Providing opportunities for people who are retired from full-time employment in Skipton and neighbouring areas

People and Places Groups

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Arthurian Legends (62307/People and Places)

Monty Python, Mallory, Myth and Music – a study in film, opera, literature and art of the legends surrounding King Arthur. Themes include Lancelot and Guinevere, Parsifal and the Grail, Excalibur and Arthur’s death. Sessions mostly consist of a film or filmed opera, with additional material from poetry and art. There is also a screening of Chausson's Le roi Arthus subtitled in English specially for us.

Byzantium (62311/People and Places)

This series of talks is a revised repeat of the 2023 course. The great Christian empire of Byzantium (330-1453) is both the successor and continuation of the Roman Empire. Spanning Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Byzantium has been undeservedly neglected. Now is your chance to become familiar with its tumultuous history. Nigel keeps the narrative going. Jane reveals its glorious artistic and architectural achievements. This course is not suitable for dipping in and out of. Please note that priority of place will go to those members on the waiting list of the 2023 course.

Coastal Navigation (62892/71126)

The objective of this course is to give you basic information on Navigating at sea to enable you, after a sailing course, to crew a yacht. The course will cover: fixing your position at sea, the effect of wind and tide on your course, planning a ‘passage’.

Geography Forum (62359/People and Places)

Talks by members on Geography, History, People and Places.

Japan: A History in Five Talks (62375/People and Places)

Like Britain. Japan is a heavily populated island, but at the far eastern extremity of the Eurasian landmass; and like us it takes great pride in its exceptionalism. Over the years I have given talks on Japan from mediaeval times to the present day. For this course I am combining four of these talks, adding one new one as well as creating supplementary material to ensure continuity over nearly six hundred years of history. Our story will begin with Japan’s first encounters with Europeans in the 16th century and will end, as it were, with a journey of the bullet train.

Literary Lives (62376/People and Places)

Illustrated talks on the lives of literary figures by Judith Barras, David Turner and guest presenters.

Politics Discussion Group (62325/People and Places)

The Politics discussion group meets weekly to discuss current political events as well as to consider ongoing issues, the underlying background to political decisions and the processes of government (in the UK and elsewhere) in general. Group members will bring to bear their wide-ranging experience(s), reading and viewing to try to get a better understanding of what’s going on and where it might lead. Occasionally one of the group may offer a more formal input to inform and focus our discussions. The group is not intended to be a forum for political knock-about from entrenched positions, (although members will clearly have, and express, their own views), but rather an educational experience from which we emerge having learned something new or questioning our previous assumptions.

Renaissance Gardens and Ovid (62383/People and Places)

A journey through gardens, poetry and myth. Many of the famous gardens of the Italian Renaissance draw their design and imagery from the work of the lively Classical Roman poet Ovid. We will look at these fine gardens, and others round Europe; exploring the ideas behind their creation; learning about Ovid, and Renaissance culture, along the way. No prior knowledge of Latin required. Just bring your interest and curiosity, as we explore many corners of literature, hidden history and lost gardens.[Please note that this course runs every two weeks, alternating on Monday afternoons with LIterary Lives]

The Hearing Loss Network (62391/People and Places)

For people with misbehaving ears. This is less of a group and more of a grapevine for all things hearing loss. Swapping information about venues it’s hard to hear in? Know which places have a hearing loop and how it works? News of captioned cinema and theatre performances? Perhaps an occasional speaker on a hearing loss-related topic? If your ears frustrate you please sign up. No strings attached other than receiving an occasional email.

Victorians (62338/People and Places)

Ten speakers, ten topics. Industrialists, campaigners, artists, a writer - anything and everything Victorian. From Wilkie Collins to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, from the Corn Laws to the Pre-Raphaelites.