Each month we invite a guest to talk at our 'speaker meeting' held on the third Wednesday of the month at 2:30pm. There's a free cuppa to sip before the speaker starts at 3:00pm. As a member of our u3a you will receive the meeting details ahead of time in an email newsletter. Speaker details are published here the week before. In August the meeting also features an exhibition by our groups and a short formal AGM. There is no meeting in December. Prospective members may attend one speaker or group meeting as a trial - on arrival do please introduce yourself to one of the meeting greeters.
all members, and prospective members, are welcome to attend the monthly speaker meeting - no group to join, no booking, just turn up
The current newsletter will have the most up to date detail on our upcoming meeting. Our speakers are booked in advance though changes always occur - so to avoid disappointment, we publish our speaker topics when confirmed and closer to the event.
Here are some PAST MEETINGS with links to a speaker's website or an author's book
Previous events
Wednesday 20th May 2026
2:00 pm
'Songs Through the Ages' is described as a lively exploration of songs from today back to the Middle Ages, with some audience participation.Our speaker is Quintus Benziger, a musician with […]
Wednesday 15th April 2026
2:30 pm
For many centuries the skills of craft industries were controlled by the Livery Companies but their influence faded as Britain became more industrialised. Yet the Livery movement has survived and […]
Wednesday 18th March 2026
2:30 pm
Our speaker is Keith Baldwin aka 'the Tall fellow' (when you see him you will know why. He says he “peaked at 6'4" and is now on the way down”). […]
Wednesday 18th February 2026
2:30 pm
Our speaker is Martin Orkin, who has long-followed, and written about The Beatles and 1960s music. In 1962, the charts were ruled by Elvis Presley, Neil Sedaka, Cliff Richard and […]
Wednesday 21st January 2026
2:30 pm
Peter Barratt is an enthusiastic speaker on the life of his great-grandmother Alice. He gives a fascinating account of one woman’s campaign for equality at the ballot box. Peter Barratt […]
Wednesday 19th November 2025
2:30 pm
Author Suzi Clark talks about her book “Butterflies and Baked Beans”. The book tells a fictional story based around her own life experiences and was inspired by her house being […]
Wednesday 15th October 2025
2:30 pm
Our speaker is Peter Gill - a popular speaker (and musician) on the topic of Surviving The Great War – The Songs, Humour and Words That Kept The Boys Going. […]
Wednesday 17th September 2025
Former solicitor David Allen will take us on a romp through the legal world: drawing on over 25 years as a locum solicitor travelling around the country, encountering raging judges, […]
Wednesday 20th August 2025
Simon Keable-Elliott will explain how he uncovered the true story of Robert Keable* and his scandalous WW1 novel, Simon Called Peter. He discusses the sources he used – including photographs, […]
Venue: Foxton Village Hall
Wednesday 16th July 2025
Local history expert Honor Ridout will give us a whistlestop tour of local history stretching across the millennium of Cambridge's existence, touching not least on town-and-gown relations. Honor Ridout is […]
Wednesday 18th June 2025
2:30 pm
Bill Hamilton gives an affectionate account of his lifetime in journalism. Bill began work as a trainee reporter on the Fife Herald. His career with BBC television news (1979 - […]
Wednesday 21st May 2025
2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Our speaker is the popular Roy Smart talking about "Wallis Simpson and the Abdication Crisis of 1936". Roy’s presentation will explore the historical context of the crisis, the media's handling […]
Wednesday 16th April 2025
2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Andrew Baker will tell us ”The Putin story - how Vladimir Putin and his KGB allies captured the Russian state while enriching themselves, cast democracy aside, reconnected with Russia’s autocratic […]
Wednesday 19th March 2025
2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
“Brian Curtois started his early career as a reporter with a small newspaper in Hornchurch before progressing onto the Ilford Recorder. He moved to Nottingham before returning to London as […]
Wednesday 19th February 2025
2:30 pm
Rachel Meller talked about her book - The Box with the Sunflower Clasp. It is a mixture of history and personal memoir that tells the story of her Viennese family’s […]
Wednesday 15th January 2025
2:30 pm
This talk tells how magicians have appeared in art throughout the centuries, whether in paintings, satirical prints or cartoons. Early artists used the magician to symbolise the mysterious and the […]
Wednesday 27th November 2024
2:30 pm
“Dialect historian Charlie Haylock is known for his entertaining talks, books and CDs. As well as for having trained Ralph Fiennes to perfect the Suffolk dialect on screen in the […]
Wednesday 16th October 2024
2:30 pm
Our monthly speaker meeting is/was on Wednesday 16 October at Talking Point, Melbourn Science Park. Our speaker Dr Seán Lang is an historian, educationist, author and playwright who speaks frequently […]
Wednesday 18th September 2024
2:30 pm
On Wednesday 18 September our speaker is Ray Clark with the title of “Anecdotes of a radio presenter” for which he is well qualified. Ray Clark is an award winning […]
Wednesday 21st August 2024
1:30 pm
Doors open 1:30pm for Groups Fayre; AGM 2:15pm - Talk from 3:00pm Our speaker, Craig Cessford follows our 2024 AGM. Craig has directed numerous excavations in Cambridge over the past […]
Venue: Foxton Village Hall
Wednesday 17th July 2024
2:30 pm
Our speaker is Janet Brewer with the title of ‘Who Built Tutankhamun’s Tomb?’. “Tutankhamun died when he was only about 19 years old, we don’t know how but we do […]
Wednesday 19th June 2024
2:30 pm
Our speaker was Andrew Birks, a local vicar who’d previously worked in the police force. His title is “Police to Priest”. “I talk about growing up in North Northumberland and […]
Wednesday 15th May 2024
2:30 pm
In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko shared a restaurant meal with two Russian agents. Afterwards he fell ill and died some weeks later, becoming the first confirmed victim of the poison polonium-210. His public accusations that Putin was behind his poisoning resulted in worldwide media coverage. Our speaker Paul Barwick served for 34 years in the police, including five years working in intelligence and national security....
