u3a Hay

Founded in 2007, we are a lively organisation in Hay-on-Wye for people no longer working full-time but still active. 
Learn, Laugh, Live! is the motto of the u3a, a national network.

What is u3a?

Hay-on-Wye (Y Gelli) is a small market town which sits on a foothill of the Black Mountains of Wales. Crowned by a recently restored 12th Century castle, it straddles the Welsh-English border, the River Wye, and the counties of Brecknock and Radnor (Powys) and neighbours with Herefordshire. Known as the Book Town, Bookseller, ‘King’ Richard Booth, declared independence for Hay in 1975, launching its international reputation as the second-hand book capital of the world and preparing the way for its famous literary festival held every year at the end of May.

u3a Hay has enjoyed many events over the past years:

Past events

• 2008 Event Archive
• Jan-Science Fiction and Science-Martin Griffiths
• Feb-Talk on Robert Schuman
• March June Rees - Islam, Faith and Politics
• April Professor Richard Rathbone Up Close and Personal: The troubled relationships between an oral historian of Africa and his informants.
• 6-7.30pm FRIDAY April 18th Duncan Fallowell - Going as Far As I Can: Ultimate Travel Book
• May Local historian Adrian Harvey - The Siege of Hereford
• June Experimental physicist Dr Geoff Jones - Why Do We Only Go One Way in Time?
• July Sir Arnold Wesker - This Need to Write Poetry
• September Ludmilla Skinner - The Spooks on our Shoulders (the impact of the Soviet State Security Service)
• October AGM and Consultant Psychologist Dr Karen Baistow - What is Happiness?
• November Richard Suggett - Houses & History in the Marches of Wales- Radnorshire 1400-1800.
• 2009 Event Archive
• January Composer, writer, critic, lecturer, broadcaster Stephen Johnson - Can Music Tell Stories?
• February Former Directing Architect of English Heritage Robert Chitham - The History of the Classical Orders
• March Sir Arnold Wesker FRSL returns - 'Whatever Happened to Betty Lemon?' and short story, Love Letters on Blue Paper.
• April DARWIN DAY -A day of talks, films and discussions – everything explained!
• May Brian Jauncey -MADRESFIELD – The real Brideshead.
• July Leading Wildlife Artist David Shepherd CBE, FRSA, FRGS - THE MAN WHO LOVES GIANTS
• August Janet & Mark Robinson CELESTIAL OBJECTS T. W. Webb, the Patrick Moore of his day.
• September Lyudmilla Skinner - IT’S NOT EASY BUILDING COMMUNISM!
• October 20th AGM and biographer and novelist Paul Ferris - GOWER
• November Advisor to Kofi~Annan at UN, John Clark - WORLDS APART,
• 2010 Event Archive
• January Raymond Woods - FASCINATING FUNGI
• February Pianist and retired Principal Lecturer at LCM Donald Ellman - SO WHAT ELSE DID SAMUEL BARBER WRITE?
• Mar-Readings by Sir Arnold Wesker
• Apr- Groups and Numbers-Prof. Robin Dunbar
• May-Dreams
• Jun-Study Day, History of Wales & Hay
• July-Development in the Third World-John Clark
• October-Fungi-Ray Wood
• November-Twelfth Night by the Willow Globe Theatre
• 2011 Event Archive
• March John Wynn of Robert Wynn's company - Moving Heavy Loads
• Afternoon session: Pakistan Adventure, Carol Armstrong & Gill Spurr
• April Ruth Richardson - Blanche Parry, Elizabethan Courtier with local connections.
• Afternoon session 1:30 pm: Computers & The Internet conducted by John Crellin and Peter Roberts.
• May Dr Richard Robertshaw - The History of Anaesthetics
• Afternoon session 1:30 pm:. John Crellin talks about the wild flowers of Wales and further afield.
• 21 June Romeo and Juliet Willow Theatre Tickets in advance £8.00. Performance starts at 7:30 pm.
• July Ken Jones The Independence of Reuters – Myth or Reality?
• Afternoon session 1:45 pm: Juliet Lewis "Restoration of Pisco, Peru",
• September Helen Johnson - The Millennium Development Goals & reducing child mortality – a personal reflection.
• Afternoon session 1:45 pm: Roger Catley: 'The Magic of Christmas'.
• October AGM and Dr Rob Dickinson - A Passion for Steam: around the sugar mills of Java
• Afternoon - film “Sweet Spot” a Java travelogue by Rob and his wife Yuehong.
• November Richard Greatrex, Cinematographer presents 'Moby Dick' and discusses the making of the film.
• 2012 Event Archive
• Jan Rebecca Brooks of Radnorshire Wildlife Trust - Beyond Nature Reserves: Real Conservation.
• Afternoon session: Martin Wibberley introduces Painscastle’s long, intriguing, bloody & bizarre history.
• Feb Artists of the Llanthony Valley: William Gibbs discusses JWM Turner, John Piper and Eric Gill, amongst others.
