General Meeting Events
General Meetings take place at The Town Hall, Coleshill, on the third Monday of each month, commencing at 10.30 am.
At times, changes to meeting content may be made because a speaker is obliged to cancel or postpone their talk. If possible details of changes will be publicised here.
For the Refreshment Rota for the General meetings, please click here.
Forthcoming Events:
15th January 2024 – Trace Your Family – Paul Wilkins
Paul will deliver his talk about genealogy and how to trace your family history.
19th February 2024 – Coleshill and District U3A Annual General Meeting
18th March 2024 – No 11-bus route – David and Pam Humphries
Entertaining tour of places found on the No.11 bus route.
15th April – George Eliot, Warwickshire writer – Sheila Woolf
Warwickshire has produced so many writers, among them a certain Will Shakespeare…but this talk looks at one of the greatest and connects her to some key locations in the county. 2019 saw the bicentenary of Eliot’s birth.
20th May – Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Martin Williams
A talk about the charity and volunteers who play a vital role in providing a trustworthy, effective and reliable cost- free service to NHS trusts in Coventry, Warwickshire, Solihull and Birmingham by providing an out of hours medical courier service.
17th June – Forgotten Brummies – Les Williams
Les’s talk is based on his book ‘Forgotten Brummies ‘: the men and women who shaped today’s Birmingham, who are now largely forgotten. Les recently became interested in the local history of his native Birmingham and discovered that he knew less than he thought about many significant people in the development of the city. His talk highlights several of these stories about people in the context of Birmingham’s growth from settlement to village to town to city. These include, among others, John Baskerville, a printer whose journey continued for 123 years after his death, John Ash, the founder of Birmingham General Hospital, Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen and a dangerous friend to know, and Joseph Chamberlain, who transformed the city during his three-year mayoralty.
15th July – Secret Wildlife of my garden – Nick Martin
Nick was formerly Reserve Manager at the RSPB reserve at Middleton Lakes near Tamworth and was instrumental in developing this site for wild birds. He has since moved to take up a part-time post with Warwickshire Wildlife so that he can concentrate more fully on wildlife photography, talks, workshops etc. in the time he has freed up. Excellent photo-talks from this confident and knowledgeable speaker.
19th August – The King’s Loose Box – Mary Bodfish
The King’s Loose Box – So contemporary wits named the seats at King Edward VII’s coronation specially reserved for his lady friends. Highlighted in this talk are Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick, Jennie Churchill and Alice Keppel, all remarkable women in their own right, and with whom Edward enjoyed long-standing relationships.
16th September – Birmingham, a City in Music – John Smith
John draws on an extensive collection of recordings to accompany a “stroll” around the city, stopping off at various locations, including the Hippodrome and Alexandra theatres, a night club and the Town Hall, sharing a few facts, and playing appropriate pieces of music.
21st October – My Life in Song – Andy Smith
A journey through life featuring self-penned comedy songs and ballads- plus a few well-known numbers for members to join in. Andy explains a bit about the instruments he brings – which include several guitars, ukulele and mandolin. With lots of amusing chat and nostalgic anecdotes.
18th November – Christmas Past and Present – Molly Murray
Molly is a very entertaining speaker who has previously delivered talks on her rich and diverse career as a silver spoon waitress. Her talk on how Christmas has changed over the years will resonate with our members.
16th December – Christmas Lunch
20th January 2025– Shakespeare and Me – Jennifer Rigby
Shakespeare and Me is a light-hearted look at Jennifer’s relationship with Shakespeare, from classroom to treading the boards in Stratford upon Avon – this is an incredibly popular talk.
17th February 2025 – AGM
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Past Events: