I organise and run an annual Geography Competition throughout the Northumbria Region u3as. A u3a does not have to have a ‘pure’ Geography group to take part in this competition, just an interest in the subject (and at least 6 members to form a team of 4 with 2 reserves).

Some parts of Geography can be accommodated in a Philatelic group, (eg. maps, places, industry, agriculture). History, Religion and many other subjects are also to be found via Philately.

I already have a list of speakers/presenters in the North East of England offering a wide variety of topics, together with many local, national and international events throughout the year which are open to all.

It would be a simple exercise to combine both Geography and Philately in one group if that appeals more to your u3a members.

I do not include Coin/Banknote collections within my sphere of interest.

I would love to hear from any u3a Geography or Philatelic groups to share ideas, learn how your group runs, and encourage other u3as to start up similar groups.

At your first meeting

1.  Get the members of the group to introduce themselves 
2.  Ask each what they think geography is 
3.  Ask what they are expecting to get out of being in the group 
4.  Decide whether they would like to meet indoors, outdoors, or a combination of both
5.  Decide how frequently they would like to meet
6.  Decide on the time of day to meet and the duration of the meeting
7.  Would they take part in visits to factories/physical feature areas/studies of economics?
8.  Would they take part in practical exercises like cross sections/map walking and study/design games to test knowledge e.g., construct a railway route across the USA or Europe with positives/negatives along the way, such as availability of water, raw material, physical in terms of terrain/ attacks/labour problems/ finance/industrial and agricultural developments
9.  If just general geography, then a good modern Atlas would be necessary – to look at countries, flags, counties, regions, states, towns & capitals, rivers, mountains & highland areas, mining areas, industrial centres, agricultural areas, main climate regions & weather, oceans, seas, lakes & rivers, infrastructures, and so on.
10.  If wanting to specialise in an aspect of Geography, decide which branch.

• Ordinance survey maps for practical work
• A good atlas: two to consider are DK World Atlas and Collins World Atlas
• Visits to local industries/businesses for a “how do they do that”?
• Local tours to towns in the UK and abroad
• Watch PBS/Nat Geography/Discovery channels on TV
• Check out Inside the Factory TV series on BBC
• Royal Geographic Society
• YouTube channels like National Geographic: www.youtube.com/@NatGeo

Searches from the u3a blog - find out what they are doing

• Geography articles
• Travel articles

Courses

• https://www.thegreatcourses.com/ - there are 30 travel courses, including The World’s Greatest Geological Wonders.
• Courses consist of 36 talks of 30 mins each, by eminent lectures.
• Each one is accompanied by a book.
• udemy.com/topic/geography