Richmond upon Thames U3A: Events

Events

MONTHLY MEETINGS take place at 2.30pm on the last Wednesday of each month, except December, and are held at the Clarendon Hall, York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ. There is limited car parking for a maximum of two hours but York House is on the bus routes 33, R68, R70, H22 and 490 (Lebanon Court bus stop).

We usually have a speaker, with a varied programme of subjects.

Local and National U3A news items are displayed on a noticeboard in the meeting room together with other items of local interest.

Members pay £1 (please bring your membership card) and non-members £2, which includes refreshments.

Dates for your Diary
December 2019
Wed Dec 11th	Meeting	DECEMBER MONTHLY MEETING CANCELLED DUE TO ELECTION
Wed Dec 11th	Social	Christmas lunch at The Clink in Brixton Prison. Booking by 22nd November essential. See Link on this page for full details and application form, or email Libby Barton
January 2020
Mon Jan 13th	Stamp and Postal History	Next Meeting Monday 13th January 2020 in Hampton Hill United Reform Church, 35 High Street, Hampton Hill TW12 1NB Map: http://www.hamptonhillurc.org.uk/location/ Bus route R68 and R70 stop near the church 1100 – 1200h. Theme for the meeting: My Stamp Collection Leader: Paul Leonard Contact: Tel or text: 078 28 182 352 Email: paul.leonard.ed@btinternet.com Advice on collecting, how to look after your stamps and information about specialists and societies. Plus suggestions on donating your stamps to good causes. Paul Leonard is a member of the Twickenham & District Philatelic Society and also a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society.
Mon Jan 20th	Speed Networking	Monday 20th a.m. The idea of this is to meet lots of people in a short time. See Group entry for more information or email Sylvie Tatum (by clicking on her name)
Wed Jan 29th	Meeting	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Four Tragic Women of the Twentieth Century, exploring the link between instability and genius, by Jane L’Epine-Smith. In her talk Jane will examine the lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Vivien Leigh and Judy Garland, women of immense talent who led deeply troubled and tortured lives. Jane started her career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford before joining London Weekend Television as an Assistant Casting Director. Leaving after 4 years to get married and have a family she became a Freelance Casting Director and Producer, producing amongst other things the English Shakespeare Company's Wars of the Roses and Macbeth at the Riverside Studios. She now gives talks on the role of the Casting Director and also on her father who was a famous Casting Director and Producer in the 30's and 40's and who founded Central Casting.
February 2020
Wed Feb 26th	Meeting	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Kew Gardens New and Old by Libby Insall Libby worked briefly as a solicitor before her children were born and the family moved to Kew. For many years she taught the piano, retiring from this only recently, and in 1993 became a voluntary guide at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. She loves her work there and refers to the huge importance of Kew in global plant conservation science. She has a long attachment with U3A and runs a group called ’ Kew Gardens’.
March 2020
Wed Mar 25th	Meeting	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Why is the Earth’s surface the temperature it is? by Michael de Podesta Once we can understand why the Earth’s surface is the temperature it is, then we can begin to understand the physics which underlies climate change. The temperature of the air above the land surface of the Earth is a topic of great current interest. In this talk Michael will explain (a) how it is measured and (b) how we can understand why Earth has the climate it has. Finally he will discuss the reasons to be concerned about recent changes in the Earth’s surface temperature. He asks us to ‘Please come along with questions of all kinds!’ Michael de Podesta is a scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory. He mainly works on measurement problems related to temperature, but is interested in all aspects of physics. Together with colleagues, he has made the most accurate temperature measurements ever, detailing the errors in all the other thermometers on Earth!
April 2020
Wed Apr 29th	Meeting	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Lifting the Mystery from the Mysteries by James Loch. James had an entrepreneurial career and, after selling his business, accepted a fascinating ‘retirement’ job with one of the most lively and progressive London Livery Companies. Having been apprenticed to the Skinners Livery Company in 1963, and subsequently becoming a Liveryman, he enjoyed ‘ten fulfilling years’ with the Tallow Candlers Livery Company, before finally retiring in 2009. James’ talk derives from his interest in the history of the ancient City Guilds generally, which were really cartels protecting and projecting the trade of the artisans and craftsmen who formed the basis of wealth creation through the middle ages – on to the Livery Companies that underpin the City of London Corporation today.
May 2020
Wed May 27th	Meeting	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House LIVING BUILDINGS by Sir Donald Insall Sir Donald has written a book of this name (a new edition just published) and, drawing on this, will introduce some philosophies and principles presented in the work of architectural conservation today. He describes buildings as ‘virtually alive’, and discusses what this implies for our care of them: from the "daily care" of William Morris through repairs and improvements, to almost total restoration of the Palace of Westminster and the post-fire restoration of Windsor Castle. Sir Donald Insall CBE was founder, sixty years ago, of what is now the country's leading architectural conservation practice, and later served as Founder-Commissioner of English Heritage. His team have been responsible for the exemplary national pilot study and conservation programme for the City of Chester, and were Co-ordinating Architects in the post-fire restoration work at Windsor. He has lectured widely

