the history of the exeter forum
How it all began
The initial idea for the formation of The Exeter Forum came from the successful launch of The Plymouth Forum some two years before. In Plymouth in 1968 a Mr Ernest T English, had become a little bored with life following retirement. Finding nothing to replace the mental and social stimulus he had derived from his career, he decided to see whether there was a wider need for some form of social group catering for the intellectual and social needs of retired business and professional people. He floated the idea with publicity in the local press.
The response revealed he had struck a chord and Plymouth Forum developed from that initial interest. Within two years it had a membership of over 250 and a wide range of activities were taking place under its umbrella. The main activities were the self-organised special interest sub-groups, some fifteen in number, covering interests as diverse as flower-arranging, astronomy, antiques and sociology. There were also 8 general assemblies, which were open to all members, held each year, a weekly coffee morning, and in the summer months, holidays and coach visits. The Workers Educational Association (WEA) helped find expert lecturers for some of the sub-groups.
Before long a second forum had become necessary, and that soon had 200 members. By 1970 similar forums had been formed in Torquay and Tavistock.
Meanwhile in Exeter in 1970, a Mr Joe Metcalfe was also becoming dissatisfied with retirement. While attending a WEA course, he was invited to look into the Plymouth Forum. He subsequently attended several of their meetings and was impressed with members’ zest for life and learning and their outgoing approach. He concluded that there would probably be a role for a similar organisation in Exeter. This led him to ask the Express and Echo to publish an article floating the idea of forming a similar group.
The response was very encouraging and over 60 people came to an inaugural meeting held on May 11th 1970 at the Library. Some 50 people enrolled as members there and then, and at the time of the first General Meeting held on June 23rd 1970 membership numbers had risen to some 75. By then there had been a number of walks, 5 lectures on international affairs, a botany talk, a visit to Bicton Gardens and another to the Norman Lockyer Observatory, as well as coffee mornings and travel talks.
The first couple of years
By December that year membership numbers had reached 170, and the committee had realised that they needed to work up a more formal management arrangement than the ad hoc situation that had got them going. Proposals for a more structured organisation were devised by the committee between then and February 1971, by which time membership had reached 206. When it had been firmed up, the management structure proposed by committee was then brought forward to the General Assembly in April 1971.
The Exeter Forum's first Annual General Meeting was held on May 26th 1971. In the twelve months since the inaugural meeting, a weekly programme of lectures and coffee had been established; weekly walks had been held - through the summer months at least; a number of coach trips to attractions in the south west area had been arranged; several theatre visits had been organised; a local history course had been set up; and a number of special interest groups covering topics such as International Affairs, French Conversation; Music Appreciation; Antiques, and Painting and Sketching had started meeting.
From then and on into 1973, the main activities of weekly lectures, walks, social events and visits continued, but in addition a wide range of educational courses, each lasting for perhaps 10 sessions, were arranged. Subjects as varied as Current Economic Affairs, Dartmoor, Geomorphology, Literature, Music, French Conversation and Art, International Affairs, and Ecology were offered.
Besides the new management structure, that first AGM brought about a change in the management team. Some while earlier Joe Metcalfe appears to have had a disagreement with the Chairman and stepped down from the Secretary’s role at the AGM. Subsequently he went on to establish The Exeter Second Forum, meeting on Fridays.
It is interesting to note at this point that by 1972, besides Plymouth, Torbay, Tavistock and Exeter, fora had also been established in Saltash, Yorkshire and London, and the concept had even spread to Australia.
Subsequent periods
Records from then on until recent times are now rather sparse. There seem to be no records from 1973 until 1980 when news cuttings record that, to mark the start of their 10th year, The Exeter Forum donated a Canadian Maple tree to the City. It was planted ceremonially planted in Rougemont Gardens just behind Exeter Library by the then Mayor of Exeter. In March 1980, not long after the tree was planted, Mr Frank Thornton, who had been chairman of the Exeter Forum virtually since its inception, passed away.
Gradually the programme of educational courses set up in the first year or two fell by the wayside and Forum’s activities simplified down to essentially those carried on today – principally the weekly talks on Wednesday mornings, and the fortnightly walks, with in addition occasional outside visits, holidays and social events. For a time in the 1980s and 1990s a music appreciation group ran successfully but then faded away. In recent years, however, it has restarted and also a reading group has become established.
