May 2020 Edition

Romsey & District U3A Newsletter – May 2020 Web site: romseyu3a.org.uk Monthly Meeting Speakers Currently meetings are cancelled until further notice but please keep the following dates in your diary.

Look out for confirmation that we can run them in a ‘Low-down in the Lockdown’ bulletin, and the website.

The AGM has been postponed from May until August.

All meetings start at 10.30 am.

————————————————— 19 August

Annual General Meeting followed by Sylvia Croxall - Keeping your Data Safe Sylvia will help us to keep the fraudsters out of our devices and away from our money. She will look at website, email, telephone and social networking fraud.

————————————————— 16 September

Andy Lester From Global Threat to Local Action Responding to the Climate How residents of Hampshire can bring about hope for the climate through local action. A summary of the current crisis and what we can do to prevent the worst impacts of change here in Hampshire.

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Chair’s report The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley, as Robert Burns tells us in his poem. In the February newsletter, I’d written that there was a lot to look forward to in the next few months. I was thinking of events like U3A day in June, and our own plans to take over Romsey Market Place one Saturday, to show just what our U3A gets up to, for a start.

Instead, unless you’ve been sailing across the Atlantic with instructions to the family not to pass on bad news, you’ll have noticed that everyday life changed completely over the period of a few days in March. Back then, we had our monthly meeting almost as usual on Wednesday 11 March. The council had put a hand sanitiser by the entrance door of Crosfield Hall, and we’d added wash your hands for 20 seconds and other health advice to the usual notices. We’d just learned the phrase social distancing, and self-consciously knocked elbows rather than shaking hands. There was a good turn-out for a talk on Scottish Wildlife, and much interest in the speaker’s advice on how to photograph wildlife, whether in Scotland or further afield.

That weekend I was asking group leaders what their plans were, and considering whether or not to cancel the main monthly meetings. At that time some of the outdoor groups were still planning to meet, but to keep their distance from each other. After discussion we agreed that larger groups in enclosed spaces probably should be avoided. I took the decision to cancel all monthly meetings until further notice, which included postponing the AGM due in May. I contacted all of our members who were on email, about 7/8 of us; and, at our Membership Secretary’s suggestion, drafted a letter to go out with the new membership cards explaining our decision. The renewal process had started and the new cards with the programme for 2020-21 had been printed, but suddenly some of those planned events were not going to take place.

Within a week, Government advice went from: don’t go out to the pub (but pubs can stay open), to: stay at home, and the lockdown came into force on 23 March for a period of three weeks. It’s been extended since then, and still applies as I write this. It seems likely that certain parts of the UK population will be advised to continue social distancing, and to stay at home for much longer. Many U3A members are over 70, which is considered to be an at-risk group. With the exception of those retired medical staff who have returned to the front line, most of what retired

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people contribute to the community is invisible, and easily overlooked. As well as grandparent duty, I’m thinking here of those of you who volunteer in so many ways: raising funds for good causes in charity shops and other activities; helping others via food banks, Romsey Good Neighbours, Citizens’ Advice, and other groups. And then there are places of interest to visitors as well as locals, which rely heavily on volunteers, such as Romsey Abbey, Hillier Gardens, Mottisfont Abbey, Romsey Signal Box, and many more.

All of those activities are on hold for the time being, as is our everyday life with friends and family, but this will pass. As someone once said It’s very hard to predict, especially the future, and my crystal ball has clouded over. We may no longer be meeting each month at Crosfield Hall to hear about topics such as the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, or the Romsey War Horse sculpture, both postponed for now, but our other activities are still going on. Many of our groups are still continuing to meet online rather than face-to-face, there’s more about that elsewhere in this newsletter. You can still join a group; check the groups list or the group page on the website. And the newsletter team, as you can see, are still going strong, and plan to extend it to a fortnightly bulletin during this period of lockdown. That does include posting material out to those who are not on email.

You pay a £10 subscription for the year; to see where it goes, look at the Treasurers’ report later in this newsletter. About half goes to the Third Age Trust, the official umbrella body for all thousand+ U3A’s in this country. They publish the magazine, Third Age Matters, which you get as part of your subscription, and they also have plenty of useful links on their website to help deal with this lockdown period. It’s worth a look.

Thank you to everyone who has already renewed; our Membership Secretary, Brenda Sennett, has been working through all the forms in splendid isolation, thanks to the lockdown. We do still have bills to pay, even with some of the monthly meetings cancelled.

We have to pay for stationery and printing, and for stamps, and those are likely to cost even more as this lockdown goes on. We have to pay for hosting the website, with its group pages and links, and for our Beacon database, which lists the contact information you put on your membership form. This allows us to send out emails to group members, and occasionally to all members. (I’ve done that a few times, and have very much enjoyed the replies.) I’m looking forward to the day when I can send out Next meeting at Crosfield Hall will be on... and See you there.

