Doors open at 9:45, tea and coffee are served from 10:00 to 10:30, and are free as long as you bring your own cup. The meeting starts at 10.30 am with notices, followed by the talk.
Meetings labelled "Hat", will take place in Breaks Manor Youth Centre, Link Drive, Hatfield, AL10 8TP. If you're online, you can click here for a map.
Meetings labelled "WGC" take place in the Ludwick Family Centre, Hall Grove, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 4PH. If you're online, you can click here for a map. There's sometimes a problem with parking for cars at Ludwick - if you don't mind a walk you could try parking in Caponfield - click here for a map.
There have been complaints from residents about the parking on the road in front of Ludwick Family Centre. If you plan to park here, please could you ensure that you 'follow the trend' and park on the same side as those cars already parked. This ensures that delivery lorries and emergency vehicles can pass through. Many thanks.
If you come along to the Wednesday meetings at Hatfield, you will know that there is very limited parking. They have a growing number of nursery children needing to be dropped off and picked up and if U3A has taken up all the spaces, it becomes a Health and Safety issue for them. They have therefore notified us that the area in front of the building is strictly for Pick Up and Drop Off only. This means that we may ONLY use the car park at the rear of the building. We appreciate your co-operation with this.
If you want to display notices on the projector, or notice boards, at the meetings, contact Tony Tutton on 01707 328943, or E-mail him: "tonytutton1@yahoo.co.uk".
Please note that, for health and safety reasons, we have to limit attendance at these meetings to 170
Please note that the Welwyn Hatfield U3A does not endorse any products or services provided by the speakers at our meetings.
If you can't attend the Wednesday talk you could watch from home on Zoom. For details email: Wednesdayzoom@u3awelhat.org.uk
Or we record most talks so you could catch up after the event. To receive links to recordings, email: video@u3awelhat.org.uk
Planned meetings for Spring 2026
| Date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Jan | WGC | Lucy Lewis – “Lighting the Fuse” Lucy was the UK's first female bomb disposal expert. Her eye-opening memoir reveals the world of being a successful woman in the military and how she made history - not just once, but twice. |
| 14 Jan | Hat | Sarah Kerrison – “Fever” This illustrated talk explores the many diseases that have gripped the county from the 1300s to the end of the 19th century. We will be tracing the first steps in preventing and managing disease and taking the long view on the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| 21 Jan | WGC | Iestyn Edwards – “My Tutu went AWOL!” Iestyn Edwards is an Olivier Award winning, Guildhall trained opera singer, who accidentally toured military bases raising troop morale in Iraq and Afghanistan with his cabaret act in a tutu. |
| 28 Jan | Hat | Janet Brewer – “Tutankhamun’s Egypt” Tutankhamun was born and brought up in the city of Akhetaten, founded by his father. What was Tutankhamun’s life like as a child and later as a King? Using evidence from his tomb, we will try and decide. |
| 4 Feb | WGC | Alex Mair – “Crime Scene Search” Historical facts surrounding forensics at a crime scene and the physical hands-on approach to crime scene search. Stated cases with added humour of Alex’s personal experience. |
| 11 Feb | Hat | *Note change of speaker* Gary Sutcliffe - "Resolve: Stories, Stigma, Success and Searching" Local charity Resolve supports people in their recovery from the grip of drug and alcohol abuse. Fundraising Manager Gary Sutcliffe will give a powerful insight into their vital work sharing successes in helping local residents, literally saving lives, also the stigma attached to those seeking help and the search for fundraising and support. |
| 18 Feb | WGC | EVENT (Art & Photography Exhibition) |
| 25 Feb | Hat | Craig Angus – “Seeking Servants at Knebworth House” Country houses and estates relied on a large staff to keep things running smoothly. In this talk, Craig Angus from the Knebworth House Archive discusses the types of records that can be found when tracing ancestors who were in service, focusing on Knebworth House and sharing the stories of some of its longest serving staff. |
| 4 Mar | WGC | Guy Thomas – “London Colney Airfield in WW1 – RFC and US Army Corps” In late 1915 the government requisitioned 212 acres of farmland near London Colney to establish a training site for the Royal Flying Corp. The airfield became a leading facility, producing famous Flying Corp Aces Captain Albert Ball and Mick Mannock. |
| 11 Mar | Hat | AGM |
| 18 Mar | WGC | Gary Fisher – “The Life of Elizabeth I” Gary is well known to us. This time he will talk about some of the main events in the life of Elizabeth I before she came to the throne. |
| 25 Mar | Hat | Bill Lindsay – “William Schaw Lindsay, Victorian Entrepreneur” A rags to riches story of Bill's great-great-grandfather, an orphan who ran away to sea and became the owner of a large Shipping Company during the 1850s. |
