Our Monthly Meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month at the Union Church and Community Centre, Weston Park, N8 9PX
Meetings start at 10.30 a.m. with u3a notices, followed by our invited speaker. Meetings end at 12 noon. Tea and coffee are available from 10 a.m. Members are asked to bring their own cup or mug
Members are kindly asked to arrive on time to avoid causing disruption to the meeting. Members who do arrive after 10.30 a.m. will be asked to access the venue via the entrance to the right of the main door (up the ramp)
Unless otherwise stated the talks delivered at Monthly Meetings are not recorded
Attendance numbers are limited. Advance registration is normally required
COVID-19
Members are asked to observe essential guidance in place at the venue such as the one way entrance and exit system, social distanced seating, use of sanitising and so on
Members should not attend CEDu3a monthly meetings if they or a close contact have recently been diagnosed with or shown any COVID-19 symptoms, are awaiting test results or are self-isolating under Government guidance applicable at the time of the meeting for which they have registered
Thursday 8 September 2022
Martin Orkin: The Beatles, their heroes and their music
Early in 1963, The Beatles stormed the music world. Everyone knows that the Fab Four were inspirational to both their generation and generations to come. Martin’s talk will explore the incredible effect they had through their songwriting and unbeatable legacy of recordings, on other groups of their era. His talk is based on his recently published book Rivals of the Beatles. How did the start of rock ‘n’ roll influence The Beatles, and what were their early successes? The talk tracks the evolution of rock from Bill Haley’s fantastic Rock Around The Clock, via Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly & the Crickets etc, to Cliff Richard & The Shadows and then The Beatles, who were followed by The Beach Boys, The Byrds and….The Monkees!
Martin has lived in North London and Hertfordshire for many years and began listening to pop and rock music in 1962, when the British charts were ruled by the likes of Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard & The Shadows.
Hear Martin explain how decades later, he came to put pen to paper, enjoy anecdotes from his research, and listen to excerpts from some of the great recordings of the era! Signed copies of Martin’s book will be available for purchase after his talk, at a generous discount to the recommended price!
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Past monthly talks
2017
| Peter Cox : Growing up in London |
| Tiago Mata : A History of The Economist |
| Estelle Lovatt : Fun and irony in art |
2018
| Katy Ghahremani : Plans for Hornsey Town Hall |
| Haringey First World War Peace Forum presentation |
| Robin Lustig : A Life in broadcasting |
| Graham Bennett : Serge Diaghilev and his legacy |
| Alexander Zhuravlyov : The Rise and rise of Vladimir Putin |
| Louise Stewart : Plans for Alexandra Palace |
| Carl Parker : What is terrorism? |
| Luke Alder : The Estorick Collection of Modern Art |
| Margaret Greenfields : Britain as a nation of immigrants |
| David Hunter : Guillaume Apollinaire and the First World War |
| Francine Bates : The Golden age of the music hall |
| Elizabeth Woodcraft : Hi-heel sneakers – growing up in the 60s |
2019
| Peter Cox : The History and development of John Lewis and Waitrose |
| John Withington : Living to 100 – The secrets of the centenarians |
| Sandra Clark : Singing witches, authenticity and innovation: Macbeth on the Victorian stage |
| John Hinshelwood : Crouch End and District: a photographic record from 1860 – 1920 |
| Jayne Forbes : A Solo traveller’s tales |
| Roger Hamilton : Climate change – where are we now |
| Jan Marsh : The Pre-Raphaelite sisters |
| Hugh Hayes : A Park for Finsbury |
| Ian Christie : Rescuing a pioneer: Britain’s forgotten creator of cinema |
| Oonagh Gay : The Pioneer women MPs |
2020
| Dave Clarke : Untangling the Web – demystifying spiders at ZSL London Zoo |
| Andrew Ellis : Art UK: democratising access to the Nation’s art |
| James M. Taylor : Brilliant British humour in the Forgotten art of the picture postcard, 1840-1950s |
2021
| Graham Bennett : Our wonderful West End |
2022
| Pete Paphides : Broken Greek |
| Andrew Whitehead : Curious Crouch End |
| Anita Peleg : Glimmer of hope – The story of Naomi Blake 1924-2018 |
| Peter Webb : Toulouse-Lautrec and the Cabarets of Paris |