But that won’t be for a while, not before August at the earliest.

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Last time, I said: Our U3A is run for, and by, its 800+ members and all our activities are organised by those members who take on the various roles. Everyone is a volunteer, and often involved in more than just our U3A. I expected this to be my Annual Report to you, including a review of the past year and going through the various thank you to... names of people who have made our U3A run so well in that time. I’m going to leave that until the next newsletter, in August. We intend to hold our AGM on Wednesday 19 August, face to face if possible, but if we’re still under lockdown or other restrictions, then it will have to be online.

(That’s happening with some of the other organisations I belong to.)

Meanwhile, let’s see how it goes, and we’ll let you know nearer the time how it will take place.

In February I said this: ‘As part of our Constitution, we have an AGM, with reports and elections, and twelve committee members hold a formal role. Last year the Chair and Treasurers were elected for a two-year term, but all other posts are up for election this year at the AGM. We are urgently looking for some fresh faces to stand for election and join us.

However, there is one vital role that must be filled, or we cannot legally continue after the AGM. That is the role of Secretary: Janet Moody has carried out this important role for six years…’

We’re very grateful that Janet Moody has agreed to stay on until we do hold the AGM in August, but unless someone else does take on the post of Secretary, the delayed AGM will mark the formal closing down of our U3A. Those are the rules, and it has happened to other U3As. After all that we’ve done, and are still doing, in these uncertain and unprecedented times, that would be a very sad ending to Romsey & District U3A. There are plenty of other necessary non-committee roles, and Janet Moody, for one, I know, will continue to be very active in other ways after August but, we must have someone to replace her as Secretary. If you think that could be you, please contact Janet Moody, or me, or both of us, to find out what it involves.

The next lines of Robert Burns’ poem are: An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!

Our plans may indeed have gang agley just now, but unlike the mouse in the poem, U3A members are not any kind of Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie! – are they?

Janet Payne 4

News from around the Groups SHORT DAY TRIPS KINGSTON LACY — HOUSE and GARDEN On 27 February we ventured out to visit the beautiful house of Kingston Lacy in Dorset. After all the persistent rainfall that month we were very fortunate to have one of the dry and sunny days. We had been hoping to see some of the many snowdrops.

The adverse weather had brought a lot of them to an end, but there were still plenty of daffodils out in flower.

What makes this house so special is that it is not just one of the most important collections in the National Trust, but also because it was begun, and first listed, over 360 years ago, in the 1650's, by Sir Ralph Bankes who built the house. A private collection documented from the mid-17th century is very unusual. It includes artwork by Rubens, Van Dyck, and others.

We visited the Stables Cafe, where visitors could enjoy a light lunch or snack. This could be followed by either a walk round the lovely grounds or another visit to the house, where the guides could give you more information on the artwork.

We returned to the coach at 3.00 pm for a leisurely and scenic drive back into Romsey.

Margaret Waghorn

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EMBARGO ON SHORT DAY TRIPS In March, we were to have taken a tour behind the scenes at Southampton’s newest theatre, NST City. That was cancelled but we hope to be able to re-arrange the visit for some time in the future.

For April we planned to have a change. Rather than going out on a trip we were going to hold a meeting for our members to get together, chat, partake of some refreshments and meet with the organising committee.

The main purpose was to provide members with the opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions, give feedback, and so on.

When we will be able to resume our Trips Programme is anybody’s guess but we hope it won’t be too far into the future.

In the meantime, we wish all our members good health and happiness whilst endeavouring to keep them entertained and informed in other ways.

Kay Lovell

GENEALOGY The March and April meetings had to be cancelled and the group will not hold a face-to-face meeting until August at the earliest. Visiting speakers have been stood down but, do not fear, they are being re-scheduled for 2021.

However, that is not to say there has been no activity within the group!

The monthly issue, via the Beacon membership list, of notes on genealogy topics and forthcoming events has continued into the lockdown. The events have of course been virtual, with several genealogy websites and conference organisers making lectures and podcasts available at no charge. The National Archives at Kew are closed, but they have been proactive in highlighting items that can be viewed, as well as making significant chunks of their previously chargeable information available for free during their closure.

See https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Putting a positive spin on enforced isolation, this has been a very good time for genealogical research. More time is on hand to advance your knowledge of a family, perhaps to create stories and presentations that capture their lives and achievements, until you get to the point where a physical visit to a Records Office is needed!

Graham Woodbury

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ART APPRECIATION -

a short article by Gordon Massie

CÉSAR MANRIQUE - Artist, Sculptor, Architect and Activist Early in 1939 the Spanish Civil War came to an end and César Manrique returned to his native home in the island of Lanzarote. He had served as a volunteer in an artillery unit in support of General Franco. He was just twenty and this experience had a lasting effect on him; it is said that on his return he burned his military uniform.

He then spent two years studying to be an architect on the nearby island of Tenerife but did not complete the course. In 1945 he received a scholarship to study art at the prestigious San Fernando College of Fine Art in Madrid, graduating as a teacher of art and painting. It had entertained many famous students such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, although today it is a museum and an art gallery.

It was in New York in the early sixties that Manrique made his name, exhibiting at the prestigious Catherine Vivano gallery. Returning to Lanzarote in 1966, he began using his skills as an architect; seeing an island which was only just beginning to realise its tourist potential. He began to promote a model which would protect the island’s culture and heritage: a ban on roadside posters, limiting the height of new buildings and the placement of electricity and telephone cables underground. In addition he formulated the concept of nature and art in harmony. In 1993 the island was given ‘heritage status’ by UNESCO (though this is now under threat).

He designed many projects in Lanzarote, including his now famous Volcano House in 1968, in Tahiche just to the north of Arrecife. Two hundred years earlier much of the island had been engulfed in a massive volcanic eruption. On cooling, air bubbles remained in the lava flow and he used this to create his subterranean living quarters: five linked rooms include a sitting area, a dance floor and a swimming pool. The whole house nestles gently into what was the lava flow. In 1988 he decided to down size and move north to Haria, so this house now forms the basis of the Manrique Foundation, open to the public and housing a considerable modern art collection. He died in a motoring accident in 1992.

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SOCIAL & GENERAL HISTORY Cecily Tilley‘s talk, entitled DIDO, MARY and ROSA described the lives of three women, connected over three centuries by the dark thread of the slave trade and its legacy. The talk was illustrated by many slides.

Dido Elizabeth Belle (c1761 - 1804) Cecily’s interest in Dido was sparked when she saw a painting in Kenwood House, Hampstead, a portrait of two beautiful young girls both expensively dressed and bejewelled. What is unusual, is that one of the girls is coloured but depicted as equal to the white girl; in portraits of this period a coloured person would be a servant, a page boy or a lady’s maid. The white girl is Lady Elizabeth Murray, great-niece of Lord Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice and owner of Kenwood House; the coloured girl is Dido Elizabeth Belle, illegitimate daughter by Maria, a slave woman, of Captain (later Rear-Admiral) Sir John Lindsay, Lord Mansfield’s nephew. Lord and Lady Mansfield adopted the two girls, who were second cousins, and treated them equally. On Lord Mansfield’s death, Dido became a wealthy heiress, married, and had her own establishment in London.

Mary Seacole (1805 – 1881) Mary Seacole’s statue was erected outside St. Thomas’s Hospital, London in 2016. Although Florence Nightingale founded the School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ it is Mary Seacole who is memorialised as the Pioneer Nurse. She is also commemorated by a blue plaque on the house where she latterly lived, and a wing at the Royal South Hants Hospital, Southampton. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica where her mother was a doctress and ran a hotel. She said she learned her nursing skills from her mother, and after her mother’s death she took over the business. At the start of the Crimean War she came to London intending to go with Florence Nightingale to the Crimea. She was turned down, for reason’s unknown, so she decided to make her own way there to set up the same sort of business that her mother had run in Jamaica. Mother Seacole’s establishment was not approved of by Florence Nightingale. The sudden end of the Crimean War caused the collapse of her business and when she returned to London, she was declared bankrupt. Her reputation from Crimea saved her and there was a public appeal to raise money for her. She lived in London for the rest of her life as a minor celebrity.

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Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (1913 – 2005) Cecily’s grandson, doing a history project, told her about Rosa Parks, famous for her pivotal role in the Montgomery, ALA, bus boycott in 1955. Rosa was active in the fight against racial segregation, secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People), and prominent in her local community. Although not the first person to resist bus segregation, the NAACP thought her the best candidate to see through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation and worked with Martin Luther King, at the time a new minister in Montgomery. After the court case she was fired from her job as a seamstress and received death threats. She moved to Detroit where she became active in the Black Power movement, supporting political prisoners in the USA. In her final years she suffered from dementia. She subsequently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and had a posthumous statue in the US Capitol’s National Statuary Hall. California and Missouri celebrate Rosa Parks Day on her birthday, 4 February, while Ohio and Oregon commemorate it on 1 December, the day she was arrested.

Pat Batchelor

BRIDGE FOR IMPROVERS It will come as no surprise to read that the Bridge for Improvers group has not convened to play for a few weeks now. Apart from it being tricky to keep at least two metres apart, there’s the added risk of transferring the invisible enemy via the cards we play with!

