EDITOR’S CHAT Summer is here! It’s the time to enjoy trips out and to remember the enjoyment that comes with doing things as a U3A group. So we have the report of the Stroller’s expedition to Wales ably organised by Steve Field. Brian Ward recently took sixteen people (including himself) on an excellent trip to Loughborough to visit the bell foundry there, to go to the War Memorial tower housing a huge carillon, to talk to the Carilloneur and enjoy the music she played on the bells. On the musical front, 5 of us went to a recorder playing day with Retford and Newark U3As recently and Brian Ward has given us an account of a Jazz evening in Grimsby in March. A lot of activity, but the U3A is not only about having trips, enjoyable though that may be. We are a learning organisation and many of the groups do just that but they are hiding their lights under a bushel. We need more reports from them. COPY DATE FOR THE SETEMBER 2014 ISSUE Articles for the next edition should reach me no later than 30 August 2014
CHAIRMAN’S CHAT I am sorry I have had to miss May's meeting because I was on the Strollers holiday to Wales and I am going to miss the June meeting because I will be leading a Twinning trip to Mamers. Like many of you we often struggle to fit everything in since there is so much to do. The variety of subjects on offer at U3A continues to increase and we are delighted this is so. If you have further suggestions for groups please let a committee member know. U3A is its members and we are all as vital to the organisation as the next person. I look forward to seeing you all in July when I hope some of you will have suggestions for 10 minute slots at the AGM in November. Best wishes from Gail Page 2
RECORDER GROUP The West Wolds U3A Recorder Group has been going for about a year now. We have five members who are enjoying getting to know the various instruments in the recorder range. We are guided in our efforts by Jennifer Jones who has a fund of musical knowledge and provides a great range of music for us to work on. On Tuesday June 3rd 2014 we travelled to Retford to join in with recorder players from Newark and Retford U3As for a playing day. This was a repeat of one held in Newark last year. Twenty five players tackled a range of music from the fairly easy to more challenging stuff. At the end of the day we all agreed that we had enjoyed playing in a large group—making music is more fun when you are doing it with other people! The great thing about the recorder is that it is possible to learn the basics quite quickly so that making some music is not hard. However, such a simple instrument has a wide range of possibilities and with practice you can keep on improving so it always a challenge. Our group is open to anyone who is interested, whatever the level of ability. We meet fairly regularly by common arrangement on a Monday afternoon and try to play together at least a couple of times a month. So please contact me if you are interested. Geoff Goddard
SUMMER LUNCH Market Rasen & District Golf Club Tuesday July 22nd, 2014 12.30pm for 1.00pm Bookings at the June General Meeting Page 3
STROLLERS’ HOLIDAY TO CAERNARFON MAY 2014 Day 1. After our 8.00am start from the coach park at the back of Tesco (It really works so well departing from there so easy to load and unload cases), we set off on our annual stroller’s holiday to North Wales. En route we stopped off at the lovely cathedral city of Chester where we had time to visit the cathedral, walk around the walls or along the river as well as shopping in the beautiful city centre. The cathedral was certainly worth a visit with its mixture of old and modern stained glass windows which were complimented by the beautiful velvet wall hangings using the colours of the windows in them. The Consistory Court, the only surviving ecclesiastical courtroom in the country, was well worth a visit tucked away in one corner of the cathedral up several very well worn steps, as was the wonderful refectory. What a lovely place
for coffee and cake. After reboarding the coach on we went to Caernarfon. On arrival at the Celtic Royal we were soon allocated our rooms giving people time to relax, go for a swim or explore the area before dinner. Day 2 took us to the Isle of Anglesey. It was only a half hour ride to our first stop of Beaumaris, a lovely town complete with castle which several people visited, but for those who couldn't cope with the steps, we had to sacrifice and settle for looking round the varied shops and of course coffee and cake (or the first ice cream of the day) before heading for the our next visit to the Lifeboat Station at Moelfre. The station was founded in 1830 and we were given a talk on the history of the station and some of its rescues over the years. We had time for a brief look round the outside and the visitor centre
Page 4
fifty years from 1925. On our guided tour we got an insight into the mind of the founder when we learnt several pieces of architecture were bought at auction, buried for 25 years or so to "age" them, then got forgotten about until they turned up at a later date when yet another building was to be added to the estate! We took a train ride through the there before we headed for gardens with beautiful views our next stop which was over to the Island, but we lunch at Cemaes Bay on the never did see "No. 6" of the North of the Island. After an Prisoner fame which was excellent buffet we then went filmed there. After lunch we on to Plas Nwydd, a National went on to Beddgelert, a Trust property with beautiful beautiful small town where gardens and house, with a we had a stroll through the fabulous Rex Whistler mural meadows to see the grave of in the dining room. the Irish wolfhound buried there who was wrongly Day 3. Today we headed to thought to have killed the son Portmerion the Italian style of Prince Llewelyn ap village built by Sir Clough Lorworth. The truth is that William-Ellis over a period of this story was made up in the early 1800's by local traders to attract some of the many visitors to Snowdon at the time and the name actually came from Gelert a sixth Continued on page 18 Page 5
How is the West Wolds U3A Committee formed?
