Events
Petersfield U3A Events
Petersfield U3A organises a range of events including three monthly meetings, trips, day workshops, study visits and occasionally two or three day residential breaks. These are open to all members (subject to space available) and may be organised by the main Committee or by one of the subject groups.
Monthly Meetings
There are three monthly meetings all held in the Petersfield Community Centre.
The Main General Meeting is held on the second Monday of every month between 2.30 and 4.00 p.m. with a different speaker talking about a general subject of interest each time.
These meetings are the flagship events for Petersfield U3A. They are held in the extended large hall at the Community Centre on the second Monday of each month (except for August and December). The topics are varied and are intended to be of general interest to all of our members. They commence with a welcome by the Branch Chairman and they conclude with tea / coffee and biscuits whilst members enjoy a convivial chat with the speaker, committee members and their fellow members and friends. The presentation normally lasts for approx. an hour with up to 30 minutes of comments and discussions.
U3A activities are mentioned and some Group Leaders have tables at the back of the hall for Group Business. At the back also are tables for discussions with new members and for recruitment and renewal of membership. Copies of the latest News and Views are available for members to take home, if they are not able to receive it by e-mail.
These meetings are seen as being of special interest due to the greater numbers who attend and the possibilities of socialising and carrying out Branch Business.
The Arts and Heritage meeting is open to all members on the third Wednesday of every month 2.30 – 4.00 p.m. and there is a charge of £2.50 per meeting. Each meeting has a speaker who is well qualified in a subject relating to the arts or a heritage topic. Occasionally talks are linked with visits to local sites or exhibitions.
The Science and Technology meeting is open to all members and is held on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 2.00 to 3.45 p.m. with a charge of £2.50. per meeting. We invite speakers on a range of subjects to give a talk followed by questions, discussion and debate. Earlier this year we visited the Basildon Brickworks and the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum and both events were very much enjoyed by members. Next year's programme of meetings is now being formulated and will include a wide variety and type of topic.
Other Events
There is a regular series of other events ranging from theatre and concert trips, heritage visits, and special interest sessions organised through individual groups but open to everybody. Other one day subject sessions, short courses and occasional social events are held and publicised on this website and members can receive a regular updating “News & Views Extra” email to keep you in touch.
South Bank Group The Group organises visits to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Purcell Room and The Hayward Gallery, travelling by train to Waterloo. Availability of tickets and further information may be obtained from Derek Bowtell by contacting him via the South Bank Group page.
(See below for details of the upcoming meetings and events)
Past Meetings
Click the link above to see descriptions of our last few meetings for Arts & Heritage and Science & Technology
| Dates for your Diary | ||
|---|---|---|
| September 2018 | ||
| Tue Sep 25th | Science and Technology | "Big Data, AI and Medical Research ........ The New Microscope" with Dr Graham Spittle CBE. The explosive growth of data and what has become known as “ Big Data” coupled with Artificial Intelligence has disrupted and transformed every industry worldwide.In this short talk Dr Spittle will review its impact on medicine and health and what opportunities and challenges lay ahead. Dr Spittle was appointed Chair of Health Data Research UK in 2017 and was until recently the Chief Technology Officer at IBM. |
| Fri Sep 28th | Cycling for Fun | 16 miles, Rated 2/3, Fishbourne, Lavant, Boxgrove, Tangmere, Shopwyke, Goodwood |
| October 2018 | ||
| Tue Oct 2nd | Science Forum | Note change of date from 4th Oct. "Our food and drink." - If we are what we eat, what should we consume or avoid? Does it matter? Let us discuss what we believe and hopefully include some science. At Liss Triangle Centre at 1400 hrs. |
| Wed Oct 3rd | Jazz Appreciation | Lester Young and Benny Carter. Ken McClung introduces a two part biography covering Lester Young, iconic player of the "swing era", and Benny Carter, saxophonist, trumpeter and bandleader, whose career spanned 7 decades from 1930s to 1990s. |
| Mon Oct 8th | Meeting | AGM will be held at 2.30 prior to the meeting and should last approximately 30 minutes. Film “Those were the days- Britain in the Fifties” Through the eyes of newsreel cameras this presents a look at how we were in the fifties. Recovering still from WW2 we had a cascade of gadgets for the home. Families began to holiday on beaches again. Teenagers and flamboyant fashions come to the fore. The death of King George V1, the Coronation, four minute mile and much, much more. Come along and reminisce. |
