Brackley U3A Monthly Speaker Meetings
The Monthly Speaker Meetings take place at 09:45 on the 3rd Thursday of each month at Brackley Baptist Church, Waynflete Close, Brackley (NN13 6AE)
Next Monthly Speaker Meeting - (Posted 21/05/2026):
| Thursday 18th June | Peter Gill | “The Wit and Songs of Noel Coward.” | Noel Coward was an actor, writer, composer, director, producer, and in later life painter-and he excelled at them all. He said of himself ‘I am an enormously talented man, and there is no point in denying it’. This is a reminder of that talent and some of the wonderful songs and wit of the ‘Master’. |
Information about all our speakers for 2026 are detailed below.
2026 Meeting Schedule:
| Thursday 15th January | Chris James | "HS2 – Progress update” | Progress update and impact on Brackley & the surrounding villages |
| Thursday 19th February | Colin Wade | "The Joys and Perils of being an author " | The Joys and Perils of being an author that charts his author career, explains his influences and some of the things he wasn't expecting when it came to publishing and selling his books. |
| Thursday 19th March | Jenny Malin | “End of an Era” | In August 1947, two independent nations would be formed - India and Pakistan. Partition allowed for the establishment of two sovereign countries which could pursue their own political economic and social systems. Jenny will deliver a fascinating insight into two families: her parents who emigrated to the UK in 1954 who had to face post war Britain with its rationing and finding their own feet there to her father's baby sister who made the decision to stay in India. We explore the Anglo Indians' sense of belonging to their British ancestry with their family's historical background but also the juxtapose of their stronger feelings of rootedness in clinging to the memories of an India they were accustomed to. |
| Thursday 16th April | Open meeting | 10am, Brackley Baptist Church | Our Open Meeting is a chance for anyone to come along and find out more about Brackley u3a. Lots of our clubs will be represented, so you will have an opportunity to speak to the Convenor of each group to find out a little more about what the group offers. Please do pop in. |
| Thursday 21st May | Jackie Hibbert | “Outlaws, Sheriffs and Wild West Northamptonshire.” | Crime and Punishment in West Northamptonshire in the early 14th century in (with all the gory bits). |
| Thursday 18th June | Peter Gill | “The Wit and Songs of Noel Coward. ” | Noel Coward was an actor, writer, composer, director, producer, and in later life painter– and he excelled at them all. He said of himself ‘I am an enormously talented man, and there is no point in denying it’. This is a reminder of that talent and some of the wonderful songs and wit of the ‘Master.’ |
| Thursday 16th July | Roy Smart | “Out of Africa" | The extraordinary story of a remarkable woman born into rural England but taken to the East Africa Outback by her adventurous father as a young child. Abandoned by her mother, she ran wild with the local people, became one of the first bush pilots who on safari met the future King’s brother, had an intense affair, was bought off by the royal family with a pension for life and then, during the pioneer days of aviation in the 1930s became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west before becoming a great race-horse trainer |
| Thursday 20th August | Jonny Thomson | "The Philosophy of Multisensory Experience" | So much of our age is focused purely on what we see. But all of our senses provide us with a unique angle on the world and each of them provide a key element in meaningful, human relationships—something the always-on-screen visual age cannot substitute for. Jonny Thomson is a bestselling author of three books, a columnist at Big Think, a TEDx speaker, and the founder of Mini Philosophy—a thriving community of 800,000 curious minds, with 15,000 newsletter subscribers. His book “Mini Philosophy” has been translated into 22 languages, and he’s known all over the world for making philosophy accessible, relatable, and fun. |
| Thursday 17th September | Local Organisations | Local Organisations | The meeting is to inform our members of ways that local organisations can help them, and we have speakers coming from two organisations: Lynne Fox will talk about the importance of defibrillators. Joanne Barlow will talk about fraud and scam prevention. |
| Thursday 15th October | Stephen Barker | "Women in the First World War" | This talk looks at lesser known themes such as health, morality and social freedom, as well as women's’ changing roles in the conflict through contemporary cartoons. |
| Thursday 19th November | Carl Whitmore | “Scott of the Antarctic” | Was he truly a British hero, or was his attempt on the South Pole always doomed to failure because of his own incompetence? |
| Thursday 17th December | Xmas Social |
Previous Speakers:
January 2025 Speaker Meeting - Peter Gill - Musical Comedy in the 20th Century.
96 Members attended today’s U3A monthly meeting at Brackley Parish Church for a most entertaining presentation on Musical Comedy in the 20th Century.
