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On this page you can see the notes of previous monthly meetings in the current iU3A year. They are exactly as were written at the time, and will not be 'updated' as time goes by.

November — Roger Hamilton, one of our Islington U3A members, followed on from our AGM with a fascinating presentation on ‘Climate Change and Renewable Energy’.

He started off by explaining about the frog analogy in relation to global warming, suggesting that if you put a frog into water and gradually add warmer and warmer water the frog won’t know until it’s too late!

Climate change has been happening at a gradual rate since the Industrial Revolution but there has been a more noticeable change since the 1950s. Carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, mainly as a result of the use of fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases are linked to global warming and global temperatures have been rising gradually, mostly over the Northern Hemisphere. Many greenhouse gases break down in the atmosphere, but carbon dioxide does not. About half of it gets absorbed into the oceans and forests but the rest goes into the atmosphere and stays there. We need to get greenhouse gases down to zero, which we are currently trying to do by 2050. It’s a very tall order.

We need increasingly to look at other forms of energy and the costs of both solar and wind energy are getting cheaper. Renewable energy is now up to 25% of all electricity energy but coal is still at 38%.
The CCC (Climate Change Committee), led by New Zealand, are working with many other countries to tackle carbon emissions and are due to report on progress early next year. The G7 nations are committed to cutting carbon emissions. In the UK about 30% of our energy is renewable energy and 20% is nuclear energy and costs are falling; onshore wind is now our cheapest form of energy. Transport makes up 28% of our emissions, but we have the technology to bring this down by, for instance, the use of electric buses and trains using hydrogen fuel. Most of our homes could be better insulated but a further runway at Heathrow will present a significant increase in emissions. As far as agriculture is concerned, we need to reduce our livestock and eat less meat. We also need to increase the amount of land given over to forestry.

As Emmanuel Macron has said ‘There is no planet B’.

Unfortunately we ran out of time, but judging by the number of members who clustered around Roger at the end of the meeting, there were still many, many questions left unanswered. We will invite him again.

October — Christine Coates ‘Women Workers in World War One’ Oct 25th

Christine Coates took us through some wonderful archive photographs of women working in a wide variety of occupations, mostly previously reserved for men, during the years of the First World War. Some of these were her own family photos but most were from the TUC collection in Aldgate, where they are available to be viewed by the public. In 1901 the census showed that women made up just 31% of the workforce, most of whom were young and unmarried; about half of them were in domestic service. Men fought hard to keep women out of many work areas and women’s work was very poorly paid. Many men felt it unseemly that women should do work outside the home, or work that was heavy, dirty or unhealthy.

But by 1911, thanks to the militant efforts of the National Federation of Women Workers, women had come out on strike against poor working conditions and low pay and by 1918 over a million women belonged to a trade union. The suffrage campaign was not entirely led by middle-class women, as many think. Many women workers, particularly in the North of England, fought for equal rights both in the workplace and in domestic affairs. In 1914 a million men were recruited into the war effort and this was further increased by conscription and the extending of the age range. Women were called upon to report for work and almost 5 million women eventually registered.

Women began work in dangerous and unhealthy work where skill and precision were required. Examples in Islington were the munitions factory in Brewery Road, the gas mask factory in Holloway, the British Ever Ready torch and lighting equipment factory and the Highgate Aircraft Company. They were also employed in road laying and paint shops, as tram conductors, as well as white-collar work as telephonists and secretaries. They fought for equality in the workplace, for improved health and safety standards, nursery placements and leisure facilities and, when the war ended, women expected lasting change; but this was not to be as men returning home were re-integrated and given back their jobs. In 1918 three-quarters of a million women were made redundant and unemployment figures for them rose significantly. Despite some women being given the vote in 1920 and universal suffrage in 1928, the position of women in society diminished and ‘The new world looked much like the old one’.

A fascinating pictorial and oral review of the role of women in the war years.

September — Nick Higham, a journalist, interviewer and conference moderator, and a former BBC News reporter.

The talk was on: Myddelton's Water: a History of the New River: Nick’s highly informative talk demonstrated that the water course we know as the New River in Islington is neither new nor a river. Its origin dates back to the early 17th century, when it became clear that the supply of generally foul water in London was totally inadequate for the growing population. Edmund Colthurst drew up a grand scheme for a super conduit of water from the Amwell and Chadwell springs in Hertfordshire to the New River Head in Islington, consisting of 42 miles of elm pipes and a number of cisterns. The work began in 1602 but was stopped after three miles. Sir Hugh Myddleton, he of the statue on Islington Green, took over the project, making a deal with James I, who stumped up 50% of the funding. These two men were the first examples of notables who became involved with the project over the centuries. William Chadwell Mylne was the chief engineer of the New River Company in the 19th century and father and son held this position for 94 years. During this period the original elm pipes were lined with lead.

Traces of the new river abound in Islington, although its course is almost wholly underground. New River Walk with its original walkman’s hut is the only surface stretch. New River Head, which is now a complex of residential buildings, includes the former Metropolitan Water Board offices which incorporate a 17th century room from the original Water House with wood carvings reputedly by Grinling Gibbons. The East and West Reservoirs off Green Lanes with their 1856 pumping station were known as the Lake District of North London.

Nick showed us that for those who wish to know more about this fascinating subject, maps from the four centuries of the New River’s existence give a fascinating insight into its construction, course and activities surrounding it. (Report by Julie Howell)


As usual there were plenty of questions from members and we ran out of time.

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