Lectures 2024 - 2025

Thursdays at 2.00pm in St Barnabas Church Hall, Main Street, Swanland.   Click on image for directions

Lecture meetings are held at 2.00pm on the first and third Thursdays in each month from September to July, afterwards there is tea/coffee and biscuits and a chance to catchup with our members.

To read a Speakers Biography please click on Speakers Name if link available. We have a few recordings of the Lectures done during the covid crisis, you can check 2020 / 2021 lecture pages for them by going on the menu and clicking the Lectures Tab.

Date: Speaker: Subject: About:
05th September 2.00pm John Wilson Bread  John’s topic is ‘Bread’, something that we are all familiar with, but probably do not think much about. For many years John has searched for the perfect loaf, have you found yours?
19th September 2.00pm Dr Richard Hodgskinson Uncomplicating Mental Health Uncomplicating Mental Health: Insights from Socrates, Our Apes Ancestors, and Recovering Addicts.
Richard will take us on a whistle stop tour of our fascinating evolution as human beings and what part our emotions have played in our development. The experiences of recovering addicts offer insights into enhancing mental health and why being a recovering alcoholic might not be as bad as it sounds.
03rd October 2.00pm Jan & Grahame Shelley Hearing Dogs for the Deaf  Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Beck’s role is to attend events to show how Hearing Dogs are trained and what they can do for a deaf or hearing-impaired partner. Beck became an ambassador in 2018, since when he has travelled thousands of miles spreading the word about Hearing Dogs.
17th October 2.00pm Nigel Willoughby & Julian Savory From Coreli to Cowboys.  Music from Corelli to Cowboys, to set your emotions soaring and feet tapping.
07th November 2.00pm A representative of Mary’s Meals.
Fran Lawson		 Mary’s Meals  “Mary’s Meals” is a UK based Charity providing life-changing school meals to some of the world’s poorest children to attract them into the classroom where they can gain an education and a brighter future. An opportunity to learn more about this charity and its work.
21st November 2.00pm Paul Chambers The Rent's on the table  - experiences of a trainee housing manager.
05th December 2.00pm Dr Kevin Byron What Inspires Art What Inspires Art? This presentation will first explore the nature and nurture of creativity, and then show some commonly occuring patterns of creative ideas that appear across a broad spectrum of activity from art to science. Awareness of these patterns can enhance our own creativity and help with finding novel ideas in virtually any human activity. The second half of the presentation will focus more on creativity in everyday life in the contexts of art and stories, and discuss a variety of sources of inspiration described by over a hundred artists, sculptors and photographers. .
19th December 2.00pm Choir Christmas Concert
02nd January 2025 2.00pm Kevin Sherman Eggs, Embryos and Origami  The journey we all undertake pre-birth
16th January 2.00pm Anne Sherman :nbsp;The joys (or otherwise) of being a Genealogist  
06th February 2.00pm Phil Walker  How to be a Yorkshireman/woman  Due to ill health our original speaker Bernard Bale cannot attend so Phil Walker, at very short notice, has agreed to step in.
20th February 2.00pm  Members Event.  Getting to Know You.  A members event with refreshments and conversation.
06th March 2.00pm  John Scobie  Thornton Le Dale Ukelele Strummers.  A group raising funds for charities.
Entertaining, fun, a range of music and instruments. So farthey have raised £100,000 for charity.
20th March 2.00pm Chair: Alison Peck Annual General Meeting  Phil Walker will give a light hearted talk "It's a Funny Old World after the AGM.
03rd April 7.00pm  John Godber  'It wasn't meant to be funny'  a consideration of the serious matter of comady.
17th April 2.00pm Colin Bradshaw  Britain's Wildflowers,
True, False and Unbelievable.		  Colin Bradshaw, is a geographer and gives various talks on Natural History and Beverley.
01st May 2.00pm Philip Caine  Barrow to Baghdad and back again.  Philip Caine is a Novelist and Speaker who has written 9 adventure novels, mainly based on his experiences working in the oil industry in the North Sea and Middle East.
15th May 2.00pm Brian Daniels  The trial and tribulations of a theatre producer.  Brian Daniels is an established and award-winning playwright and theatre practitioner. He has worked with many well-known performers and actors and produced more than 200 plays.
05th June 2.00pm Graham Lewis  The Price of Friendship
Bertie, Prince of Wales. Scandal at the highest levels, and a local connection. 		 Graham Lewis born a Lancastrian, Degree from Hull University inPhilosophical Theology, a plethora of careers, including teaching and local government, and a lifelong interest in history.
19th June 2.00pm Dave Roberts  'The Blunt end of the Grid:,br>Motor Racing with a Middle-Aged Fantasist'
The experiences and ups-and-downs of racing life		  Dave Roberts built a kit car and took it motor racing.
After 13 seasons of motor racing, he wrote a book about his experiences 'The Blunt End of the Grid' which was shortlisted for the RAC Motoring Book in 2019.
03rd July 2.00pm Bernard Bale  Hot Off the Presses  Bernard Bale is a former Fleet Street journalistand BBC broadcaster and author.
17th July 2.00pm Su3a  Social Event  Tea / Coffee and biscuits, discussion and quiz.
August 2.00pm NO MEETINGS!