Here is what had happened last & this year, and what was going to happen before Lockdown kicked in.

 

The Monthly Speakers’ Meetings took place on the third Wednesday of each month at 2:00 pm in the Baptist Church, Thames Street, OX10 0BH, and are open to all Members of the branch and to potential new members wishing to find out more. Members are addressed by an invited speaker (see below), and this is followed by tea, coffee and biscuits.  There is no charge. The talks are excellent and it’s a good chance to see friends old and new. We had three live Speakers Meetings in 2020.

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Speakers Programme 2020

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15 Jan Tony Hadland – A Tiger in the bathroom
Tony Hadland last came to give us a talk in June 2018 on William Gill. This time it is a Tiger in the Bathroom and Bullets up the chimney. Interesting! Tony is an award winning former journal editor of the Oxfordshire Family History Society. The talk spotlights Tony’s ancestors in India and Ireland, a fascinating story that earlier generations would have found shocking.

 

19 Feb Julia Miles – Ragbag and Cocktails

28 years as a diplomatic wife. We are grateful to Julia for stepping in at short notice.

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18 March Julie Summers – Remembered – the history of the Commonwealth war graves

Julie Summers, our most regular and popular speaker, returns to give a talk based on her own highly acclaimed book Remembered which tells the human story behind the extraordinary efforts of those who felt that the fallen should be remembered in perpetuity, and with dignity.

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And then Lockdown happened,

so the following didn't & won't happen . . . . .

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April 2020 

Stuart Linford – The wicked wit of Winston Churchill
Stewart Linford recently gave us a very amusing talk on the Windsor Chair plus his version of Winston Churchill. We felt it was only right to ask him to follow this up with The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill. This talk is a power point presentation packed with stories exploring Churchill’s many virtues … and vices. It should be very interesting and amusing!

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May 2020

Dr David Jones – How tropical rainforests work
David Jones is a research biologist at the Natural History Museum in London. He specializes in rainforest insects and ecology and spoke to us last year about the most dangerous animals on earth. He returns to speak to us about the main ecological processes that keep rainforests functioning and the threats that currently surround their long-term future.

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June 2020 

Adrian Lloyd – Waste, chucking away £10 billion

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July 2020

Tom Way – Wildlife on your doorstep

Now rebooked via Zoom

Tom’s recent talk to us about photographing African wildlife was hugely popular. Last time his images were mostly of large creatures which roared. This year he returns with images of rather less exotic specimens, smaller and often silent, but the photographs are guaranteed to be equally spectacular.

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Sept 2020  

Stefan White – The greatest practical jokes ever
Stefan White has augmented a long career in sales and marketing and business administration with numerous public speaking engagements largely on the subjects of history and horticulture. He is a busy and popular speaker on cruise ships and has previously spoken to us on aspects of horticultural history. This time Stefan will give us a light-hearted look at some of the greatest practical jokes and jokers of all time, including Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein and Franklin Roosevelt.

 

Oct 2020 Jon Ericson – Art inspired by wine

Now rebooked via Zoom

The inimitable John Ericson returns to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for wine and art by showing wonderful paintings as well as wicked cartoons and striking posters. This is guaranteed to be informative, interesting and entertaining.

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Nov 2020 Dr Paul Roberts – Last supper at Pompeii 

Now rebooked via Zoom

Paul Roberts is a classical archaeologist who holds the title of Sackler Keeper of the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum. He was the Curator of the recent exhibition ‘Last Supper at Pompeii’ and will talk to us about the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in AD79.

 

Dec 2020

Jonathan Woodhouse – Some gentle Christmas sax
Jonathan Woodhouse is a professional musician who plays clarinet and saxophone. He will talk to us about amusing incidents in his long career as an army musician, give us some background information about the saxophone and entertain us by playing various saxophones sometimes with a seasonal flavour. Note this meeting is on the second Wednesday, no the third.

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Speakers Programme 2021

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Jan – Fran Sandham – Dr Livingstone, I presume
Fran Sandham is a travel journalist and writer who three years ago told us of his epic solo walk across Africa. This time he returns to relate the remarkable story behind Africa’s greatest ever meeting and of the curious surrogate father-son relationship which developed between Stanley and Livingstone

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Feb – David Barber – Swan Upping

Now rebooked via Zoom

I am sure many of you have heard of Swan Upping and now is your chance to find out what it is all about. David Barber is the Queens Swan Marker, a role which dates back to the 12th century. He organises the annual event of Swan Upping on the river Thames amongst his many other duties and will describe these in his talk. Should be fascinating.

