Recent-speakers


Click here for full details of our next luncheon
Friday
16th June 2025
Holliday Inn
Dr Katy Kidd

Katy Kidd returned to tell us about her ancestor’s involvement in

 

‘Settling the Prairies’

Frank Campbell, who formed the first farmers

co-operative society in the USA in Rockwell, Iowa.

 

“My late father came to the UK as a US serviceman in WW2, having been born and brought up in rural Iowa. Of Irish descent, both sides of his family were genuine Pioneers, i.e. they settled and farmed the prairie from its wild state. Life was very different from that experienced by those of us brought up in urban or suburban Britain!

My father was an amateur historian and keenly recorded and kept details of his family history, including their early days on the prairies. In addition, one of his early relatives became the editor of the local newspaper, and published some excellent obituaries, which paint a fascinating portrait of life there.

One of the family farms is still being run as such, by a family member, some 5 generations on.”

 

Friday
9th May 2025
Holiday Inn
Carol Lee

 

 ‘Heaton Park, My Grandad and the RAF’

During WWII Heaton Park in Manchester was a training ground for RAF recruits.  This is the story of my grandad’s experience as a recruit at Heaton Park and also his role in the RAF.  My talk follows my grandad through the recruitment process, training at various RAF Stations around England, including a training stint at Heaton Park and then later being stationed at Heaton Park for a more prolonged period while he led training courses.  My presentation includes many photographs, picture postcards and documents from my own archives as I piece together his life in the RAF from official documents, family letters and diary entries.

Friday
11th April 2025
Holiday Inn
Lynda Redfern

Lynda Redfern

 “My grandparents were Aliens”

Lynda was a pupil at Stand Grammar School for Girls in Whitefield in the sixties and went on to study Latin and French at Sheffield University, before teaching languages for forty years in Doncaster.

She has studied other languages – German, Italian, Russian, Arabic –  and  after retiring from full-time teaching she did A level Spanish.

She is involved in many voluntary activities, including teaching Spanish to adults to help fund her local community library.

Friday
14th March 2025
Holliday Inn
John Berry

Annual General Meeting

followed  by

John Berry

 ‘The Northwest  Air Ambulance Service Charity’

 

John  told us What the North West Ambulance Service does and How they operate.

Monday
17th February 2025
Holliday Inn
Keith Warrender

 

Author, Publisher & Photographer

 

“The Deansgate Story”

We discovered  the stories behind the buildings and businesses on this famous thoroughfare, with revelations about the people behind them.

Deansgate boasts three tunnels, and this presentation which ranges from bombs to Usane Bolt, made us  look at this historic street in a different light.

Monday
20th January 2025
Holliday Inn
Gary Burdett

 

My experiences with the Didgeridoo, through stories, history, and sounds”

Having travelled in Australia, I share you the sounds and stories of the ancient land and people.

I  used a Didgeridoo from my large collection to demonstrate the sounds and meanings of this ancient instrument.

 

 

 

I really enjoyed  talking to the Manchester Luncheon Club

about my time in Australia, I considered it a great privilege  to share the

sounds and stories of the ancient land and people.

Monday
16th December 2024
Holiday Inn
Christmas Luncheon

                                            Afterwards we will again be entertained

                                                by

The Bridgwater Hall Singers

following their wonderful performance last Christmas,

they are lead by

Alice and Louise

from

Simply Singing CIC

The Lord Mayor of the City of Manchester with our President Mrs Gwen M Crossley

Feedback from  attendee

“The choir was wonderful, good harmony and musicality, it made listening a real pleasure”

Friday
15th November 2024
Holliday Inn
Ann Boulton

‘ONCE A JENNY, ALWAYS A JENNY!’

 

 

When you hear someone talk about having been in the “services” or nowadays it is the “military” that is usually it without any other explanation.  This is the story, warts and all, of one former Wren who joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service at the age of 18.   She started as a pro-Wren, polishing floors and learning how to understand naval language and, having joined as a Shorthand writer, she had to take the proceedings of Boards of Enquiry verbatim – it was before tape recorders were accepted!

Ann was our Honorary Secretary for several years and also our President.   She has given several talks to the Manchester Luncheon Club and we look forward to hearing her again.