However, that has not put us all off. A few of the more resolute members have moved online to at least keep practising their game, although it’s not for the faint-hearted. We find ourselves playing on a global playingfield and, although we try to engineer being able to play together, it’s not always possible. Having said that, playing against strangers is a challenge and it is also good practice, especially in the art of bidding!

Once having mastered how the online site works, it can be quite fun! We have kept to the same day, time and length of session as has been our usual wont so it fits with what has been our established routine. Nothing normal about these times, though, is there?

At least it’s one way of keeping our minds active…we still use our fingers too…pressing the keys on a keyboard!

Kay Lovell

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STAY HOME! STAY ACTIVE! We all know activity is beneficial for our physical and mental health, and we are missing our table tennis, swimming, dancing, golf etc. Just because we are stuck indoors it doesn’t mean we can’t be active. Perhaps your children or grandchildren talk about Joe Wicks, and maybe do his daily workout?

He has been applauded for helping keep the nation active and healthy during lockdown, through a range of free workout videos. Filmed live from his living room to YouTube, Joe keeps people moving through an extensive range of workouts that can be done without equipment. The videos were originally set up for school kids who would otherwise be missing out on P.E. lessons. They help to get your heart rate up and break into a sweat.

However, parents around the country have been joining in and sharing their success online. Well, you can too but REMEMBER: Take care when exercising and, if you don’t already exercise regularly, take it slowly and carefully at first.

There are several Joe Wicks 10-minute exercises for Seniors, with good ideas for everyone to keep moving during TV commercial breaks!

10 Minute Chair-Based Workout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6TtFr2Zp_s This one is more energetic, so be careful and take it steady: 10 Minute Home Workout For Seniors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2wp8Ipxn9s Only do this one if you are very steady on your feet and confident about bending and stretching: 10 Minute Full Body Seniors Workout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeRC_4WO-Dg If you’re feeling really energetic then do the 10-minute exercises more than once a day!

Janet Moody

Newsletter Team Contacts Please send copy for the AUGUST newsletter to:

Dave Lovell : 01794 515316 news.copy@romseyu3a.org.uk The deadline is Friday 31 July 2020 but please send any copy as soon as you have it!

Other newsletter queries to: romseyu3anews@gmail.com 10

Interest Groups News 1.Two Group Coordinators have stepped down from their roles: Chris Webster (Pickleball) and Jill Barnard (Luncheon Group). We thank them both for their hard work and service over the past years.

Pickleball will now be run by Sheila Aplin and the Luncheon Group by Greta Bennett. Their contact details can be found in the Interest Groups contact lists in the centre pages. We wish them well for the future success of their respective groups.

2. Pickleball: One member has issued an invitation to the group to send photographs each month of what they are doing during the lockdown — whether it is gardening, decorating or whatever. These are then shared within the group and members are invited to vote for their favourite photograph.

Sheila Aplin

3. Geography & Geology: Two meetings have now been held and an outline programme started. No group coordinator has been selected or volunteered, so for the moment, please go to the website for information.

4. Opera & Classical Song: The first meeting was held on 9 March and the group is planning to move online during the shutdown. (See the report in this newsletter.)

5. Walking group members are staying in touch via emails and have set up a WhatsApp group which several members are using to chat, and share photos of their daily walks. Nevertheless they are looking forward to their next gatherings, whenever that may be.

Hilary Buttle 11

6. Bookworms To keep in touch, Kaye Hannah's group is now 'meeting' via a Zoom internet link.

7. Philosophy Group meets every final Friday pm, as it has since our Romsey U3A started. We have around 18 members.

Kieran Jones, our organiser, organised the March meeting at which twelve of us participated using Skype. The others did not “attend” for a variety of reasons, but it was about the same attendance level as usual. The meeting was a success and maybe a pointer for the future. There is talk of a UK-wide forum. Our recent meeting included Kieran’s French friend in N-W France so we had an extra member.

Harry Tuffill 8. Several groups are in need of new recruits: 

Creative Writing



Books for Pleasure



Mah Jong

For all of them, please contact Margaret if you are interested in joining in.

9. NATURAL HISTORY — A New Interest Group Suggestion.

If you are interested in studying the plants and animals of local environments such as woods, grasslands, roadsides, heathland, ponds, streams and sea shores, in talks and short-walk visits, please inform Margaret (details below). You will be contacted later in the year when normal service is resumed.

Interest Group Coordination Team Jo Morgan : 01794 514134 Margaret Marchbank : margaretmarchbank@btinternet.com

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HAVE YOU SENT BACK YOUR RENEWAL FORM? If you haven’t already done so, please remember to send back your completed Renewal Form to the Membership Secretary by 31 May, even if you pay by standing order.

Membership also need to know if you change any of your contact details in the year. You can let them know by email, phone, post or at a main meeting once they resume.

