Citizens: 800 Years in the making: exploring the history of
liberty, protest, power and rebellion

Citizens is a three year project being run by Royal Holloway which will launch in January 2017. The aim is to create a website that explores the history of liberty, protest, rebellion and reform from Magna Carta to the Suffragettes and beyond. This site, promoted especially to teachers and school pupils, will help visitors understand and learn how and why people’s rights and their relationship with the state has changed; how people have challenged authority; how governments have responded to such challenges; and how Parliament and parliamentary democracy have evolved. With your help, Royal Holloway plans to identify, map and share the stories, discovered by U3A members, to build up a picture of how communities have contributed to our democratic heritage.

U3A members will be playing a vital role, highlighting local stories, figures, movements. Here in London, for example, members will look at the relevant history of a particular borough which has contributed to this eight century long struggle to define, defend and extend rights and liberty. Here in Battersea, you may like to research the Putney Debates or the central role Battersea played in the early days of British Socialism – for example,names such as Charlotte Despard, John Burns and John Archer.

This is a more flexible form of Shared Learning Project than we have been used to in London as members will be asked to work in small, local groups or on their own on their chosen topic and then come together for meetings every eight weeks when they can discuss their progress and raise any questions. The meetings will be held at Senate House, University of London National Archives in Kew, and the first briefing meeting will be on Monday 16^th January 2017.

If the project interests you but you would like some suggestions as to research topics, please sign up and come along to the first meeting to hear Dr. Matthew Smith’s proposals. Matthew will also be able to give you a letter of introduction to your local museum. If you haven’t found anyone with whom to work, come and find a group you can join. If you are at all interested or have any queries, please email Jennifer Anning, the U3A Co-ordinator of the project.

Please click on link below for more information

http://citizens-u3a-slp-flyer-london-region

Jennifer Anning, National SLP Co-ordinator
ja_ku3a@btinternet.com

Day 1: We board our Executive coach at the four pick-up points in the Kingston area and make our journey north for our lunch stop at Moseley Old Hall (NT) – an atmospheric Elizabethan farmhouse that saved a King. Find out about the dramatic story of King Charles II hiding from Cromwell’s troops after he fled the Battle of Worcester in 1651. After lunch we continue to Cumbria where we check into our 3* AA Cumbria Grand Hotel at Grange over Sands for four nights on half-board basis.

Day 2: Today is dedicated to a guided tour of the stunning Lake District. We will visit many areas of outstanding beauty and small villages, steeped in character and history: Hawkshead and Beatrix Potter Gallery (NT) and Hilltop (NT), Beatrix Potter’s 17th century farmhouse, Grasmere and 400 year

old Dove Cottage, once home of the famous poet William Wordworth.

Day 3: This morning we will board the Windermere Lake Cruise for a 40 minute cruise to Bowness. After lunch we visit Holker Hall & Gardens, the family home of Lord and Lady Cavendish. This is a delightful family home with fine displays of antique furniture and art.

Day 4: Today we start by visiting Kendal with its many historical buildings, castles, bridges and a street market on a Wednesday. In the afternoon we visit Sizergh Castle and Gardens (NT).

Day 5: This morning we check out of the hotel and on our way home we stop at Leighton Hall. Stepping inside this house is like taking a step back in time, but it still retains the atmosphere of a family home. An enthusiastic guide will reveal the Gillow Reynolds’ family history and habits. Each room from the Gothic Hall to the principle bedroom and the charming library has some interesting secret to reveal or tale to tell. Why is there a lock of James II’s hair in the Drawing room, and why is the table in the hall shaped like a daisy? A light lunch is included here before we retrace our steps homeward.