• Afternoon session: Housekeeping in the Himalayas by Gill Foulds
• Mar Dr David Jenkins talks about the master mariner, ship-owner and philanthropist - Remembering Sir William Reardon-Smith
• Afternoon session: Meet members of the Current Affairs Group and hear how they put the world to rights in the Blue Boar.
• 1April AGM and Eileen Eggington - Through the Glass Ceiling: Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police Force.
• Afternoon session: The U3A Book Club tell us about the “Books we have read”.
• May Donald Ellman Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Mozart’s pupil. A Forgotten Master?
• Afternoon session Meet the Hay U3A Philosophy group. They really aren’t dangerous.
• June – Study Day “Exploring Living Memory”. A day of talks and discussions around living with forgetfulness and dementia.
• July Rev Richard Walker - The Brontes of Haworth: their lives and work.
• Aug Rodney Mace - "Disease, aliens and pollution: Some of the costs of wearing wool"
• Afternoon session: Meet the Jazz group: Hay Jazz group present their "Desert Island Discs".
• Oct Tim Phillips - Django Reinhardt & the Hot Club of France: a man unable to read writing, let alone music.
• Nov Health Matters in Hay & Timbuktu: Dr Mary Hughes and Kate Bingley talk about the “Two Towns - One World Project”.
• Afternoon session: Janet Robinson: “A family grocery business”.
• 2013 Event Archive
• Jan Canon Chris Pullin, Chancellor of Hereford Cathedral - The Mappa Mundi
• Afternoon Session: Border Castles and Churches Group, Gill Spurr and members of the group
• Feb Stewart Roberts - Catalonia – Cava, Cork & Conservation
• Afternoon Session: Feeding a Small Town in World War II, Janet Robinson
• Mar A Jewel in the Crown – the Wrexham Coverlet by Ellen Phillips, St Fagans, Museum of Wales
• Afternoon: These are a few of our favourite things… U3A Members share their thoughts on items with special meaning.
• Apr AGM The U3A Hay Chairman’s Annual Debate
• May Wellbeing Day: Talks and discussion around the issues of pain relief, dementia, strokes and eyesight.
• June The 1918 Model T Ford – how it changed the world Jasper Fforde
• Afternoon session: Genevieve. A showing of the classic 1953 film.
• July U3A Summer Garden Party. An invitation from Marya Fforde with entertainment from Wye Players in her Brilley garden.
• Aug Denise Darbyshire, Ashmolean Museum Oxford - The Splendours of Islamic Art and Architecture.
• Oct Elizabeth Friendship, Costume Historian - Researching Nomadic Costumes in Tibet.
• November The Herefordshire School of Stone Carving, an illustrated talk by Muriel Passey
• Afternoon: A showing of "The Illuminator and a Bible for the 21st Century" (a project of the Monmouthshire Calligraphers)
• 2014 Event Archive
• Jan Sue Norrington - The Music Scene since 1945 or how I got to Concerts for Craswall
• Afternoon session: The Music-all Group present their 2013 choices.
• Feb Professor John Barrell - Edward Pugh of Ruthin (1763 – 1813), Welsh landscape painter and writer.
• Afternoon Session: Artwork and the Machine an illustrated talk by Jack Tait
• March Sarah Rochira Older People's Commissioner for Wales - Standing Up, Speaking Out..
• Afternoon: Quartet (2012)
• April The U3A Hay Chairman's Annual Debate with debaters from Hereford Cathedral School and AGM
• June Robin Whalley - The Great Edwardian Gardens of Harold Peto (1854-1933).
• July Through the Garden Gate. Bring and share lunch in Marya Fforde's Brilley garden, entertainment from the Wye Players
• Aug Noel Meeke, Chairman of the Hereford Waterworks Museum - Water, Water, Everywhere.
• Sept Remembering World War 1. A morning of readings on peace and war organized by U3AHay members.
• Afternoon Session: Oh What a Lovely War!
• Oct Denise and Malcolm Darbyshire - The Magic of Southern India.
• Afternoon Session: Our Footprint on the World. U3AHay members travel memoirs
• Nov Study Day: Education, Where next? Dr Jonathan Godfrey OBE Head of Hereford Sixth Form College and Hugh Howe CBE Head of Beauchamp College Leicestershire
• 2015 Event Archive
• Jan Jasper Fforde - A History of Aircraft (with the boring bits left out).
• pm The Concorde Story about the aircraft few of us ever travelled in but frequently heard flying overhead.
• Feb Cardiff University Professor Sophie Gilliat–Ray - Islam and Muslims in Britain
• Mar Hereford Cathedral’s Christopher Pullen will help us celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta
• Apr William Jones, Professor of Welsh History, Cardiff University, - the Welsh migration to Patagonia 150 years ago.
