Wednesday 3rd April 2019 – What is Science and How do we Use it? In April our own Professor Bill Hale discussed the topic of “what is science” based on his work with government and academic research councils and involvement with many research laboratories.  With a wide range of examples, and a number of the more amusing aspects… Read More »

This year’s Summer Social held on 31 August was a sell out evening with great entertainment provided by local guitarist/singer Ken Waters. We quickly forgot our SUMMERTIME BLUES as he had us singing along and dancing to lots of our favourites tunes! The whole evening was superbly arranged by Val and her subcommittee. Last Updated – Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Despite the very poor weather, we had a great 15th Birthday Celebration. Although we couldn’t go ahead with the Ladies Footie Penalty Shoot Out (too wet!), the following groups displayed their wonderful wares – textiles, painting, local history, and digital photography, and we even had the chance to try out mahjong and some chess puzzles. It is amazing… Read More »

English Medieval Cathedrals, from the Wash to the River Severn Speakers: Peter Goodrich, Peter Gateley and Peter Hatfield 23rd January Norwich Cathedral talk. Norwich Cathedral timeline 27th March Ely Cathedral talk. Ely Cathedral timeline 24th April Peterborough Cathedral talk. Peterborough Cathedral Timeline 1st May Visit to Manchester Cathedral and other historic buildings. Details 22nd May Gloucester Cathedral talk. Gloucester Cathedral Timeline 26th June… Read More »

We had a splendid day at Penrhyn Castle, a National Trust venue in Bangor with gardens, a nature walk, a railway museum and a stylish interior. After the castle visit, we stopped off for a 2-course meal on the return journey, which was appreciated by everyone. Photographs by Bill Fitzpatrick. Last Updated – Thursday, August 23, 2018

The French Conversation Tuesday group prepared for the Festive Season with some fancy face decorations! Last Updated – Saturday, December 30, 2017

Some photos from early in 2016: Last Updated – Friday, December 22, 2017

Wednesday 1st November – The Cleaning up of the Mersey Basin, 1980 – 2005 – David Moore This span of time covers the period from when the Mersey was regarded as one of the most polluted rivers in Europe with virtually no aquatic life to when there are now over 40 different species of breeding fish resident in… Read More »

Wednesday 4th October – “Special Earth” – the Scientific case – Edmund Moynihan Edmund prepared a version of this talk for Southport Astronomical Society, so we were delighted to receive a preview. His Special Earth presentation covered: The Solar System Recent discoveries about exo-planets, etc The history of astro-biology Mars as a case study The special characteristics of… Read More »

Dr Colin Wright was the speaker on 7th September 2017. He gave a fascinating talk and demonstration of juggling and some of the maths behind the art. Here are the links to the YouTube videos of his talk: Colin Wright, juggler and mathematician – part 1 (30 minutes) Colin Wright, juggler and mathematician – part 2 (30 minutes)… Read More »

Wednesday 6th September – “The Digital Revolution” – Dave Sutton Dave Sutton is a major contributor to an initiative called “Southport 2030” aimed at helping Southport and Sefton prepare for the future as it is likely to be in 2030. This is the date when the “4th Industrial Revolution” is likely to be widely acknowledged by its effects… Read More »

Wednesday 5th July 2017 – COACH VISIT to the Lion Salt Works and the Anderton Boat Lift We had a very successful visit to two local heritage attractions in the summer Last Updated – Friday, August 25, 2017

Wednesday 3rd May 2017 – Connected Health Cities – Debbie Parkinson (Debbie Parkinson is the Patient and Public Involvement Lead for the Innovation Agency North West Coast) The Connected Health Cities pilot project in this area is being delivered by the Innovation Agency North West Coast, which is the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for the area. It… Read More »

Wednesday 1st March 2017 – 50 Shades of Grey: The Fascinating World of Radiology – Professor Gill Baynes Gill Baynes of Lancaster U3A gave a fascinating talk about the difficulties of interpreting medical x-rays and problems in deciding treatments based on medical scans and diagnostics. Interspersed with scans of all types, this was a humorous overview of the various… Read More »

