u3a

Ealing

2021 talks

AUTUMN TERM 2021 TALKS

The AUTUMN term started on Thursday 9th September and we held 'hybrid' meetings, with a limited number of members attending the talks in Ealing Green Church whilst many other members watched from home over Zoom. For this term we had talks fortnightly. A list of the talks and speakers for the term is shown below, whilst full details of the talks can be found in the Autumn Term 2021 talks document. Most of these talks were recorded and this is indicated by a sign, after the talk name. The Recordings are available on our Ealing u3a YouTube channel; if you would like to view any of these recordings, please contact the Webmaster. All speakers were present in Ealing Green Church, unless otherwise shown.

  • Thur 9 September (EGC + Zoom) - The Female Impressionists with Colin Lomas, Ealing U3A Member and Convenor of three of our Interest Groups. Colin did supply us with some notes relating to his talk; click on Female Impressionists handout to see these - these include links to the video clips included in his talk.
  • Thur 23 September (Zoom) - “The Love of Dangerous Men” with Tony Nicholson who was a university history lecturer and whose retirement hobbies include writing - the book on which this talk was based is one - and giving talks.
  • Thur 14 October (EGC + Zoom) - The Results of the 2021 Photographic Competition and a talk 'Did U3A members improve as a Photographer since last year, plus the impact of the Smart phone as a Photographic Tool' with Michael Lurie, a photographer for over 60 years and Member and past Chairman of Pinner Camera Club. All the photos entered for this year's competition are now available for members to view from the NEWS page.
  • Thur 28 October (Zoom) - Let's Talk about Birds with Colette Smith, who retired this year and now has more time to indulge in her passion of birdwatching. She has also obtained a postgraduate certificate in Ornithology from Birmingham University in 2007.
  • Thur 11 November (EGC + Zoom) - War Memorials in the London Borough of Ealing with Dr Jonathan Oates the Ealing Borough archivist since 1999 who has a PhD in History from Reading University, 2001 and is also the author of 39 books (11 about Ealing) and numerous edited texts and journal articles, with more in the pipeline.
  • Thur 25 November (Zoom) - Royal Albert Hall - Fantastic Visions with Richard Dacre who for the past 11 years has worked at the Royal Albert Hall where he researches its history. Richard has also published a number of books on the RAH, film and biography.
  • Thur 9 December (EGC + Zoom) - Teak - the King of Timbers with Jean Brewster, an Ealing U3A member who taught English Studies/Applied Linguistics in various institutions. Jean has lived in various countries such as Malaysia, Belize, Cyprus, Hong Kong and Qatar and has an interest in cross-cultural issues.

SPRING TERM 2021 TALKS

The SPRING term started on Thursday 15th April and all talks were held as Zoom meetings with talks held every fortnight. A list of the talks and speakers for the term is shown below, whilst full details of the talks can be found in the Spring Term 2021 talks document. Some of these talks were recorded and this is indicated by a sign, after the talk name. The Recordings are available on our Ealing u3a YouTube channel; if you would like to view any of these recordings, please contact the Webmaster.

  • Thur 15 April - Signatures – their history, meaning and future with Adam Brand, a graphologist who works for solicitors requiring information about forgeries and for companies needing information about the personalities of possible recruits.
  • Thur 29 April - Cunard History and Glamourous Stars with Steve Herra, a third generation of Cunard employee, whose last ship was the QE2 where he was one of the Pursers and met some of the stars featured in this talk.
  • Thur 13 May - The History of the King’s Observatory at Richmond with Vicky McGrath of the Museum of Richmond who joined them in October 2016, bringing over 15 years of experience of working in Museums and Heritage Education.
  • Thur 27 May - Music and Meaning with James Frederick Mackay of the London School of Music, University of West London. James has a BA in community music at Sage Gateshead and is working on a PhD on the subject of this talk.
  • Thur 10 June - 250 years of Beethoven with Annie Smart, a composer, pianist and piano teacher from Scotland who also conducts and has run the Heart of Scotland choir for the last 10 years. Annie has grade 8 piano with distinction and an LTCL piano diploma.
  • Thur 24 June - Rivington Terraced Gardens: Past, present and Future with Graham Gough, a volunteer at Rivington Terraced Gardens and vice chair of the Friends of Rivington Terraced Gardens.
  • Thur 8 July - How to Plan a Hospital with Glynis Meredith-Windle, a professional in the sphere of international health planning with extensive experience on projects involving management, planning, operational re-engineering and technical advice who has worked on projects in the UK for NHS Authorities and for other health architects and management consultancies.

WINTER TERM 2021 TALKS

The WINTER term started on Thursday 14th January and all talks were held as Zoom meetings. For this term we had talks every fortnight. A list of the talks and speakers for the term is shown below, whilst full details of the talks can be found in the Winter Term 2021 talks document. Some of these talks were recorded and this is indicated by a sign, after the talk name. The Recordings are available on our Ealing u3a YouTube channel; if you would like to view any of these recordings, please contact the Webmaster.

  • Thur 14 January - How Tropical Rainforests work with Dr David Jones of the Natural History Museum and a Lecturer at Imperial College who is an entomologist specialising in rainforest insects and soil ecology.
  • Thur 28 January - “Nothing so “ex” as an ex MP” with Stephen Pound, ex-MP for Ealing North who left Parliament at the December 2019 election.
  • Thur 11 February - "Turpin: The Notorious", adapting the Real and Imagined for Television with Alastair Hagger, a Doctoral Researcher in Creative Writing at the London School of Film, Media and Design at the University of West London.
  • Thur 25 February - Keeping You Safe From Frauds and Scams by Sally Schofield with Mark Mullally from NatWest Bank, who are both Community Bankers for NatWest with over 60 years experience between them.
  • Thur 11 March - The Brontes and Politics: Revolution and Reform by Dr Simon Avery, Reader in 19th Century Literature and Culture, University of Westminster.
  • Thur 25 March - Ealing U3A AGM needed to consider the Chairman and Treasurer reports and elect a new Committee. Following this, there was a talk on the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) by Jill Thumpston, a leading member of the Ealing U3A Art Appreciation group.