Home > meetings
Monthly Meetings
These are held on the 3rd Monday each month at Wickham Bishops Village Hall, Church Road, Wickham Bishops CM8 3JZ.
The doors open at 1:15pm for a 1:45pm start.
Click here to see a map.
The time before the meeting starts is your opportunity to talk to Activity Group co-ordinators and book tickets etc.
Remember to bring your plastic membership card with the bar code.
2026 Monthly Meetings:
| 19th January 2026 | The Art Of The Cartoonist Harry Venning Harry, an award winning cartoonist,, illustrator and comedy writer, traces the story of cartoons and cartoonists over the last two hundred years, from Hogarth and Gilray to Herjé and Schulz. There will be humour, there will be history and there will be live drawing, as he shares some of the tricks and techniques of the trade. |
| 16th February 2026 | A Schoolgirl’s War Mary Smith The story of school life during WW2, arising from two fascinating recent discoveries. The first was the uncovering of an extensive set of tunnels used as underground classrooms, and the second was the discovery of an exquisite set of paintings created as the war unfolded. These are the work of a wartime art teacher who set out to document the lives of school pupils and their teachers in paint and pencil as the war unfolded. This is a highly visual talk, and would fascinate anyone interested in the home front during WW2. |
| 16th March 2026 | The Life and Strife of Honey Bees Stuart Overton-Smith The more that we have learnt about the lives of honey bees, the more in awe we have become. They are so important to the ecosystem that we, and they, are part of. Other bees are discussed too, specifically the solitary bees that are easily kept in your garden in purpose built homes. |
| 20th April 2026 | From Titanic to Batman: The Highs & Lows of a Stuntwoman’s Life Lucy Allen With over 30 years experience, Lucy reveals the thrills, challenges, and behind the scenes secrets of stunt work—plus, enjoy a 10-minute film of Lucy in action. |
| 18th May 2026 | Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England Bryan Thurlow Following a visit from a professional ghost hunter in 1929, a national newspaper declared , ‘Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England.’ This brought a great deal of disruption to the quiet little Essex village. Bryan will take us back to the 19th c and tell us about two successive rectors, the latter, together with his sisters, were rather obsessed with spiritualism. |
| 15th June 2026 | Copped Hall Philip Mckinder Following on from his excellent talk on the 1952 Lynmouth Flood Disaster Philip returns to tell us about Copped Hall, a Georgian Mansion near Epping that is undergoing restoration. |
| 20th July 2026 | Music and Memories Steve Scruton & Ian Wyatt Musical Memories. |
| 17th August 2026 | Action for Family Carers Rebecca Loader Action for Family Carers is a local charity which has been supporting carers in Essex for decades. It was founded by Carers for Carers and has been making a positive difference to the lives of unpaid family Carers ever since. |
| 21st September 2026 | Maldon’s Lost Railway Stephen Nunn Stephen has appeared with Michael Portillo on the BBC Series Great British Railway Journeys. He will take us on a pictorial adventure from Witham to the end of line at Southminster and all stops in between.. |
| 19th October 2026 | The Commonwealth War Graves Barrie Sears Barrie will talk about the important work of the CWGC and its educational charity, the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation. |
| 16th November 2025 | AGM followed by a Quiz A quiz from our own u3a member, Linda Allen. |
| 21st December 2025 | Musical Entertainment The Purleigh Phil They’re back by popular demand with Christmas music & songs. Festive afternoon tea. |