EDITOR’S CHAT Welcome to the last edition of the year. The AGM has come and gone and you have a new committee. Well it’s not quite new, only a few members have change but it’s really good to have fresh ideas from the new people, without those we might stagnate. We should also remember the great work in the past from stalwarts such as Colin Hare This edition has extended to 20 pages with quite lengthy reports of various activities. Consideration of printing costs limits how much we can put in especially as we have decided to increase the print run from 150 to 200. It’s worth drawing your attention to the article on Joe Willisch’s Last Christmas at home on page 6. It is reminder to us at this festive time that Christmas not always an occasion of happiness and joy. Best wishes from Geoff
COPY DATE FOR THE MARCH 2015 ISSUE Articles for the next edition should reach the editor no later than 27 February 2015 Send it to gcg@sunny-side.ws or phone me on 01673 842 287 Cover Picture
Members of the keep fit group demonstrating their enthusiasm at the West Wolds Annual General Meeting in November.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT At the Annual General Meeting on stage were this past year’s committee: Sheila Nash, Barry Dukes, David Oliver, Geoff Goddard, Lyn Henry, Paul Davison (absent having had surgery), Ken Howett, Brian Ward and Mandy Murphy who have all worked extremely hard to make our U3A function efficiently during the past year. Thank you all. There are also non committee members who have taken on specific roles and I thank them also. Together they are the people who make these monthly meetings work but as you all know there are many other members, who week in week out, lead the many group activities we all enjoy so much and they deserve a big thank you as well. U3A is about learning together and so many of us have benefited from others efforts. U3A is a giving, self helping Page 2
organization and I encourage all of you to do your bit, whether it is being a committee member, leading a group or helping with teas and coffees each month. Everyone’s contribution is valued and needed for our U3A to function. This year has seen a variety of speakers at the General Meetings, who have been a personal pleasure to listen to. I thought two years finding speakers using my own contacts and the helpful lists available was long enough before you and I became weary of my choice making ,so Brian Ward agreed to become Speaker Finder for the 2015 programme, after some persuasion, so next year’s programme is in place. A group of people have organized visits which have been very much appreciated. Some have been subject specific whilst others have been general outings. All have been well organized and true to the U3A guidance, are self financing and no U3A member organizer benefits from free places on such trips but pays their way the same as other participants. The magazine, West Wolds Quarterly, continues to be edited by Geoff Goddard, who has not stood for re-election. This is no mean feat since he is reliant on your contributions and I thank him and you for continuing to produce such a good magazine. I would remind you to keep the articles coming. The jobs the rest of the committee do may not be “so centre stage but in the wings” so perhaps not so known about but so vital to the organization. Barry our treasurer, Lyn on the reception desk, Sheila our secretary, Ken our groups co-ordinator, Paul a greeter ,archivist and general Mr Stand In for any job that missing committee members would be doing at General Meetings, Mandy our Network Meetings rep and the person who sends cards to sick members (who now feels it is the right time not to stand for reelection) and David our Vice-Chairman and Neighbourhood Meetings rep for which he is Secretary. All these people have done so much more than I have listed but I hope you get the picture. Thank you. During the past year we have had several new groups start. One such is the Computing for Beginners and considerable time and effort was taken by a few committee members to apply for grants to purchase new lap tops and relevant soft ware and research as to the best equipment to buy. Other new groups are The Paper Engineering Group, The singing group and the Ancient Hebrew Group. The digital photography group is just starting. There is plenty of scope for new groups, both educational and social, if there is someone willing to come forward to lead a group. Best wishes from Gail Page 3
Colin Hare - an Appreciation
This year we lost one of our much loved members to whom this U3A owes a great deal.