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March – Alan Wise – The role of the psychotherapist
Alan Wise is an experienced motivational speaker and psychotherapist. His specialised knowledge makes his talks both fascinating and enlightening, informative in their content, lively in their spirit and life changing in their outcome! He has worked for many years in the medical/legal field reporting on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for accident victims. Not to be missed

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April – Andy Smith – Sing a Century
Andy was with us in February 2019 so many of you will have heard his interesting talk on ‘John Paul George and Me’. This time he will talk about songs and instrumentals written and recorded over the last century. He will feature some well-known classics plus a few forgotten gems.

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. . . This Was a Good Year . . .

Speakers Programme 2019

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Julie Summers – When The Children Came Home
Julie Summers returns to tell the story of some of the children who were evacuated in 1939 and what happened when they returned home at the end of the war. Julies’ talk is based on her acclaimed book of the same title in which she weaves a collection of personal stories to create a compelling portrait of wartime Britain.

 

Dr David Jones – The most dangerous animals on earth
Dr David Jones is a research biologist at the Natural History Museum in London and an external lecturer at Imperial College. In this talk, he explores the question ‘Which animals kill the most humans?’ Based on published research, he lists the top culprits, debunks some popular myths and reveals the scary truth behind the statistics. He then focuses on his favourite killers, the snakes.

 

Tom Way – Photographing African Wildlife
Tom Way is a professional wildlife photographer based in the UK, whose work has been awarded in international competitions including European Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Sony World Photographer. He favours a fine art style approach to photography and spends most of his time focusing on large mammals around the world. His passion is Africa and he will show us some of his powerful and engaging images captured by his immense expertise combined with total commitment and extraordinary patience. A treat not to be missed. Note that the AGM will precede the talk.

 

Jenny Mallin – A Grandmother’s Legacy
Jenny Mallin is the author of the prize-winning cookery book A Grandmother’s Legacy. She was inspired to research her family history when she inherited a handwritten recipe book from her mother. This heirloom was compiled by the women of five generations of her family who lived and worked in the British Raj, leaving Yorkshire at the end of the 18thC and only returning at Partition. Her talk explores her Anglo-Indian family heritage through photographs and anecdotes and shines a light on a fascinating and now by-gone way of life.

 

Gary Jordan – The guitar music of Dowland, Sor and Albeniz – a talk and recital
Gary Jordan is a classical guitarist who has played in masterclasses for many eminent figures in the guitar world. He will introduce us not only to the world of the classical guitar but also to Elizabethan Lute music, playing his guitar to illustrate his talk.

 

U3A Garden Party
Our usual speaker meeting is replaced, as is usual in August, by our annual Garden Party. This is always a very memorable event, whether it is for glorious sunshine or for a more typically English type of day. Whatever the weather, the company and conversation are always good and the refreshments second to none. Make sure you don’t miss the summer tea party of the year.

 

Kamran Irani – Delivering emergency medical supplies
Captain Kamran Irani comes to us highly recommended as a speaker and also for his spectacular mode of transport. After a career as an airline pilot Captain Irani now heads up SERV OBN Emergency Riders. This group of intrepid volunteers provide a rapid response transport service to the NHS, carrying urgently needed medical items out of hours, saving lives as well as NHS resources. He promises to arrive on his top of the range motorbike!

 

John Ericson – Art inspired by wine
Note that this talk had to be cancelled at short notice. However, it’s been replaced.

 

Ian Keable
Ian has given us several talks before and he returns to entertain us with accounts of 100 years of hoaxes, comedy and credulity,all with a brilliant presentation. We are grateful he has filled in with such short notice.

 

Robert Van de Noort – What archaeology can tell us about adapting to changing climates
Robert Van de Noort is currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Reading University. However, his first love and academic discipline is archaeology. In this fascinating talk he will tell us about what we can learn from actual archaeological studies of different settlements that have suffered climate change in the past and how they adapted to changing conditions.

 

Mark Cairns – A little Christmas Magic – but not as you know it!
If magic for you means conjuring rabbits from hats, then think again. Mark Cairns is definitely not that sort of magician. Mark is returning to us this year, pretty much by popular demand after he stunned us with his amazing mind reading skills. Mark is an international performer and we are fortunate to secure his return. A Christmas treat not to be missed.

 

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