History Talks

‘How I won the War for Britain‘ by Gary Johnson Learn how Juan Garcia a chicken farmer from Barcelona: A fascinating true story not to be missed! Entrance fee 2€ to cover cost of room hire. Arrive for a prompt start at 11am. Any queries to Allison O’Brien history@u3ajavea.com

Ally O’Brien’s presentation for the History group meeting, held in the Javea Players’ Studio on Tuesday 12th March, was entitled “How it all began”. And what a trip down memory lane it was for all of the members present, as we all kept saying “yes, I remember that ….”! Reminders of so many products, gadgets, medicines, and other routine objects in our lives which we took for granted as we…

There was a full house for the February meeting of the U3A’s History Group at the Javea Players Studio. Extra chairs had to be put out for members who turned up for Keith Smith’s talk on ‘Al Azraq, the Moorish Warlord of the Marina Alta’. Group leader Alison O’Brien was delighted with the turnout, one of the biggest since she took over the group. And the audience were not disappointed…

What are the stories behind some the famous products?  Birds Custard and Royal Baking Powder were both invented because Alfred Bird’s wife was allergic to yeast and eggs.  “Marriage is a lot more harmonious when one’s wife can satisfy her sweet tooth”!!!  Why is there no sugar or flavouring in cornflakes?  What was plasticine first used for?  How did lingerie go from a silk camisole to a push-up bra? Kellogg’s…

Peter Atkinson will be speaking, sadly for the last time, in May, a few weeks before he moves to Canada to be nearer to his family. He will be missed! We would like to give him a huge round of thanks for all the presentations he has so kindly researched and prepared for us, and raise a glass of cava to say “fond farewell and all the best over the…

History Group leader Alison O’Brien gave U3A members a fascinating insight into how people around the world celebrate Christmas. The December meeting had a special festive feel with sherry and stollen cake on offer before attendees sat down to a double bill of entertainment: a presentation by Alison on “Christmas Around the World” then a film on the “History of Christmas”. Members came away from the Javea Players Studio much…

Ally is going to show a film on the History of Christmas…..pagan onwards….and do a short talk about Christmas traditions round the world.  We will have stollen cake plus a glass of Christmas cheer before the film.  Dec 12th.   Javea Players Studio, Doors open 10.30am.  Talk and Film 11am.

Don’t miss out on this fascinating talk entitled ‘The Birth of a Nation: the American War of Independence and its Aftermath1750 to 1820’ by Peter Atkinson The story of how 13 British colonies became the first 13 states of the USA. We shall explore the events and ideas that led the colonies to rebel against the Crown. We’ll follow the course of the war (1775-83), without dwelling on the detail…

Members of the History Group travelled back in time to the years of the Second World War as Dave McCall told us the “stranger than fiction” stories behind his 2022 book, A Betrayal of Heroes. Tales of Casablanca and Brazzaville, of the Spaniards who fought for Free France, of the 1940s celebrities and spies who were involved.  Dave, who writes under the pen name David Ebsworth, has built a reputation for lively and…

Tuesday 10 October 11am – Javea Players Studio Travel back in time to the years of the Second World War – as you’ve almost certainly never known them before.  Dave McCall will be our speaker on October 10th at 11am.  Javea Players studio doors will be open at 10.30am. He will tell us the “stranger than fiction” stories behind his 2022 book, A Betrayal of Heroes. Tales of Casablanca and Brazzaville,…

We had a great talk at our last History group meeting.  Gary Johnson told a big audience all about the affairs of Edward VIII long before Wallace Simpson came on the scene.  One “lady friend” was able to use blackmail to evade a guilty murder verdict!  Thanks to Gary for doing so much research. Ally took Gary and wife, Lindsay, for a well earned coffee after the talk and presentation…

20th century Canadian Artists by Peter Atkinson This talk by Peter was well received in Moraira lately, most people knowing nothing about the subject and being pleasantly surprised.  It will be a mixture of history and art.   He will first tell us about the painters from British backgrounds who came together to promote their style of art inspired by nature, and famously came to symbolize what is distinctly Canadian.  They…