hosted the first of these events on Wednesday, 6th April 2005. Amongst many involvements for After the AGM in November 2003, our visitors that day, the walking group organised a short walk in Colin became Chairman after Pat Nova Scotia Woods which was very Hage stood down and he was in post for the next two years. He then enjoyable. A number of these took over the job of Treasurer 2005- Neighbourhood Days have taken place over the years at Skegness, 2007. At the end of each financial Cleethorpes, Louth, Alford, year he was our "Examiner of Tattershall, and Horncastle to name Accounts�. but a few, and this was due to Colin was very passionate about Colin's vision and enthusiasm. He forging the links with all of the was always our representative at the Lincolnshire U3As and he organised regular Forum meetings. several get together events to In 2007, U3As celebrated the 25th promote this idea. West Wolds U3A Page 4
anniversary of the Third Age Trust and Colin wrote an article in our Quarterly Magazine celebrating this milestone. Our U3A hosted the "Hautbois Concert" which again was the inspiration of Colin as he and June had attended the Summer School at Harlaxton in 2006 where the duo had performed. This was a very successful event held in the Market Rasen Methodist Church on Wednesday afternoon, 31st October 2007, to which Alford, Grimsby/Cleethorpes, Horncastle, Louth and Skegness joined. Colin was a man of great energy and enthusiasm and was much involved in activities outside the scope of the U3A. One of these was the "Holiday at Home" project to benefit people in the Newtoft and
Faldingworth areas. For this he involved a lot of U3A interest groups who helped to show their skills of art oils, beading, card craft, embroidery, family history and jazz. It was very much appreciated. Whenever there was a need, Colin would step in to fill the bill. Who can forget the occasion when the speaker for the General Meeting did not turn up and Colin entertained us with his poetry. Colin helped to steer our U3A onto its course for the future and we should be eternally grateful to him for his vision and energy. The best that way that we can remember him is to use our skills, efforts and abilities to ensure that West Wolds U3A continues to flourish. Material from Doreen Wallis
Liverpool Trip visit to Crosby Beach - Gillian Anderton Page 5
My Last Christmas at Home For more than 30 hours I have been sitting in this long express train sitting on a wooden bench with nine other passengers. I was the only soldier; I felt conspicuous. There was little conversation due to language barriers. My injured leg hurt me and I was tired. But—I was going home; I had three weeks of sick leave with five additional days allowed for travel. Soon it would be Christmas in the last days of 1943. Looking out of the carriage window I had watched the landscape change from snow-laden spruce tree forests on the Baltic Sea in East Prussia to the open featureless snow-covered expanse of land in Prussia, East Pommerania and the murky industrial landscape of Silesia with its coalmines, where the brilliant white snow was slashed with streaks of black and where tall chimneys were belching out acrid smoke. So it was a pleasure to see the hazy snow-capped mountains of the Tatras on the eastern side and the ragged peaks of the Giant Mountains to the west. Soon I would be in familiar territory. It is more than two years ago, when as a 17 year old boy, I was sent as a punishment with a labour battalion to France. And now I am going back as a hard nosed 30 year old man in a 19 year old body. What will it be like to meet my mother? It was just after midday when the train stopped in Studenka (the train was going as far as
Vienna in Austria). Only a handful of passengers got off. I was the only soldier. There was no military check point at the station. With my rucksack on my back, where I had stashed my machine pistol, I started walking in knee-deep snow across the Oder meadows towards our home. It was just getting dusk when I opened the door and called “Anybody Home?”. My mother came from the kitchen into the hall wiping her hands on her apron and nearly fainted when she saw me standing there. There were tears and hugs and more tears. I felt awkward, strange and unclean when she hugged me. I couldn’t think of anything to say to her. I felt ashamed even to touch this good woman. But it felt good to be home, warm, cosy, peaceful and, above all—safe. In two days’ time it will be Christmas. Mother burst out sobbing, telling me that they had been notified that I was reported as missing in action. Much later I got to know that indeed, after I had been wounded, the rest of our regiment just disappeared. How strange it felt to be in a loving and peaceful cocoon, where I had never heard a word spoken in anger. Hesitantly and uneasily I sat down on the sofa watching my mother busily making coffee. She kept repeatedly saying, “What a surprise to see you so unexpectedly, looking so well and unscathed, sitting at our table.” Obviously she did not know that I had