A lunch meeting was held with the Group Co-ordinators in March 2014 , to thank them for their hard work and enthusiasm. A useful discussion came out of the successful event, highlighting many very positive aspects of our U3A. However, some concerns were raised about the formation of the committee. It has been said by various members of our U3A that the committee is a clique. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clique as a” small close-knit group of people who do not readily allow others to join them”. To do its job, the committee has to be close knit to work together but it never wants to
be exclusive. Now some of you may think that exclusivity applies to your committee because year on year the same people seem to serve on West Wolds U3A committee. We need to ask why that is so. Is it because having a bit of responsibility the committee members want it to remain an exclusive club? Some people might see it that way. Possibly, they feel that way because they don’t think that they can become involved. As far as the committee is concerned that is very far from the truth, we would like to see a change in the makeup of the committee. We only serve because somebody has to.
Page 6
It frustrates us that each year we ask for nominations for election to the committee and we rarely get any interest. Some committee members have served for more years than they wish to count and would love to stand down. However it is worth saying that in the last four years there have been five changes of personnel. But these changes have been the result of a lot of arm twisting to persuade people to come on to the committee when numbers fall short. Acting as a committee member is not just a matter of turning up for a meeting once a month. An awful lot goes on in between meetings. All the committee members have specific tasks to carry out for the good of the organisation. Committee members are not unwilling to do this but it is distressing for them to be accused of being members of a clique. Going back to the definition of a clique at the head of this article, we would readily encourage others to join us – we would love that to happen. So when the nomination forms come out later on this year, please don’t throw them away, think of someone that you know with the skills and willingness to work for the good
of West Wolds U3A. Who knows, it could even be you. If you are unwilling to be a committee member please don’t throw rocks at those who give up a lot of their time doing the behind the scenes work. Nobody is a committee member for the fun of it and there is precious little glory in it either. The election of the Committee Chairman Every year, after the committee is formed it elects a person to serve as its chairman. Generally speaking the task goes to someone who is too slow to say no! That’s not completely true as we try to find the best person who is willing to do the job. Over the years, we have been very fortunate to have had extremely able people working in this role. By default, that person slips into the job of the West Wolds U3A chairman. This seems to have become accepted by the general membership. Perhaps we need to think about this process a bit more. Should we ask the whole membership to confirm that the committee chairman should be the overall chairman as well? Maybe you would like to ponder on that?
Page 7
General Meetings 2014 10 July Alan Stennett – Lost Railways of Lincolnshire 14 August Pauline Wilson – Humorous Tales from Within These Walls 11 September Simon Hollingsworth – The Drill Hall
.
Local History Programme Tuesday 8th July A visit to Brigg, own transport, with a guided walk and visit to the new Heritage Centre in the Angel. Further details and booking forms available at the monthly General and Local History meetings.
