Ealing

2024 Talks

SPRING TERM 2024

For the SPRING term 2024, our Thursday morning meetings continue to be held as 'hybrid' meetings, where many members attend the talks in Ealing Green Church whilst we also broadcast them over Zoom for members to watch from home. Details of the past talks this term are shown below and this also includes information on any recordings of these talks that are available. All speakers were present in Ealing Green Church, unless otherwise shown.

• Thur 9th May (EGC and Zoom) - Seeing the world through different eyes (Monica Macias shared stories about her extraordinary upbringing in North Korea under the guardianship of President Kim Il Sung. In 1979, aged only seven, Monica was sent from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea by her father, the President of Equatorial Guinea, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally, Kim Il Sung. Within months, her father was executed in a military coup; her mother became unreachable. Effectively orphaned, she and two siblings had to make their life in Pyongyang. At military boarding school, Monica learned to mix with older children, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons on training exercises. Reaching adulthood, she went in search of her roots. Spending time in Madrid, Malabo, New York, Seoul and finally London, at every step she had to reckon with others' perceptions of her adoptive homeland. Optimistic yet unflinching, Monica’s astonishing and unique story challenged us to see the world through different eyes) with Monica Macias, who has lived in several countries around the world and now resides in south London. She has written a memoir 'Black Girl from Pyongyang' which is a collection of stories from her life growing up in North Korea under the protection of the country’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, as well as her journey to understanding her identity as a mixed-race woman who was raised in a country far from her native land of Equatorial Guinea.

• Thur 2nd May (EGC and Zoom) - Fighting for the Mother Country (A talk about the soldiers, sailors and others with black and brown heritage who supported and contributed to the British War effort during World War I and II) with Simone Higgins (aka Simone Adams), who has recently retired, was a government lawyer and law lecturer for just over 25 years. She regularly gives talks on Black British history and has written and narrated the 8-episode podcast ‘From the Romans to Windrush,’ which can be accessed through Morley Radio. The podcast tells the story of the lives and careers of key Black British personalities who lived in Britain, before the arrival of the Windrush in 1948. Simone has also written film reviews for the Talking Pictures TV podcast and written, narrated, and produced the podcast Classic Hollywood MTC, which tells the story of the lives and careers of several classic Hollywood movie stars, including the World War II veteran David Niven.

• Thur 25th April (EGC and Zoom) - From Care to Coronation - an introduction about Dame Elizabeth Anionwu's life. (Her parents met towards the end of World War II whilst students, but they never married. Her mother, of Irish heritage, was born in England and was a 2nd year student of Classics; her Nigerian father was completing a Law degree, and Elizabeth was 25 before finding him. The first 9 years of her life were spent in a Catholic Children’s Home in Birmingham, followed by 2 years with her mother and a physically abusive stepfather. She was rescued by her maternal grandparents with whom she lived until the age of 16. Elizabeth qualified as a nurse and health visitor before becoming the 1st UK sickle cell nurse counsellor in 1979. She moved into Higher Education and ultimately became a Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. Apart from a nine-month period in France, she has lived in Ealing since the early 1970s) with Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu OM DBE FRCN, an Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. Her memoirs, 'Dreams From My Mother' are available both in paperback and as an audiobook. Elizabeth has been honoured with a Damehood, the Order of Merit and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and she carried the Sovereign’s Orb in the Royal Procession of King Charles III. Elizabeth is a mother and grandmother.

• Thur 11th April (EGC and Zoom) - The House of Everything (What do houses mean to us? How do they make material our elusive dreams and imaginings? This is the overarching theme of this talk, based on Robert's book 'The House of Everything', and explores through the story of the life and works of Sir John Soane, the tragic and flawed figure behind Sir John Soane’s Museum in central London, and our own Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing. As an experienced performer and interpreter of spaces, Robert has created a unique reading that weaves poem and place in the objects, rooms and staircases of Soane’s houses) with Robert Seatter, a poet, performer, writer and broadcaster who has published six poetry collections and is also the author of 'Broadcasting Britain: 100 years of the BBC', published in 2022 to mark the Corporation’s centenary. He is currently Head of BBC History, based in Broadcasting House and gave a talk to us in 2022 to celebrate the BBC's 100th Anniversary. Robert has many connections with Ealing, where he first began his BBC career, as well as being a regular performer at Questors Theatre.

WINTER TERM 2024

Details of the talks we held this term are shown below and this also includes information on any recordings of these talks that are available. All speakers were present in Ealing Green Church, unless otherwise shown.

