2025

December 10th

Norman Hinchliffe: 'Planet Motions and Reference Systems'

The stars seem fixed in their patterns so unchangingly that most cultures have used the presence of one or another constellation to tell time and navigate: the planets, however, are different as they glide slowly and seemingly erratically across the sky.   Attempts to explain why the planets move as they do (from Aristotle to Einstein) led to modern science's understanding of gravity and motion and the refinement of reference systems.

2026

January 14th

Annual Lunch, The Orangery, Dainton Golf Club

Speaker – 12 noon to 1 p.m:  Jack Aust: ‘Heathrow  Substation Fire’

On the 20 March 2025 at 23:21 a transformer caught fire which forced the shutdown of Heathrow Airport causing 200,000 passenger journeys to be cancelled. Jack will give an overview of the UK electrical power distribution system and look at the lessons learnt from this avoidable event.

Jack AustC.Eng, MIET, ACGI is a retired power engineer who worked on the Thames Flood Barrier and then spent 20 years at Devonport Dockyard working on High Voltage Systems.

February 11th

Daryl Newsome: ‘The aging eye and driving"

Daryl intends to talk about different light, the useful and not so useful illumination, the regulations around headlights, how the eye changes with age and how to maximise our vision as we age.

March 11th

Louise Wainwright: ‘Predators and Prey - making the Balance of Nature work for farmers’.

Louise Wainwright will share how she and her husband built a multi-million pound business in Kenya which mass produces beneficial insects and good microbes that helped farmers across the world to reduce their reliance on chemical pesticides and improve their yields, quality and profits.