Page 8
THE WEST WOLDS QUARTERLY DIARY INSERT Remove this insert from your magazine, fold along the lines indicated
COMMITTEE & MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES Chairman Gail Dennis Tel: 01673 843575 galedennis@btinternet.com FOLD
General Meeting Reception Lyn Henry Tel: 01673-843851 lynhenry@btinternet.com Marion Blackstock 01673 849208
Treasurer & Membership Secretary Barry Dukes Tel: 01472-852454 lindumwold@btinternet com
Website, Magazine & Printing Geoff Goddard Tel: 01673-842287 gcg@sunny-side.ws with assistance from Ken Reid Tel: 01673-849490 ken@kmreid.free-online.co.uk
Secretary & Third Age Trust Contact Sheila Nash Tel: 01673-866569 thenashes60@hotmail.com U3A Network Contact Mandy Murphy Tel: 01673-860893 mandy1390@yahoo.co.uk Groups Coordinator Ken Howitt Tel: 01652-678490 kenhowitt@btinternet.com FOLD
General Meeting Catering Margaret Cromack 07711-112171 margaret.cromack@btinternet.com
Equipment Custodian & General Meeting Hall Arrangements Ken Reid (co-opted) Tel: 01673-849490 ken@kmreid.free-online.co.uk Visits and Speaker Finder Brian Ward 01472 852273 briandgill@btinternet.com Publicity David Oliver Tel:01673 880188 david.g.oliver@btinternet.com
Archivist and Greeter Paul Davison 07746-626482
Why not visit our website at http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/westwoldsu3a Page 9
INTEREST GROUPS WEEK
Monday
Tuesday
10:00 German
10:00 Bead & Wire Jewellery
14:00 Bridge 14:00 Recorders
14:00 Film 14:30 Spanish
10:00 German
10:00 Local History
13.30 Craft 14:00 Bridge
14:00 Art Oils 14:30 Spanish
10:00 German
10:00 Country Walks 10:00 Wanderers 10:30 Strollers
1st
2nd
3rd
14:00 Bridge 14:00 Recorders
14:30 Spanish 19:00 Film
10:00 German
10:00 Music Appreciation
14:00 Bridge
14:00 Art Oils 14:30 Spanish
4th
Page 10
MONTHLY TIMETABLE Wednesday
Thursday
10:00 Country Walks 10:00 Wanderers 10:30 Strollers
10:00 French 10:00 Patchwork * 10:00 Keep Fit
12:00 Luncheon Group
14:00 Drama 14:00 Patchwork *
Friday
10:00 Beginners Family History 10:00 Latin
14:00 Scrabble 9:15
De Aston Ladies Gym
10:00 Embroidery
09.45 GENERAL MEETING Festival Hall Market Rasen
10:00 Family History 10:00 Latin
Everyone Welcome Tea, Coffee, Event Notices Guest Speaker
14:00 Poetry
14:00 Drama
10:00 Telling our Stories
10:00 French 10:00 Keep Fit 10:00 Patchwork *
10:00 Latin
14:00 Readers
14:00 Drama 14:00 Patchwork *
14:00 Scrabble* (* And 5th Friday of the month, if there is one)
9:15
De Aston Ladies Gym
10:00 Embroidery * (*Last Wednesday of month)
10:00 Cross Stitch 10:00 Keep Fit* (* And 5th Thursday of the month, if there is one)
14:00 Beginner’s French 14:00 Knitting and Crochet (Oct—April)
14:00 Drama
10:00 COFFEE MORNING Jossals, Market Rasen All welcome 10:00 Latin 14:00 Mah Jong 18:45 Jazz & Swing Enjoyment (Last Friday of month)
Page 11
INTEREST GROUP CO-ORDINATORS ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS COMPUTING Lynn Henry 01673 843851. ARMCHAIR TRAVEL Cynthia Bunch 01673 844661 ART-OILS Gillian Anderton 01673 844382 BALLROOM DANCING To be arranged. BEADING AND WIRE JEWELLRY Jacqueline Reid 01673 849490 BRIDGE Bryan Storey 01673 849625 CHOIR To be arranged. CRAFT Cynthia Burke 01673 849506 CROSS STITCH Ann Field 01673 857529 DRAMA Gail Dennis 01673 843575 EMBROIDERY Pat Hage 01673 849447 FAMILY HISTORY Jacqueline Reid 01673 849490 FAMILY HISTORY – BEGINNERS Jacqueline Reid 01673 849490 FILM GROUP John Bartlett 01673 857480 FRENCH Pat Spolton 01673 828568 FRENCH (BEGINNERS) Gail Dennis 843575 GERMAN Jo Howard 01673 862015 JAZZ AND SWING ENJOYMENT Brian Ward 01472 852273
