A selection of some of our recent monthly reports
Reports from the first part of 2026
In January, Naomi Johns, a field ornithologist working to restore lost species to the UK for the Royal Dennis Wildlife Foundation, gave a talk on wildlife and bird conservation. Naomi joined the Foundation in 2025 with 9 years’ experience in Raptor care and conservation project management through her previous role with The Bird of Prey Project. Her career highlights so far include establishing a raptor rehabilitation facility, monitoring Kestrel and Owl populations in Somerset and studying wild Honey Buzzards in the UK.
Our February talk was given by Tim Parker, Head Gardener at NT Stourhead Gardens. This attracted a record attendance of 110 members in The Somer Centre. He was managing the final stages of a project to improve the Garden Lake and its dam, as well as many other improvements to the grounds and the visitor experience.
Ashley Jones visited us again in March, this time giving a polished talk, illustrated with slides and video clips, on the Dickin Medal: Animals At War. He provided vivid descriptions of some of the heroic animals (dogs, horses, pigeons and one cat) who have been awarded this prestigious award. The award, created in 1942, is named after Marie Dickin, who founded the PDSA. The medal is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross and has been awarded to around 100 animals in the UK and overseas.
The Early Life of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Susan Symons came from Bath to give us a very interesting and well presented talk about the early years of Queen Victoria's life beginning with the so-called "race for the crown" in 1819. We attracted a record attendance at the Somer Centre so it was obviously a popular topic with our members. Hopefully, we can re-book Susan later on. For more information, you can visit her website https://www.susansymons.com
Support Dogs
Support Dogs, a national charity training assistance dogs, came to talk to our u3a in September. Anne came with her own dog, Rafa, a beautiful golden retriever cross and explained how support dogs help people who have mobility issues and other special needs.
Anne has connective tissue problems (specifically, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or EDS) and although these are not always obvious health problems, it was explained that when she falls, which she said was often, the dog sits with her and makes sure she is not harmed and can even help her slowly get up if necessary. Her support dog is highly trained and helps her in many other different ways as well. For more information about the charity visit their website https://www.supportdogs.org.uk
The History and Mystery of Maps (July 2025)
Tony Painter kicked off his talk with an overview of early maps, including the famous Mappa Mundi, now kept in Hereford Cathedral. He showed us a variety of early map examples, including local examples of map extracts. See photos of examples of wartime maps he brought along, including the Russian example of Trowbridge area. Did you know that the White Horse figures cut into the chalk hills of Wiltshire and elsewhere were concealed (by brushwood) during WW2?
He referred us to the Alan Godfrey series of local historical maps (reprints) - available online from £3.50. Also the National Library of Scotland's extensive map archive for UK, and, in particular their side by side maps viewer (old v current) - an essential tool for any local historian!
The Story of Beekeeping from an Insider
Bees Make Honey!! The June 2025 talk by Dr Nicholas Milton was fascinating: his slide show told us all about his bees - their lives, their habits, their products - and showed us how bees behave inside and outside their hive.
Dr Milton donned his white suit, which must be completely sealed so no bees can get in, and opened up his (empty) hive to show us the insides. He explained that bees do not emerge in cold weather and can be fed with sugar lumps if their natural food supplies run short in bad weather. They have two stomachs, one for eating, the other for storing honey. He suggested that we do not mow our gardens and fields in May (No Mow May & Knee-High July!!) so that the bees can take food back to the hive all through the year. When the bees find a good nectar supply, they perform a waggle dance which shows other bees where to go. He had brought his own PURE honey and advised us about the problems of buying cheap supermarket honey which may be adulterated with glucose or sugar. PW.
A Life on Blue Peter
In April (2025), Alex Leger presented an interesting talk about his time as film producer on BBC's Blue Peter, enhanced with video clips and lots of still photos. He started in TV as a production assistant for children's TV in 1975. He recounted his own progress but also included many anecdotes about the presenters he worked with. He also told us about Biddy Baxter; the well known editor and programme leader who totally understood her audience.
Alex worked on Blue Peter for 30 years and later became a film production director for the programme, responsible for many of their outside broadcast sequences which the programme and their enthusiastic and have-a-go presenters were so famous for.
Honey, I Shrunk The House!
Our July guest speaker presentation was delivered by Hilary Harland, one of our own local members. She brought along some of her 1/12th scale hand-built miniaturised houses and displayed some of her scaled furniture and fittings. They were intricate, realistic models which she had engineered and built herself. In the process, she told us, she had to learn many new skills from woodturning to metalwork to needlecraft. The finely detailed touches in the houses were unbelievable. Hilary was inspired as a girl by seeing a scale model of a house when visiting Windsor Castle, and then later on by the Dolls' Houses in the Rijke Museum, Amsterdam. She then developed her model-building and craft interests further once she had retired.
It'll Be Alright On The Night!
Norton Radstock u3a hosts lots of fascinating monthly talks. Recently we had a very entertaining presentation, “It’ll Be Alright On The Night”, from the Bath Theatrical Costume Hire owners, Dinah and Rusette (see photo below, left).
They’ve led a very colourful and busy life providing costumes for all sorts of productions both amateur and professional. You can also hire out costumes from their warehouse now located in Frome – they specialize in Regency and period costume hire, as well as fancy dress. And you can hire out a studio for dressing up photo shoots. Now, there’s a birthday present with a difference for someone!
Visit Bath Theatrical Costume Hire for more details on costume hire, photo shoots, etc.
Photos: above left Dinah & Rusette with a small selection of their costumes. Top left and above right - Eric and Margaret try out costumes