• Thur 21st March (EGC and Zoom) - Ealing U3A AGM (The Ealing U3A AGM including the Annual Report and Treasurer's report for 2023 plus the election of the Ealing U3A Committee for the next year) followed by a short talk on Asian Hornets and the threat they pose (The history of the Asian Hornet’s first introduction to Europe - what it is and what it looks like; the consequences of its introduction and spread through Europe and, in particular, the UK and what can be done to limit its impact) by Lee Horwich, a long time Ealing resident of around 50 years who was formerly a Project Manager for offshore platform design and became intrigued by beekeeping when working abroad. Since returning and stopping work Lee has been an active member of the Ealing Beekeepers Association.

• Thur 7th March (EGC and Zoom) - The Work of Today’s House of Lords (This talk started with a brief history of the House of Lords running up to Tony Blair’s radical reform of the membership of the House in 1999. The principal substance of the talk was a description of the current work of the House of Lords Chamber and House of Lords Committees. Some personal anecdotes were interwoven with the slides) with Carl Woodall OBE, who was latterly Director of Facilities of the House of Lords (2009-2023) and was made an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to Parliament. Carl was responsible for the House of Lords’ estates projects, buildings maintenance, cleaning services, reception services, catering services and he was the longest serving member of the House of Lords Management Board. Prior to joining the House of Lords, Carl was Fellow and Domestic Bursar at Balliol College Oxford (2000-2009) following posts providing accommodation, maintenance and catering services at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge and Brunel University. Carl studied at the University of Manchester where he gained his BA Hons in Politics and Modern History, and his MPhil by research.

• Thur 29th February (EGC and Zoom) - From London’s transport to London Transport (London Transport was 90 years old in 2023 - this talk looked at passenger, road and rail transport before London Transport was formed, and its development as a unified body afterwards) with Michael Peacock whose National Service in the RAF was followed by a career in the Civil Service. His voluntary work has included Chairmanship of the local branch of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, Chairmanship of the local branch of the Civil Service Pensioners Association and of the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Chairman of the local branch (Heathrow) of the CILT. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Windsor lines Passengers Association (South Western Railway Rail Users Association).

• Thur 22nd February (EGC and Zoom) - Richmond - the coming of the Railways (a talk that explored how Richmond was transformed from a sleepy village with Royal connections, to a bustling Royal Borough thanks to the arrival of the railways) with Vicky McGrath, Learning Officer at the Museum of Richmond, who has over 20 years of experience of working in Museums and Heritage Education, designing workshops and resources for school and families, and delivering talks, tours and workshops for adults.

• Thur 8th February (EGC and Zoom) - Hanwell - from Village to London Suburb (A concise illustrated account of the known history of Hanwell from its very beginnings, compiled from original sources) with David Blackwell, who is a local historian, specialising in Hanwell’s history, which he has been researching since 1997. He grew up in Hanwell in the 1950s and 60s, where his family ran one of the dairies serving the community.

• Thur 1st February (EGC and Zoom) - Save the Asian Elephants – a charity’s dramatic journey to helping all animals abused in global tourism (The talk described the foundation of ‘Save the Asian Elephants’, how it grew to tens of millions of supporters, exerted pressure on unscrupulous exploiters of tourist animals and devised and drove into law landmark measures to protect all species from tourism abuse) with Duncan McNair, a practising lawyer in London, an author, and founder and CEO of ‘Save the Asian Elephants’. He devised and pioneered the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act through Parliament. He was named ‘UK Animal Hero of the Year’ in 2018.

• Thur 25th January (EGC and Zoom) - Shared Learning: Theatre Programmes from Kingston University Archives (The talk reflected on the Archive’s recent Shared Learning Projects with U3A which focused on their Cary Ellison Theatre Programme Collection. The talk also introduced the Archive’s other collections and considered possibilities for future shared learning opportunities) with Dayna Miller, University Archivist at Kingston University who began assisting in the Archive in 2009 and her work has focused on creating the Archive’s digital collection of photographs and listing and cataloguing its theatre programme collections.

• Thur 11th January (EGC and Zoom) - A Taste of Florence (A brief history of Florence illustrated by verbal stories about major events, illustrated by 30+ photos, including stories from modern times, and covering aspects of the city that make such a mecca for tourism) with Mike Perry, Ealing U3A member who is a teacher by background but moved to Wales in early 1970s to try farming. After five years running a dairy farm, changed career again to antiques dealing. Moved to West London in March 2021 and joined our organisation.

A recording of this talk is now available - for information on accessing this please contact the Webmaster. Additionally, the books mentioned by Mike in this talk were - Ross King: Brunelleschi’s Dome and Lauro Martines: April Blood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici.