Lichfield u3a

Science and Technology

Status:Active, open to new members
Group leader:
When: Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
2nd Monday of the month (except for November, when it's 1st Monday; no meeting in August)
Venue: Tesco Extra Community Room

Are you interested in joining the Science and Technology group? All we ask, is that you’re prepared to join in – everyone should take a turn, at some point, to introduce a topic, the discussion afterwards can also be most interesting. It’s amazing what people know.

Every year the science and technology group has 11 monthly sessions each with a defined topic and a member acting as speaker/presenter. These sessions a typically of about 2 hours in length with a tea/coffee break in the middle.

Xmas “Show & Tell”
At Christmas time, mid-December, this regular format is changed to an open house  “Show & Tell” session with a free format to allow members to bring along an interesting object, an amusing story from life or the world of work, or indeed any item they are interested in, a document, drawing, image , or video they can share with the group… all to stimulate discussion and share knowledge and create possible topics for next year ?

More Information?
Click the Group leader link above, and he’ll let you know what the next meeting will be. Let him know what your particular interests are, and you could be part of taking the group forward.

See below for forthcoming meetings.
Note: There is no meeting in August, this is when the group has their summer break.

Easter “Show and Tell"
BUT the Christmas “Show and Tell”  2025 proved so popular we couldn’t get all the members to cover their selected objects/stories/items/topics in the two hours available… so I decided to run an additional “Show and Tell” session at the April meeting and call it Easter Show and Tell.

So this note covers a few highlights from this extra special  show and tell.

Phil Mapley had presented on difficult topics such as Einsteins Special & General Theories of Relativity in the previous years, so he decided to lighten the mood and show a “Star Trek” like video on the possibility of Warp Drives, and the “ theory” on how they would work… to boldly go where no-one had been before ?? !!

Jayne Shardlow gave a practical demonstration of Knitting and is seen demonstrating in this picture:

Very quickly the predominantly male audience were asking Jayne about  the intricacies of KNIT ONE, PURL ONE, using two needles, also creating Cables, with three needles, or double ended needles. The discussion then moved on to Manchester, Jacquard Machines, Arkwright’s Mill, and ended with mathematics of Knots!

Ian Shardlow was up next and brought in a special soldering iron which was temperature controlled by fitting different “tips” to the iron body.

A number 7  would heat up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit , whereas a number 6 would only reach 600 degrees Fahrenheit … you get the general idea… these devices all relied on different metals/alloys loosing their magnetic properties as they were heated up via the (Piere) Currie effect.

The discussion moved on to MIG/TIG welding, the re-alignment of metal domains and other metallic magic.

Graham Wood always brings along several interesting objects and this time he excelled himself:

There are several spanners and what looked like pliers, known as , BA, BSW and BSF, BSA, and a U boat spanner, all very tactile and difficult to work out what they were used for!

The discussion the moved on to “specialisation”, Birmingham being the “City of 1000 trades” and techniques associated with the Ford assembly line … and the general decline of manufacturing in the UK in the late 20th century.

Chris Lock brought in a “Thornton Slide Rule”, based on Napier's Logarithms, new member David Shirtliff, produced an intriguing Japanese abacus known as a “Soroban” and Simon Hewin brought in a solar powered Casio FX scientific calculator from the 1990s:

Steve Taylor brought in a model of a 1947 MG TC MIDGET.

Steve has a real 1945 MG TC, see photo below, that uses “leaded” petrol, and Steve described the advances from 1859 when Eugene Carless (what a strange appropriate name !!) named petroleum and the issues of “knocking” in the 1920s as compression ratios increased and Lead Tetraethyl was then added to fuel… who remembers all the car additives you could buy at a forecourt – UCL, Redex and a host of others?

So, as the Madness song says “Oh what fun we had!”, on the special day we had at Easter 2026!

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Groups listed alphabetically

  • - Potential New Group -
    Status: Active
  • A Good Read
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Monday mornings 10:00 am
    on the 2nd Monday of the month
  • Architecture
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am
    on the 4th Wednesday of the month
  • Art
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    but not the 1st Wednesday of the month
  • Art (Semi/Abstract)
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
  • Art Appreciation 2
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 1:00 pm
    on the 2nd Monday of the month
  • Art Appreciation 3
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Friday mornings 10:00 am
    on the 4th Friday of the month
  • Bird Watching
    Status: Active
    Monthly
  • Board and Card Games
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Friday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on floor 4
  • Books - Between the Covers
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the first Monday of the month
  • Books Fizz
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Friday mornings 10:00 am
    on the fourth Friday
  • Bookworms
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday mornings 10:00 am
    on the first Monday of the month
  • Bridge & Rummikub
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
  • Bureau Book Club
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-3:30 pm
    on the 2nd Thursday of the month
  • Chess
    Status: Closed
    Fortnightly on Friday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month
  • Classic Literature
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the 2nd Thursday of the month
  • Classic Pop and Rock Music
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Friday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the last Friday of the month
  • Classic Pop and Rock Music 2
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Tuesday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the first Tuesday of the month
  • Creative writing
    Status: Active
    On Monday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the 2nd Monday of alternate months
  • Croquet [seasonal]
    Status: Active
    Monday & Wednesday afternoons 2pm-4pm during the summer (approximately April-October)
  • Current Affairs Discussion
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    2nd Thursday in the month
  • Cycling for Fun
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday mornings 10:00 am
    On the 1st Thursday of the month
  • Exploring Shakespeare
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the last Wednesday of the month
  • Folk Musicians (a.k.a. Nicely Matured Folk)
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Tuesday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month
  • Food Matters
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Tuesday mornings 11:00 am-12:30 pm
    irrespective of the weeks in the month
  • French Advanced
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Wednesday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    Members may attend weekly or fortnightly.
  • German Intermediate 1
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Wednesday afternoons 2:15 pm-4:45 pm
  • German Intermediate 2
    Status: Full
    Weekly on Tuesday mornings 10:30 am-12:15 pm
  • Guitar Group 1 (a.k.a. Don't Fret)
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Wednesday afternoons 12:00 pm-2:00 pm
  • Guitar Group 2
    Status: Waiting list
    Weekly on Tuesday afternoons 1:45 pm-4:15 pm
  • Guitar Group 3 (a.k.a. Strummertime)
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Fridays 11:00 am-1:00 pm
  • Guitar Group 4
    Status: Waiting list
    Weekly on Tuesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
  • Guitar Group 5
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Wednesday mornings 11:30 am-1:30 pm
  • History
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am-11:30 am
    on the 1st Wednesday of the month
  • History of Science
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 4th Monday of the month
  • International Dining
    Status: Active
    Evenings
    at a date and time, as agreed by the Group Members
  • Knitting, Crochet and Chat
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Tuesday afternoons 2:00 pm-3:30 pm
  • Local History
    Status: Active
    On Thursday mornings 10:30 am-12:30 pm
    every 4th Thursday
  • Lunches
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Fridays 12:30 pm
    on the 4th Friday of the month
  • Monthly Writing
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Friday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the 3rd Friday of the month
  • Music Appreciation
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    on the 1st Thursday of the month
  • Needlecraft
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    on the 3rd Thursday of the month
  • Open2Books
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 3rd Monday of the month
  • Orchestra
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Tuesday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month
  • Our Earth and Climate Change
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 3rd Monday of the month
  • Page Turners
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Friday afternoons 1:15 pm
    last Friday of the month
  • Philosophy 1
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 2nd Monday of the month
  • Philosophy 2
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Friday mornings 10:00 am
    on the 4th Friday of the month
  • Philosophy 3
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Friday mornings 10:00 am
    on the last Friday of the month
  • Philosophy 4
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Wednesday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 3rd Wednesday of the month
  • Photography
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    on the 3rd Thursday of the month
  • Play reading
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Tuesday afternoons 1:30 pm
    on the last Tuesday of the month, except December
  • Poetry Writing
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 3rd Thursday of the month
  • Psychology
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Tuesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    on the 3rd Tuesday of the month
  • Psychology 2
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Tuesday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    On the 4th Tuesday of the month
  • Rambling
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursdays
    on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month
  • Recorder
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Tuesday afternoons 2:30 pm-4:30 pm
    on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month
  • Roots and Shoots
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 1st Monday of the month
  • Science and Technology
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    2nd Monday of the month (except for November, when it's 1st Monday; no meeting in August)
  • Songwriting
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 3:00 pm-5:00 pm
    On the first Thursday of the month
  • Tai Chi
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-3:00 pm
  • Ukulele
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
  • Vintage Collage and Scrapbooking
    Status: Active
    On Wednesday afternoons 1:30 pm-3:30 pm
    Every third Wednesday
  • Walking with Dogs
    Status: Full
    Weekly on Wednesday mornings 10:00 am
  • Walking with Dogs 2
    Status: Active
    On Friday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    weekly
  • Walks - 3 Miles
    Status: Waiting list
    Fortnightly on Tuesdays 10:15 am
    on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday mornings each month.
  • Walks - 8 Miles - Thursday
    Status: Active
    On Thursdays
  • Walks - 8 Miles - Tuesday
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Tuesdays
    on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays of the month
  • Walks - Challenging - Monday
    Status: Active
    On Mondays
  • Welsh Language, Culture and History
    Status: Full
    Fortnightly on Monday afternoons 3:00 pm-4:30 pm
    on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month
  • Write-On!
    Status: Waiting list
    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
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