Great Glen Oadby & Wigston

Recent Monthly Meeting Speakers

March 2024

Julie Kinnear Marilyn Munroe
Mike Stroud Soup to Suspenders- The story of the Symington Brothers

February 2024

Richard Graves Mary Attenborough - A woman of our time'
June Juett "Flora and Fauna seen in southern California"

January 2024

Bill BoulterFrom Fleece to Feet - The story of Leicestershire's Hosiery Trade'
David HumberstonTweaking the Dragon's Tail: the Zeebrugge raid of 23 April 2018

The story of the midnight raid on the German-occupied port of Zeebrugge, one of the most daring actions undertaken by the British Navy in the entire Great War.

November 2023 John Constantine Magic

John treated us to a magical talk interspersed with some illustrative slights of hand.

October 2023Geoff HarrisLondon as you haven’t seen it!

provided his own entertaining perspective.

September 2023 Bozena Kuncewicz The polish post-ww2 Sulby Resettlement Camp at Husbands Bosworth 1948-58

At the end of World War 2 over two million Poles were stranded outside Poland, Bozena explained why they were here and where they settled.

August 2023 Derek HollowayCharles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands

Derek Holloway

July 2023Ella TongeDogs Trust

Ella Tonge of the Dogs Trust
Dogs Trust are based all around the UK. Ella works at the Loughborough Branch. She will speak about her role with the charity and enlarge on the working of the charity. They re-home huge numbers of dogs throughout the year.

June David Andrews100 years of Auntie

Dave Andrews worked with BBC Radio Leicester for over 20 years when he presented most of the daily and weekend programmes including the “Talking History” programme as well as the UK’s oldest local radio show – the gardening programme “Down to Earth”. Dave also provided commentary for special occasions and was privileged to be the commentator for BBC Radio Leicester during the services for the re-interment of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral and several visits by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

May 2023 Mike Newbold My extra life

He has been a television extra for 18 years and encountered some interesting and strange people.

April 2023 David Skillen Petticoats n'Pilots

From our popular speaker, history of Women aviators, engineers and space travellers.

March 2023 Derek Holloway John Ferneley

Derek HollowayLeicestershire 19th Century Artist.
John Ferneley, the 19th century animal painter, who came from Thrussington like the speaker.

February 2023My experiences, Bharat Patel

BBC and freelance reporter, born in India, early childhood in Africa and later in Leicester. Amusing stories from his filming and growing up with his family.

November 2022 Antiques from the bottom drawerPeter Coombs

Story of ten years as an antiques and collectables dealer in the Home Counties.
Ten pocket money items for the audience to identify and hand back.

September 2022The Gretna Girls and the Devils PorridgeDavid Skillen Devils Porrridge

David Skillen - last talked to us on Zoom in March 2021. This time he was in person and talked about The Gretna Girls and the Devils Porridge. A site of nine by three miles built secretly in 1915 and subsequently removed. In its hey day had 20,000 mainly women workers in a newly constructed town.

August 2022Agatha Christie and the Golden Age of Crime Fiction John Florance Agatha Christie books
July 2022 Lost Leicestershire Windmills Mark Temple windmills
June 2022Bob Brand Graham Harrison

... the outstanding story of a Bedfordshire man involved in almost every major event in the first half of the 20th century. A regular visitor to Cliveden, his friends included Nancy Astor, Winston Churchill, Amy Johnson, and Lawrence of Arabia. His influence was far reaching and yet, sadly he is virtually unknown today. Robert Henry Brand was a Victorian who saw two world wars and lived into the Space Age, the changes, and events he lived through and witnessed are incredible. Although born to an aristocratic family and raised as a servant of the British Empire, he was a very forward thinking and liberal minded individual, as it shown in his writings, both published and private.

May 2022Manchester Ship Canal Daniel Adamson Preservation Society

The Manchester Ship Canal, often referred to as the Channel Tunnel of the Victorian age, is a magnificent feat of engineering, 36 miles long linking the birthplace of the industrial revolution, Manchester, to the Mersey Estuary allowing direct trade to world markets for both import and export of goods of all kinds loaded on ocean going ships. Today’s talk tells of the history of the building of the canal, the people who worked on it, the ships that sailed up it, some of the incidents that occurred and some strange visitors, all contributing to the fascinating and continuing story of this great Northwest waterway.

April 2022 ComedyBrad Ashton

Brad Ashton is an International TV comedy writer who has supplied comedy for such famous stars as Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Frankie Howard, Bruce Forsyth, Hilda Baker, David Frost and Bob Monkhouse among others.  He entertained us with humorous backstage stories about many comedians he has had the pleasure (and sometimes displeasure!) of working with.

March 2022Georghi Markov and the Poison Umbrella Murder Paul Barwick

Spotlights the events of September 1978, during the Cold War between East and West, when Bulgarian journalist Georghi Markov was injected in the leg with the deadly toxin called Ricin from a modified umbrella as he walked to work along London’s Waterloo Bridge. He died 4 days later.

February 2022Butlin's Holiday Camps. Stephen Wells

How Butlin’s Holiday Camps came into being. Billy Butlin had only £5 in his pocket when he decided to provide holidays for working people. Stephen took us on a journey covering how the Camps started, how they have changed and the many stars who performed at them.

January 2022The birth of great British Brands Michael Alstrop

How many of the brands you can remember?

