u3a

Milford On Sea

Historical Topics 2

Status:Active, full but can join waiting list
Contact:
Group email: Historical Topics 2 group
When: Monthly on Monday afternoons 14:00-16:00
2nd Monday
Venue: Beach House

An alternative and refreshing way of looking at History. We pick a year and everyone chooses a topic relevant to a period within 5 years either side of this date to research and to talk about at the next meeting. At our first meeting in January 2019 we picked 1945 and topics included:- Rationing (buff, green & blue books), War Artists (many famous names including Lowry & Sutherland), Utility Furniture/clothes/pottery, the bombing of Dresden, the disappearance of US Navy Flight 19 over the Bemuda Triangle and inventions, notably the first computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer (ENIAC), it weighed 30tons, covered 1800sq ft, failed daily and was less powerful than a modern smart watch weighing a few ounces.

Everyone chooses a subject within 5 years of an agreed date to research and present at the next meeting.

The subject discussed here, based around 1843, included; Charles Dickens’ Urania Cottage, his reform home for ‘fallen women’ financed by Miss Burdett-Coutts of banking fame; Brunel’s SS Great Britain, the worlds first great ocean liner, immigrant and military transport, coal and wool hulk in Port Stanley and now a major visitor attraction in Bristol in the dry dock where it was built; and Alfred Bird, of Bird’s Custard fame, who invented egg free custard and baking soda because his wife was allergic to eggs. 

Date (2026)SubjectLead
January 2026
February 2026
March 2026
April 2026
May 2026
June 2026
July 2026
August 2026
September 2026
October 2026
November 2026
December 2026

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