Feedback from  attendee

“I have to say that I thought the room looked great.   So nice to have a silver service.”  

Monday
16th October
Holliday Inn
Brian Topping

Tales of a Customs Officer

Ever wondered what Customs Officers are looking for??

We heard Brian tell of his many years during the 1970s and 80s as a serving Customs Officer in the former department of HM Customs and Excise, at Heathrow Airport. He told us an interesting, and entertaining  of the many situations he came across when dealing with passengers travelling through the airport and his involvement in apprehending and investigating smugglers.

 

We  also heard about ‘Friends of Frankie’, a Charity supported by Brian. 

He thanked everyone for their very generous donations to ‘Friends of Frankie’

Friday
20th September 2024
Holiday Inn
Dr Catherine Kidd, (always known as Katy)

 

The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918.”

Speaker: Dr Catherine Kidd, (always known as Katy) is a retired doctor who spent almost her entire career working in aspects of the Community Health Services and Public Health. Originally from Oxford, Katy qualified in medicine at Trinity College Dublin in 1973, and worked in Dublin, Cheshire and Wirral for almost 40 years.

As well as clinical work in community women’s services, her wide range of duties in the Wirral included teaching doctors and medical students. Katy did an MBA in Health Service Management at Keele University in the early 1990’s, and this led to significant involvement in medical management. These duties included being Director of Infection Prevention and Control for Wirral Primary Care Trust from 2004 to 2011, which included playing a leading role in the preparation for, and management of, the swine flu pandemic of 2009/10. In the North West of England, detailed preparations for an anticipated flu pandemic had been taking place for several years, and included looking back at lessons which could be learned from the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918/19.

Synopsis: Katy’s talk covered a range of aspects of the 1918/19 pandemic, including its probable origins, the reasons for its spread, both locally and worldwide, and its effects on civilian and military populations. The relationship between the pandemic and the First World War was discussed, including its probable role in shortening the length of this war. Also covered was the topic of how the pandemic was dealt with in the UK, and why, and looking back a few years to our recent Covid pandemic, whether any lessons were really learned.

 Manchester fared so much better than most urban areas in the UK in the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918 

Feedback from  attendee’s

We all learnt so much about so many interesting aspects of this disease, and I was particularly

intrigued by the fact that these pandemics seem to occur every 40 years.

The Speaker was good and her subject most fascinating

Thursday
22nd August 2024
The Monastery Manchester
ANNUAL SUMMER TRIP 2024

to The Monastery Manchester

This Summer’s Trip started at 11-00 am with our host,

Grahame Birtles,

telling us the story of Gorton Monastery, following which he  took us on a gentle walking tour of the building.

Lunch will be served in the Nave.

At 2-00pm, Accomplished Organist Stephen Mann will give a recital on the recently installed Wadsworth Victorian organ.

Stephen was the last organist of the Monastery, playing at the final Mass in 1989.

The original organ was sold for scrap when the church closed. An almost identical organ has been donated to the Trust. Thanks to donations, this organ has been refurbished. Fund raising continues to enable installation in the organ loft of the Great Nave.

Feedback from attendees

What an enjoyable day it was, both interesting and captivating historically. Graham’s talk was

excellent he really painted a picture of the Franciscans in Gorton, the catering was excellent and the

music was just wonderful.

We purchased a book so now appreciate the work that was involved with a dedicated band of people

who had faith and trust that their project would work.

I wonder where the Stations of the Cross have gone, wouldn’t it be a miracle if they were found and returned?

 

 

 

Friday
19th July 2424
Holliday Inn
Sue Holden

 

Past lawyer, present entertainer and now a story teller. Sue seeks to inform with humour and has been entertaining people for as long as she can remember and worked as a lawyer for slightly less a time (36 years.) Sue enjoyed a fulfilling and interesting career with a passion for learning.

“The law is something that touches and confounds us all from time to time and in my professional life I strived to convey both my enthusiasm and learning. In my retirement I seek to couple my interests to bring you an entertaining insight into the subject of my talks.”

 Sue’s subject today was

“They should’ve asked me husband”

A light hearted look at husbands (and wives) the famous, the infamous and the completely unknown. Illustrated through fact, fiction, comedy and verse.