October 2024 Speaker Meeting – Alex Ledger: - Blue Peter
A most interesting talk with plenty of interesting ‘inside’ stories. Alex was a producer and director on Blue Peter for 30 years and was responsible for many of the programmes filmed on location. He talked about what happened behind the scenes at the Blue Peter studios and also covered highlights of some of the 80 plus features films he worked on with the BBC team. We also saw some of the original footage of the famous scenes with the baby elephant (remember when it peed and poo’d) and John Noakes up Nelsons Column!
September 2024 Speaker Meeting
Our planned speaker was stuck in traffic problems and was unable to get here.
So two of our members stepped in without any preparation.
(1) Lynn Fox, who retired from the NHS, gave a talk and demonstration on how to assist someone who was “Choking”. Janet Blunden, our Blue Sash team leader, volunteered to be Lynn’s model to demonstrate what to do.
(2) Ken Smith, our Honorary President, then gave a presentation on “Artificial Intelligence – should we be scared?” He gave 24 examples of AI and he made people aware of what is going on in this subject.
July 2024 Speaker Meeting - Carl Whitmore presented - ‘Jack the Ripper – Who Dun It?’
The Whitechapel Murders in Victorian London are the greatest 'Who dun it' in criminal history with the perpetrator never being caught. This talk looked at the case and tried to come up with a potential solution. Carl gave us several alternatives as to who might have committed these evil murders. Was it? Or even? - we all had our own ideas but will we ever know the truth? I doubt it. Well done, Carl, you certainly made us all think! A great presentation.
June 2024 Speaker Meeting - Phillip Caine presented - ‘From Barrow to Baghdad’
Born in 1950, in Barrow-in- Furness Philip’s working life began in the hotel business. His career developed in the oil industry and 30 years were spent in places such as the North Sea, Algeria, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Russia. From 2003, he spent 7 years in post war Baghdad working with the American coalition and a further 3 years running oil services companies in Dubai. He retired in 2015 and began writing and public speaking. Since then, he has spoken at over 500 venues all over the UK and written 9 adventure thrillers. All Philip’s books are available in Paperback, eBook and Audio format. Philip’s talk started with him leaving school … he talked about how his career began as a chef and hotel manager … then 17 years working the oil rigs in the North Sea, followed by operating projects in Algeria and Nigeria. His time in Kazakhstan & Russia was particularly exciting … not to mention the most dangerous place of all …. Baghdad!
May 2024 Speaker Meeting - Roy Smart presented - The Last Naval Hero, David Earl Beatty
For those who couldn’t make it, you missed what was probably one of the best presentations, ever! We heard about Beatty’s astonishing climb to fame and fortune and his involvement in the Battle of Jutland leading to the death of over 3,000 British sailors but the surrender of the German fleet. He became immensely rich and had a Downton Abbey life style with his hedonistic, American, socialite wife, Ethel, Countess Beatty, which was marred by marital strife and scandal.
April 2024 Speaker Meeting - Peter Barratt Presented - My Suffragette Grandmother
Peter, the great-grandson of a suffragette Alice Hawkins told us the story of his relative's “inspirational” life. Alice Hawkins was originally a machinist at a boot maker in Leicester who fervently campaigned for equal pay before getting involved with the suffragette movement in the early 1900s. Although imprisoned several times she continued to fight on until her death in 1946. Peter says: “Her life was fascinating, she wasn’t your typical suffragette, she was a poor working-class socialist who joined the movement in her mid-40s”. (A great family story that everyone I spoke to thoroughly enjoyed. Terry)
March 2024 Speaker Meeting - Barbara Meyer Presented – Wildlife Conservation
Barbara's knowledge about wildlife conservation is based on her work with trail cameras in the East Midlands, her research of issues for British wildlife and big cats for publications plus her visit to South Africa, where she explored different approaches to wildlife conservation. This excellent talk, along with her own absolutely stunning photographs, looked at issues for wildlife in their natural environment and the work, which is done by conservation groups to help different wildlife species in different ways, including rehabilitating and managing natural habitat areas. The Q&A following the presentation showed just how many of our members are interested in Wildlife Conservation.
February 2024 Speaker Meeting - Joanna Bogle - Britain’s Traditional Feasts & Seasons
What a talented and learned lady. A brilliant informative and at times humorous presentation that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
January 2024 Speaker Meeting - Peter Gill - "Surviving The Great War –The Songs, Humour and Words That Kept the Boys Going"
A wonderful presentation in words, music and visuals exploring how the Arts helped those embroiled in the devastation of the First World War to survive to the end of the day, or perhaps the week, or even to come home safely again. So many of you took the time to come and say just how much you enjoyed this talk today, ‘the best ever’, so many of you said.