• June Prof. Stephen Daniels, Professor of Cultural Geography - Bringing a Landscape to Life .
• pm: James Cresswell - Glaciation in Antarctica.
• July Rodney Mace - Family life in another time of austerity, the ten years after the end of WWII.
• Aug Astronomer Dr Martin Griffiths - Extraterrestrial life
• Sept The many challenges faced by farming today with the help of Havard Prosser, Bill Johnson and John Lewis.
• Oct Hereford Cathedral organist, Peter Dyke - The history of organ music on the organ of St Mary’s Church.
• Nov Chairman’s Annual debate on a topical issue followed in the afternoon by a presentation by one of our interest groups.
• 2016 Event Archive
• Jan Climate Change: it's affect on the Polar Regions - Geologist James Cresswell
• pm Geology Group - What's under our feet.
• Feb “Landscape, Geology & Industrial Archaeology of Cusop Dingle.” Martin Wibberley (U3A Hay Member.)
• Afternoon is part of our Farming Challenges with a visit to a local dairy farm. Please bring wellies.
• March Knights Templar and Hospitaller in Wales - Oliver Lewis
• pm From Tram to Mickey Mouse by Mark Robinson
• April Surrealist is Dead, Long live Surrealism! by John Richardson and John Welson
• AGM 1.30 Films of Man Ray
• June Pulp Fictions: South America's Challenges in Olympic Year by Oliver Balch
• pm. Brexit or Remain - a panel of farmers debate.
• July Bletchly Park, the Enigma machine and the Atlantic War - Dr Mark Baldwin plus his original Enigma machine
• August The History of Photography by Jasper Fforde
• pm. How to Take Better Photos by Dainis Ouzels
• Sept Conspiracy or Cover Up? The Assassination of President Kennedy by Roger Curtis
• pm. What Next in American Politics?
• Oct Author and journalist Emma Scattergood will lead the day of creative writing and in the morning she will talk about "From Idea to Publication: How Writers Can Find a Market for their Work".
• 2017 Event Archive
• Jan Why Give Aid Overseas by John Winter
• pm. Film Still Life at the Penguin Cafe
• Feb The History of Cider Making in Herefordshire by Penny Platts
• pm. Film Cider with Rosie
• April Matilda and the History of Hay Castle by Dr Peter Ford
• 12 noon AGM 1.30 Mely Vera "Want to Speak Spanish"
• June It's Green, It's Nuclear, It's Safe, It's Thorium! A history of it's discovery by Anthony Priddis.
• pm. 10th Anniversary party
• July Storm South: The Secrets of the Falklands War by Roger Curtis
• pm. Local History in the 1980's Media - John Price
• Aug Hidden Treasures among the Heather. Ireland Moor by Catherine Hughes of the Powys Upland Partnership.
• pm visit to Ireland Moor.
• Sept The Russia Revolution 1917 by Natasha Guttemann
• pm. Russia Today. Current Affairs Interest Group
• October Researching Timber Framed Buildings - Duncan James
• pm. Local Interest Media Part II - John Price
• Nov Bacteria: You Can't Live With Them and You Can't Live Without Them! Prof. Brian Henderson
• p.m. - Antibiotic Resistance
• December Christmas Lunch
• 2018 Event Archive
• Jan Climate Resilient Pathways by Mike Thompson
• pm. Film An Inconvenient Sequel:Truth to Power (2017) Al Gore's follow-up film on Global warming.
• Feb Women, Castles and Power in Late Medieval Britain by Rodney Mace
• 1.15 pm Family Matters by Janet Robinson
• March The Stargazer of Hardwicke - Mark Robinson
• pm Laurence Matthews - From Hay to Infinity
• April The Royal Air Force at 100 - Air Commodore Mark Wordley RAF (Retired)
• pm Two Men and the Moon - David Fry (USA vs USSR)
• June The Physicians of Myddfai - Dr. Donald Williams of the Myddfai Society
• pm: LPA Made Easy with Robyn Nunez
• July Popular Musicians’ Informal Learning Practices - Prof Lucy Green, Professor of Music Education at UCL
• pm: Family Matters: four generations of change, two World Wars, and how women’s lives were affected, with Janet Robinson
• Aug Ydwena Jones - Eisteddfod: the history and the present day workings of the Welsh Festival
• pm: Get Smart with your Smartphone? The Android and Mac systems demystified by Dean Williams of Communikate
• Sept The History of Pottery - Annette & John Christophers of Albrighton Pottery bring a history of all things potting
• pm: Local Initiatives. An overview of what’s going on in your community .
• Oct John Piper - Canon Sandy Elliott examines the life and work of this prolific artist
• Afternoon: The Minnesota Bible
• Nov Our Daily Bread - Rev Ian Charlesworth looks at the history, social and religious importance of the world’s shared food
• pm: Interest Group presentation
• December Christmas Lunch