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been badly wounded. It was strange listening to my mother talking about all sorts of mundane gossip. In the back of my mind I was still somewhere else… on the edge of the abyss. Both my father and brother came home from work. By now I had discarded my uniform for the time being (although this was against the rules) and after a good wash, mother had to find me some of my father’s clothes to fit me. I don’t really remember what was said later in the evening—it was all a bit strange and unfamiliar. In fact you can’t talk about where you have been and what you feel, because no one would be able to comprehend the horrors of ‘total war’. After all you have just come from the killing fields into a loving home, where peace and tranquillity prevail. Christmas was just like it had always been; the decorated Christmas tree, roasted goose for dinner, attending mass on Christmas Eve. I purely went to please my mother. Somehow I felt that I ought not to be there inside a church at all; considering what I had been involved with. It just did not seem fitting to go into God’s house. It was heart wrenching to hear the lone trumpeter high up in the church gallery, gently playing the ancient melody of ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’, to a totally silent congregation. How glad I was to have my father standing next to me at the back of the church behind the pews with his hand on my shoulder. Otherwise I would have probably walked out. All these people in front of me have no idea at all about
what is going on, away from their village. Apart from the increasing number of telegrams about sons and husbands being killed on the Russian Front, there is no tangible evidence that there is a vicious war being fought. I tried to tell my father what was really going on and did my best to make him aware of the impending advance of the Soviet Army, but he just warned me to be very careful not to talk anywhere about such things. Well, how could my mother, who had never done any harm to a living soul, and my father, honest and trusting, understand this political, ideological bigotry. The Nazi propaganda was very plausible and thorough. Watching my mother on Christmas Day serving our dinner, suddenly, with a heavy heart I could visualise the impending catastrophic happenings of war descending on this house and on my people. What would happen to my mother, how would my father cope? They had no idea about how serious the situation had become. And me, knowing the true answer, I sat there and I could not do anything at all about it! It would be nine eventful years until I saw my parents again living in Germany. They had lost everything, homeland, family, farm and livelihood, freedom and, above all, ‘their dignity’. I felt deeply that they didn’t deserve any of this and that they were paying the price for other men’s folly.
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Joe Willisch
General Meetings 2014 JAN 8 John Bartlett: a Visual Journey on British & Irish Waterways FEB 12 Alan Bolt: light hearted music and anecdotes MAR 12 Graham Keal: “Oprah Winfrey Touched My Elbow” .
Local History Programme Tuesday 14th January - Vic Hughes returns with the next chapter of Lincoln's history Tuesday 11th February - Paul Howitt Cowan "And So To Bed......." the history of beds and bedchambers, with reference to local examples. Tuesday 11th March - Brian Davey "Torrington's 1791 Survey of Lincolnshire "
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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
Visits and Speaker Finder Brian Ward 01472 852273 briandgill@btinternet.com Publicity David Oliver Tel:01673 880188 david.g.oliver@btinternet.com New members Joy Mycock Eunice Hughes
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 11:30 Armchair Travel * (*Last Tuesday of month)
14:00 Bridge
14:00 Art Oils 14:30 Spanish
4th
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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
12:00 Luncheon Group Everyone Welcome Tea, Coffee, Event Notices Guest Speaker
14:00 Paper Engineering
14:00 Poetry Jazz & Swing Enjoyment 6.30 in the summer 2.30 in the winter
14:00 Drama
10:00
Telling our Stories
14:00 Readers
9:15
10:00 French 10:00 Keep Fit 10:00 Patchwork *
10:00 Latin
14:00 Drama 14:00 Patchwork *
