Meeting Dates & Speakers 2024
January 18th
Grahame Williams – 19 Years on the Bench
Graham talks about his experiences as a JP (1988 – 2007) – anecdotes and stories.
February 15th *
Tony Tutton – My Life in Music – ‘Coronation to Corona’
In his talk Tony will take you on a trip through his life and love of music from his first stage performance in 1953 to the present day. His talk covers his early musical influences (Skiffle, Rock & Roll etc.) his various bands, and many celebrities he has met and worked with along the way.
March 21st
Roy Smart -
The tale of aviation pioneer Percy Pilcher and his wonderful sister.
April 18th
John Waller– Forgery and Counterfeiting Throughout the Ages
Forgery and counterfeiting may be defined as copying with intent to deceive. They are the making of realistic imitations for the purpose of passing them off as genuine articles, usually for profit. In law there is a slight difference between them.
May 16th
Graham Laurie – The History of Royal Flying
‘Graham gives an illustrated talk, covering the early days of Royal Flying, the formation of The King’s Flight and The Queen’s Flight, up to the present day, together with some personal reminiscences.
June 20th *
Adam Smith – Wrest, Women and Inheritance
Wrest Park in Bedfordshire is known for an important 18th Century landscape garden; what is less known is the role that women owners had in creating and preserving it. We will look at how these ladies came to inherit the estate and what they did with it.
July 18th
Mike Chapman – CWCG Architecture and Conservation
Mike looks at the design approach to our cemeteries and memorials including talking about some of our specific locations. We also cover the care and maintenance work done today. Starting with an overview of CWCG Mike weaves in some more local casualty stories and talks about specific cemeteries and memorials e.g. a look at the story of one of the 13 named on the Thiepval Memorial with a family link to Hemel Hempstead.
August 15th *
John Field – The Amazing World of Magic
John was admitted as a solicitor in 1976 and has practised law ever since. However, his main passion in life is magic and he has been performing as a magician for almost 50 years. This talk has been honed to perfection over 40 years.
September 19th
Nick Brazil– Fire, Ice and Mysticism
Travels in Chile and Easter Island
October 17th
Sim Harris -
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy on Prince's Gate in South Kensington, London. They took 26 people hostage, including embassy staff, several visitors, and a police officer who had been guarding the embassy.
November 21st
Steve Bird – Medieval China
In 1421 rulers from throughout Asia and Africa were invited to the inauguration of Beijing. European leaders were not regarded as important enough to be invited. No wonder then that Modern China sees itself as reclaiming its position on the world stage after a ‘short gap’ of some four hundred years. We look at the Medieval Superpower of China.
December 19th *Ukerythmics
Refreshments and a glass of wine to ease us into the Christmas Festival and to help us along, ‘Ukerythmics’ the Ukulele band of Hemel U3A, will entertain us with some festive songs.
* Ladies are invited to these meeetings
If you are considering becoming a member of Hemel Hempstead Probus Club
please contact the Club Secretary: