Weekend History Seminar

Wedgwood Memorial College

22 to 24 January 2010

As usual the OUHS weekend proved interesting and enjoyable. Attendance was improved from last year and the facilities and excellent traditional food supplied by the College ensured that both old hands and first-timers could get down to swapping experience and knowledge of history and the OU. There was a change in format this year. 'Lay' members of the association did make presentations but we were also very lucky to have input from three very experienced OU Tutors who generously gave their time.

Dr John Kirkaldy was kind enough to join us for the whole weekend and kept us entertained and informed with stories of his experiences with the OU over many years. We were particularly interested in hearing some of the background to OU television programmes. His presentation 'The Return of the Irish Joke: British Cartoons and Troubles in Ireland', which included a wide range of slides of cartoons from the nineteenth and twentieth century, provoked some sobering discussion about the shockingly prejudicial nature of some newspaper cartoons as late as the 1980s.

Dr David Galbraith came to us hot-foot from an OU tutorial which had been postponed due to the icy weather. His presentation on 'Christianity in America and its affects on Politics' made an interesting comparison with the situation in British politics and elections in post WW2 USA. This was a prime example of how the study of history can help us to understand current concerns and was particularly relevant in the light of President Obama's election and the impending British election.

Anthony Laird's excellent lesson on 'The Treaty of Versailles 1919' helped to clear up much confusion about Europe between the World Wars. Members were interested to hear of the differing aims of the Allies and USA President Woodrow Wilson's interest in the repayment of loans made while the US was neutral as well as the establishment of his famous 14 points. There was considerable discussion on the success or otherwise of the Treaty: reparations, the 1920/30s geography of middle Europe and its effect on a further outbreak of war in 1939. We could have gone on listening and arguing for hours!

All those members attending are very grateful to all three tutors for giving up their time.

The weekend started with an unusual Workshop on Calligraphy organised by Sheila Smith who contrasted the work and materials of medieval scribes with those of today. We were all able to handle the different materials, noting the different qualities of papyrus, vellum etc. and were encouraged to 'have a go' and produce our own names for display. This we did with varying success and some blots!

Jeff Porter's informative 'When did the Luftwaffe lose the war in the air?' was enhanced by some excellent photographs displayed via PowerPoint. Ruth Barbour gave us a brief talk on her work editing a booklet 'Catholic Warwick' and led a discussion on Research which brought forth several helpful hints and a few tales of woe. Member's contribution will be printed in this or a future edition of Open History.

At the Society AGM the President, Officers and Committee were re-elected and it was agreed that subscriptions would remain at their present level. Chairman Don Vincent thanked all those involved in the organisation of the Society but regretted the lack of opportunity for participation in OU Open day.

The weekend rose to a very jolly peak when the Friends of Wedgwood Memorial College asked us to join them on Saturday night for a Burns Night supper. We were all piped into Dinner and traditional Cock-a-leekie, Haggis and Whisky was enjoyed by (almost) all. The formal evening finished with some poetry and Scottish music but 'discussions' seemed to go on long into the night. Members unanimously agreed that the OUHS would return to the same venue in 2011!