November 2021Climate Change Professor Heiko Balzter

Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Landscape and Climate Research at the University of Leicester.
A talk during the COP 27 in Glasgow.

September 2021 The Mystery of the Body in the bag in the bath Paul Barwick

The mysterious death of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams, who was found naked in a padlocked holdall in his bath.

August 2021Tommy CooperSteve Short

Steve is a full-time professional speaker and entertainer. For over 30 years he has been entertaining on cruise ships, in theatres, on radio and television. He has also written books on his subjects.

July 2021White MousePaul Barwick

A MOST EXTRAORDINARY SPY - NANCY WAKE
Paul Barwick is a retired police officer, of 34 years service, with a career background in the field of national security and counter terrorism for many years. He now runs his own walking tour company in Central London focused on spy tours of the capital. The White Mouse tells the story of WW2 spy Nancy Wake - a remarkable woman who lived with the daily threat of death for almost 5 years. Her incredible courage and strength of purpose is an awe-inspiring tale set against a world set on fire. Overcoming every challenge posed Nancy became one of the most decorated Allied women of the war. He explored her life lived to the full and saluted her tremendous bravery.

June 2021 Magic IanIan Buchan

'Magic Ian’ who lives in Edinburgh is a retired Civil Servant who has been performing magic for all ages for almost 35 years. He is a member and Past President of Edinburgh Magic Circle with several awards to his name. During his Zoom presentation he talks about his life as a magician and some of the famous magicians who most people will have heard of, such as Houdini, David Nixon, Tommy Cooper, Paul Daniels, with some anecdotes of those he has met. He also plays the guitar and sings.

May 2021A schoolgirl's war Mary Smith

This tells the story of school life in the south of England during WW2 and features the recently discovered and exquisite art work of a WW2 school art teacher. She sets out to document in paint and pencil the lives of school children and their teachers as the war unfolded. The work features the disrupted schooling, air-raids, doodlebugs and underground lessons in shelters. This is an insight into the war and its effect of schoolgirl’s never before covered.

April 2021My amazing life in MusicRoger Browne

Roger is a raconteur, a humourist, a pianist, a singer, a director, an actor and a writer.
His live performances have spanned seven decades and three continents.
Born in the industrial North of England, during the second world war, Roger’s upbringing was humble, but his recollections are dominated by indelible memories of humanity, care, love and, above all, music and lots and lots of humour.
Roger is now primarily a storyteller. He draws on his incredible experiences of life and performance, to deliver an electric mix of creative music, and hilarious tales, informing and entertaining special interest groups, the length and breadth of Britain.

March 2021 the Bentley Boys - the Playboy Racers David Skillen

David Skillen, now retired, during his 35 years in the Civil Service ran many training programmes on public speaking for Government Departments and outside organisations. David studied history for many years and since retiring he travels all over the UK giving a variety of talks to audiences in numerous organisations – but now on subjects he really enjoys!

February 2021The history of the can can David Price

Did you know that the first cancan dancers were men? Or that the original dance was a ballroom dance?
It was only much later that it became an all- women chorus line stage dance. These and other curious facts are revealed in the talk on the cancan based on David’s book on the dance, Cancan!
The cancan first appeared in 1830 and by the 1860’s people were describing it as the ‘French National Dance’, but it is most associated with the 1890’s when Toulouse-Lautrec’s famous models LaGoulue and Jane Avril were dancing at the Moulin Rouge.

January 2021 Another Icarus Richard Smart

The tale of aviation pioneer Percy Sinclair Pilcher and his wonderful sister, Ella, whose noble quest for flight ended tragically at Stanford Hall, on the banks of Shakespeare’s Avon; the first Englishman to die in the cause of ‘the conquest of the air’ when on the cusp of becoming the most famous name in aviation history. Roy Smart presents this magnificent man, his flying machines - and the historic, but as yet unheralded achievements, of his wonderful sister, the redoubtable Ella Sophia Gertrude, probably the very first woman to fly ! - in a colourful context of music, poetry, Greek myth, art and the beginnings of flight.

December 2020 Christmas through the ages Eddie Smallwoood

How the festive period is not what it was; how customs date back thousands of years or are wrong.

November 2020 The Royal Yacht Britannia Tony Noble

Tony Noble was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria and joined the Navy at fourteen and a half as a boy entrant at HMS Ganges. Ended in doing 17 years in the Navy, serving on four different ships and with several shore postings that included NATO Flag Officers Staff and Naval Communications Contacts. He also served two tours on Britannia.

October 2020Origins and Oddities of English Inn Signs Michael Alstrop

Few people realise that two thousand years of history is hanging over their heads, and that the humble pub sign can hold the key to a town’s past. Pubs were rarely named by accident but were inspired by religion, royalty, heroes and occasionally scandal. This highly visual talk, with a quiz, explains how inns signs originate and traces their development from the Romans to the present day.

September 2020His life and The Jack Castle Books Phillip Caine

Having spent many years working as Manager, Operator, Director within the Facilities Management and Contract Catering Industry in the Oil and Gas Industry/Military/Construction Industry all over the world he started writing in his spare time and is now a full time self-employed author.

August 2020Histories Fools Gold

Acoustic duo Carol and Steve delighted us not so long ago with one of their programmes of music & songs, brought to life by accounts of the histories, mysteries and sometimes tragedies that lie behind them.