Wednesday 17th April 2024
2:30 pm
Our speaker was Alistair Hodgson who told us about Hertfordshire's contribution to aviation history with a talk about The de Havilland Aircraft Company. We heard about the company’s many achievements in the context of the life of its founder, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland. It was 1908 when de Havilland gave up a secure job in the London Omnibus Company to build his own flying machine. This led him, after WWI, to start up his own aircraft company in Edgware and later in Hatfield where it became one of the largest and most innovative aerospace companies in the country...
Wednesday 20th March 2024
2:30 pm
Our speaker was Steve Dimmer whose talk: Ooh matron! a history of the Carry-on films will surely chime with, or tickle many of us. Steve says “One of the most enduring and popular film comedies is the Carry On film. As many as 32 films were made between 1958 and 1992 and their reputation for bawdy fun has never disappeared”. Steve Dimmer took us through the rise of this beloved series, looking at the lives of some of the main players as well as showing clips from some of them. We also examined why the films began to lose popularity as well as the legacy these hilarious comedies have left behind. If you have a funny bone, this talk was for you!”
Wednesday 21st February 2024
2:30 pm
Our speaker this month was the lively Linda Scoles, an American who came to England in 1971 with her children and American Air Force husband. They settled into the village of Gt Barton, Suffolk. Ten years later, when he retired from USAF they elected to stay in the UK.
Linda’s talk ‘Journey to Citizenship’ covered their decision to take on dual nationality and what was involved in becoming a UK citizen. Seemingly every candidate has to take a test and it’s been the same test since 2005. Could you pass it?
Wednesday 17th January 2024
2:30 pm
Our speaker was Professor Steve Bown, a u3a member, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at University College London where he directed medical research for 30 years. Today however he focuses on environmental issues. His presentation will be on Chase Africa, of which he is a trustee. Chase Africa works through partners in Kenya and Uganda, together with the Ministry of Health, to support community-led initiatives in fragile rural environments where there is very limited access to primary health services. Chase Africa enables couples to choose the timing and number of children, and it prevents the pregnancy and birth complications that are a leading cause of death for women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Wednesday 15th November 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s talk, and the last speaker meeting of 2022, offered an ‘Introduction to Wimpole Hall’. Local Wimpole volunteer Richard Priestley covered the history of the building and its owners. He also ‘took us around the house’ and included areas that are not normally on show to the public.
Wednesday 18th October 2023
2:30 pm
October 2023: This month’s talk was Inside the Writer’s Mind - Jean Fullerton’s journey from dyslexic NHS manager to an award-winning author. Her website is jeanfullerton.com & bookshop amazon: Jean […]
Wednesday 20th September 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s invited speaker was Andy Strange who told us about the ‘History of WW2 Airfields in the East of England’. Using South Cambs/North Herts airfields as examples, Andy talked about the RAF and USAAF air war against Germany. For example, in 1939 the RAF had 280 airfields but by the end of the war in 1945 this had risen to 720 airfields nationwide. If you could put all these together, that's enough runway to have a 30 foot wide road from London to Peking!
Wednesday 19th July 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s invited speaker was Barbara Meyer with a talk about wildlife photography. Says Barbara: “My topic Focusing on Wildlife is as much about learning about the big cats and animals in front of the camera as it is about the technical points of taking photos. I use my photography to help wildlife conservation and to teach about animals as subjects."
