EDITOR’S CHAT It’s September the first as I sit at my computer finishing off the layout of this issue. So much has happened this summer with several interesting and varied trips made by many groups, some of which have been reported in this quarterly magazine. But the U3A is not just about trips. A look at the many and varied activities listed on page 12 shows you how lucky we are to belong to such a friendly, learning and growing organisation. My thanks to everyone who has sent in a contribution to the West Wolds Quarterly Best wishes from Geoff
COPY DATE FOR THE DECEMBER 2015 ISSUE Articles for the next edition should reach the editor no later than 20 November 2015
Cover Picture Flowers by Alphonse Mucha 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939, Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist. From the German Group trip to Czechoslovakia
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Group leaders continue to lead groups in a variety of activities and without them we would not have all the interesting experiences we have had. Similarly committee members perform a variety of tasks which allow our U3A to continue to function. Two central members of the committee feel it is time they stand down from their posts. We need to have a healthy balanced committee where new members can benefit from the experience of longer standing members. Please consider becoming a committee member in November. Our membership has increased each month and is now around the 280 mark so surely 9 committee members should not be difficult to find. Page 2
There is now a national campaign to publicise U3A so you may well have seen newspaper articles over the last few months. I received a pack advocating active publicity. We seem to be already doing quite a lot anyway and you are the best method, word of mouth being the usual way new members have heard of our particular U3A. Please continue to welcome new members to our groups and to the General Meetings and maintain our friendly ethos, an ethos remarked upon by many who have visited us. We will be holding another new members meeting on September 26th where members who have joined since March can meet and ask questions and make suggestions. Thank you to all the people who work so hard for our U3A. Best wishes from Gail
Belly Dancing This group will have had its first meeting on Monday 7th Sept at 2 p.m. till 3 p.m. in Middle Rasen Parish Church Hall. Gillian Anderton, the group’s co-ordinator hopes to have regular meetings once a fortnight (see below for her contact details).
Interest Groups – Update Keep Fit This group now meets at the Festival Hall and is now recruiting new members. If interested contact: Dawn Stopper 01472 851133. Singing Together Re-starting quite soon. For information contact: Heather Barratt 01673 849393. Belly Dancing Middle Rasen will soon be alive with quivering navels and twitching hips. This brand new group will probably start on Sept 7th. For further information contact: Gillian Anderton 01673 844382. Ken Howitt – Groups` Co-ordinator Page 3
Stuart's Last Tour - maybe? After 14 years of lectures on aspects of Local History to the group, Stuart Sizer has decided to take a rest - at least until his mobility has improved. From Beverley to Boston, Goole Waterways Museum and the Louth Canal, parish churches and industrial archaeology, he has enlightened us with enthusiasm and a deep knowledge and love of his subject matter. On this last (latest)? tour, Stuart led us on a carefully researched and timed trail around the southern Wolds, searching out "Angels" in church architecture - stone, plaster and wood. Churchwardens greeted us in most churches - South Elkington, Burwell (redundant), Alford, Manby and Louth, while Stuart helped us locate the angels, whether with wings and/or feathers, attributes or not, painted or gilded or unadorned. All involved looking upwards except at Louth where two