Stay safe. Stay home. Stay well.

Theatre U3A members who paid to see Marriage of Figaro on 18 March and River Dance on 16 April WILL receive a full refund. This will take a little time to organise but money has been refunded by the Mayflower Theatre, so please be patient.

Elaine Rockell

LOCKED-DOWN WITH THE WINE GROUP! The Wine Appreciation Group had their first virtual get-together since lockdown. We are fortunate to have Technical Nikki to help us all get set up for the LIFESIZE call at our customary slot on Thursday evening at 7pm. After a few initial technical glitches, it wasn’t long before 11 of us, glasses in hand, mustered for a catch-up - Mary even managed to join us briefly by phone! We each in turn talked about our current glass of tipple. We have learnt this is the best way to do it; if we all chatter at once the system collapses! We also heard stories of how our stalwart travellers had gradually made their way home from various cruises and holidays across the globe during March. These included Juliet and Patrick, from an amazing cruise to the Chilean fjords returning via the Falkland Islands, and Derek and Jan, currently with family in the depths of rural Dorset, who expected to be home soon, hopefully via a safe and pleasant route. Someone, erring on the side of caution, confessed to having 70 bottles in stock; must find their address! We all thought this trial run was a success and look forward to our next session, when we might discuss wine as well as drink it!!

Janet Moody

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Coronavirus Scams Fraudsters have been around for many years, trying whatever methods they can to steal or scam us out of our money, often preying on people who live alone. Scams often rely on coincidence and usually frighten us into making a quick decision to, for example, allow access to our house, or give away debit card or bank account details.

One recent telephone scam exploits those of us who accidentally click on the Amazon Prime button when buying Christmas presents. When we receive a recorded telephone message from Amazon offering to refund our Amazon Prime subscription, we are pleasantly surprised that Amazon has realised our mistake, and we click ‘1’ to talk to the fraudsters who convince us of their benevolence and then plant a virus on our computer.

Sadly, we cannot trust anyone who has unexpectedly turned up on our doorstep, telephoned us out of the blue, or sent us a text (sms) or email message, even if it all sounds very plausible.

Unfortunately, the fraudsters have been busy inventing new scams based on our fears due to coronavirus. Here are some examples to look out for: Cold calling scam: Do not allow access to your house or give money or your card details to any unexpected visitors who, eg:  Offer help to do shopping or collect prescriptions.  Say they are from the health authority carrying out tests.  Say your neighbour died of the virus and they want to clean your house.  Say they are from “Health and Safety” and need to check your house.  Say that they need to take away your dog for coronavirus quarantine.  Say they are from the BBC with advice about the coronavirus pandemic.

Phone text (sms) scams: Do not click on links in text messages, eg:  Pretending to be the British Government, demanding that you click on a link to pay a fine for leaving your home when you shouldn’t.

Email scams: Do not click on links or attachments in emails, eg:  From a doctor claiming to have details about a vaccine being covered up by the Chinese and UK governments, eg Corona-Virus Cure Review link.  Pretending to be from GOV.UK, the British Government website, offering you a tax refund, with a link to click on to Access your funds now.  Pretending to be from the World Health Organisation, (WHO) claiming an attached document shows how you can prevent the spread of the disease.  Pretending to be from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the USA, with a title like Now Airborne, Increased Community Transmission, They use an apparently legitimate email address and say that new cases have been confirmed where you live, and inviting you to click a link for more information.

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 Pretending to be from the CDC and asking you for donations to a Bitcoin account, to develop a vaccine.  From a company that you have never heard of, saying they have processed your invoice and offering a link to click on to confirm it.

Online shopping scams: Beware of offers that are too good to be true, eg:  Selling hand sanitiser, which may contain an ingredient banned for human use, or face masks, which will never be delivered.

General recommendations to help you avoid being scammed: Never accept help from cold callers.  Do not open the door to anyone you do not know or are not expecting. If you have a chain or bar on the door, use it.

Never share personal details when you have been phoned:  Phone back the telephone number on the back of your card / bill / official website. To make this call, either use a different phone line or phone someone whose voice you will recognise first, to make sure the fraudsters are not holding open the telephone line.  If a caller persists, say “I’m sorry I can’t give you that information because my wife/ husband/ daughter/ son/ friend told me never to give out personal information to anyone who phones me. Please give me your name and number and I will ask my wife/ husband/ daughter/ son/ friend to call you back.” If they won’t give you a number, hang up.

Never give anyone remote access to your computer over the internet:  If you have a problem, take your computer to a computer shop or a computer expert recommended by a trusted friend or family member.

Never click on an attachment, link or box in an email or phone text (sms) unless you are expecting it:  If the email is from a business (e.g. delivery company, or parking company), search for their website and phone to make sure the email is legitimate.