Date: 17th – 21st September 2017

Boarding:
8.30 am. – Kingston, High Street,

opposite The Rose Theatre 8.40 am. – Surbiton, outside

Coronation Hall Pub
8.50 am. – Surbiton, Ewell Road, Bus

stop ‘Telephone Exchange’ 9.00 am. – Tolworth – Bus stop ‘J

Princes Avenue’ – outside ‘Our Lady Immaculate’

Cost: £499.00 pp Half-board, sharing a twin/double bedroom

Included: All entrance fees (except to NT properties) plus 1 light lunch on day 5

Single room Supplement: £39.00 (4 nights)

Deposit: £85.00 pp (non-refundable) Balance due by 04.08.2017

Travel Insurance: £30.00 (No upper age limit – conditions apply)
For a detailed booking form please complete the attached application form and send it together with a stamped addressed envelope – not too small, please – to Gisela Zürcher-Feiß, 37, The Byeways, Surbiton KT5 8HT – Phone 020 8399 4990

If you do not give an email address please enclose a stamped, self- addressed envelope.

The beautiful Lake Distric application form

Following the very interesting and successfully August Monthly Meeting on this topic a spontaneous collection was taken from those attending and over £300 was raised to help fund the projects being run in Ethiopia.  We have had a letter of appreciation from the speaker and his wife who have established the developments in health, education and water provision which we heard about in the talk.  There is a weblink provided here for anyone who may wish to find out more  http://www.lalibela.org.uk  this is a combination of small charities our speaker reports under the Norman and Carole heading.

The Old Royal Naval College Greenwich

As part of the national celebrations to mark 100 years since the formation of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, the Old Royal Naval College will be hosting an exhibition focusing on the WRNS in Greenwich.  We are looking for U3A volunteers to work collaboratively with ORNC staff and former personnel from the Greenwich WRNS to develop the exhibition as part of this Shared Learning Project.

Meetings will take place fortnightly at the Old Royal Naval College; starting on Wednesday 28^thSeptember at 11.a.m.

The minimum time for each meeting will be 2 hours, but if members wish to stay longer they will be very welcome.  The expectation is that between meetings members of the team will carry out their own research to feed back at the fortnightly meetings.

To start with we are looking for volunteers who can make a 6, 10 or 12 week commitment with the opportunity to continue until the summer 2017. We are looking for people who have an interest in:

Research

Photography

Interviewing (people with experience in conducting and recording oral histories)

Opportunities for research include:

• The ORNC archives
• To interview people who lived and studied at Greenwich
• The National Maritime Museum archives
• The Imperial War Museum archives

If you are interested in joining this project, please contact Linda Crook at linda.crook.slp@gmail.com for an application form by 31^st August 2016

The Old Royal Naval College flyer 2-1

Shared Learning Project – Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

 This autumn the Charterhouse is looking to research the lives of past Brothers of the Charterhouse

 This project will seek to look to into the lives of past Brothers from the 17th and 18th century. Spanning a range of professions, from florists to lieutenants, the Charterhouse has admitted a striking list of intriguing personalities.

We are now looking to find out more about who these men were their personal records, career, family and where possible create a short biography for inclusion in our forthcoming Museum exhibit focused on the lives of present and past Brothers.

Over its long history, the Charterhouse has witnessed many of the events that have shaped our nation. The story begins in 1348 during the Black Death, when the land was used as a burial ground for victims of plague. In 1371, the Charterhouse was built – a Carthusian monastery, which flourished throughout the later medieval and early Tudor period.

The team will be working at the London Metropolitan Archives in Islington. Each member of the team will be required to attend regularly and devote time to meaningful research on the topic outside of the scheduled meetings.

Some research may also need to be carried out at the National Archives in Kew. The data collected will be inputted into a spreadsheet via an online form so basic competency in the use of PCs and the internet is essential.

If you enjoy research and like working as part of a group, but can also be motivated to work independently then this could be the SLP for you.

There will be a team of 12 plus a project leader. The project members will meet weekly from 14:00—16:00 on Wednesdays from 5 October 2016 to 7 December 2016 at the Charterhouse. There will be two additional meetings in January to prepare for, and showcase, our findings to a small, invited audience.

If you are interested in joining this project, please contact Linda Crook at linda.crook.slp@gmail.com for an application form by 1 September 2016

Charterhouse flyer 2-1