Wednesday 17th May 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s invited speaker was Dr Helen Fry with a talk titled A very secret war: bugging the Nazis in WWII. Here’s a taster of what we learned:
During WW2, British intelligence bugged the conversations of thousands of German prisoners-of-war at three stately houses: Latimer House and Wilton Park in Buckinghamshire, and Trent Park in North London. Hitler’s Generals, captured on the battlefields, were housed in luxurious conditions and lulled into a false sense of security. They relaxed and became unguarded in their conversations, little realising the house was ‘wired for sound’. They inadvertently gave away some of Hitler’s closely guarded secrets. For over 60 years the secret listeners never spoke about their work, not even to their families. They died, little knowing that they, alongside Bletchley Park, not only...
Wednesday 19th April 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s invited speaker was Paul Earnshaw - a Tesco executive who is responsible for the packaging in Tesco’s Non-Food and Packaged Divisions and is a recognised industry leader in sustainability. Paul talked candidly about the benefits and problems with packaging, plastics and recycling. We learned some surprising facts about what true sustainability really is and (if nothing else) understood more about which bin to put our rubbish in!
During the talk Paul Earnshaw showed some data to put food creation, processing, transport and packaging in perspective. Here is ...
Wednesday 15th March 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s invited speaker was author Clare Mulley who talked about Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children. The meeting was also broadcast via Zoom using a link sent by email.
The Woman Who Saved the Children: 100 years ago, Eglantyne Jebb was arrested in Trafalgar Square for distributing leaflets. It was 1919 and few in London were sympathetic to a woman hoping to help the children of Britain’s former enemies. Nevertheless within weeks the audacious Jebb secured the first donation to her ‘Save the Children’ fund - from the public prosecutor at her trial. Five years later, she drafted the pioneering statement of children’s human rights that has since evolved into the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet she was never particularly fond of individual children. Eglantyne’s inspirational story speaks of the ...
Wednesday 15th February 2023
2:30 pm
This month’s invited speaker was Suzie Harrison who told us about the history of the Cambridge American Cemetery at Madingley. The meeting was also broadcast via Zoom.
Suzie Harrison, interpretive guide for the ABMC* writes: “Why are they buried here?” is a question often heard at Cambridge American Cemetery. This talk will fill in some of the background to the *American Battle Monuments Commission and its beginnings after WWI. ABMC is the American equivalent to our own CWGC. We will then move forward in time to WWII and the cemetery on Madingley Hill in particular:
‘Why is the cemetery here?’
‘Who are they?’
‘Were they brought back from France?’
...
Wednesday 18th January 2023
2:30 pm
Our speaker Sue Paul writes: “A search for the origins of a grandfather left me incurably addicted to family history research. I was side-tracked by the story of Henry Smith, son of Ralph and brother of Samuel, who flourished 1668-1710. He worked for the East India Company towards the end of the seventeenth century and was sacked by the Company on a number of occasions being described as a most notorious, naughty, false, lying fellow. Subsequently, he was incarcerated in Newgate gaol and tried on two counts of piracy, before biting that hand that rescued him and acting undercover in Scotland. My talk is essentially a case study of Henry demonstrating how you can bring to life the story of someone who cannot be found in traditional genealogical records”....
Wednesday 16th November 2022
2:30 pm
Jason Middleton came to speak on The History of Jewellery. He brought a display of his jewellery things so do also come for a look-see. This presentation showed the role that jewellery has played for humanity from the early great civilisations to the modern day: from the incredible jewellery items discovered from Ancient Egypt and the extensive Roman Empire through to the Renaissance, the Victorian Period and industrialisation. He covered renowned periods such as Art Deco, Art Nouveau to the scientific cutting of gemstones and jewellery manufacturing right up to the jewellery we see today. Jason is a professional speaker on this topic, and otherwise acts as an international gemstone buyer.
Wednesday 19th October 2022
2:30 pm
Dr James Taylor is a former curator of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and is a specialist in British propaganda posters of the First and Second World Wars. He will present the remarkable story of Fougasse (real name Cyril Kenneth Bird) who devised Careless Talk Costs Lives, alongside the ingenious artists who created the enduring images of public information for campaigns such as Dig For Victory, Make Do & Mend, Is Your Journey Really Necessary and Keep Calm and Carry On. The talk will feature posters and artworks by H. M. Bateman, Evelyn Dunbar, Abram Games and Dame Laura Knight, among others, and a notable number of a light-hearted and humorous nature.
Wednesday 21st September 2022
2:30 pm
David Fowler talked to us about Sir Joseph Paxton, born Milton Bryan, seventh son of a farmer, who became an English gardener, architect, engineer and Member of Parliament. Sir Joseph Paxton is best known for designing the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition and for cultivating the Cavendish banana, the most consumed banana in the Western world.
A local historian from Bedford, our speaker David Fowler was a Chartered Civil Engineer before he retired. He presently is chair of the Bedford Association of Tour Guides.