Never click on a pop-up on your computer, tablet or smart phone:  Go to the website / application / operating system provider, and proactively take the action requested.

Never befriend anyone on a social network that you don’t know in real life.

If in doubt, phone a trusted friend or family member before you do anything.

Sylvia Croxall (Introduction to Computing group)

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Romsey & District U3A Although the AGM has been postponed until August, the Trustees are presenting a basic summary of the end of year accounts in this newsletter.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE RELATING TO ACTIVITIES IN THE YEAR APRIL 2019 - MARCH 2020 Money Received Subscriptions Gift Aid Donations Visitor Donations

£ 8,143.50 700.00 60.00 66.00 8,969.50

% 90.79% 7.80% 0.67% 0.74%

As shown above, by far, our main source of income is the Annual Subscription.

However, the amount that we can claim from the government in Gift Aid is not insignificant. Bearing this in mind, the Trustees would like to ask all those who are able to gift aid their subscriptions, but at present do not, to seriously consider doing so. To request a Gift Aid Declaration form, please contact our Membership Secretary, Brenda Sennett. She will be happy to explain the system to you, if you are not sure if you are eligible.

Our Expenditure came to £339.41 more than our Income. To cover this shortfall a transfer will be made from our Reserve, which prior to that stood at £6,284.89.

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Money Paid Out Third Age Trust – membership fee, TAM, Beacon Monthly meetings – speakers, hall, refreshments Stationery, Printing, Postage Newsletter & Website Delegates to TAT organised AGM/workshops etc Special Events Committee costs

£ -4,530.00 -1,884.88 -916.15 -892.85 -490.76 -320.73 -273.54 -9,308.91

% 48.66% 20.25% 9.84% 9.59% 5.27% 3.45% 2.94%

As shown above, our main outgoing is the total cost of belonging to the U3A movement. Although this is a large amount we benefit greatly from the expertise and resources that they offer, as well as the very informative magazine and newsletter. Third Age Trust website is well worth a viewing. The next largest expense category is the cost of having monthly meetings.

Bearing in mind that some of our fixed costs are increasing in 2020/21 & it is likely that the Subscription to Third Age Trust will increase in 2022, your Trustees are in the unenviable position of having to discuss an increase in the R&D subscription.

Details of movements on our 3 bank accounts in 2019/20 will be distributed to members before the AGM. 17

News from around the Groups continued ARCHITECTURE & LOCAL HISTORY (1) Our winter talks continued on 3 February, with Chris Amery giving us a fascinating account of Richard Meinertzhagen who spent his childhood at Mottisfont Abbey, where his immigrant German banking family lived from 1885 until 1900... but was he an Edwardian chancer, or a rogue?

The second son of a large family, their weekend guests were from the intellectual upper class, and included Darwin and Herbert Spencer, who encouraged him in his love of the natural world. He attended Harrow School, his time there overlapping with Winston Churchill. Sadly, the eldest son, Daniel destined to head the banking company, died in his 20’s and Richard was expected to take his place. This didn’t suit his temperament and instead he became a soldier, ornithologist and spy!

The typical swashbuckling Edwardian, he took part in such pastimes as netting butterflies, taking birds and their eggs, hawking and big game hunting - all of which are much frowned-upon pursuits today.

His talents extended to map making and drawing, useful in his role as an intelligence officer; he was also fluent in German. His military career saw him in India, Burma, East Africa and Palestine, where he met T E Lawrence. In his diary, he lays claim to carrying out the surprise attack in WWI known as the Haversack Ruse, when a haversack containing false British battle plans fell into Ottoman hands thereby bringing about the British victory in the Battle of Beersheba and Gaza.

Recognised for his contributions to ornithology, editing books and discovering some ten species of bats, birds and bird lice, he was awarded a medal and had a room named after him at the British Museum (Natural History). So why a rogue? First, he was a violent and frightening man indulging in brutal retribution for some native misdemeanours, some resulting in death. He also kept copious diaries whose claims could be challenged. He was found to have falsified various entries, even extending to his ornithological work. His fall from grace was inevitable, compounded by a suspicion of murdering his second wife in an accidental gunshot incident, after which he had a lasting relationship with the much younger Tess Clay.

He acknowledged a dark side to his nature and published Diary of a Black Sheep. He attributed the darkness to a sadistic school master at his preparatory school in Sussex.

Shirley Rogers

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(2) In March, Nevill Rogers, a Liveryman of the Drapers’ Company gave us an overview of such companies from their origins to the present day.

Their forerunners were fraternities with a religious connection, often attached to a church. Only later did their trading aspects become dominant, when they evolved into the well-known Guilds and began to receive Royal Charters setting out their duties and responsibilities.

