Upcoming Lectures
History of Spoken English
Charlie Haylock
Show moreCharlie Haylock is one of Suffolk's leading entertainers. His informative and hilarious one-man shows are legendary in the county and all his books have been best sellers.
After this talk there will be a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Blackbourne U3A. Look out for more details.
Alice Hawkins – Suffragette
Peter Barratt
Show morePeter Barratt gives a stirring and passionate account of his great-grandmother’s hard fought campaign for the right to vote over a 100 years ago. A shoe machinist by trade, lifelong socialist and mother of six, Alice Hawkins formed her local city suffragette branch in 1907 following imprisonment in Holloway Jail. Centenary year of 2018 marked a statue unveiled of Alice in her home town of Leicester together with original suffragette memorabilia exhibited at UK Parliament, including her sash, hunger strike medal and more.
The Guildhall Bury St Edmunds
Sandra Nicotera
Show moreThe stories of 800 years of Bury St Edmunds heritage are woven into the very fabric of the Guildhall, one of the oldest continuously used civic buildings in Britain. Monks, monarchs, merchants and miscrteants have all played their part in this facinating tapestry of time.
The Burston School Strike
Ann May
Show moreOn April 1st 1914 teachers Tom and Annie Higdon were dismissed from their posts in the rural village of Burston, Norfolk and with it began the ‘longest strike in history’. On that day the children marched around the village with cards hanging from their necks demanding that “We Want Our Teachers Back”.
The banner at the head of the march was inscribed with just one word “Justice”. Sixty-six of the local children had gone out on strike in support of their teachers, and the boycott of the local authority school lasted for the next twenty five years.
The Rougham Estate
George Agnew
Show moreThe Rougham Estate consists of over 3,000 acres of Suffolk countryside with ancient meadows, green lanes, oak-lined hedgerows, bluebells and orchids, parklands and arable fields. It traces its history back to Roman times and has seen both Saxons and Vikings. It was owned by the local abbey in Bury St Edmunds for six hundred years. The Estate has been owned by the Agnew family since 1904 and now part of it is in the process of becoming a charitable trust to preserve its legacy for the future.
A Dairy Farmers Wife
Jane Barnes
Show moreOur farm is in Somerby, Leicestershire, and I do like to walk the fields, see the views across to Owston Wood and the spire of Tilton Church as the cows graze on the ancient grassland. Our farm is in the Countryside Stewardship and Entry Level Stewardship schemes, which means we work to encourage the wildlife, habitat and ecology on our farm. Alama Bank is a famous hillside on our farm, home to rabbits, fox and moles!
My husband Mark and I have 120 Ayrshire cows and their milk is used to produce (the world-famous) Stilton cheese. There are also two bulls – the proud fathers of some of our calves, which we either rear to enter the milking herd or sell at the local cattle market.
I'm passionate about the work we do and try to tell that story to as many people as I can.
On illusions and delusions
Dr Alex Carter
Show moreAlex was awarded his PhD in Philosophy by the University of Essex in 2015. Before this, Alex studied Philosophy & Ancient History at the University of Wales, Swansea and Philosophy at the University of Bristol. Alex has over five years of teaching experience in Ethics, History of Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion. He has worked at the Institute of Continuing Education since 2015 as Academic Director for Philosophy and as a Panel Tutor.
Alex's teaching method was developed at the University of Essex where the principle aim is to get students to feel the "pain of the problem", i.e. to make plain the very real ways in which philosophical problems affect our lives.