First impressions on joining Bradford u3a Family History Group - Alan Copson

After recovery from a septic knee infection which kept me out of circulation for about three months I started rebuilding my social life. I have been interested in my family history for a number of years and decided to pick it up again in the last few months after a lapse of several years.

I looked on the Bradford u3a website and found the Family History Group that meets on the 1st Friday of every month. So I attended my first meeting in August (2024). I was warmly welcomed and joined in the conversation with the other members. One member gave a talk on on an ancestor who was a theatrical impresssario in Liverpool. One lady discovered a source which as an occupation had lots of individuals who were 'watchmakers' and realised that each of these 'watchmakers' was probably only making one component of the watch, to act as stock when making the finished article, namely a watch.

I found the meeting stimulating and shall make it a regular item on my calendar, as the like minded attendees evidently have a wealth of experience and advice to offer if one is 'stuck' on a particular brickwall about an ancestor.

Also the price of a hot drink is very reasonable!

So fellow u3a members, do come and join us as we don't bite and tell us about your research etc.

Reflections on my first month as a u3a member - Julie Ambrose.

I retired early in December 2020 after nearly four decades at the sharp end of managing school budgets in Essex. Two wonderfully relaxing years later I felt ready to think about exercising my grey matter, but what to do? OU always appealed but my local government pension is not going to stretch to the fees and frankly I'm not sure I want the discipline of study. A friend's Mum is very active in her local u3a back home in Essex and very much enjoys it, so I thought this was definitely worth investigating. Thanks to the wonders of the internet it was easy to establish that Bradford (where I have now, more or less, fully relocated) does indeed have its own branch of the u3a and that I could attend a monthly meeting as a guest to see if it felt right for me.

A quick email later and I attended my first u3a monthly meeting as a guest in November - a really interesting talk about Bradford's forgotten Nobel Prize winner Sir Edward Appleton. Despite going on my own (as a Southerner no less) and not knowing anybody, people were very friendly and welcoming which was encouraging, and I also enjoyed staying on for the soup and sandwich lunch.

December was a busy month so I decided that I'd like to join but deferred my membership until the new year. January came, I joined and started to look at groups to join, initially whittling it down to around a dozen spread over the month. But first, the monthly meeting in January - The weird world of Quantum Entanglement and Consciousness. Weird world (to me) indeed as science isn't my 'thing' and this seemed totally out of my comfort zone. However it was absolutely right up my partner's street and he asked to join me as a guest for the meeting. Despite my personal misgivings, again it was an interesting presentation, Roger was a very engaging speaker and it certainly gave me some food for thought.

And so to joining groups of interest. The mix of topics to choose from is pleasingly varied and wide ranging. I decided to jump in feet first and a few phone calls/emails later I had a 'timetable' for the rest of January. So far, I have attended:
Political History - a presentation by Jeremy on the Zulu Empire, a subject about which I knew next to nothing but now feel much better informed. I received a friendly welcome to the group and was invited to join some of the members for coffee afterwards, which was lovely. I look forward to attending future meetings.
Biography - I met John, the group leader, at the previous day's Political History group and he suggested I might like to come along. Maurice delivered a talk on William Blake. I was familiar with some of Blake's wonderful poetry and though I now realise that I previously had seen some of his artwork in galleries, I somehow hadn't realised that poet and artist were one and the same - a very interesting character indeed! I'm very much looking forward to next month's subject - Mussolini.
Old Buildings - the group had been due to visit Halifax Minster but owing to a funeral scheduled for that day this was cancelled. Into the breach stepped Derek, with a session on 'More English Churches and Cathedrals'. As someone who happily spends hours walking around duomo, basilica etc in Italy yet rarely sets foot in a church in England, bar weddings and funerals, I found this a very enlightening talk and now feel better armed with some basic knowledge to look and see things from a different perspective.
Family History - a presentation on Workhouses, and specifically Bradford Workhouse(s). A fascinating look back in history. As a rich country, we have come so very far from those days, and yet sadly, in many ways, strayed so little. I shall definitely view St Luke's with different eyes next time I visit!

Not a bad start! I'd like to thank everybody so far that has taken the time to talk to me and make me feel welcome. I am very much looking forward to future meetings.