This month's guest speaker was Marilyn Shalks. In the first of her many excerpts from the silver screen, we saw how Marilyn and her husband greeted each other before breakfast every day. Not many of our members admitted that they too sang ‘Good mornin’ from the…

Jeff Jacklyn - "Life in the NHS - It Only Hurts When I Laugh"

The guest speaker was Jeff Jacklyn, a retired IT Director who served for 30 years in a number of NHS hospitals up and down the country.  He said that the aim of his presentation was to tell us three things; why was the NHS established, what…

Chris Green - Encounters on my Small Wheeled Bicycle

The guest speaker was Chris Green, who presented ‘Encounters on My Small Wheel Bicycle - 1500 Kilometres in South India’ Chris is a member of our u3a branch, as well as what he described as a committed ‘slow cyclist’. He has cycled in India, and other countries over…

The guest speaker in May was Paul Atherton. This presentation originated from his writing course at Lancaster University, entitled ‘Billy’s War’, which was about his father’s experiences during and after World War Two.  Paul recounted the history of Palestine. He began by taking us back as…

Paul Atherton - The Origins of the Arab Israeli Conflict - The British in Palestine 1945/48

John and Mary Lyte - "It Will be Nice When It's Done"

John and Mary Lyte gave this talk. To begin, John said that one of the people who would be mentioned in the presentation would be a famous cricketer, and had a link to what we would see and hear. John and Mary had decided on the…

From Barrow to Baghdad by Philip Caine

The guest speaker was Philip Caine on his second visit to us. Philip’s working life began in the hotel business, beginning a career that spanned over thirty years and across three continents.  His father thought that Philip would start work in the local shipyard, but Philip…

The Assassination of President Kennedy by Pete Mellor

The guest speaker this month was Pete Mellor, who described the events of 22nd November 1963 in Dallas, Texas and the assassination of President Kennedy. He began with an overview of politics and events leading up to this date. In 1962, Kennedy had played a large…

The guest speaker was Christine Leveridge, a local historian and deltiologist - a person who collects and studies postcards as a hobby. Her subject was Halifax Zoo. A show of hands from the audience indicated that not all our members were aware of such an attraction. Christine said…

The November guest speaker was author James Ellson. James began his presentation by telling us why and how he became an author. His first main career was as a police officer, initially joining the Metropolitan Police in London, before transferring to Greater Manchester Police. He became…

Norman Harris, a much-travelled retiree, presented ‘Atlantic to Pacific – The story of the Panama Canal’. Having already completed a journey by that route, Norman set the scene with a short history about when, why, and how, the canal came about.  The country of Panama was…