Talks (2024)
April 2024
A large audience of both long-standing and new u3a members was spellbound as Caroline Eames, a Senior Forensic Reporting Scientist recounted her experiences in the collection, preservation and analysis of DNA, fingerprints and bloodstain patterns to support legal decision making in matters of criminal and civil law. Alongside their laboratory role, we learned that forensic scientists testify as expert witnesses in both criminal and civil cases and can work for either the prosecution or defence. Caroline touched on the future for forensic science with the introduction of artificial intelligence and machine learning which are now revolutionising the field of digital forensics enabling software to process vast amounts of data, predict patterns and predict potential threats with greater accuracy and speed.
March 2024
We were highly entertained by Christine Stockton's detailed and comprehensive history of the five stages of the growth of Flamenco in Spain, which started in Andalusia around 710. Originally ruled by the Islamic Moors, Christianity and Jusaism were also tolerated. However from the 9th century Spain was gradually re-conquered by the Christians, Granada being the last of the Moorish kingdoms to fall. Expulsion of Jews and Moors followed; those who didn't want to leave went to live with the gypsies. Around this time, following Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas, slave-trading began and many people of African heritage also escaped to join gypsy groups. Christine gave detailed information on the growth of Flamenco from the Cante Jondo, through Siquiriya, Solea, Tangos, Fandangos and Ida y Vuelta (the more familiar dances involving fans and shawls). In addition to the fascinating slide-show, Christine herself showcased many of the dances with lively dramatic demonstrations. Her enthusiasm for her subject was boundless and highly entertaining. A great show!
February 2024
With his handbell and dressed up in his finery, David Mitchell had this audience eating out of his hand as he regaled us with hilarious stories of his experiences as Chester's town crier. Indeed, Chester is the only place in Britain to have retained the tradition of a regular midday proclamation at a fixed place and time (12 noon, Tuesday-Saturday, between May and August). In medieval England the job of the town crier (or bellman) was to inform townspeople of the latest news, proclamations, by-laws and any other imortant information as most folk were illiterate. Proclaiming the news was not their only role. Originally they patrolled the streets after dark acting as peace-keepers, arresting miscreants and taking them to the stocks for punishment. It was also their job to make sure fires were damped down for the night after the curfew bell. David's talk was articulate, funny, refreshing and highly entertaining and he left many of us aching with laughter.
January 2024
On Thursday 18th January we were treated to a highly entertaining talk by Simon Michael, a barrister who has drawn on is experiences in court to write several best-selling crime novels. Mr Michael was both amusing and erudite, as he told us of his rise from the east end of London to becoming a barrister in Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court in the city. His talk was peppered with fascinating facts about the Middle Temple itself, his confrontations with the notorious Kray twins and the dreadful racism he experienced in his first chambers, where he was called, amongst other things, a 'Jew Boy' and was the victim of those more senior barristers, who refused to let him take their 'returned' cases because of his less-than-privileged background. Simon Michael's talk was very amusing and enlightening, particularly about police corruption and politicians' bad behaviour. The audience was left wanting more...