are placed beside a side altar and our necks could take a rest. Of course, Stuart had more to tell and handed out crib sheets giving background information on architectural styles and principal features. The chosen churches varied in age, size and architectural style, but all were welcoming and loved. What luxury to spend a day searching for and finding angels almost on our doorsteps! We also saw one of the peregrines put on a flying exhibition for us at Louth church, which, this year, celebrates 500 years since its spire was built. Thank you Stuart, for sharing your infectious love of this area and its history. If only you had been our history teacher! Thanks also to Dents coaches who have driven us on our meanderings down narrow country roads with such patience and goodwill and fitting us in between the school runs to save our pennies. Jean Childs
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Bon Voyage to a fellow cyclist heading for Australia and Lissington to partake our lunch on such a sunny day and visit the museum upstairs. Our return journey was a little more cross country which we all loved. Our last venture with John was the "Claxby Open Gardens Day" another glorious warm day and new byways brought to light for future outings. Half way through a crop of beans we stopped to take in the beautiful and peaceful scenery of the Wolds. On arrival at Claxby John insisted the wine tasting must be first on the list to visit. I do believe The Three Sisters Vineyard was his priority of the day, we agreed and went along with him, the family made us extremely welcome. All the open gardens were carefully laid out, spick and spam ready for visitors to enjoy, admire and gather ideas. Even our fellow cyclists Graham and Helen were busy entertaining visitors around their beautiful garden. Thank you for all your help John and we all wish you and your wife John Slack was a great asset to our Chris a safe journey and best wishes cycling group who soon became one for your future in Australia. of our enthusiastic leaders. He took us to Wickenby Airfield through a beautiful route via Legsby
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Keep cycling! Market Rasen U3A Cycle Group
Strolling in Clumber Park
It was a fairly miserable day, weather wise, on 21 July. However, 13 intrepid ‘Strollers’ spent the morning in Clumber Park. Despite occasional rain (unfortunately when the photograph was taken!) they visited the church, walked through the arboretum, spent a little time in the National Trust shop and finally toured the huge Victorian glass
houses and the walled kitchen gardens – a blaze of colour at that time of year. After a well-deserved lunch at a local hostelry the group made their way home. We hope they enjoyed their visit and thought the journey from Market Rasen was worth the effort.
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Jeanne and Simon.
Luncheon Group The ladies meet on the second Wednesday of each month at various venues in Market Rasen and surrounding villages. The August meeting was at The Advocate Arms, where we are always assured of excellent food, and it did not let us down. Our next venue is The Ivy at Wragby (already tested by a couple
of the group). Over the past year we have been to Tealby, Scothern, Bully Hill, Nettleton, Nettleham and Glentham - we try to limit our driving time to half-an-hour. The group normally comprises 6-10 of us as all of the ladies sign up for various other U3A activities - Local History, Spanish, French, Keep Fit, Drama, Scrabble, Cycling, Strolllers and Readers Group, so we are a pretty mixed bunch. We discuss everything and anything (although politics and football are kept to a minimum - we don’t want a punchup!!). If you would like to join this very friendly group just sign up at the General Meeting - there is a telephone number on the sheet should you want further details. Pam John
Members of the Bridge Group concentrating hard
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General Meetings 2015 October 8 Hazel Barnard
Tales of Old Market Rasen
November 12
AGM
December 10 The Workshop Players
Seasonal Presentation
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Local History Programme Tuesday 13th October – Joe Willisch - "More Please" Tuesday 10th November – Stephen Bloy - "Searching for Walter" Tuesday 8th December – - Tom Lane and Steppin' Stones - a musical entertainment for Christmas time
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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
Magazine & Printing Geoff Goddard Tel: 01673-842287 gcg@sunny-side.ws with assistance from Jane McCarthy Tel: 01673-308364 jane@pigyard.com
