| Group Leader | Ian Funnell |
| Meets | Third Monday of the month at 10:00 am |
| Venue | Fetcham Village Hall |
| Contact | industrial.heritage1@fetchamu3a.org.uk |
| Telephone | 01372 374236 |
| Vacancies/Full | Vacancies |
I would like to thank the team of Michael H, Hugh B, Richard R and Keith W who have joined me in putting together the programme of Zoom events since the start of the COVID lockdowns. Up to March 2021 we have had seventeen Zoom meetings and seventy-nine members have been registered for attendance. For the moment our meetings will continue using Zoom. New attendees are very welcome and should contact Ian by phone or email.
Monday 15th March: Douglas I – Gustave Eiffel -The Tower, the Statue and the Man
Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923) was a French civil engineer whose name is most widely known for the monumental tower he built in Paris. During his working life he constructed or made a contribution to a wide range of prestigious structures including bridges, buildings, the Statue of Liberty, and elements of the Panama Canal. After retirement from civil engineering he carried out significant work in meteorology and aerodynamics, and was a promoter of early cinema. The talk will cover the life and works of this talented and energetic engineer, scientist and businessman.
Monday 19th April: A Short Talks Meeting by Members
John C – Napier’s Bones – An early calculating device dating from 1617 by the inventor of logarithms.
Brian G – “Fete de Vapeur” at the Somme Railway in Northern France – I attended the “Festival of Steam” in 2016 which was a weekend of very varied activity both on and off the rails with international participation but a very French flavour. Dating from 1858, the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme will celebrate its 50 years of preservation with a major “Fete de Vapeur”, planned for July 2021.
John B – A Short history of Dawlish Sea Wall – Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose to route the Great Western Railway along the coast of Devon to access the Southwest. Built in 1843 as an atmospheric railway the broad-gauge line was modified in1850 to steam engine hauled and converted to standard gauge in 1892. Storm damage and the rising sea level make it vulnerable, so Network Rail is building a resilience-modified sea wall.
Monday 17 May: Bob Bryson – Evolution of the Coventry Bicycle Industry
Monday 21 June: Steve Bird – Industrial Relations at Ford in the 70’s and 80’s
Monday 19 July: David Hassard – Bat Boat to Red Arrows
Monday 19 August: Roger Squires – Lost Rivers of London
Monday 20 September: Peter Hoar – The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents
Monday 18 October: Paul Moss – London Underground
Monday 15 November: John Baylis – The rise and fall of Nuclear Power in the UK and what next?
Monday 20 December: Hugh Baker – Walk and Meal
We meet at 10am in Fetcham Village Hall on the third Monday of the month for a winter season of talks in September, October, November, January, February, March and April. In December we go for a walk and Christmas lunch, again on the third Monday. The group is open to members of all local U3As and welcomes visitors. We started activities in March 2003. Information about the programme is usually circulated by email so please get in touch if you would like to be informed of meetings and visits. We organise visits to a variety of sites, mostly in the summer period. In recent years we have had talks on the V Bomber Force, Brick Making, WWl Mining & the Trenches, Chinook Helicopters in the Falklands Campaign, Bloodhound SSC, the London-Portsmouth Barge Route, George & Robert Stephenson, Animal Power, the Efficiency of Steam Engines and Early Computing.
Our mission is to explore Britain’s industrial heritage through talks, discussion and site visits, which are arranged to suit the group and the opening arrangements of the sites to be visited. We hear presentations prepared by members on topics of specialist knowledge and also invite outside speakers.
Please sign up for the Zoom meetings at industrial.heritage1@fetchamu3a.org.uk
When meetings re-commence they will be held in Fetcham Village Hall and start at 10am.
There is a small charge but coffee/tea and biscuits are included.