The full name of the Drapers’ Company is The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Drapers of the City of London. The word Mystery comes from the Latin misterium meaning professional skill.

An association of Drapers existed as early as 1180, and in 1364, the first Royal Charter granted to them was written in Norman French.

An early religious Brotherhood was attached in the 1360s to St Mary Bethlehem in Bishopsgate by drapers of Cornhill; later this was transferred to St Mary le Bow in Cheapside, and then to St Michael’s, Cornhill, where the company still worships today.

Each Guild represented a particular trade, laying down conditions, standards, and rates of pay - elements in Trade Unions today. The Drapers’ Guild received its first Charter of Incorporation in 1438. Today’s governing Charter, granted by James 1 in 1607, has been successively amended, the latest in 2008.

The first Livery Hall was built in 1420 in St Swithin’s Lane, the word Livery from old French meaning delivered, eg providing food and clothing to servants. When the Guilds introduced their own distinctive clothing and regalia, they became known as Livery Companies.

The Draper’s Company became very wealthy because of the English-wide wool trade, over time becoming mainly wholesalers. Their importance was reflected by being named third when the order of precedence of the City Companies was set out in 1516.

In 1543 they bought the land on which the present Hall stands for £1,200 from Henry VIII (a London premium even in those days when compared with the purchase of Romsey Abbey for £400 the following year!). The building was the home of the disgraced Thomas Cromwell. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and has been rebuilt twice, having suffered another fire in 1772. It is now a magnificent

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building, which some of the group were lucky enough to see a few years ago when we visited on an Open House, London weekend.

After the 17th Century the Companies suffered a decline. Their business was confined to the City square mile, thus not able to compete with cheaper goods outside. They also suffered from hefty taxes being levied by the Tudor and Stuart kings to prosecute their costly wars.

In modern times, the role of most Livery Companies is to use their accumulated wealth (especially from the ownership of London properties) on charitable works, with the focus often on education. This was underlined by the founding in 1878 of the City and Guilds of London Institute, still prominent in vocational education today and supported by the Livery Companies.

The Drapers’ Company owns, runs or supports individuals in three schools and some universities. They have recently revived their connection with the cloth trade by educational awards and sponsorships.

They also run three almshouses in the poorer parts of London and work extensively with deprived children in the East End. How does one become a Draper?

Nevill’s own route into the Company was by patrimony, which is to say that an ancestor was a draper. His family connection goes back to the 18th century and members of each generation have become drapers by turn. People can also apply for membership if they feel they have something valuable to offer, this method is known as redemption.

Nevill’s principal role in the Company is as deputy Bargemaster, although he does get involved in a range of other activities in an ad hoc way. The Drapers’ Company barge, the Royal Thamesis, is a replica of a Thames shallop; essentially, an upmarket river taxi from the time of Queen Anne at the Nevill and his son Tristan turn of the 18 th Century. A crew of Drapers takes the rowing in Venice shallop out several times a year, in events that range from the purely philanthropic, such as teaching primary school children from the East End of London how to row, to unashamedly glamorous outings such as supporting the Royal Barge Gloriana in the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, or taking part in the 2000-boat Vogalonga around Venice and the Venetian lagoon. Nevill (my stepson) helps organise events, recruits and trains new rowers and manages the finances to keep everything afloat!

Shirley Rogers

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OPERA and CLASSICAL SONG Ideas move quickly in Romsey and District U3A; Michael Ward raised the idea of an Opera group in November, ably mentored by Interest Group Coordinators Margaret Marchbank and Jo Morgan. The January general meeting gathered initial expressions of interest and an informal meeting with potential participants followed the February one. It was agreed that we meet at 11am on the second Monday of each month, keeping to the usual twohour format. We agreed to explore selected topics in opera, illustrated by both well-known and lesser-known operas, with an occasional foray into classical song; there would also be a substantial element of self-learning.

On 9 March, some initial topics for web-based research were suggested to inform our discussions. We decided to start with a well-known opera, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, in the 2015 Salzburg Festival performance found at https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32nj1n This was chosen because some members planned to see a performance by the Welsh National Opera in Southampton, and it usefully illustrated the concept of opera buffa.

Opera buffa means comic opera, and is a term mainly applied to 18 th Century Italian opera. Typically, such operas use everyday settings and a lot of caricature, where the characters display human weaknesses such as stupidity, vanity, greed, affectation or lust, and poke fun at the ruling classes.

Plots are generally fast moving and include bittersweet moments to heighten the drama, necessitating agile voices with good diction and skilled acting.

