“The choir was wonderful, good harmony and musicality, it made listening a real pleasure”
We also heard about ‘Friends of Frankie’, a Charity supported by Brian.
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
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.
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.
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
A light hearted look at husbands (and wives) the famous, the infamous and the completely unknown. Illustrated through fact, fiction, comedy and verse.
Joanna M Williams is a native of the Manchester area and studied History at the University of Manchester at undergraduate and post-graduate level. After lecturing for the Department of Extra-Mural Studies, she taught History at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls. Her particular fascination with the nineteenth century was inspired by the enthusiasm of her sixth form students, and she has published biographies of important Manchester Victorians, Abel Heywood and Lydia Becker.
followed by
Gwen has lived most of her life in Manchester and has a keen interest in the history of the City. Since retiring from Nursing, she has been an enthusiastic and committed member of the club, becoming Honorary Secretary 2014 and President in 2022.
In preparation for the Centenary Celebrations of 2022, she spent many hours reading papers relating to the club’s history and used much of the information for the Souvenir Booklet produced at the time.
As there was insufficient space to record all the details, Gwen gave a talk to the club in January 2023.
The History of Manchester Luncheon Club and the people who made it.
That talk concentrated on the members, there was not enough time to give details of the vast number of speakers.
Members were keen to hear more.
The occasion of our 100th AGM
seems a most appropriate time to do this.
Feedback from an attendee
‘I never knew that the ‘Club’ had, had so many prestigious and influential Speakers.’
David describes himself as a “consumer of history” and is an engaging, animated and entertaining professional speaker on a variety of historical subjects. David worked for 35 years in the Civil Service speaking to audiences from 5 to 500 people. Since retiring in 2012 he has travelled extensively across the UK giving fully illustrated talks to numerous groups including, Local History Societies, Probus, WI, National Trust, Car and Aviation Clubs and U3A.
Married to Lynn he lives in Belper Derbyshire, where he was a guide at the famous Belper North Mill for three years. During David’s studies of the American Civil War, they travelled widely across the United States visiting battlefields from the War as well as the Alamo. David and Lynn were members of the Towton Battlefield Society in Yorkshire providing a strong interest in the Wars of the Roses. David was also a battlefield guide for the Society for 7 years.
In 1836 a small group of Texans were besieged and then wiped out by a much larger Mexican army at a mission station in San Antonio Texas. For many Americans the Alamo has assumed a near mythical status in their history and the John Wayne film of the 1960s tells it all. But what did happen there in those 13 days?
We met William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett and saw how the defeat at the Alamo led to the state of Texas being formed.
Feedback from an attendee
“It was fascinating to hear David separate fact from fiction”