Treasurer & Membership Secretary Barry Dukes Tel: 01472-852454 lindumwold@btinternet com
Visits and Speaker Finder Brian Ward Tel: 01472 852273 briandgill@btinternet.com
Secretary & Third Age Trust Contact Sheila Nash Tel: 01673-866569 thenashes60@hotmail.com
Publicity David Oliver Tel: 01673 880188 david.g.oliver@btinternet.com
Groups Coordinator Ken Howitt Tel: 01652-678490 kenhowitt@btinternet.com General Meeting Catering Margaret Cromack Tel: 07711-112171 margaret.cromack@btinternet.com
New members Joy Mycock Tel: 01673 818326 joypatrick1950@googlemail.com Eunice Hughes Archivist and Greeter Paul Davison Tel: 07746-626482 davison216@btinternet.com
FOLD
General Meeting Reception Lyn Henry Tel: 01673-843851 lynhenry@btinternet.com Marion Blackstock Tel: 01673 849208
Web Site Design and Admin Steve McCarthy Tel: 01673-308364 webadmin@westwoldsu3a.org
Why not visit our website at
www.westwoldsu3a.org Page 9
INTEREST GROUPS WEEK
Monday
Tuesday
10:00 German
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
14:00 Bridge 14:00 Recorders 14:00 Digital Photography
14:00 Film 14:30 Spanish
10:00 German
10:00 Local History
13.30 Card Craft 14:00 Bridge 14:00 Web Design & Social Media
14:00 Art 14:30 Spanish
10:00 German
10:00 Country Walks 10:30 Strollers
14:00 Bridge 14:00 Recorders 14:00 Digital Photography
14:30 Spanish 19:00 Film
10:00 German
10:00 Music Appreciation 10:00 Armchair Travel * (*Last Tuesday of month)
14:00 Bridge 14:00 Web Design & Social Media Page 10
14:00 Art 14:30 Spanish
MONTHLY TIMETABLE Wednesday
10:00 Country Walks 10:30 Strollers
10:00 Embroidery 10:00 4 Mile Walkers 12:00 Luncheon Group
Thursday
Friday
10:00 French 10:00 Patchwork * 10:00 Keep Fit
10:00 Beginners Family History 10:00 Latin
14:00 Drama 14:00 Patchwork *
14:00 Scrabble 14:00 Biblical Hebrew
09.45 GENERAL MEETING Festival Hall Market Rasen Everyone Welcome Tea, Coffee, Event Notices Guest Speaker
10:00 Family History 10:00 Latin 10:00 Line Dancing 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
10:00 French 10:00 Keep Fit 10:00 Patchwork *
14:00 Readers
14:00 Drama 14:00 Patchwork *
10:00 Embroidery * (*Last Wednesday of month)
10:00 Cross Stitch 10:00 Keep Fit* (* And 5th Thursday, 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 Latin 10:00 Cycling 10:00 Line Dancing 14:00 Biblical Hebrew 14:00 Scrabble* (* And 5th Friday of the month, if there is one)
10:00 COFFEE MORNING Jossals, Market Rasen 10:00 Latin 10:00 Line Dancing* (* And 5th Friday, if there is one) 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 Gillian Anderton 01673 844382 BELLY DANCING Gillian Anderton 01673 844382 BEGINNERS’ FRENCH Gail Dennis 01673 843575 BRIDGE Bryan Storey 01673 849625 CARD CRAFT Cynthia Burke 01673 849506 CROSS STITCH Ann Field 01673 857529 CYCLING Heather Barratt 01673 849393 DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Joy Mycock 01673 818326 DRAMA Gail Dennis 01673 843575 EMBROIDERY Pat Hage 01673 849447 FAMILY HISTORY Steve Field 01673 857519 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 GOLF Trevor Tripp 01673 844699 JAZZ AND SWING ENJOYMENT Brian Ward 01472 852273 KEEP FIT Dawn Stopper 01472 851133 KNITTING AND CROCHET Sue Jacobs 01673 828898
LATIN Gwen Parsons 07749 044413 LINE DANCING Christine Godwin 01673 844159 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 SINGING TOGETHER Heather Barratt 01673 849393 SPANISH Alison Atkinson 01673 849979 TELLING OUR STORIES David Atkinson 01673 849979 THE 4-MILERS Mary Ellis 01673 842584 THE 9-MILE HIKERS Helen Wilson 01673 828315 THE COUNTRY WALKERS Ken Howitt 01652 678490 THE STROLLERS Cynthia Burke 01673 849506 WEB DESIGN & SOCIAL MEDIA Steve McCarthy 01673 308364
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
Czeching it out with Joe This year the U3A German group set forth across Europe to visit the home of Joe Willisch, our esteemed local author and superman. At 92 he is as fit, or fitter, than many of the group and he acted as our personal guide to the eastern Czech Republic, a region unknown to most British tourists..
upward and we began to pile up at the top. Suddenly a large young German appeared in front of us, scooped up Alison and deposited her out of harm’s way, while the rest of us righted ourselves and got off the escalator. What a guardian angel!