14:00 Scrabble* (* And 5th Friday of the month, if there is one)
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
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10:00 COFFEE MORNING Jossals, Market Rasen All welcome 10:00 Latin 14:00 Mah Jong 14:00 Paper Engineering
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 BEGINNERS’ FRENCH Gail Dennis 01673 843575 BRIDGE Bryan Storey 01673 849625 CHOIR To be arranged. CRAFT Cynthia Burke 01673 849506 CROSS STITCH Ann Field 01673 857529 DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Pat Hage 01673 849447 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 PAPER ENGINEERING Lyn Henry 01673 843851 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
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
Liverpool Trip
Saturday: set off promptly at 08.30. Dull and cloudy at the Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, but we enjoyed a short canal trip, a guided walk around the site to pick up all the main points of interest, then free time to investigate further. There were some original workers’ cottages on site (ladies in toilet) which had interiors set in different eras of time. Very interesting museum, well worth a visit. After dinner in the hotel (a very poor service as they were obviously having kitchen problems) some energetic members of the group
adjourned to the Albert Dock and did some bopping and clubbing until bed called them. Sunday: morning guided walk in lovely bright sunshine, with three guides all of whom were extremely interesting. The Pier Head is still renowned for the ‘Three Graces’ of the Liver Building, Cunard Building, and Port of Liverpool building. It has now been joined by modern glass fronted buildings comprising apartments and offices. The area is known collectively as Mann Island. Free time after the walk to enjoy the Museum of Liverpool, whose attractions range from the sex
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change story of April Ashley to a Meteor, DH Rapide ... carriage from the Overhead Railway. After dinner Sunday evening we Afternoon was spent at Speke Hall, were greatly entertained by Rae a NT house and gardens. Costumed Owens, a local Liverpudlian who guides added to the interest around played guitar and ukulele and sang the house and gardens. A stop on songs in many styles. Even those of the way back to the hotel was made a serious disposition said how good at the original Speke Airport it was ... Monday: another beautiful day spent until mid afternoon at Port Sunlight Village, the Lever Brothers country site for their new soap
buildings, now an hotel. About half the group alighted to go inside the buildings and were amazed at the Art Deco interior preserved intact. Lovely woodwork, staircases, lighting etc. Outside on the original tarmac is a collection of aircraft in various stages of restoration and preservation. These included a Jetstream, HP Percival, Britannia,
factory (late 19th century) and houses, built to a range of designs by different architects over a period of many years. Philanthropy with a
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purpose, as the excellent housing conditions meant happier workers, although there was a company shop on site for them to recirculate their earnings, and no pub, until many years later when the employees voted for one and it was built.
Cavern Club music in the afternoon. Final dinner all together, with entertainment quizzes provided by Dawn and cartoon sketching led by Gillian. Many thanks ladies.
Wednesday: those who had chosen the six hour trip along the On leaving, we crossed back under Manchester Ship Canal embarked at the Mersey and headed north up the Pier Head to a choppy River Mersey, coast to Crosby to view the 100 metal but the good ship MV Snowdrop sculptures by Anthony Gormley of carried us all to the safety of the himself. Much fun was had on the Canal, although entry was delayed beach by ladies who waded through the wet sand and sludge to view the men from the front! A lovely collection of kites was being flown on the seafront. We walked about a mile along the shoreline to re-join the coach at a Leisure Centre, whose facilities enabled folk to wash and dry their sandy feet, to great hilarity. This evening was free for everyone to make their own choice of dining. The lively boppers and their male guardians ended up in a pub keeping company with some fifteen or so hairy drivers doing the trucking for the Kylie Minogue road show playing at the nearby Arena on Wednesday night. Good job we had left by then. There was some drunkenness amongst this small but happy group ... Not sure whether others in the overall party had such an enjoyable social evening.
