New Members Meeting
2025-10-20 14:15 - 16:15 (Europe/London)
Are you new to HGS u3a or already a member? Join us for our New Members’ Meeting at the HGS Free Church, North Square, London NW11 7AG — a friendly gathering to meet fellow members, chat with Chair Carole Spiers and group organisers Tina Stanton and Malcolm Brahams, share your thoughts, and explore group sessions.
Use the following form to book your place:

Monthly Talk: Climate Change—What’s Next?
2025-10-23 15:00 - 16:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
Climate change continues to accelerate, and while the solutions are clear—reducing fossil fuel use, eating less meat, and consuming less—progress remains insufficient. The vision of a low-carbon society with energy-efficient homes, renewable energy, and sustainable lifestyles has yet to be realized.
Addressing climate change requires strong national and international action, ensuring benefits are shared, especially with the Global South, and costs are borne by those who can afford them. Unfortunately, international agencies like COPs, the IPCC, and the UN are weakening, revealing the political realities at play. In this talk, the speaker will explore steps the UK can take to address climate change, with a focus on government policies.
Alan Morton has been a dedicated member of the Muswell Hill Sustainability Group and its community energy company, en10ergy Limited, for many years. With a background in museums of science and technology, he spent the majority of his career as Curator of Energy and Modern Physics at the Science Museum in London.
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Monthly Talk: George Gershwin—Bridging Jazz and Classical Genius
2025-11-17 15:00 - 16:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
George Gershwin (1898–1937) was a musical genius of the 20th century who seamlessly blended classical music with the rhythms of jazz. A prolific composer, conductor, and pianist, he created over 500 songs with his lyricist brother Ira, contributing to iconic films and musicals such as A Star is Born and An American in Paris.
His groundbreaking folk opera Porgy and Bess remains a cornerstone of American music. While celebrated for his popular hits, Gershwin sought recognition as a serious classical composer, a goal reflected in enduring works like Rhapsody in Blue and Piano Concerto in F. This talk explores the life, music, and legacy of a composer who reshaped the sound of American culture.
Judith Kasriel is a music enthusiast, currently passionate about Gershwin, though her only formal qualification is an O-level in music. During lockdown, she began giving talks on composers like Bernstein, Shostakovich, and Gershwin, inspired by invitations from Belsize Park U3A.
Beyond music, she is active in HCS Choral Society, teaches English to Ukrainians, enjoys bridge, book club, skiing, and cherishes time with her 10 grandchildren.

Monthly Talk: Lost & Found—The Work of Christie's Restitution Department
2026-01-19 15:00 - 16:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
Richard Aronowitz, Global Head of Restitution at Christie’s, will speak about his role as a 1933–1945 provenance and restitution expert, the background to the work of his department, and the difficult issues and challenges that he encounters in this important work, with reference to some of the most interesting cases of loss and recovery that he has been involved with over the last 20 years.
Richard began his career in the art world as a furniture porter at Bonhams in 1993, then joined Sotheby’s as an Impressionist & Modern Art specialist in 1997, before leaving to become Director of the Ben Uri Gallery in 2003. He rejoined Sotheby’s as European Head of Restitution in 2006, then moved to Christie’s in March 2022. Richard is the author of the novels Five Amber Beads, It’s Just the Beating of my Heart, An American Decade, and Night Comes Down, as well as a book of poetry, Life Lessons

Monthly Talk: How Medical Advances Since 1890's Benefited One Patient
2026-02-25 15:00 - 16:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
In this talk, Gordon Rustin uses the remarkable medical history of one female cancer patient to show how she benefited from 21 lines of therapy. The patient’s story traces back through time to reveal how the diagnostic tools and treatments she experienced were discovered—a journey spanning 130 years of medical innovation, blending history with the excitement of modern advances.
Gordon Rustin takes the audience back in time to explore how the diagnostic tools and treatments the patient experienced were discovered, blending the history of medicine with the excitement of the extraordinary medical advances achieved over the past 130 years.

Monthly Talk: The Great Exhibition of 1851
2026-03-18 15:00 - 16:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
In London’s Hyde Park on 1st May 1851, a spectacular international exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria. It was the first World Trade Fair. The concept was extraordinarily ambitious—to bring together works from all over the world to display the great industrial and artistic achievements of mankind. Above all, it was intended to advance British manufacture and trading interests. It broke many records and lived on in the public imagination for decades. The talk charts the story of The Great Exhibition from its inception to its legacy.
Angela Cox is an art historian and independent lecturer. She was the first Head of Education at the National Portrait Gallery for ten years and a former Course Director of V&A Year Courses on the Fine and Decorative Arts. She specialises in British painting, most recently researching portraits of children painted in the 16th and 17th centuries. She has organised courses on aspects of British art at the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery, Birkbeck College and elsewhere.

Monthly Talk: What Is America Doing with Our Communication, Culture, and Commerce?
2026-05-18 15:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
Why It’s Happening—and What We Can Do
Once upon a time, Britain and America were “two nations divided by a common language.” Now, coca-colonisation has blurred the lines—“trainers” are “sneakers,” “shops” are “stores,” and “queues” are “lines.” US culture dominates our media, markets, and even manners. Should we fear Silicon (or Silly Con) Valley’s power? With our obsession for instant delivery and streaming, resistance seems futile. Has the cookie crumbled, or will China soon call the tune? In this witty, insightful session, Steven Fogel examines America’s cultural pull—when it goes too far, what we gain and lose, and whether “have a nice day” is really so bad.
Steven has been a keen US observer over many years. For many years he made monthly trips to the Atlantic as a US/UK law firm managing partner and then as adviser to investment and cultural organisations. After a career change from law, he chaired an investment management company. His trustee and board work has included London University, the Freud Museum, a dance company and musical artists agency. He has written textbooks and won gardening awards

Monthly Talk: A Beginning, a Muddle & an End—Where do Novelists Get their Ideas?
2026-06-17 15:00 - 16:00 | HGS Free Church, North Square, London, NW11 7AG
Drawing on the experience of many well-known authors, in an entertaining, informative talk, Bobbie Darbyshire will explain how, from a few sketchy initial ideas and the wide variety of inspirational sources available to us all, invention gradually stimulates more invention to produce a novel. Readers and non readers will gain new insight into the creative process that all of us express in some way, and aspiring writers in the audience will learn they need no special skills, just the desire to write and perseverance.
Winner of the 2008 Fiction Prize at the National Academy of Writing and the 2010 New Delta Review Creative Non-Fiction Prize, Bobbie is the author of five novels, including The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whittaker and The Third Bus. Before becoming a writer full-time, her career was in social research and government policy, including a stint as a cabinet minister’s private secretary. She has also worked as barmaid, mushroom picker, film extra, maths coach, care assistant, and volunteer adult-literacy teacher, and she has been hosting a writer’s group for 25 years.
