Our annual theme this u3a year is Extraordinary People. Presentations are given monthly on Friday mornings in the Barley Room at Farnham Maltings, starting at 10.30 a.m. and lasting approximately one hour. Please note, however, that the Christmas Event starts at 2.00 p.m. All members are welcome.
The room capacity is 100 and admittance will be on a first-come first-served basis.
| Date | Speaker | Title | Description |
| 20 Sep 2024 | Mike Grundy | Sir Eduardo Paolozzi | A pioneer of UK Pop Art, Paolozzi became one of the leading artists, mosaicists and sculptors of the post-war period. His large-scale public commissions transformed and enhanced key London spaces e.g. the British Library, Design Museum, Euston station and Tottenham Court Road Tube station. |
| 25 Oct 2024 | Richard Thomas | Admiral Lord Thomas Cochrane (1775- 1857) | One of Nelson’s admirals, and one of Britain’s most extraordinary naval heroes, named ‘Loup des Mers’ by Napoleon. Also worked with Brunel on a number of inventions and entered Parliament as a reformer, becoming a good friend to William Cobbett. |
| 22 Nov 2024 | Laurence Anslow | Winston Spencer Churchill | In this, the 150th year and month of Churchill’s birth, Laurence looks at those writers who influenced Churchill’s ideas and literary output, how he produced an income from his own published works, and his Official Biography, composed over many years following his death in 1965. |
| 20 Dec 2024 | Andy Wood | Christmas Event | An afternoon of music, humour and drama presented by Andy, Richard and friends. |
| 17 Jan 2025 | Andrew Morgan | Michael Collins, Irish Republican | A participant in the Easter Rising and one of the founders of The Irish Free State, Michael Collins was the son of a poor farmer from County Cork. He rose from these difficult circumstances to be one of the men who shaped modern Ireland. Charismatic and ruthless, focused on the prize of an Irish Republic, which sadly he didn’t live to see. |
| 07 Feb 2025 | Chris Herbert | Louisa Twining | A courageous and canny Victorian social reformer and a member of the famous tea family, who devoted her life to improving the conditions of the workhouse poor. |
| 14 Mar 2025 | Adrian Martin | Great Musicians | Music is an integral part of most of our lives – find out who are the greatest and see if you agree! |
| 25 Apr 2025 | Peter Duffy | Isabella of Spain | A woman ruler in her own name in what was totally a man’s world, creator of the modern idea of Spain, of “Hispanidad”, of the Spanish empire and the mother of three queens (those of Portugal, England and Burgundy). |
| 23 May 2025 | Alan Freeland | Catherine the Great | Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be ruled by someone with intelligence, charm, empathy, oodles of love, and an ability to fashion a Golden Age. Be careful what you wish for. |
| 20 Jun 2025 | Lorna Thomas | Gertrude Bell | The Daughter of the Desert. Simultaneously an Iraqi nationalist and a British imperialist. Described by some contemporaries as an arduous and dangerous adventurer – who was the real Gertrude Bell? |
Use the buttons below to see the 2024/25 events programme
Key Dates Theme Meetings Monthly Meetings Social Events Events Calendar