Frost Magazine was thrilled when Thirsk u3a contacted the team, wanting to tell them about a speaker who had zoomed into their sitting rooms.
‘Hilarious, interesting.’
‘I reckon we have a few eccentrics here,’ said one. ‘But not me, I hasten to add.’
So Margaret hauled in Paul Robbins for a virtual chat. It seems Paul is a man on a mission. By his own admission, he is an obsessive when it comes to his determination to share the rich and varied history of our wonderful country with a new generation of listeners – from the ages of nine through to ninety.
Paul told me that having retired early from a career as a senior manager with one of the world’s largest IT company’s, he developed a series of talks about Britain’s past in a unique series called “Step back in Time” These online talks have won him many fans all over the country, and they are indeed innovative and enjoyable, as the reaction of Thirsk’s u3a proved.
Paul explained “ I want others to appreciate how diverse, unique and fascinating our history really is”. He added. “ It is a history that has shaped us all. We should own, know, and cherish it.’
It’s clear that the highlight of Paul series of talks is his hugely popular “Great British Eccentrics’ presentation which features some of the oddest people that have graced the pages of our history and who just happened to have been British. After all, Paul explains “If there was a World cup for eccentrics then Britain would win every time, other countries wouldn’t even bother to turn up.”
‘But how do you choose who to include when we seem to have so many?’ I asked. Indeed, that has been the challenge for Paul – who to leave out of this classic exposé of Britain’s oddest people. But apparently he has narrowed it to a pool of around 50, so each talk is varied in terms of who is featured.
Paul does, however, have what he describes as his crème de la crème of eccentrics whose stories defy belief including a UFO obsessed peer of the realm, a habitual drunken Lord as well as a resident of an old people’s home who, let’s just say, became a real life femme fatale. When he told me more about this particular femme fatale, I was on the floor, laughing. We hadn’t even got to the Grim Reaper appearance either.
Despite this wealth of eccentrics, Paul is always on the look out for other Britons who can join this peculiarly unique band.
So, come on, Paul, what makes a good Eccentric? Paul believes it’s someone who truly believes their own strange ideas are perfectly normal and who think the rest of us are the odd ones. Heavens, this could describe your Frost Magazine editor.
One thing Paul is sure about is that eccentrics add much to our society and culture and Britain would be a poorer place without them. Sometimes, though, the audiences offer up their own Eccentrics. Paul recently overheard a lady member of his audience say to her husband of many years “You know your Father always struck me as being a bit odd, an eccentric”.
My own favourite is Sir George Sitwell who, so Paul said, put a sign on his gate which read: I must ask anyone entering the house never to contradict me in any way, as it interferes with the functioning of the gastric juices and prevents me sleeping at night: I put it on my gatepost, but as him indoors, was inside at the time he clearly hadn’t read it.
You can find out more about Paul’s great talks, by visiting his website.
https://www.stepbackintime.org/
To find out about the u3a, or one near you, and hear about their monthly meetings, and interest groups, go to: https://www.u3a.org.uk/ To find out about Thirsk u3a click: here.