2017 Events

16th January 2017: ‘Bletchley Park’ – Brian Teall

Our speaker this month was one of our members, Brian Teall, who gave us an interesting talk about the origins of the Enigma Codes and the development of the Colossus machine used to help decipher German radio messages at Bletchley Park during the second world war.

20th February 2017: Coleshill and District U3A’s Annual General Meeting

20th March:  ‘Chatsworth – A Personal View’ – Christine Robinson

Our speaker this month was Christine Robinson who gave us an entertaining talk about her life as Head Housekeeper at Chatsworth House, telling us that all maintenance at the house is done in-house. Christine gave us some personal accounts of her time there and also bought along some artefacts for us to view.

10th April:  ‘Magical Mechanical Music’ – Kevin McElhone

Our speaker this month was Kevin McElhone : Magical Mechanical Music. This was an entertaining talk about early music boxes with demonstrations of tunes played on them and various related items were passed around for us to look at.

15th May: ‘Growing Fuchsias’ – ‘H’ Williamson

One of our members,. ‘H’ Williamson, gave a demonstration and talk on the cultivation of fuchsias, including taking cuttings, growing on and shaping, ie standards, half baskets and bonsia fuchsias. ‘H’ and his wife Ann  also brought  some rooted fuchsia cuttings for sale.

19th June: ‘Judge, Jury, Judgement… Justice?’ – Alan Cutler

Alan’s talk ‘Judge, Jury, Judgement and Justice?’ was a dramatised Edwardian murder trial in which he acted as judge, prosecuting and defence counsels using material taken from transcriptions of a trial. Once all of the facts had been given the jury (U3A audience) passed a verdict of not guilty. Twenty-six people found the defendant guilty of poisoning his wife with arsenic and forty-six gave a not guilty verdict. At the trial in 1922 a verdict of guilty was passed and the defendant was hung.

17th July: ‘Mr. Gayton’s Diary for 1940’ – Glynis Gayton

We were taken through the diary for 1940 chronicling everyday life in a local bakery during the Second World War There were many amusing comments but it reminded us that we should never forget the hardships caused by war. We had an insight to the cost of living, rationing caused by the war and how everyday life carried on. We heard how bread was delivered to surrounding villages despite very heavy snow and eventual flooding. All without the benefit of snowploughs and gritting we expect today. The number of eggs laid by hens, rows of vegetables planted and harvested, children swallowing whistles, extra bread and cakes being baked for special occasions, repairs to the delivery van it was all mentioned.

21st August: ‘Birmingham Samaritans’ – Pam Rutter

Peter introduced our speaker for this month Pam Rutter a volunteer for the Birmingham Samaritans.   Most people have heard about the Samaritans but few realise the extent of the support that they provide. It was founded sixty years ago by Chad Varah a Church of England Rector although the organisation is not a religious group. As a curate one of Chad Varah’s first tasks was to conduct a funeral for a fourteen year old girl who had taken her own life because she had not had any guidance about the changes to her body that puberty bought. Chad Varah decided that decided that offering the chance for anyone with problems to be able to discuss them in a non judgemental way could be of benefit. In 1953 when Chad Varah became Rector of St. Stephen’s in Walbrook he set up a telephone line, believed to be the first telephone helpline in the world, for anyone to ring and talk about their problems. From these beginnings the organisation now has 201 branches around the United Kingdom and although a lot of the work is still done by telephone contact can be made by letter and newer methods of contact such as email or text. The organisation does not offer advice but concentrates on allowing people to talk and hopefully evaluate their problem. Samaritans also give training to prisoners to enable them to help fellow inmates with problems. They also offer training and talks to schools, groups for young people, visit festivals and offer a presence following major disasters such as the recent Manchester Arena and London tower block disasters. Each branch is run as a small charity and raises funds for the running costs. The fund raising varies in different areas, some obtain charitable donations others might have coffee mornings or other fund raising events. All volunteers are given initial training and then follow up training at intervals.

18th September: ‘A Visit from the Medieval Tailor’ – Sarah Thursfield

Sarah gave us a brief history of how the construction of clothes has evolved over time. Samples of linen and woven worsted material that would have been available in medieval times were passed around. We were shown how pattern making for clothes evolved progressing from one straight piece of fabric folded with a hole for the neck and then belted to fit in medieval times to the development of armholes and sleeves and methods of shaping items to fit. Padded linen to wear under armour was shaped by pinning the material directly to the wearer to form a closely fitting shape that was then used to make the final garment. Sarah wore a medieval dress and illustrated her talk with several garments that she has made.

16th October: ‘Shipwrecked in Antarctica’ – Georgina Hale

Our speaker was Georgina Hale who spoke about being shipwrecked in Antarctica. Georgina and her husband were on an exploration icebreaker ship bound for the Antarctic Peninsula in 2007 when the ship was struck and holed by a spur of ice. Her talk included the wonderful places visited during the early part of their trip, and the ordeal they then faced in open lifeboats in one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet.

20th November: ‘Birmingham Royal Ballet’

Jessica Armson gave us the potted history of the Ballet from its origins by Sadler’s Wells in 1931 to 1999 when it became the Birmingham Royal Ballet and through to the day in the life a member today.