for about 45 minutes whilst a freighter leaving the lock had to wait for the river tide to rise sufficiently for its deep draft. The vistas along the Canal were enlivened by an excellent lady guide talking from the bridge deck where she had a good view of everything around us. Rejoining the rest of the group at Salford Quays, where they had visited the Imperial War Museum Tuesday: a free day to enjoy all the and the Lowry gallery, we journeyed home. fine city has to offer. Folk did their Words and Pictures own thing and most returned Brian Ward exhausted at the end of the day. The lively Saturday boppers enjoyed the Page 15
Country Walkers’ Norfolk Holiday
On 15th September 2014, 18 walkers began to arrive at Kelling Heath in Norfolk to check into their comfortable accommodation in pine lodges scattered in the woods. Helen Wilson and Elizabeth Holmes had organised several good days walking along the Coastal Path. Unfortunately the weather was sometimes rather foggy for the length of our stay, but more of that later.
off and we could just hear the sound of the waves on the shingle mixed in with the call of sea birds. The walking was easy—no hills! Walking into Wells (about half way) we arrived at coffee time and found a very nice café on the quay for drinks and cake. Suitably refreshed we carried on the walk via the harbour and out to the beach past some gorgeous beach huts and on through pine woods behind the sand dunes The first evening was spent looking towards Holkham. The party split at the facilities which included a spa up, some stayed to explore the area a bit and others to the Coast Hopper complex of swimming pool, sauna, bus back to the car park (ah the joys steam room and spa bath—just the of the bus pass). place to relax in after a good day’s walk. First Day We took cars to Stiffkey (pronounced Stewky) and started our walk towards Holkham about 6 miles away. The day began cloudy but the weather cleared as we went along. Although we were on the Coastal Path the sea was quite a way Page 16
Second Day The weather became very misty and visibility was very poor so we decided to leave the coast and head inland to Blickling Hall near Aylsham. Here we walked a route that took us for about 5 miles around the grounds of the estate. On the way we passed the site of a race course and stopped to admire a strange tower that had been part of that facility. It is now let out by the national Trust as holiday accommodation. On our walk round we stopped at a mausoleum in the shape of a pyramid where a previous owner of the estate was remembered.. Having completed our walk by lunch time we went to the local pub for a very good lunch and some real ale before a visit to the Hall. Not everyone stayed to look at the historic house, some of us
returned to catch a train on the poppy line towards Holt for an enjoyable afternoon run. Day Three We originally intended to walk the path from Morston to Cley (rhymes with fly) but instead we did it the other way round. This led us along the coast via Blakeney. We came across stopped to buy fine bacon rolls from a van in the car park and enjoyed eating them in the sun. Well replete, onwards we marched to Morston along a meandering path across the salt marshes in bright sunshine. Once again some of us took the bus back to the car park but one person elected to retrace his steps and the catch the bus back towards Kelling Heath. Back at the holiday complex a few people made use of the spa to recover from their exertions and to prepare for a splendid evening at the Feathers Hotel in Holt where we had dinner and celebrated Helga Pennelegion’s birthday. All too soon it was Friday morning, time to pack and go home. Geoff Goddard
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STROLLERS MYSTERY WEEKEND NOVEMBER 2014 At 8.00am on a Saturday morning in November, 46 people were boarding a coach for an unknown destination. Myself and Mick, plus of course our driver, Colin, knew where we were headed for the weekend. As we turned left onto the A46 at Middle Rasen a murmur went round the coach, is it South we are going or towards Nottingham? Of course as soon as we turned onto the A1 it was obvious we were heading South, but where to? When we left Peterborough Services I asked for ideas of where we were heading next as we had a visit planned for the afternoon and was surprised no one on the coach guessed where we were heading. It was the famous Bletchley Park, where we spent 4 hours learning all about the code breaking that was carried out there during WW2. Some of us were even lucky enough to see the Bombe machine actually working and after looking round the huts and reading all the information that was available it really made you wonder how did 10,000 people work there during the war and manage to keep
the work they did secret! After leaving Bletchley we headed
off to our hotel which this time we had two people correctly guess as Letchworth. We stayed the lovely Letchworth Hall Hotel, which was built in 1625 (and of course added to over the
years) and was said to be haunted, but thankfully though we were in the original part of the building we never sighted the "bawdy vicar". After a very good three course dinner and a good night’s sleep, we
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were ready to be on the road by 9.15 the next morning for our first stop of the day. This time everyone guessed where we were going as we forgot to ask the question of where we were heading until AFTER we had passed the sign to Cambridge. The bag of chocolates I had bought as prizes wasn't going to last long.