| Tue Oct 9th | Family History 2 | To be arranged |
| Wed Oct 10th | Cycling for Fun | 18 miles rated 2/3, Meon Hut, Byways around Cheriton |
| Wed Oct 17th | Arts and Heritage | “Surrealist Art” with Patricia Thomson. Patricia has a BA from Winchester School of Art/Southampton University and is a Working Artist. This talk explores some of the Surrealist Artists including Salvator Dali, Picasso and Roland Penrose and examples will be given of Contemporary Surrealism. Patricia will also try to explain what surrealism is and how it originated. |
| Thu Oct 18th | Cycling for Fun | 18 Rated 2/3, Sheet Green, HillBrow, Milland 'RisingSun 'for coffee) - Iping - Elsted (Three Horseshoes for lunch ) - S.Harting - Petersfield |
| Tue Oct 23rd | Science and Technology | "How to kill an Exocet Missile" with Greg Cumming. Greg is a Weapon Engineer of 33 years service in the Royal Navy, 15 years of which were spent involved with the Phalanx system and then on retirement a further 7 years with the US company. This talk traces the history of anti-ship missiles and the methods of countering them. It then goes on to describe the development of the Phalanx Close In Weapons System. This is the US developed gun system of the 1970s that is still in service with many navies and is still being progressively improved. |
| Wed Oct 24th | South Bank Group | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall London Philharmonic Orchestra: French Fancies Joseph Canteloube Songs of the Auvergne, Berlioz’s Symphony in C, Anna Caterina Antonacci sings, Enrique Mazzola Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Berlioz Overture, Bizet Symphony in C and Gershwin An American in Paris |
| Thu Oct 25th | Cycling for Fun | 35/24 miles Rated 4, Petersfield, East Meon, West Meon , Ropley, Tisted, Privett & East Meon |
| Wed Oct 31st | Cycling for Fun | Group AGM Petersfield Community Centre, |
| November 2018 | ||
| Sun Nov 4th | South Bank Group | 3pm Royal Festival Hall Philharmonia Orchestra: Brahms & Beethoven Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, Weber Overture, Oberon Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 (Emperor) and Brahms Symphony No.1 |
| Wed Nov 7th | Jazz Appreciation | Paul Holland - to be confirmed |
| Mon Nov 12th | Meeting | John Pitman “The Role of the Pantomime Dame” John was in pantomime for 36 years and he says his talk is like a one man pantomime, with lots of laughs and dare I suggest audience participation. |
| Tue Nov 13th | Family History 2 | WW1 armistice = 100 years +2 days: Members to share and review findings about their own families in WW1. |
| Wed Nov 21st | Arts and Heritage | “Talking to Wood”with John Plater. John is a dedicated wood–turner, and an active member of “The Society of Designer Craftsmen”. He tends to use local timber which has grains, colour and defects. He manages to produce beautiful bowls, urns and tubs in which he says the wood itself plays the major part in the end result. His talk covers the whole process from natural edged wood to the final sanding & waxing for which he is well known. |
| Tue Nov 27th | Science and Technology | "Moving light into the box – Optical communication at the system, board and chip level" with Dr Richard Pitwon. The talk will introduce the state of the art in system embedded optical communication technologies including optical circuit boards and photonic integrated circuits. Dr Richard Pitwon is the CEO and founder of Resolute Photonics developing solutions for optical and photonic integration at system, board and chip level and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. |
| December 2018 | ||
| Mon Dec 3rd | South Bank Group | 7pm Queen Elizabeth Hall Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment: Pipedreams Baroque concert of Handel overtures and Telemann concertos. |
| Wed Dec 5th | Jazz Appreciation | Live Jazz with Nick Reynolds. A return visit from the talented students of the Jazz Degree and Master courses at Chichester University. |
| January 2019 | ||
| Mon Jan 14th | Meeting | Bob France - “Beware Carrots from Northumberland” Lady Bette the last of the Percys. At the tender age of 3, Bette inherits the immense Percy estates including Petworth, Syon and Alnwick Castle. She marries 3 times by the age of 16. Her second husband is murdered sensationally and Bette is suspected of being complicit. However she survives and, with her 3rd husband as the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, they transform Petworth from an ancient manor house into a grand ducal palace, and become highly influential at court and Bette a close confidant of Queen Anne. |
| Wed Jan 16th | Arts and Heritage | Ian Gledhill - “The Surprising Mr Sousa” Ian has talked to us on a number of occasions and always knowledgeably and so well illustrated. This talk is about John Philip Sousa the composer renowned for his strident marches, who surprisingly produced waltzes, tone poems, dance music and even operettas. |
| Sat Jan 19th | South Bank Group | 2.30pm Royal Festival Hall Johann Strauss Gala; waltzes and polkas from the Strauss family and friends in a quintessentially Viennese gala. |
