Talks take place on Thursday afternoons, starting at 2pm, and usually take place in the Lecture Hall, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA. These are free for Oxford u3a members but you are welcome to attend as a guest for a donation of £5 (£2 for members of all other U3As).
Most talks are recorded on Zoom for the benefit of those Oxford u3a members who are unable to attend Rewley House.
In the event of adverse weather conditions, please telephone Rewley House (01865 270360), to enquire whether the talk has been cancelled.
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Melanie King – Taking the Waters: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the English Spa
29th May 2025 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Melanie King is a writer of historical non-fiction who has published seven books. She specialises in using archival sources to shine a light on the obscure and often bizarre episodes that run through history, from the madcap techniques used by spies in WWI, to the ‘fake news’ about the effects of coffee propagated by seventeenth-century tea merchants. Her eclectic subjects reflect her varied and shifting careers. After graduating with a degree in international relations from the University of Sussex she travelled alone through India, Nepal, South-east Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. She worked in Bangkok as a staff writer for The Nation; with Eurocrats in Brussels; at Chatham House in London; and with refugees and victims of torture, both at home and abroad.
Melanie’s talk will take an informative but light-hearted look at the social and cultural history of our obsession with drinking and bathing in spa waters and the entrepreneurs who promoted these resorts—often on the basis of the most dubious scientific evidence.