u3a Core meetings allow all members to meet together as a single group, develop friendships, catch up on news, exchange ideas, and feel valued as part of a local community.
Our Core meetings take place on the second Monday of each month. We meet at at 13:45 for a prompt start at 14:00 in the Bentley Heath Community Centre, finishing by 16:00 at the latest.
The meeting starts with a welcome from our Chair, followed by the main topic of the meeting; a talk by a guest speaker on a topic chosen to be of interest to our membership. Over the years we have had a very wide range of talks and presentations, exemplified by some of the reports of ‘Recent meetings’ below. On some occasions, particularly in December, we have a more social party instead. We always break for refreshments partway through the afternoon, and this provides an opportunity for meeting other members.
Potential new members are always encouraged to come along for a ‘taster core meeting' and we have a good reputation for making them feel very welcome.
Forthcoming meetings
Recent meetings
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Art In Depth
This month our Core Meeting talk was given by one of our own members: Terry Powderhill.
He introduced his talk thus...
"Sculptors have it easy: they make 3-dimensional models of 3-dimensional subjects – simple! Graphic artists, on the other hand, have a much more difficult job; they also have 3-dimensional subjects, but their images are only 2-dimensional, and that is a BIG problem!"
This fully-illustrated talk was about the tools and techniques that artists have discovered and used to try to re-create the impression of the missing 3rd dimension of depth in their artworks. It spanned the history of art from cave paintings to Virtual Reality, and took as case-studies some iconic images that we all recognized.
The audience got involved in various informative experiments and demonstrations.
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Humorous Monologues
Jennifer Rigby performs Stanley Holloway's “The Lion and Albert” Actor and raconteur Jennifer Rigby treated us to her delightful renditions of monologues by luminaries such as Joyce Grenfell, Stanley Holloway and Pam Ayres along with memories of her own childhood. It was a lovely afternoon.
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Christmas
84 members enjoyed our Christmas Party in December. Pam gave us her legendary Christmas Quiz, (2 winning teams!) and members of the Play reading group performed ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’. After prosecco and mince pies Raye and Maria taught us to sing a round and we finished with Christmas songs with the help of the Technology Group. The garden group made beautiful table decorations and many people helped with refreshments and arrangements to create a lovely festive afternoon. Thank you Everyone!
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Victorian and Edwardian Buildings of Birmingham and the West Midlands
Tim Bridges works as a Conservation adviser for the Victorian Society, representing our region. The Victorian Society is a National Charity campaigning for the Victorian and Edwardian historic environment. Tim spoke about his case work and current campaigns for buildings of local interest, including examples from Solihull.
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Unknown Iran
Javad Hashemi At our October Core meeting we were delighted to welcome Dr. Javad Hashemi-Tafreshi to talk about ‘Unknown Iran’. Dr. Hashemi began with a quick history of the different invasions and changes in rulers that led to seven capital cities in Iran. He then advised us to sit back in our seats and enjoy a photographic tour of these 7 cities, as if we were in a luxury coach. We began in Tehran and progressed to Nishapur, Mashad, Isfahan, Persepolis, Hamedan, and finally, Tabriz. We saw the mountain behind Tehran, the Persian art from Isfahan, saffron gathering, pomegranates, wine from Armenia and saw the people and their customs. We went on to follow the story up to 1979, the Iranian Revolution when the Islamic Republic came into being. Then we discussed education and women's culture in Iran, among other questions. It was a very enlightening talk.
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The Inner Circle
Speakers: David & Pam Humphries
This month, we were taken on a virtual tour of the Birmingham No.8 bus route, which weaves its way around the inner suburbs of the City. Taking alternate sections of the route, David and Pam described the streets and landmarks of the tour, illustrated with photographs from the past decades and beyond to the present day.
We travelled with them from Saltley through Bordesley, Small Heath, Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath, Five Ways, Jewellery Quarter, Lozells, Ashted, and back to Saltley, recounting the history of people and places along the way - a wonderful hour of nostalgia for anyone who knows the area.