| Tue Jan 22nd | Science and Technology | "Forests in the second half of the century" with Mark Broadmeadow from the Forestry Commission.Mark will explore the likely impacts of climate change on our trees and forests, and what we need to be doing now to ensure a resource is in place in the second half of the century to provide what society will need from its woodlands. Mark Broadmeadow is the Forestry Commission’s Principal Adviser for Climate Change in England, currently leading their woodland creation programme. |
| February 2019 | ||
| Fri Feb 1st | South Bank Group | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Mozart Requiem, Piano Concerto No.21, Mozart Overture, The Magic Flute; Piano Concerto No.21 in C, K.467. |
| Mon Feb 11th | Meeting | Andy Skinner “Myths & Magic the Hidden History of Harry Potter” Andy is a public Speaker and Historian. He grew up reading the Harry Potter series, and found JK Rowling’s imagination phenomenal in being able to weave history, myths and magic together. The talk begins to explore some of the real stories of magic hidden within the series. |
| Wed Feb 20th | Arts and Heritage | Deidre Mitchell - “The Changing Face of Fashion 1900-1914” Deidre has always had an interest in costume, with her Mother a constant seamstress, influencing her in embroidery and textiles. She has volunteered at the Hampshire Wardrobe and then the Southern Counties Costume Society. Her interest deepened through being involved eventually in the Petersfield Museum and realised the great changes that came about in costume prior to the 1st world war. |
| March 2019 | ||
| Tue Mar 5th | South Bank Group | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Payare - Mahler Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, Piano Concerto No.9 in E at, K.271 and Mahler Symphony No.5 |
| Mon Mar 11th | Meeting | Sue Dewey - “Native American Tribal Culture and History” |
| Wed Mar 20th | Arts and Heritage | Andy Skinner - “The Crop Circle Mystery” Andy is a leading researcher into unexplained mysteries, having many books published and one on “The Introduction to Crop Circles” He will give a stunning slide show ,exploring the extraordinary phenomenon of crop circles, looking at the fascinating history and possible theories to explain them. |
| April 2019 | ||
| Mon Apr 8th | Meeting | Avril Owton - “The Show Goes On” Avril talks about her days as a dancer with the “Tiller Girls” on Sunday night at the London Palladium and how she became widowed when very young and with four children. Subsequently she became a hotelier and turned a failing business round into a thriving success. |
| Wed Apr 17th | Arts and Heritage | Mora Abel - “John Constable and the Hidden Depths” Mora had an extensive teaching background, holding degrees from London University. John Constable is well known for his poetic style of painting such as the “Hay Wain”, but there was a great deal more to the Artist, and Mora will explore the more hidden depths. |
| Fri Apr 26th | South Bank Group | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall The Lark Ascending Join Alan Titchmarsh as he hosts an exquisite programme of great English classics; Walton Coronation March, Crown Imperial; Butterworth The Banks of Green Willow; Parry Jerusalem; Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No.4 in G; Holst Jupiter, Delius The Walk to the Paradise Garden, Beecham; Handel Worthy is the Lamb that was slain from Messiah, Handel Selection from Water Music Suite; Rutter The Lord is my Shepherd from Requiem and Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending |
| May 2019 | ||
| Mon May 13th | Meeting | Andy Thomas - “ Unexplained Mysteries and Cover Ups”. Andy is an experienced Speaker and Author on Intrigues, unexplained mysteries and the Paranormal . He has investigated many enduring areas of fascination. This talk will cover Ghosts, Ancient Rituals and Classic Conspiracy theories as well as the background to many famous English folklore rituals. |
| Wed May 15th | Arts and Heritage | Jonathon Jones - “The Life and Poetry of Emily Bronte” Jonathon has visited us several times and is always most interesting. This talk will cover the life of Emily Bronte and touching on her novels which are well known, but her poetry less so, and this talk will give an insight into this aspect. |
| Thu May 16th | South Bank Group | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Philharmonia Orchestra: Jakub Hrůša - Schubert & Brahms Schubert Symphony No.8 (Unfinished) Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Brahms Symphony No. 3 |
| June 2019 | ||
| Mon Jun 10th | Meeting | June 10th 2019 Richard Poad “Grandma Flew Spitfires” . Richard is an authority on Air Transport Auxiliary and knew many flying veterans, so his talk is of a personal nature, illustrated with newsreel and archive films. This will cover the forgotten stories of WW2, of courage, skill and sacrifice of both female and male pilots, flying without the technical devices we commonly use today. |
| Thu Jun 13th | South Bank Group | 7.30pm Queen Elizabeth Hall Chineké Orchestra Grieg Peer Gynt, Suite No.1, Stewart Goodyear Callaloo-Caribbean Suite for piano & orchestra and Dvoråk Symphony No.7 |