Dates for your Diary
Meetings
Wed Dec 11th	DECEMBER MONTHLY MEETING CANCELLED DUE TO ELECTION
Wed Jan 29th 2020	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Four Tragic Women of the Twentieth Century, exploring the link between instability and genius, by Jane L’Epine-Smith. In her talk Jane will examine the lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Vivien Leigh and Judy Garland, women of immense talent who led deeply troubled and tortured lives. Jane started her career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford before joining London Weekend Television as an Assistant Casting Director. Leaving after 4 years to get married and have a family she became a Freelance Casting Director and Producer, producing amongst other things the English Shakespeare Company's Wars of the Roses and Macbeth at the Riverside Studios. She now gives talks on the role of the Casting Director and also on her father who was a famous Casting Director and Producer in the 30's and 40's and who founded Central Casting.
Wed Feb 26th 2020	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Kew Gardens New and Old by Libby Insall Libby worked briefly as a solicitor before her children were born and the family moved to Kew. For many years she taught the piano, retiring from this only recently, and in 1993 became a voluntary guide at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. She loves her work there and refers to the huge importance of Kew in global plant conservation science. She has a long attachment with U3A and runs a group called ’ Kew Gardens’.
Wed Mar 25th 2020	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Why is the Earth’s surface the temperature it is? by Michael de Podesta Once we can understand why the Earth’s surface is the temperature it is, then we can begin to understand the physics which underlies climate change. The temperature of the air above the land surface of the Earth is a topic of great current interest. In this talk Michael will explain (a) how it is measured and (b) how we can understand why Earth has the climate it has. Finally he will discuss the reasons to be concerned about recent changes in the Earth’s surface temperature. He asks us to ‘Please come along with questions of all kinds!’ Michael de Podesta is a scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory. He mainly works on measurement problems related to temperature, but is interested in all aspects of physics. Together with colleagues, he has made the most accurate temperature measurements ever, detailing the errors in all the other thermometers on Earth!
Wed Apr 29th 2020	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House Lifting the Mystery from the Mysteries by James Loch. James had an entrepreneurial career and, after selling his business, accepted a fascinating ‘retirement’ job with one of the most lively and progressive London Livery Companies. Having been apprenticed to the Skinners Livery Company in 1963, and subsequently becoming a Liveryman, he enjoyed ‘ten fulfilling years’ with the Tallow Candlers Livery Company, before finally retiring in 2009. James’ talk derives from his interest in the history of the ancient City Guilds generally, which were really cartels protecting and projecting the trade of the artisans and craftsmen who formed the basis of wealth creation through the middle ages – on to the Livery Companies that underpin the City of London Corporation today.
Wed May 27th 2020	MONTHLY MEETING 2.30 pm in Clarendon Hall, York House LIVING BUILDINGS by Sir Donald Insall Sir Donald has written a book of this name (a new edition just published) and, drawing on this, will introduce some philosophies and principles presented in the work of architectural conservation today. He describes buildings as ‘virtually alive’, and discusses what this implies for our care of them: from the "daily care" of William Morris through repairs and improvements, to almost total restoration of the Palace of Westminster and the post-fire restoration of Windsor Castle. Sir Donald Insall CBE was founder, sixty years ago, of what is now the country's leading architectural conservation practice, and later served as Founder-Commissioner of English Heritage. His team have been responsible for the exemplary national pilot study and conservation programme for the City of Chester, and were Co-ordinating Architects in the post-fire restoration work at Windsor. He has lectured widely
Social Events
Wed Dec 11th	Christmas lunch at The Clink in Brixton Prison. Booking by 22nd November essential. See Link on this page for full details and application form, or email Libby Barton
Speed Networking
Mon Jan 20th 2020	Monday 20th a.m. The idea of this is to meet lots of people in a short time. See Group entry for more information or email Sylvie Tatum (by clicking on her name)
Stamp and Postal History
Mon Jan 13th 2020	Next Meeting Monday 13th January 2020 in Hampton Hill United Reform Church, 35 High Street, Hampton Hill TW12 1NB Map: http://www.hamptonhillurc.org.uk/location/ Bus route R68 and R70 stop near the church 1100 – 1200h. Theme for the meeting: My Stamp Collection Leader: Paul Leonard Contact: Tel or text: 078 28 182 352 Email: paul.leonard.ed@btinternet.com Advice on collecting, how to look after your stamps and information about specialists and societies. Plus suggestions on donating your stamps to good causes. Paul Leonard is a member of the Twickenham & District Philatelic Society and also a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society.