KEEP FIT Dawn Stopper 01472 851133 KNITTING AND CROCHET Sue Jacobs 01673 828898 LATIN Gwen Parsons 01673 885438 LOCAL HISTORY Jean Childs 01472 859347 LUNCHEON GROUP Pam John 01673 844260 MAH JONG Reid 01673 849490 MUSIC APPRECIATION Ron Jones 01673 843438 PATCHWORK Lyn Henry 01673 843851 POETRY Eva Smith 01673 842218 READERS GROUP Audrey Storey 01673 849625 RECORDER GROUP Geoff Goddard 01673 842287 SCRABBLE Audrey Storey 01673 849625 SPANISH Alison Atkinson 01673 849979 THE 9-MILE HIKERS Helen Wilson 01673 828315 COUNTRY WALKS Ken Howitt 01652 678490 THE STROLLERS Cynthia Burke 01673 849506 TELLING OUR STORIES David Atkinson 01673 849979 VISITS Brian Ward 01472 852273
THE GROUPS CO-ORDINATOR IS:KEN HOWITT 01652 678490 kenhowitt@btinternet.com LIFTS: If you do not have transport it is usually possible to arrange lifts to the various venues. A contribution to the cost of fuel is also welcome. Page 12
HOLD VERY TIGHT, PLEASE ... DING, DING!! A bright Wednesday morning in April saw many elderly (and some not so elderly) figures making their way through Market Rasen, like pedigree greyhounds straining at the leash, to join their chartered charabanc. An outing was afoot! After forging a path towards the Derbyshire Dales, we reached the Peak Railway station at Rowsley, tucked away off the A6 behind still busy industrial companies, to
destination at the bustling metropolis of Matlock. After a photo opportunity and a browse around the bookshop, we rejoined the charabanc to travel up some steep and scenic roads to the Crich Tramway Village, a museum devoted to the days of street trams which once ran along the roads of most large towns. From its early days in 1959 this living museum has grown into the national venue for tram restoration and operation, along a hill top track giving lovely views of the Dales. Following our lunch in the Red Lion, a stone-by-stone removal
join our train. Having checked out the motive power (an industrial 0-6-0 saddle tank steam engine up front and a ‘Peak’ diesel, D8 ‘Penyghent’ at the rear), we besieged the buffet car and settled into our seats armed with coffees. Travelling slowly along what at one time had been the main line from St. Pancras to Manchester, we reached our
and rebuild of a Stoke on Trent public house (with some interesting additions, such as wood work from a Methodist Chapel now forming the bar), and an enthusiastic guided tour
Page 13
around the tram depot and excellent Museum displays, we all took to riding the three trams in operation that day – a Leeds double decker known as a ‘Beeston air-braked,’ and two single deck Blackpool open top ‘toastracks,’ one vintage and the other a streamlined 1930s attractions around the site, ranging from a still usable Victorian gents cast iron urinal, to the large stone frontage from Derby’s Assembly Rooms, now housing an exhibition of tramway history open to the public, and tramway archives available to researchers. version. Lots of fun up and down the line, jumping trams if so desired, and stopping off at intermediate points to explore. There are also of course other
Silence prevailed as we made our way home, possibly from people reflecting but also possibly from a surfeit of sun and fun.