The trip was organised by David Atkinson, who specialises in rail trips with a difference. David’s trips always have that little extra exciting, unexpected event to surprise the travellers. The first unplanned event was the cancellation of all the morning’s Eurostar trains from St Pancras because of someone throwing themselves on the line at Ashford. We eventually boarded a train, and arrived in Brussels too late to make our connection to Cologne and our night’s hotel. But things improved when Eurostar booked us into a super-swanky hotel at the station and we were en route to Cologne again by 6.30am (too early for breakfast in super-swanky hotel).
From Berlin we joined a Czech train which had carriages that U3A members will remember – 6 seats and a corridor - and a restaurant car with white linen tablecloths and food which was cooked in the little galley.
Prague welcomed us with warm sunshine and we spent 3 days exploring the beautiful historical city and trying out the Czech menus; duck, goulash and dumplings with The stage from Cologne to Berlin was uneventful but we managed to pilsner beer are popular. This proud create a major scene on an escalator capital of the Czech Republic has something for everyone – ancient at Berlin station. A 4 wheeled suitcase knocked Alison off balance castles and churches, Art Nouveau and the domino effect took out all of architecture, lots of bars, restaurants, smart shops, cultural activities and us standing behind her, while the hills with lots of steps. escalator continued its journey Page 13
renowned educational establishment. Some of us fondly thought we’d be able to practise our German, but the local people, though really friendly, speak little German and little English either. However, it was wonderful and the helpful staff at the Tourist Office spoke some English. The The Charles Bridge over the River town is attractive, with a huge Vltava and the Astrological Clock central square and a look of are tourist musts but there’s so much prosperity. more. It is the home city of Alphonse Novy Jicin has a reputation as a Mucha whose name might not mean hat-making town and one of our much to you till you see his posters. group took full advantage of this, Many of the group went on a purchasing a fine hat which had to guided tour, which misleadingly be carefully transported back to started with a coach pick-up at the Britain. Joe also showed us the hotel and took us over the river up a Praha Hotel, which in his time was hill to the castle. We all got out for the headquarters of the Gestapo, the first stop, only to realise we who twice arrested him for his lack weren’t going to see the coach again of Nazi support. and those steps in temperatures of We wandered round the area, over 30 degrees were quite travelling on local buses to other challenging. towns and up beautiful mountains, From Prague we hauled our paying unbelievably cheap fares. luggage on and off trains until the The drawback was actually working last local train deposited us in Novy out which bus went where! Jicin, a town in Moravia where Joe Then came the highlight of the trip had been to school and the – a day at Bartosovice, were Joe was impressive building is still a born, a 15 minutes journey by local bus. He guided us through the wellkept village until we came to the house where he was born, which used to be a farmhouse with land. The lady living there was a little perplexed to see 14 people outside her garden but she waved and we persuaded Joe to go and have a word with her. She was so Page 14
Next day we said goodbye to Novy Jicin and retraced our journey on more trains with exotic destination boards.
hospitable; she showed Joe round the house and she made refreshments for all of us in her garden. Not what she’d been expecting on a Monday morning, that’s for sure!
We did quite well with our train journeys and were comfortably planning what we’d do when we got
Then it was lunch, at the local chateau, which boasts the only restaurant in the village. It is a very impressive building so we were extremely surprised to find that instead of a grand lunch, we joined the local primary school children for their mid-day meal of simple but tasty and very cheap food. We were a source of interest for the children who tried out their English on us. They were delightful.
