Speaker Meetings are back!
The following dates have been confirmed – these meetings will all take place via Zoom, for Aughton & Ormskirk u3a members, at 11 am on the date shown. Put the dates in your diary and email speakerteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk to register your interest, including a phone number please. I will send you the meeting codes in due course.
If you don’t feel comfortable using Zoom, help is at hand! Follow this link to see what’s available: Zoom Support Page
Note: Some devices have trouble linking directly to your email using links on our website such as the above. In this case, just load your email app and copy or type the address into the To field and carry on with your reservation.
4th March Stephen Wells: The Curious Incident of Agatha Christie
1st April Andrew Thwaite: Title to be confirmed, but definitely chocolate related!
3rd June Fool’s Gold: Musical duo
8th July Carolyn Kirby: Women with Wings
Stephen Wells talks about The Curious Incident of Agatha Christie
On Thursday 4th March professional entertainer Stephen Wells will speak to us on ‘The Curious Incident of Agatha Christie’.
On December 3, 1926 the then 36-year-old Christie left her home in Sunningdale and drove her Morris Cowley towards Surrey. The next morning the vehicle was found abandoned with a fur coat and a driving licence left inside.
Her disappearance sparked an extensive manhunt, with over 1,000 police officers and 15,000 volunteers searching for the author, as well as newspaper adverts urging any members of the public with information to come forward.
This fascinating talk looks in detail at what really happened, takes an in depth look at her most famous novels and examines the famous portrayals of her celebrated detectives Miss Jane Marple and the Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.
Stephen has appeared on numerous television and radio shows and has also worked extensively for cruise lines such as Cunard and P&O. He has been a member of the Magic Circle for 45 years and regularly speaks to u3a, Probus and WI groups in the Yorkshire area. Do make a note in your diary for what promises to be a very entertaining talk!
Andrew Thwaite
Thursday 1st April will see the welcome return of chocolatier Andrew Thwaite, who entertained us in 2019 with a demonstration of chocolate making, accompanied by amusing anecdotes and samples at the end. At the time of writing Andrew has not confirmed the title of his talk, but it is sure to be equally entertaining.
On Thursday 6th May we will welcome Mason Bee expert John Whittles, who will explain the importance of this tiny, endangered creature, and how we can help safeguard its existence. Mason Bees are gentle, solitary bees who make their nests in hollow spaces, not in hives. They are very important and efficient pollinators, and their numbers are in decline.
On Thursday 3rd June we will be entertained by Fool’s Gold, alias Carol and Steve Robson. Carol and Steve have been performing their unique shows for some while – long enough to rack up over 100
Carol and Steve Robson
0 performances which have been delivered to audiences all over the UK. Since the pandemic began, they have adapted their performances so that they can be delivered very effectively via Zoom.
Steve and Carol write:
Dark Light is the new Fool’s Gold zoom show for 2021. It has been created as a wholly new show specifically for Zoom using some of the clever functions available to build a fascinating and creative show. This time we have connected the songs to one story: a fascinating mystery based on a wholly true history from 1900 … and it’s amazing how many songs of the time that you will know, smile, and sing!
Many of you will remember Carolyn Kirby, who spoke to us last year about the background to her first book, The Conviction of Cora Burns. Carolyn will be speaking to us via Zoom on Thursday 8th July on
Carolyn Kirby
the subject of the background to her new book, When We Fall. A gripping second world war thriller, When We Fall was chosen by The Times and Sunday Times as one of the ten best historical novels of 2020, and is due to be re-launched in the spring.
Carolyn says: “This illustrated talk tells the story of how I came to write When We Fall through the lives and careers of four female pilots of World War II.
The original inspiration for my novel lay with the amazing airwomen of Air Transport Auxiliary who overcame many barriers to fly warplanes from factories to RAF airfields during the war. My talk will focus on three of these women, including Amy Johnson, highlighting the glamour, excitement and daily dangers they faced in the skies above wartime Britain.
Flying in even more perilous skies was the Polish air force pilot, Janina Lewandowska, the real life character who is at the heart of the fictional story of When We Fall.
Janina was a pioneering aviator and the only female victim of the notorious 1940 massacres of Polish prisoners of war by the Soviet Union at Katyn – the real event that underpins my novel.
Using photographs and visuals, I will explain how, over more than ten years of writing, my novel was shaped by the lives and fates of these remarkable women.”
The talk will be followed by an audience Q & A and a chance to buy a signed copy of the novel.
Full details will be published nearer the time, but in the meantime, if you are interested in watching any of these talks, please email speakerteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk, and I will send you the links in due course.
I will post further updates as and when I am able to confirm them.
Pam Ball
See Pam’s Past Speaker Meetings for info on last year’s events.
Please email any ideas for Future Speaker Meetings to Pam Ball, our Speaker Meeting Organiser, at:
speakerteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk or phone 07974 749362.