We focussed on elements of the first two acts of the opera, recorded on UltraHD Blu-ray, watching on a large screen television and with short discussions between each excerpt. Overall, we agreed that the Salzburg production was excellent, and that Mozart’s music added a depth of emotion and characterisation missing from the original play by Beaumarchais. We did feel that there were parts of the opera, notably the last act, where the dramatic narrative could have been clearer. We were all provided with a detailed handout on the opera but sadly, due to the coronavirus pandemic, our members never did get to see that live performance in Southampton!

Our next meeting is on 11 May but it was clear we had to adapt to a sociallydistanced format. Exploring Zoom video-conferencing in a highly successful trial on 8 April provided us with a further, unplanned, and mostly unfamiliar IT learning experience - thank you Michael. We will continue with virtual meetings during the disruption, taking advantage of the unprecedented number of opera companies who are currently making their archives available for streaming on the web. The first virtual meeting is of the 2019 Garsington Opera production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.

If anyone would like to join our friendly virtual group, please contact Michael Ward via the group webpage.

Trisha Meredith

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INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE It all started so well! In February we had a lively meeting making plans for where to go this year with so many good suggestions for visits: railways, aviation, bicycles, watermills and shipping all featured, as well as, in March, a behind-the-scenes visit to Lidl’s warehouse. But events overtook us, and Lidl had to cancel the visit as the Coronavirus situation developed.

Local events that were on our list in May: the King Alfred bus-running day in Winchester, Twyford Waterworks with the pumping engine in steam, and a steam rally have all been cancelled. We had a planned visit in June to Farnborough for the Museum of Aviation History, including the wind tunnels, which was fully booked. Like so many places the museum is “Closed until Further Notice due to Covid-19”.

On our webpage we still have a list of places where we plan to go - but we don’t know when. At least the railway line to Bath and Bristol has reopened after the floods of February.

So how have we managed? We’ve been keeping in touch as a group by exchanging emails to share links of places that can be visited virtually: some museums, and videos of trains and other forms of transport, for instance. Here are some photos shared by Steve Williams, one of our group, who enjoyed the visit of the Flying Scotsman to the Watercress Line in March for their grand re-opening. Perhaps they’ll have an even grander re-opening in the summer? We’ll see.

Janet Payne

Flying Scotsman at Ropley

30925 (newly painted)

506 at Ropley

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QUESTERS The Questers group was founded in the very early days of R&DU3A. From the beginning we have slowly modified the way we organise things, including hiring a coach for all trips. We are, in theory, questing for knowledge, but really that just means we take day trips to places of interest, where we may not have been before. We send out regular newsletters containing details of the next few trips with all the necessary booking information.

Because of Coronavirus, the third trip listed in our last newsletter had to be cancelled. It was to have been to Banbury, to visit the canal boat dry dock on the Oxford Canal in the Banbury Museum, and then off to visit nearby Broughton Castle in the afternoon. This had proved very popular, so we shall re-book it as soon as we can. We are therefore not making any plans to reimburse those who have paid, until we know where we stand and when the trip will go ahead. If you had booked and were on the trip, this booking will still stand and any repayments will be dealt with then.

We try to keep our programme interesting and varied; if you have any ideas about where you would like to visit in the future, please let us know - the preferred journey time is about two hours. This can be a bit restricting but we don’t want it to be too close to home, so as to make the journey worthwhile.

It has been suggested that we organise the occasional trip on a Sunday, possibly to London. Please let us know if you might be interested.

In the March newsletter, we did not ask for membership renewals, only to let us know if you were NOT planning to re-join. Once the situation returns to some level of normality, we shall ask current members to renew if they wish to (ÂŁ3.00 per year per person) and we shall then know how many new members we can accept. We do not consider it fair to have too many members, as we only organise trips for a single coach.

A number of our small organising team have been doing it for many years and wish to step down. If you would like to become more involved, please let us know. We especially need someone to take on the management of the bookings and handling the money. We do not want to cut down or even cease what we do, but we really do need at least one more volunteer.

Please contact any member of the committee if you think you might be able to help or would like more information.

We hope you are all keeping well (and doing as instructed) in these strange times, which we certainly hope will not continue for too much longer.

Christine Burgess Ken Shorter Brenda Taylor

01794 501558 01794 515184 023 8073 4194

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Pam Daniel Liz Holloway

023 8027 1757 01794 514597

Where You Walk Touch with softness And empathy where you pass For you may crush Some gracile thing unnoticed In your hurry, and worry her.

She may dance to a different tune, Clothed in embracing olive Under a sapphire sky And you may turn away too soon.

Let her speak; strange words Need hold no fear, The orphaned mind left At the frost-tipped gate Is still open and Abhors the deafening silence.

Each soggy sunken path is yet Reachable, for though We may drift on life Cushioned in our same-silk cloud Beyond the pale Might spill a golden meadow Where sparkling skylarks can Rise to new heights.

Sad to have to say goodbye Before you’ve said hello.

Patricia Morris 24