Wednesday 1st February 2017 – Britain’s Industrial Decline – Edmund Moynihan Edmund, like many U3A members, had worked for some failed major British companies e.g. in textiles and polymers. Drawing on his experience with these companies, and his interest in historical developments in science and engineering, Edmund espoused his view of what actually happened and why. His talk… Read More »

This was a first for the group and a Comedy Farce in classic Brian Rix style, set in a large house in a remote village: a clinic that offers sanctuary, rest and relaxation therapy to celebs, but has seen better days with just two celebrities. Meanwhile in the same village there is an old folks home. Absolute chaos then… Read More »

Wednesday, 7th December 2016 – Christmas Cheer 2016 The Science Group finished off a very successful and enjoyable year with mulled wine, mince pies, Christmas cake and stollen, and some lighthearted Science thrown in for good luck! After a warming glass of Patsy’s extra special mulled wine, Marguerita got the afternoon off to a convivial start with a “Piecing the Puzzle”… Read More »

Wednesday, 5th October 2016 – The Greening of Birkdale Beach – Phil Smith Phil is an expert on the ecology of the Sefton Coast, and has previously given us a beautifully illustrated talk about dragonflies. He was due to give a talk about the protected Natterjack Toad, until his computer “had a meltdown” as he put it. Instead, Phil gave… Read More »

Wednesday, 7th September 2016 – Chemistry, Colour, Paper and Cloth – Marguerita McBride Our colourful world is amazing and yet it took lots of experimentation through hundreds of years to develop techniques for colouring paper, cloth and, more recently, to have coloured plastics, even coloured bubbles.  Modern techniques and materials have allowed for an explosion of colour. Dyes,… Read More »

Wednesday, 6th July 2016 – The Development of the Road Racing Bike since 1945 – Bill Soens Bill really does know a lot about how bikes have changed over the years, being not only a keen rider but having run his own bike shop called Eddie Soens, of Boaler St, Liverpool, where he hand built over 800 bikes over… Read More »

Wednesday, 1st June 2016 – Defying Dementia: from Compound to Clinic – Dr Penny Foulds Dr Foulds, an Honorary Researcher at Lancaster University, gave a most interesting and useful talk about their efforts to develop a new treatment for dementia. Last Updated – Wednesday, July 6, 2016

  January 2015 Tour to London: January 2014 Tour to Edinburgh: The tour based in Edinburgh, stayed at the Hilton Grosvenor on a half board basis. The programme included a special access visit to Sir Walter Scott’s Gothic fantasy country home Abbotsford, the January exhibition of Turner watercolours at the National Gallery, Holyrood Palace, the Queen’s Gallery, the… Read More »

Wednesday, 4th May 2016 – Lunacy about the Moon – Edmund Moynihan “Ex Luna Scientia” (“Knowledge from the Moon”): this motto from Apollo 13 summarises Edmund’s presentation, in which he examined what we know scientifically about the Moon, and some of the crazy ideas about our only natural satellite. Besides the basic science of the Moon, Edmund talked about The work… Read More »

Wednesday, 6th April 2016 – the Internet of Things (IoT) – by Alan Nolan We had hoped to have a speaker from another local U3A to talk about the “Internet of Things” but he had to withdraw. We then hoped to have someone involved in the burgeoning IoT movement in Liverpool to come and speak but didn’t manage to get him either. In the… Read More »

Wednesday, 2 March 2016 – Radioactivity (or how to love the atom) – by Jack Brettle Jack gave a highly informative and entertaining talk about Radioactivity. He explained just what radiation is, the different types of radiation, and where it comes from.  We encounter it in many forms not only in reactors and bombs, but also in medical instruments such… Read More »

Wednesday, 3 February 2016 – The Development of the Mersey Chemical Industry – Paul Davies One of our own members, Paul was a senior manager in the Health and Safety Executive. Since retiring he has taken a great interest in the Chemical Industry on Merseyside. He illustrated his talk with nuggets of information that only a keen researcher would… Read More »