A big thank you to Allison O’Brien, the Javea U3A History Group leader, who gave a brilliant introduction to Ernest Shackleton’s life, and many of his colleagues, including the antagonism which developed between Shackleton and Captain Robert Scott, prior to showing a video of Shackleton’s last voyage on his ship, the Endurance (1914-1916). A dramatic story of man’s ability to survive against all the odds, in extremely harsh conditions, and…

Congratulations to Alan Hunton for his fascinating talk to the U3A History Group. Alan’s presentation, entitled ‘The Return of Trees after the Ice Age – The Oaks That Walked from Malaga to Merseyside’, provided a knowledgeable and entertaining insight into how Britain was transformed once the ice sheets had disappeared 16,000 years ago. Those who were unable to attend the talk at the Javea Players Studio missed a real treat.…

Alan Oliver gave a very interesting talk on Portuguese and Spanish explorers at the meeting on Tuesday 10 May.  Amazing journeys, with many sailors perishing en route and suffering from scurvy.  The attraction was a percentage of the treasures found and becoming governor of new lands.  Cabral, heading to India, was pushed too far West and accidentally discovered Brazil!  Thanks to Alan for so much research and work preparing a…

Wow….so much research on the history of Japan and the hierarchy of the Shogunate!  John Hopwood gave such an interesting talk about the past ruling Shogun families and explaining  why the ruling power went back to the emperor in 1868.  Japan then stopped being a feudal society and opened its ports to overseas trade.  Lots of pictures and explanations about the culture, armour and code of honour of the famous…

A big thank you to Peter Atkinson for such a brilliant talk on 18 March.  We were all in awe at how much research he had done to put together his most interesting talk about the first colonies of the USA….. some BEFORE the Mayflower!   We all learned such a lot, including how the later new states were formed and why they got their names.  Those settlers were, indeed,…

read on for more details The History Group is up and running again and has attracted a lot of members interested in learning new things.  We have had diverse subjects for the first three talks….. a great talk by Angela on Grace O’Malley, Irish lady pirate and her meeting with Elizabeth the First, one on the Arabian Gulf down to Zanzibar with pearls and slaves, then the first colonies in…

English Colonisation of North America: Mayflower and a Whole Lot More – by Peter Atkinson By 1750, Britain had 13 colonies (soon to become the USA) on the eastern seaboard between Georgia and Maine, and two in present-day Canada: Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.  We shall explore their origins and development, starting with the first small settlements: Jamestown, Virginia (1607) and Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620).  The talk will be given in Javea…

Grace O’Malley – The Pirate Queen of Ireland by Angela Chantry On Friday 28 January 11am to 12 noon at the Javea Players Studio. 1€ entrance fee All members welcome, no need to book. Doors open at 10.30am to allow a prompt start. In a life stranger than any fiction, Grace O’Malley, daughter of a clan chief in the far west of Ireland, went from marriage at fifteen to piracy…

Guest speaker Angela Chantry dispelled the myth portrayed by popular movies of Cleopatra VII as being a “sultry, dark-haired femme fatale” at this month’s Javea U3A History Group meeting. Her thorough research convinced the audience at Casa de Cultura that Cleopatra was in fact far from the figure characterised in films by the likes of Vivien Leigh and Liz Taylor but a woman acclaimed by Egyptians as “a living goddess…

The History Group was entertained by speaker John Hopwood, who gave an informative talk at Casa de Cultura in Javea old town on a fascinating living artist called Grayson Perry. Although not strictly a history item, it was an eye-opener on a complicated life of a cross-dresser who is strictly a heterosexual being. After a woeful childhood, Grayson is happily married with a grown up daughter. His art is in…

Cheda Panajotovic, the new leader of the History group spoke about the two Brunels, the father Marc Isambard and Isambard Kingdom, the son. Cheda spoke about the Brunels – both engineers, whose lives coincided with a period of great industrial development, when no challenge seemed too big to attempt: from the father’s block making machinery, to the son’s bridges, railway lines, tunnels and railway stations. The lecture was well attended…

