyn was born and bred in Banbury and joined the Thames Valley Police after being a bus driver for Midland Red. He met his wife in Brackley and they lived in what is now the Artisan shop in Manor Road. In his talk he gave us a summary of his book “Walking the beat to Nirvana” starting with his first posting with TVP which took him away from Banbury and spending 15 years in three different ranks as a specialist firearms officer.
His book details his experiences which include protecting Margaret Thatcher when she returned to Chequers after the Brighton hotel bombing in 1984. He gave us a fascinating account of his career ending up with him being responsible for developing the UK’s tactics for dealing with Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) terrorist threats, ending his career as a Chief Superintendent. He was also earlier in his career responsible for the policing of the Newbury Bypass protests.
February 2023 Speaker - Peter Barratt - ‘The History of the Punch & Judy Show’
Peter Barratt, otherwise known as Professor Diamond, gave a fascinating talk about how he got into being a Punch & Judy performer. He let us into some of his secrets inside 'the theatre' starring Mr Punch, Judy, the Baby and the Crocodile.
But –- What a brilliant presentation followed by A Punch & Judy show with all of our members joining in the fun. I’ve never heard so many senior citizens shouting out things like - ‘He’s behind you’ – ‘Oh no he didn’t’ – ‘Oh yes he did’ – ‘That’s the way to do it’!! Everyone was laughing out loud! Well done John Moore.
January 2023 Speaker Meeting - Roy Smart - The Life of Amy Johnson.
An absolutely brilliant presentation from Roy about Amy, her family and her colourful lifestyle. This talk had plenty of interesting slides and music! Amy “Johnnie” Johnson, nicknamed the Aeroplane Girl, who from modest beginnings as a fishmonger’s daughter from Hull, taught herself the basics of aviation and then with little experience, and against all the odds, after an extraordinary feat of solo flying half way round the world in a fragile little bi-plane, emerged to a crescendo of fame, celebrity and heroine worship, and then mysteriously disappeared one bleak winter’s day 80 years ago.
December 2022, Christmas Social Meeting
Our first ever Christmas Concert staring - our very own members! Susan Smith started us off with some festive poems that she had written especially for today. How clever Susan is! Avril Hermann followed with the brilliant and humorous ‘The 12 days of Christmas’. Avril’s style of presentation had us all laughing. Yours truly mesmerised everyone with a magic card trick that had most members thinking “How did he do it?” - “We all choose the same card”!! Then came Ray Haresign with a poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas’. Ray recited this poem completely from memory! Finally, our ‘Singing for Fun’ group rounded off the concert with some
popular and festive songs. The singers were all brilliant, thank you Ruth.
November 2022 Speakers - Brackley u3a - family History Group
‘My House Through Time’ by Janet Dingvean
Janet’s presentation "A House Through Time", was extremely well researched and took us back to Janet's childhood home when it was but just a green field. Many a noble family lived there and Janet gave us an insight as to the
many families who inhabited the house, a remarkable story indeed.
‘Alice Maud Allen’ by Bob Israel
Another excellent talk from Bob about Alice Maude Allen (1868 – 1917). Alice was a Mayoress of Brackley, a Volunteer, a Humanitarian. Bob has managed to find out so many unknown details about her hoping his efforts will get her WW 1 work recognised by the Commonwealth War Graves commission. Great work Bob, I’m sure Alice will now be commemorated for all to remember.
October 2022 Speaker, Dr. Charles Lee on Oskar Schindler’
What a powerful story of how Oskar Schindler became a saviour to countless number of Jews during WW2. We followed his life from child to a young man, getting married, joining the Nazi party and then starting up huge factories employing hundreds of Jews. Jews that would have been sent to concentration camps and most probably murdered. Dr. Lee showed us some pieces from the ghettos and concentration camps, an actual bowl from one of the factories, a small penknife, a button and a small child’s shoe, all from a concentration camp. We could even hold a piece of a brick that came from a gas chamber. These thought-provoking pieces certainly brought a lump to our throats.
Sept. 2022 Speaker, Steve Bacon talks about Edward Jenner
A fascinating insight into exactly how Edward Jenner managed to produce a vaccine against smallpox. He was responsible for discovering the world's first-ever vaccine and his work saved so many lives. Smallpox was a very dangerous disease. In Jenner's time, smallpox killed about 10% of the population, rising to 20% in towns and cities where infection spread more easily. Jenner's discovery was a huge medical breakthrough. In fact, Jenner’s work is said to have saved more lives than the work of any other human! In 1980, the World Health Organisation declared smallpox an eliminated disease.
June 2022 Speaker Meeting - Catherine Jones - From Guns and Roses to Hearts and Flowers
What a super talk from an international best-selling author. Catherine first took us through her army career with some wonderful stories of just how difficult it was for a woman to be recognised as an officer in a male dominated environment. Catherine went on to explain how she started writing and over the years became hugely successful in the specialised field of romantic novels. She then shared some humorous anecdotes about her family and working life. Our thanks to a very amusing, talented lady.
May 2022 Speaker Meeting - Rosemary Leeper - The History of Brackley
Another first-class presentation from one of our own members. A most interesting insight into how Brackley has developed over the years. Rosemary’s talk included some lovely old visuals of key buildings along with present day photos of just how they have altered. The expansion of our town is progressing at an unbelievable pace, and I wonder what a speaker will say in 20-50 years’ time!
April 2022 Speaker Meeting - Caryl Billingham - Brackley Community Hospital – ‘Where are we now’?