Notable in recent years has been the enforced change in our meeting venue in late 2012. Having met there continuously since the start, we had no option but to leave the Library's Music Room when the Library was closed for extensive expansion and refurbishment. As temporary accommodation while the Library was out of action we alighted upon The Mint Methodist Church in Fore Street as being the best of a limited range of options open to us.
The Library was closed for around 18 months, but when it reopened we learned that the hire charge for the Music Room had been hiked substantially, while its rated seating capacity had been reduced to below the level we needed. We therefore decided to continue to meet at The Mint despite it being less suitable in some respects than the Library. Over time a number of small changes have been by the Mint to improve our meeting experience, and it is now established as our new permanent home.
After a few sparse years following the move as those members not happy with conditions at the Mint drifted away, our membership is gradually being rebuilt. We have made great efforts to improve our profile with wide publicity of our talks programmes and we are gratified to be able to welcome many to our meetings as paying visitors.
Activities for members continue much as before, although with fewer keen walkers in the membership the walks take place now at monthly intervals. In addition though, a new group, Gallivanters, has been set up. Bus or train outings to nearby towns or attractions are arranged on an ad hoc basis usually at short notice. Members enjoy exploring different shops, restaurants and places of interest before returning to Exeter again by public transport.
Other social activities are arranged - Middlemoor Fire Station, the Met Office, the pantomime, and the Royal Mint at Llantrisant are recent trips. Recent holidays have been to North Wales and to Suffolk, and a trip to Kent for 2020 was in preparation. Then however, the Covid-19 pandemic intervened. The Kent holiday, along with all other Forum activities, including a 50th anniversary lunch, have had to be cancelled.
After a break while the worst of the pandemic worked its way out, a series of online meetings were held over Zoom. Clearly these were not a match for in-person meetings, but they did allow a degree of interaction between members, and there was one advantage in that, with no travelling necessary, we could invite speakers from farther afield, and this gave us access to erudite talks given from other parts of the country.
Eventually we decided that in-person meetings could be resumed safely, and we restarted those in September 2021. Since then the group has continued with weekly meetings and we are slowly rebuilding our numbers after the inevitable loss of members over the 18 month hiatus.
The initial idea for the formation of The Exeter Forum came from the successful launch of The Plymouth Forum some two years before. In Plymouth in 1968 a Mr Ernest T English, had become a little bored with life following retirement. Finding nothing to replace the mental and social stimulus he had derived from his career, he decided to see whether there was a wider need for some form of social group catering for the intellectual and social needs of retired business and professional people. He floated the idea with publicity in the local press.
The response revealed he had struck a chord and Plymouth Forum developed from that initial interest. Within two years it had a membership of over 250 and a wide range of activities were taking place under its umbrella. The main activities were the self-organised special interest sub-groups, some fifteen in number, covering interests as diverse as flower-arranging, astronomy, antiques and sociology. There were also 8 general assemblies, which were open to all members, held each year, a weekly coffee morning, and in the summer months, holidays and coach visits. The Workers Educational Association (WEA) helped find expert lecturers for some of the sub-groups.
Before long a second forum had become necessary, and that soon had 200 members. By 1970 similar forums had been formed in Torquay and Tavistock.
Meanwhile in Exeter in 1970, a Mr Joe Metcalfe was also becoming dissatisfied with retirement. While attending a WEA course, he was invited to look into the Plymouth Forum. He subsequently attended several of their meetings and was impressed with members’ zest for life and learning and their outgoing approach. He concluded that there would probably be a role for a similar organisation in Exeter. This led him to ask the Express and Echo to publish an article floating the idea of forming a similar group.
The response was very encouraging and over 60 people came to an inaugural meeting held on May 11th 1970 at the Library. Some 50 people enrolled as members there and then, and at the time of the first General Meeting held on June 23rd 1970 membership numbers had risen to some 75. By then there had been a number of walks, 5 lectures on international affairs, a botany talk, a visit to Bicton Gardens and another to the Norman Lockyer Observatory, as well as coffee mornings and travel talks.
The first couple of years
By December that year membership numbers had reached 170, and the committee had realised that they needed to work up a more formal management arrangement than the ad hoc situation that had got them going. Proposals for a more structured organisation were devised by the committee between then and February 1971, by which time membership had reached 206. When it had been firmed up, the management structure proposed by committee was then brought forward to the General Assembly in April 1971.