Wednesday 17th August 2022
2:30 pm
For our AGM we invited speaker Philip Caine to tell his career story, BARROW TO BAGHDAD and BACK AGAIN. The story starts with him working as a chef and hotel manager, followed by work on oil rigs in the North Sea, and culminates in Dubai where he ran an oil services company. You’ll hear anecdotes and funny tales all through. Born in Barrow-in-Furness in 1950 Philip Caine’s working life took him to Algeria, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Russia and Baghdad. He has now spoken at over 500 UK venues. The very same Philip Caine has written nine adventure thrillers including a series featuring a detective called Shackleton Blister. He also wrote the ‘Jack Castle series’ with titles such as Picnic in Iraq and To Catch a Fox. You can find the books here on
Wednesday 20th July 2022
2:30 pm
Our speaker Lucy Lewis was talking on "A Woman's Life in The Army" with a real life story from someone who has faced real danger.
After training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Lucy Lewis was chosen to become the first woman to operate as a bomb disposal officer with the Royal Engineers. She subsequently served in Northern Ireland, with the Royal Military Police in Germany and the MOD. She was part of a delegation to Jordan hosted by the royal family to advise on merging their male and female armies. As a Mountain Expedition Leader she led expeditions to Sardinia, Iceland and Ecuador. Lucy retired in the rank of Major in 1998 to start a family. In 2018, Lucy became the first woman to be appointed as a Marshal at the University of Cambridge. Lucy’s book, Lighting The Fuse, an Amazon bestseller, reveals the triumphs and the challenges of being a woman in a man’s world.
Wednesday 15th June 2022
2:30 pm
Alan Osborne's topic was about Ada Lovelace (1815 – 1852), daughter of famed poet Lord Byron. You’ll have heard of her - or you won’t. With the title Ada Lovelace, the enchantress of numbers you’ll hear the story of Ada, Countess of Lovelace, who was a mathematical genius. She worked with Charles Babbage the inventor of the world's first mechanical computer and she is credited as having written the world's first computer programme. Babbage was of course a Cambridge graduate.
Our speaker Alan Osborne lives in nearby Sawston. Trained as a design engineer Alan worked in sales at the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company that made medical equipment such as microtomes and electron microscopes
Wednesday 18th May 2022
2:30 pm
Our May ‘Zoom’ speaker was Jo Livingston of Bexley U3A. Her talk was entitled Facing the World and it explained the many problems, and sometimes amusement, caused by the neurological condition, prosopagnosia or face blindness, which affects about 2% of the population. Jo has had the condition all her life and is a director of the support organisation, Face Blind UK.
Wednesday 20th April 2022
2:30 pm
Ian Keable is a man of many parts. He graduated in Philosophy, Economics and Politics, is a Chartered Accountant and a magician. His topic is also the title of his book. ‘The Century of Deception: The Birth of the Hoax in the Eighteenth Century’. The 1700s was a period when the people of England seemed to be especially gullible. They believed a woman could give birth to rabbits; a man could climb inside a two pint bottle and sing inside it; and where a blond-haired European could write a book claiming that he was born in Taiwan. These hoaxes weren't just written about extensively in newspapers and journals but also brilliantly and amusingly depicted by satirical artists such as William Hogarth and James Gillray. In this entertaining talk Ian demonstrates how 18th century hoaxes are memorable not only for their imaginative nature but also because of the differing motives of the tricksters.
Wednesday 16th March 2022
2:30 pm
Our speaker was David Wherrell. David’s title was "Beep Beep, the story of the bubble car”. We were reminded of a form of transport totally unknown to today’s children. And as a bubble car enthusiast David was informative and nostalgic. 'Beep beep' told the story of the microcar or 'bubble car' and earlier 'cycle cars' from the turn of the last century. A microcar is a small or light car with three or four wheels and an engine capacity of 700cc or less. They provided minimalist motoring for those who couldn't afford a full size family car, but who wanted something better than a motorcycle and sidecar. It was after the second World War, when steel and raw materials were in short supply, that the 'bubble cars' helped to mobilise post-war Germany and, during the Suez crisis in the 1950s, became popular in the UK because of their low fuel consumption.
Wednesday 16th February 2022
2:30 pm
“Walt Disney is a name that conjures up magic and happiness. Yet in his life, Disney was constantly battling to attain his visions. Steve Dimmer (right photo) explores the life of the man who brought us Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Fantasia and the theme park empire of Disneyland and the trials he overcame to realise these ambitions. Liberally illustrated with clips from Disneys’ landmark films, the story is one full of triumphs over adversity, sprinkled with anecdotes that will inform, entertain and surprise all Disney admirers”. Our very versatile speaker Steve Dimmer shows his talents at Society Talks.