Wednesday, 6 January 2016 – Science in Art – Patsy Colvin Although Science and Art seem to be diametrically opposed, with the advent of new techniques science can be used to study paintings and gain insight into the methods used in the past by artists. These techniques can also be used to detect forgeries or show that suspect paintings… Read More »

The U3A is very much about sharing knowledge among members, and what better example than in the Digital Keyboard Music group. Last Updated – Wednesday, December 16, 2015

FutureLearn is an offshoot of The Open University providing online courses in a wide range of subjects, many of a scientific nature. The aim is to connect learners from all over the globe with high quality educators, and with each other. Courses are delivered one step at a time, and are accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop, so you can fit… Read More »

  Wednesday, 4 November 2015 – Mobile Phones and Sunbeds Are you worried by what you see written in the press about the danger of radiation from mobile phones, or mobile phone masts? Are you less worried about the possible dangers from sunbeds? Those who attended the talk by Professor Peter Cole will have been reassured about one of these, and… Read More »

Wednesday, 7th October 2015 – Space Weather and the Earth’s Magnetic Shield – Prof. John Shaw The Earth’s magnetic field shields the Earth from the solar wind and high energy particles that are released from the sun during solar storms. Is the magnetic shield constant or does it change, can it collapse completely? What do we know about the behaviour… Read More »

Wednesday, 2nd September 2015 – Himalayan Medicine – Dr John Winter John Winter is the author of “Aiming High, Overland to the Himalayas” Aiming High – Overland to the Himalayasand a local member. He travelled to Everest, Annapurna and Indrasan in the nineteen seventies as a newly qualified medic to help with the treatment of climbers suffering from altitude sickness.… Read More »

Wednesday, 1st July 2015 – Predators in Liverpool Bay – Mathew Clough Mathew Clough is Director of the Liverpool Bay Marine Life Trust, and came along to tell us about the seals, cetaceans and sharks on our own doorstep. Liverpool Bay is often forgotten in regard to its marine life and there is an image of it being polluted. Hard… Read More »

Wednesday, 3rd June 2015 – Solar Eclipses – Phillip Pendred Last year Phillip talked to us about ‘Time’, or the measurement of time to be precise, illustrating his talk with some wonderful slides. This year he gave us a very instructive talk about Solar Eclipses – how they come about, why they last for varying lengths of time, why they don’t… Read More »

Wednesday, 6th May 2015 – “How do we know where we are?” – Prof Matthew Nolan Matthew (Alan’s nephew) is Chair of Neural Circuits and Computation, University of Edinburgh Centre for Integrative Physiology, whose research is interested in the mechanisms used within the brain to mediate cognitive processes and guide learned behaviours! Matthew gave an extremely interesting talk about how… Read More »

Wednesday, 1st April 2015 – Forensic Geology – Dr Maggie Williams Dr Williams, from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool, gave us an insight into the science of Forensic Geology and how it is applied in the investigation of crime scenes. Last Updated – Sunday, January 24, 2016

Wednesday, 4th March 2015 – Lovey Dovey – Graham Cawdell, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Whiston Hospital. Graham came along to tell us about breeding, egg laying, incubation, feeding, nurturing and fledging in birds. Many of these things vary greatly from one species to another, and there seems to be an almost limitless number of combinations, each designed to ensure the continuity of that species… Read More »

Wednesday, 4th February 2015 – Chemical Elements part 2 – this was a joint effort by 6 of our members, each talking for 10 minutes on their chosen element. It was the second session on chemical elements, the first one being last June. February’s line-up was: Frank Wood – Silicon John Appleton – Lead Ann Parker – Hydrogen Allan Yates – Polonium Bill Hale – Iridium Sue Watkinson –… Read More »

Wednesday, 7th January 2015 – It’s a Materials World! by Jack Brettle What is your view of history? What do historians think drives the development of human society? Is it economic, political, religious or sociological forces? Jack Brettle posed these questions, but suggested that historians have got it all wrong and that human development is down to new materials technologies!… Read More »