A SMALL COG IN A BIG WHEEL ... ... and that wheel is the FALKIRK WHEEL. A long held desire to visit this modern day engineering wonder of the waterways world was realised in late April. In case you have not heard about this wondrous wheel, an explanation is needed.
replaces a flight of eleven locks which were originally built to join the low level Forth & Clyde Canal with the Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal, which was at a much higher level where they came together in Falkirk. The Forth & Clyde was built First of all, it is a big wheel . but between 1768-1790, by engineers not that sort. You do ride it, but John Smeaton and Robert only in a boat. Why? Because it Whitworth, being the first sea to Page 14
sea ship canal (not a narrow boat waterway of the type more usually found in England). The Union was built in 1818-1822 by Hugh Baird, and you can see its construction was much quicker (it was only 10 km shorter than its neighbour), which was because it followed the contours of the countryside through which it passed, without having any locks. But when the two canals were linked, the above mentioned flight was needed to join the two, to allow access to the city of Edinburgh, which the Forth & Clyde did not do.
died a death, and in the 1960s modern motorway building sealed their fates when both were severed, although by then virtually derelict, when it was not thought necessary to bridge them so as to allow continued use in the future. By the late 1990s, however, a more enlightened view saw the benefits of recreating the link to allow leisure boating to expand, and to open up the Scottish Lowlands by means of what became the Millennium Link project.
You may well have heard of the Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire, As happened across the UK, the where boats are lifted vertically coming of the railways in order to overcome the same eventually meant canal usage problem of joining two canals at Page 15
different levels, but at Falkirk the problem has been solved in a dramatic and creative 21st century manner. A giant structure, likened to a ship’s propeller, Celtic double-headed axes, the spine of a fish or ribcage of a whale – all are comparisons that have been used – swings two water filled gondolas through 180 degrees to raise or lower boats the 25 metres difference in levels; the height of the structure is 10 metres more than that overall.
can assemble, but on leaving the upper gondola, an aqueduct has been built to join the top level to the nearest ground, and then the canal burrows beneath the Antonine Wall to reach the upper basin, from where two ordinary locks, like the one at the bottom basin, are actually used by travelling boats to go from one canal to the other. For the benefit of ‘gongoozlers’ and common trippers, there are two sightseeing boats which operate from one basin to the other, In order to access the wheel, it taking visitors up on high to then has been necessary to create a basin for each canal, where boats cross the aqueduct, traverse the tunnel, and turn at the upper basin for the return journey. This is perhaps the most exhilarating part if you happen to be at the front of your trip boat - you enter your gondola heading for open space at the end of it! All in all a great experience, and not a Chinese part has been used: the massive steelwork was actually built by Butterley Engineering at Ripley, Derbyshire, who built the steelwork of St. Pancras station in London, and if its work here lasts as long as that has done, there will not be any complaints. Brian Ward
Page 16
VISIT TO TAYLORS AT LOUGHBOROUGH As a keen bell ringer I jumped at the chance to visit the Taylor’s bell foundry at Loughborough. What an interesting industry! One of only two such foundries in England, they cast, tune and install bells in towers all round the world. Our group was given a potted history of the company dating back several hundred years and then we had a tour of the workshops and were able to
watch a bell being cast. We also had a brief introduction into how the five notes of the bell are tuned separately using a vertical boring machine and a computer to get the fundamentals and harmonics exactly right. After lunch we visited the Campanile to listen to the Carriloneur playing music on 47 bells as we climbed 138 steps to the top of the tower. Geoff Goddard
A LITTLE EVENING JAZZ MUSIC ... An outing with the Jazz & Swing Enjoyment Group in March featured a thoroughly enjoyable date with the Nicola Farnon Quartet, at the Roy Kemp Room of the Grimsby Central Hall. Not our first visit to this venue by any means, where the CafĂŠ Jazz format allows us to sit around a table with our drinks, watching and listening to the musicians by candlelight. The regular Winter programme has seen members of the Group make several treks north to Grimsby on a Saturday night, and the March performance by a talented lady leading from the front with her propulsive string bass playing, whilst adding lovely vocals all the way through the evening, was one to be savoured. With her partner Phil on drums (they met years ago whilst both working on board a cruise ship), and supported by excellent musicians Chris on guitar and French Canadian Piero on piano and sax, the whole gamut of music from Gershwin to jazz standards was performed with zest and greatly enjoyed by the appreciative audience. This was real live music at its best, and brought almost to our doorsteps. Good music, good company, and pleasant surroundings. What more could anyone wish for? Page 17
century saint from the area who is buried in the meadow there.
