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Harrogate

Season 2025-2026

Meeting Reports

 

 

30 April

Today was our AGM in which our members and our President, John Hewson, reviewed the season, appointed next season’s officers and thanked the Forum’s Committee for their hard work.

This was followed by a short illustrated talk on “Sentencing” by Chris Tolley.

We will be reconvening on the 1st October with a new series of talks.

23 April

For our penultimate presentation of this season we were treated to an excellent talk by Martin Lunn entitled “Women Astronomers”. Starting at 2000BC Martin traced the history and the influence of women who were instrumental in advancing our understanding of the universe. Regrettably, all the earlier female astronomers and also many of the later ones did not receive the credit that was due to them. Indeed, in most cases men took the credit and sometimes even the honours. This was a very interesting and well-delivered talk that shone a spotlight on not only the contribution women made to space exploration but also the injustice of their lack of recognition.

16 April

Anita Wood, who is a Forum member, delighted us with a talk based on a four-month cruise she took following her retirement from the NHS. To say that the cruise was both extensive and really delightful is to understate it. Anita told how they visited almost every continent and although most stops were only for a short time, they experienced a wonderful cross-section of the world’s populations. Amongst the countries they visited were Argentina, Chili, Easter and Pitcairn Islands, the Pacific Islands - Tonga Tahiti etc - Australia and South Africa.

This was literally a world tour with excellent pictures that Anita had taken. A very refreshing morning>  

9 April

“40 Years in Sales and Marketing” was the title of today’s talk which was given by Tim Forman. Tim told us about the many and varied experiences he has had during his career in the world of sales, mostly with insurance companies such as Legal & General. As you might expect in dealing with the great British public, this has resulted in a stream of stories both humorous and curious. Tim ended his talk with a look at the many ways in which selling has been supported by advertising.

2 April

Our own Forum member, Mel Reid, gave us an excellent, humorous and comprehensive talk on Soap today, a topic which might have sounded boring had it not been delivered in an excellent manner. Mel told us about the origins of soap from its links with the Egyptians and the Babalonians 5000 years ago after which he followed up by explaining its links with the world of advertising. He told how soap became associated with not only cleanliness but also as an agent against death and disease. Mel’s final section dealt with the connection between soap and the multi-national companies that now dominate this industry.

Altogether, a wonderful exploration of this seemingly mundane product.

26 March

By way of an unusual topic for this morning, Dr. Catherine Burton gave us a talk entitled “Rethinking Pests” in which she told us about the considerable variety of wasp, fly and other so-called pest species. Catherine detailed the characteristics, initially of wasps, then followed by a look at the many different species of flies. In both cases she pointed out the positives and the negatives relating to humans and to our human well-being.

This talk was a wake-up for many of us who had not realised the extent to which these species affected us.

19 March

Today’s talk was entitled “Wool, Metal and Cheese” and was given to us by Peter Lewis. His theme was the recovery of the north of England, mainly Yorkshire, following the infamous Harrying of the North in 1069-1070.

Peter initially detailed the effects of the harrying whereby Yorkshire was reduced to 65% wasteland following which there was an influx of monks who began to resurrect the economy by virtue of hard work and with assistance from the local population.

Peter’s talk was very enlightening and well presented.   

12 March

Wendy Lill, our speaker for today, raises funds by several means for her local hospice one of which is by doing challenges. The story that she recounted today was entitled “Dog Sledging in the Arctic” , and described in detail and with excellent illustrations, how she joined a group who were dog sledging in a remote part of the Norway/Sweden border. As you would expect, the food and the “living” conditions were bordering on primitive whilst the temperature fell to as low as minus-30-degrees. Although a project that was not for the faint-hearted, this was an inspiring talk that was much appreciated by our members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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