The Exeter Forum's first Annual General Meeting was held on May 26th 1971. In the twelve months since the inaugural meeting, a weekly programme of lectures and coffee had been established; weekly walks had been held - through the summer months at least; a number of coach trips to attractions in the south west area had been arranged; several theatre visits had been organised; a local history course had been set up; and a number of special interest groups covering topics such as International Affairs, French Conversation; Music Appreciation; Antiques, and Painting and Sketching had started meeting.
From then and on into 1973, the main activities of weekly lectures, walks, social events and visits continued, but in addition a wide range of educational courses, each lasting for perhaps 10 sessions, were arranged. Subjects as varied as Current Economic Affairs, Dartmoor, Geomorphology, Literature, Music, French Conversation and Art, International Affairs, and Ecology were offered.
Besides the new management structure, that first AGM brought about a change in the management team. Some while earlier Joe Metcalfe appears to have had a disagreement with the Chairman and stepped down from the Secretary’s role at the AGM. Subsequently he went on to establish The Exeter Second Forum, meeting on Fridays.
It is interesting to note at this point that by 1972, besides Plymouth, Torbay, Tavistock and Exeter, fora had also been established in Saltash, Yorkshire and London, and the concept had even spread to Australia.
Subsequent periods
Records from then on until recent times are now rather sparse. There seem to be no records from 1973 until 1980 when news cuttings record that, to mark the start of their 10th year, The Exeter Forum donated a Canadian Maple tree to the City. It was planted ceremonially planted in Rougemont Gardens just behind Exeter Library by the then Mayor of Exeter. In March 1980, not long after the tree was planted, Mr Frank Thornton, who had been chairman of the Exeter Forum virtually since its inception, passed away.
Gradually the programme of educational courses set up in the first year or two fell by the wayside and Forum’s activities simplified down to essentially those carried on today – principally the weekly talks on Wednesday mornings, and the fortnightly walks, with in addition occasional outside visits, holidays and social events. For a time in the 1980s and 1990s a music appreciation group ran successfully but then faded away. In recent years, however, it has restarted and also a reading group has become established.
Notable in recent years has been the enforced change in our meeting venue in late 2012. Having met there continuously since the start, we had no option but to leave the Library's Music Room when the Library was closed for extensive expansion and refurbishment. As temporary accommodation while the Library was out of action we alighted upon The Mint Methodist Church in Fore Street as being the best of a limited range of options open to us.
The Library was closed for around 18 months, but when it reopened we learned that the hire charge for the Music Room had been hiked substantially, while its rated seating capacity had been reduced to below the level we needed. We therefore decided to continue to meet at The Mint despite it being less suitable in some respects than the Library. Over time a number of small changes have been by the Mint to improve our meeting experience, and it is now established as our new permanent home.
After a few sparse years following the move as those members not happy with conditions at the Mint drifted away, our membership is gradually being rebuilt. We have made great efforts to improve our profile with wide publicity of our talks programmes and we are gratified to be able to welcome many to our meetings as paying visitors.
Activities for members continue much as before, although with fewer keen walkers in the membership the walks take place now at monthly intervals. In addition though, a new group, Gallivanters, has been set up. Bus or train outings to nearby towns or attractions are arranged on an ad hoc basis usually at short notice. Members enjoy exploring different shops, restaurants and places of interest before returning to Exeter again by public transport.
Other social activities are arranged - Middlemoor Fire Station, the Met Office, the pantomime, and the Royal Mint at Llantrisant are recent trips. Recent holidays have been to North Wales and to Suffolk, and a trip to Kent for 2020 was in preparation. Then however, the Covid-19 pandemic intervened. The Kent holiday, along with all other Forum activities, including a 50th anniversary lunch, have had to be cancelled.
After a break while the worst of the pandemic worked its way out, a series of online meetings were held over Zoom. Clearly these were not a match for in-person meetings, but they did allow a degree of interaction between members, and there was one advantage in that, with no travelling necessary, we could invite speakers from farther afield, and this gave us access to erudite talks given from other parts of the country.
Eventually we decided that in-person meetings could be resumed safely, and we restarted those in September 2021. Since then the group has continued with weekly meetings and we are slowly rebuilding our numbers after the inevitable loss of members over the 18 month hiatus.