Caryl gave us an in-depth update on just how many obstacles her and her team have had with ‘red tape’ and poor communications from various agencies. We all felt her frustrations and very much hope Caryl can finalise her and the trusts plans very soon.
March 2022 Speaker Meeting - David Skillen - 'Five Years in 50 Minutes (American Civil War)'
David gave a well-researched, passionate talk that highlighted some of the bloody battles fought during the American Civil War. Some 620,000 people died in this conflict although some say that this is probably underestimated and the figure could be closer to 1 million. What many of us forget is that this war was only 55 years or so before the start of WW1. Many of the battles were very similar with thousands of men dying in just a few hours, for just a small piece of land!
February 2022 Speaker Meeting - Christine Green - ‘Working for Auntie’
What a talented lady! Christine gave an interesting delightful presentation giving us an insight of how she produced all of the ideas and graphics for so many diverse BBC TV shows. Programmes such as Foyles War, The Queens Speech, Our Friends in the North, The Cambridge Spies, The Holiday Show and many, many more. We were all amazed that a 30 second graphic introduction at the beginning of most shows could sometimes take a week or so to come to completion. Christine’s bubbly personality and enthusiasm made her one hour talk absolutely fly by!
Our thanks to Ian Nixon who was thrown in at the deep end but managed, very successfully, to negotiate linking up Christine’s memory stick to the halls sound/visual system.
January 2022 Speaker - Roy Smart - ‘Wallis Simpson – The 1936 Constitutional Crisis’
“What a brilliant speaker” – “One of the best we’ve ever seen” – “An amazing presentation, great graphics with very appropriate musical interludes” – “A great storyteller” – “So well researched, didn’t realise that Mrs. Simpson had such a ‘colourful’ Background” ------ just some of the members comments following Roy’s very entertaining talk.
A thoroughly enjoyable morning was had by all!
Our thanks to John Moore, our Speaker Programme Officer, who ‘found’ and booked Roy for us. Many more interesting speakers are already booked for future meetings, so don’t miss out, come along and enjoy!
November 2021 Speakers - Brackley u3a Family History Group.
Our very own Roger and Carol Lewry gave a very professional presentation that included some extremely interesting colour slides and facts about Cleopatra’s Needle and how it was transported to the UK. What a journey! It turned out that engineers involved and were around at the time were related to Roger and Carol. Many years later Carol and Roger met and married. What a small World!
Next, we had the leader of our Family History group, Graham Irvine, talk to us about Ellis Island in New York. This island was the main dropping off point for immigrants entering America and in particular one of them was a distant relation to Graham. Graham then explained in detail just how difficult it was to actually gain entry, especially if you didn’t travel 1st or 2nd class. Millions of people who could only afford to travel ‘steerage’ were exposed to some gruelling interrogation upon arrival.
Again, a well-researched and interesting insight into ‘Family History’.
A huge ‘Thank You’ to Carol, Roger and Graham
October 2021 Speaker ....David Bell (The Plague Doctor)
Thank you to those members who turned up to our speakers meeting, and weren’t we treated to something quite special!
Our speaker, David Bell, enthralled us with the story of the Derbyshire village of Eyam and how the entire population were all but lost to The Plague. David also gave us some hilarious insight as to how certain ‘medical conditions’ were treated all those years ago. We were introduced to Samuel Pepys (or at least a life size dummy of him) along with the surgical instruments that would have been used on him to rid him of his ‘personal’ problems. David was a brilliant presenter and his anecdotes, including some from his own family life, were very amusing. Well done to our own John Moore for finding and booking this entertaining speaker.
September 2021 Speaker .... Ken Smith. - "Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro"
Following the AGM we were entertained by a fascinating talk from Ken Smith. As a dashing young man Ken travelled to Africa to become a teacher. His colourful slides gave us an insight into his early teaching career along with the great adventure he had when climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Ken, a brilliant mathematician, went on to become a pioneer in the magical world of computing, a world we’d never heard about all those years ago.
October 2019 Speaker .... Andy Smith.
For those of you who came along, thank you all for your support, it really is very much appreciated. Just over 100 members enjoyed some wonderful anecdotes and songs from the brilliant and very talented Andy Smith. When Andy finished with us in Brackley he had to dash off to a theatre in Malvern to put the finishing touches to a show he had written and produced. I'm told that the show was to run for two days and was completely 'sold out'. He also works extremely hard for his chosen charities, a hospice in Rugby and 'Ovarian Cancer Research'. Andy's wife died just last month from this terrible disease and although he and his whole family were obviously devastated he contacted me and said that he would still very much like to come along to entertain us.
What a truly inspirational man.
The September 2019 'Speaker' meeting
A huge 'thank you' to those of you who came along to our September meeting to hear our speaker, Alan Tumber. Wasn't he good !
He could play the guitar, sing, tell some funny stories and recite some hilarious 'poems'. Alan's last song, 'Only Remembered', from the show War Horse was so moving he brought tears to our eyes. He had yours truly in floods ! According to many of you Alan is one of the very best entertainers we've featured in Brackley.
For those of you who could not make the June 2019 meeting
The presenter was Graham Short a 'micro engraver' and an absolute genius at his art. Graham, a colourful energetic speaker came all the way from the other side of Birmingham to see us. What a character he was, with his yellow/black shoes and white jacket emblazoned with colourful flowers! He shared some wonderful and very amusing anecdotes with us, including some lovely memories involving members of the Royal Family. Graham has his own studio in The Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, but as he works mainly from midnight to sunrise you probably won't see him at his bench! Have a look online, you'll be amazed at what he does!