The first talk of 2020 for the History Group will take place at the Casa de Cultura, Javea on Tuesday 14 January starting at 11.30am. The new group leader Cheda Panajotovic will give an interesting talk about the ‘Two Isambard Brunels’ – a father and son who were both engineers and who created many well known structures and buildings in the UK. All members are welcome, just come along and…

There was a special get-together at the latest History Group meeting – with group leaders past, present and future all appearing at the Casa de Cultura in the old town. History Group founder Sally Wells is pictured with current leaders Angela Chantry and Tony Dearie, past leader Peter Atkinson and leader-in-waiting Cheda Panajotovic. Peter followed the photoshoot with an excellent presentation entitled ‘Inquisition and Empire: Spain to the 16trh-18th Centuries’…

It was standing room only at the latest History Group meeting at Casa de Cultura when a capacity audience listened to group leader Angela Chantry’s talk on “Spain: Part 2: The Moors in Spain”. Angela delivered an enlightening lecture, illustrated with slides and video film, of the occupation of the Iberian peninsula by the Moors in 711AD and the subsequent overthrowing by the Christians in the 15th century. After her…

Speaker Cheda Panajotovic’s presentation at the latest Javea U3A History Group meeting was well received by a near-capacity audience at Casa de Cultura. His talk, entitled Spain: Ice Age to the Romans, contained Cheda’s usual mix of well-researched information and humour. Cheda’s slideshow which, in his own words, began from the “start of time”, included influences on Spain of the Bronze Age and the Romans. Cheda asked: “What did the…

Alan Hunton kept his audience captivated during his presentation on ‘A History of Crude Oil: Mesopotamia to Colonel Drake”. Group leaders Angela & Tony thanked Alan for the detailed research which he had carried out and the amusing and informative way in which he presented the talk which left the history group members present looking forward to Part II!

‘A History of Crude Oil – from its Mesopotamia origins to Colonel Drake” Alan’s synopsis: 6000 years ago, crude oil was a prized commodity. The earliest historical records of its use are from Mesopotamia, an area which includes present day Syria and Iraq. We will see that the thin, highly flammable oils were the least desirable and that it was the thick bituminous materials that were valued by the Sumerians.…

Peter Atkinson gave another excellent History Group presentation – this time on the ‘Intersecting Lives: John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson’. Described by Peter as “the most difficult presentation of his 16 talks to the group” – despite the fact that there have been so many books, films etc of the two US Presidents, he put a different slant on it and delivered an interesting and informative account. Peter…

Barbara Craven gave an intriguing insight into the subject of ‘Food in Art’ at the History Group meeting at the Casa de Cultura, illustrating her talk with an array of artwork, some beautiful and some grotesque! But it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Barbara said her presentation combined her passion for food and her love of art. She traced artwork from early cave paintings through the pop art…

All members are welcome to attend – there is no need to book and the lectures are free; just come along and take a seat in the downstairs auditorium of the Casa de Cultura, Jávea. It starts at 11.30am. The Peasant Wedding by Pieter Brueghel the Younger Lobster Telephone (also known as Aphrodisiac Telephone) is a Surrealist object, created by Salvador Dalí From planting, to harvest or capture, its preparation…

A very big thank you to David Thoms for his excellent presentation on “Who was Robin Hood”? From ballads, poems and stories, visual images from the past and right up to modern-day films about Robin Hood, such as those starring Kevin Kostner and Russell Crowe, the audience was captivated with the various elements of “fact and fiction” presented by David in his very interesting and thought-provoking presentation. Well done David!

Below is a list of the talks given to the History Group since its inception with the most recent first. Date Presenter Topic 2019 10 Dec Peter Atkinson History of Spain Series Part III: The 16th to the 18th Centuries 12 Nov Angela Chantry History of Spain Series Part II: The Moors in Spain 8 Oct Cheda Panajotovik History of Spain Series Part I: Ice Age to the Romans 11 June Alan…