to Caernarfon to give people time to visit the castle and have a look around our base for the week, but Colin, our driver gave us an unscheduled treat by driving us back through the stunning Llanberis Pass. What a pleasure to be able to see the wonderful sights without the worry of driving! In the evening after yet another Day 4. Our destination today delightful dinner the staff was Bodnant Garden, a cleared away so we could National Trust property in the keep our private dining room Conwy region. What a treat for our annual quiz, hosted by we had in store for us. The Chris and Paul Davison. This drizzle we had been having on year they had promised the the journey soon cleared up questions would not be too and the gardens were such a difficult, but they certainly riot of colour with had us racking our brains and rhododendrons and azaleas chewing our pencil tops. The that the cameras were never worthy winners were the team out of our hands. I do not made up of Bryan and Audrey think we could have visited at Storey, Pat and Al Hage, Jean a better time of year, but the Child's and Ken Howitt. gardeners say they have delights to see in every season. Day 5. Unfortunately, after A full day could easily have another hearty breakfast, we been spent here although the had to head back to Market few hours we had certainly Rasen, but we did have time left you wanting to come back to stop off at Salford Quays on again. Unfortunately we had the way where we had the to leave after lunch to get back opportunity to visit the Page 18
Imperial War Museum, Lowry Art Gallery or Salford Quays outlet centre. Most people took advantage of the opportunity to visit the attractions there, but there were also many more shopping bags on the coach for the latter half of the journey! We arrived back in Market Rasen at about 5.30 after having a thoroughly enjoyable few days in North Wales. Our thanks go out to Steve and Ann Field for organising the holiday (and a personal
thanks from Mick and me for giving us a year off), and for providing us with such a varied, interesting holiday. We all appreciate the hard work and time and effort that goes in to arranging these holidays and we hope you will look out of your window at the rhododendrons and think you did a good job. Our compliments must also go to our driver, Colin, who managed the narrow, twisting roads magnificently, and who was also a willing? member of our quiz team. Cynthia Burke
Pensioners, don’t mess with them! Two businessmen in Cardiff were sitting down for a break in their soon-to-be opened new shop…. As yet the shop wasn’t ready, with only a few shelves up. One said to the other, “I bet that at any moment some pensioner is going to walk by, put their face to the window and ask what we are selling.” No sooner were these words out of his mouth when, sure enough, a curious old woman walked to the window, had a peek in and in a soft voice asked, “What are you selling here?” One of the men replied sarcastically, “We are selling idiots.” Without skipping a beat the old woman sais, “Must be doing well…. Only two left!” Page 19
An Ode to the Lincolnshire Sausage by Robert Rudkin You can cook a Lincolnshire Sausage And stick it in a roll Put it in a Yorkshire Pud You’ve got Toad-in-the-Hole. You can stick them in a deep fat fryer And have battered sausage and chips Or you can fry them with some mushrooms and eggs (Get some grease around your lips). I dream of Lincolnshire Sausages The help me get to sleep I count them jumping in the pan Instead of counting sheep. I’m so obsessed with these sausages I’ve told my next of kin That when I die they can bury me In a giant sausage skin. If Richard Branson had any sense He’d use one for a balloon Never mind going around the world It would get him to the moon. I don’t know how much longer They’re going to be around If Brussels tries to ban then We'll have to go underground. We could sell the on e-Bay Or even car boot sales I’ll never stop eating Lincolnshire Sausages I’d sooner go to jail. But I don’t think It would get that far Lincolnshire Sausages You’re a star.
Page 20