coffee and a bit of retail therapy.
After lunch we headed off to Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust property with a beautiful winter walk down to the water mill and back through the gardens. For three of our members Our early start was so we would be the walk was in Cambridge early enough for a bit much people to be able to go to the after our morning service Kings College hectic Chapel and quite a large group schedule so headed off across The Backs to join they took the queue outside and were soon in advantage of the electric scooter hire the magnificent chapel even and had a great time on them. Watch managing to get seats in the choir out on the streets of Market Rasen in stalls for the service (which the future. I think they enjoyed it a coincidentally was taken by the little too much. (Boys and toys retired Bishop of Lincoln). Other comes to mind) members took an open top bus tour On our final day the group were of the city and were lucky enough to getting crafty and spotted that Colin see the Remembrance Day Parade had set his SatNav for Ely before he from their ringside seats on the top loaded the cases, so instead of giving deck, whilst some just relaxed with a prizes for our destination we had a quiz on the way to Ely. Quite a task to wake our brains up after another early start. To make up for this we had coffee and homemade biscuits in the lovely Poets House Hotel before we had an excellent guided tour of Oliver Cromwell's House. This then gave the group time for lunch and a quick look round the cathedral before we headed home. We landed back in Market Rasen at 6.30pm, everyone tired but feeling they had enjoyed a very full, varied weekend.
Cynthia Burke Page 19
Colin’s Dream I had a dream the other night That really gave me quite a fright – I woke up in a sweat I dreamt that West Wolds U3A Were staging a Nativity play For people en retrait* Well, for my sins, it was my lot To write the script, set out the plot And put it on the stage And further much to my surprise You members shrunk to schoolday’s size And acted schoolday’s age.
Come the big day, and morning brings News that we’ve only got two kings, David Power has got the mumps; Shepherds too arrive one short, John Bartlett’s very keen on sport And gone behind the stumps. The angels are all on display But one gets carried right away And bashes with her star The innkeeper, who’s laid out cold, And Joseph by the prompter’s told There’s no room at the bar!
What made the nightmare even worse Began before we first rehearsed; When I arranged the cast; The leading lady would be Joan But Arthur let out such a moan And shouted ‘damn and blast’, When I said Joseph’s part would be Given to Gerald ‘R’ by me, Art’s acting days were past.
I must curtail this tale of woe, Because it’s time for you to go; It was a huge relief To know the nightmare wasn’t true And I can see the normal you, Who don’t give quite such grief. On question though remains in mind, The answer I’m agog to find – To it my mind oft flickers, Could one part of the dream be true, If only, folk, I really knew – Does Jean wear khaki knickers?
Wardrobe was farmed to Sheila ‘R’, Who made each dress and angel’s star But used some surplus nylon. Beneath the skirts we all could see What had been put beneath – oh me Jean Childs had khaki pants on. Ian Watson-Smith declared That doctor’s help should be prepared To treat wee Audrey Storey; He said that underneath her vest She had two swellings on her chest – He’d seen them in their glory.
This poem by Colin Hare appeared in the Winter 2005 edition of the West Wolds Quarterly. It’s typical of his humorous verse that pokes fun at himself and several members of our U3A some of whom are sadly no longer with us. * “en retrait” , that’s French for retired people, you know, Colin
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