| 1 Apr | WGC | Graham Harrison – “Moll Cutpurse” Tudor and Stuart London was the home of many real-life rogues. One of the most memorable of these was Mary Frith, also known as Moll Cutpurse, who flouted convention at every turn. Moll took to the streets and the stage, making a spectacle of herself that earned both official condemnation and not a little public admiration. |
Planned meetings for Summer 2026
| Date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Apr | WGC | Robert Wilton – “Bad Boys & Gutsy Girls - Two Centuries of British Travellers in the Balkans" Robert was a Whitehall specialist on the region for many years, advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo in the period leading to the country's independence, head of human rights mission in Albania and co-founder of The Ideal Partnership charity. |
| 29 Apr | Hat | Geoffrey Hollis – “The Festival of Britain, 1951; A tonic to the Nation?" May 4th will be the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Festival of Britain in 1951. As well as being very popular it had a major impact on British design and its designers such as Terence Conran. Geoffrey will share insights from his in-depth research. |
| 6 May | WGC | Nick Jones – “The Art of Class War: Newspaper Cartoonists and the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike” Nick reported on the strike as a BBC labour and industrial correspondent and has written several books on the subject. He was struck by the impact of the newspaper cartoons, from both left and right, and in this talk he uses them to look back on the strike. |
| 13 May | Hat | Tony Tutton – “The Words and Music of Bob Dylan” Tony’s presentation is a visual & audio feast of the lyrics, music and stories of Bob Dylan, featuring artists that have covered Dylan’s songs such as Joan Baez, Adele, The Byrds, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, The Rolling Stones, Peter Paul & Mary and many many more. |
| 20 May | WGC | Paul Gosbee – “The Commonwealth War Graves Commission – its History and its Work Today We will hear about the start of the Commission, its work during the First and Second World Wars and then its work today in maintaining and preserving graves all over the world, including in our local area, and hear the stories of some of those commemorated. |
| 27 May | Hat | Philippa Parker – “The Lives and Friends of George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw” George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw lived in our county for 46 years, from 1904. This illustrated talk will cover topics including the history of Shaw’s Corner, the Shaws and women’s suffrage and the First World War, and their support for the two garden cities. |
| 3 Jun | WGC | Nigel Crompton – “History of the Fire Service” We follow the development of firefighting from the earliest known forms through social changes, the industrial revolution, two world wars and up to the modern day. Additionally we discuss the role of women in firefighting, especially during the Great War. |
| 10 Jun | Hat | Lynn Willson – “Vicissitudes of the Recorder” The Vicissitudes of the Recorder have been many and varied. Over six hundred years of ups and downs will be illustrated by live musicians in consort, referencing royalty, rock bands and a railway platform, amongst much else. |
| 17 Jun | WGC | Andy Gibbs – “The Last Bolshevik: Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin” Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was written out of history by his erstwhile ally, Stalin. After the fall of the Soviet Union he began to re-emerge as a major figure, the “human face” of the Russian Revolution. This talk charts his rise and fall and reflects on his legacy. |
| 24 Jun | Hat | David Keen – “The Dambusters Raid” David will cover the development of bombers and bombing and the story of the most famous raid by Bomber Command in the Second World War. |
| 1 Jul | WGC | Simon Ardeman – “Cybercrime" Simon is a Detective Constable in the City of London police, in the Cyber Crime unit. He will give us a “non-technical” session specifically designed to provide accessible, effective advice to those with little or no knowledge of cyber security, covering the topics of social engineering, phishing scams and account security (strong passwords etc). |
| 8 Jul | Hat | Duncan Bickley – "Adventures in Helicopters" Before retirement, Duncan ran his own helicopter company as a commercial pilot and trainer and in this talk he will tell us of his many adventures. |
| 15 Jul | WGC | Helen Fry – “A Very Secret War” From 1942 Hitler's captured German Generals were housed in luxurious conditions and lulled into a false sense of security. They became unguarded in their conversations and inadvertently gave away Hitler's most closely guarded secrets. |
| 22 Jul | Hat | GARDEN PARTY – 2 – 4 pm - Please bring a picnic and, if possible, garden chair |
For an overview of the outings planned by the various study groups, click here..
For an overview of when the study groups meet, click here.
Preparing tea & coffee: please click here (PDF).
Setting up the computer & projector: please click here (PDF).