Industrial Heritage

Here is the programme for the remainder of the 2023/2024 season. Members of all local u3as are welcome to join these meetings along with Fetcham u3a members and occasional guests. All are equally welcome. The meetings will be held in Fetcham Village Hall at 10am on the third Monday of the month. In future we will revert to in-person meetings in the hall with the traditional break for refreshments around 11.00 and usually finishing by midday. Over the last three and a half years we have held Zoom meetings and hybrid meetings, but the team has decided that the ease of organisation and the benefits of social interaction outweigh the benefits of remote involvement with its additional costs, and the significant setup time and volunteer effort involved. I would like to thank Michael Herbert, Roger Madge, Hugh Baker, John Bourne, Keith Walker, Richard Rumble, Graham Dunn and Steven Archer for being such an active support team over the last few years.

Fetcham u3a committee has made it clear that it prefers all money to be handled through our treasurer by bank transfer and that group leaders should know the u3a membership of all those attending. The team has decided to keep the subscription the same as last year and to provide an option for those who wish to pay at the door as they may not be attending many of the meetings. Occasional visitors from other u3as will always be welcome. I am happy to retain a large circulation list of those who may wish to attend meetings from time to time. If you do not wish to have future emails, please let me know. Our subscription will be £15 for the period September 2023 to August 2024, and it can be paid by bank transfer to HSBC Sort Code 40-18-02 Account Number 61411195 with the reference IHG and your name. We will also accept cash and cheques made out to Fetcham u3a at the meetings. For those who wish to pay at the door we will only accept £4 cash. These days u3as find there is a significant cost and effort in handling numerous small cheques.

Monday 15^th January – David Hassard – Thomas Sopwith & His Aviation Company

Monday 19^th February – Steven Archer – The Invention of the Transistor

Monday 18^th March – To Be Arranged

Monday 15^th April – To Be Arranged

Monday 20^th May – To Be Arranged

Monday 15^th May – Short Talks Meeting with presentations given by Members. If you would like to offer a talk or discuss what is involved, please email the Planning Team on industrial.heritage1@fetchamu3a.org.uk .

We meet at 10 am 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. Our meetings will be held in Fetcham Village Hall and also virtually on Zoom. A Zoom link will be circulated in the week before each meeting. The meetings start at 10am but we request that Zoom participants sign on from 9.45 onwards. It would also be helpful if members attending the meeting arrive early so that a prompt start is possible. A reminder for Zoom participants that to signal you have a question or comment, please raise your yellow hand.This is achieved on a computer by clicking the Reactions icon and then the Raise Hand button. A yellow hand will then appear against your name which will move towards the top of the Participants list, indicating to the host that you wish to ask a question. It is important that the Zoom application on a computer is updated to the latest version to ensure that this will work. To raise your yellow hand on a tablet or smartphone, click on More… then click on Raise Hand.   The questions from Zoom participants will probably be dealt with after those from the hall. The coffee break in the hall lasts around twenty minutes.  Zoom participants will be able to chat during the break. Ian Funnell – 01372 374236

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