to St Pancras, when our high-speed German train stopped at a station and didn’t start again. Oh dear – even the efficient German trains sometimes break down! A substitute slow local train ensured we missed the Eurostar connection again and while we waited dejectedly wondering what would happen next, Eurostar staff came to the rescue again. Hey presto – speedily ushered on to First Class seats in the next waiting train. Hello St Pancras. We all managed to get home safely after an amazing trip to the Czech Republic. Thank you to David for organising everything and to Joe for introducing us to your wonderful homeland. Elizabeth Jefferson
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London Trip July 2015 On Saturday morning our daughter, Cathy, drove us with our luggage to Tesco car park where we caught the U3A coach trip to London. Although not late, we were the last on, everyone being eager to get started. Off we went, stopping for refreshments near Peterborough and again at a Best Western for dinner. By then I had only the vaguest idea where we were, but it didn’t matter. This was my first time on a coach tour for about 10 years and I must say it was a nice change not to be driving and having to find the correct route. Especially when we began to experience the horrendous London traffic. It made me feel lucky to live in the relative peace and tranquillity of the Lincolnshire countryside. The first real visit was the flower show at Hampton Court where we were dropped off at 3:00, giving us 4.5 hours before it closed at 7:30. We needed a good part of that to tackle the trek from the coach park, I would say about a mile on the flat
but with the extra obstacle of a quite demanding footbridge over a busy
road. This was not a trip for the faint hearted, though probably not quite as energetic as the recent Prague trip. Twenty-four people soon dispersed themselves around the large area, including the must-see floral marquee which was crammed full of the very best examples and displays of many types of plants. Since there was so much to look at, progress round the show was slow and gentle and there were plenty of opportunities to pause for refreshments and a rest. . As the day drew to a close, people could be seen dragging all manner of purchases the considerable distance back to the car park, in some cases whole families, including children, loaded up like pack horses. The flowers and garden displays were, of course, magnificent and it seemed a shame that it would soon all have to be dismantled and packed away until next time. Sunday 5 July Another full day, breakfast at 8:00, on the coach by 09:15. Pat had looked at the weather forecast and decided that we did not need to take coats or brollies. Big mistake, huge. We met our guide at Greenwich in the pouring rain. For most people it was no big problem as they had brought brollies or macs, or both. One silly pair had nothing and they got the soaking they deserved. Still, it soon brightened up, so we dried off quite quickly.
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Our guide was very knowledgeable and delivered his material with a touch of humour. We learned about Greenwich as an observatory and we all dutifully stood astride the meridian line for a group photo.
Some of us were gullible enough to peer through a long wooden telescope to see Saturn which turned out to be a black and white image stuck on the end - a joke of course. We also learned a lot about early efforts to calculate longitude at sea, which depended on having an accurate clock, eventually provided by one John Harrison in the mid 17th century.
was the last time I had visited the capital. So much has changed since then, especially the crowded skyline. I remember the Tower of London being the dominant building viewed from the river but now it seems quite puny compared to the many much larger buildings behind and around it. Just as we were about to disembark near the London Eye, a dirty big black cloud loomed overhead and threatened to give us all another soaking but thankfully it didn't amount to much and we all got safely on the coach for the return journey to the hotel. Monday 6 July This morning we boarded our coach 9:45 with a lovely day in prospect and only a short run to Kew Gardens where we were all
No matter how good our guide was though, we had all had enough of him after 3 hours (and him us) so I think most of us were happy to be released to do our own thing for a while, which included buying some food, having a look round the Cutty ushered in and treated to a little Sark or simply having a rest. welcome speech from the manager. He told us about the Hoponhopoff At 16:30 we all got together again road train for which we were all for a river cruise. The weather was by now such that it was comfortable given tickets entitling us to ride round on it all day long if we to sit on the top deck watching the wanted. The group of 24 of us once banks of the river go by, complete with all its recent developments. For again shot off in all directions and me,‘recent’ meant since 2003 as that some of us started by riding the full Page 17
Now we had a bit of a treat, a private group tour of Kew Palace, First we were given glasses of wine with generous cocktail style nibbles and generally treated like VIPs. Then we were given our very own tour of the palace, guided by the delectable Sophie, clad in a comely Georgian Kew is a very big garden (300 acres outfit. At least, I assume it was or nearly half a square mile) and so, Georgian since for much of the time beyond the various feeding stations, she was talking about King George it is easy to lose contact with everyone else. In fact, we found ourselves a quiet spot in the Mediterranean garden where we actually played a game of scrabble. I say ‘quiet spot,’ that is if you ignore the noise from the constant stream of jets coming in to land at Heathrow. Kew lies directly beneath their flight path and I counted eight of them within 10 minutes, an average of one every 75 seconds. That works out at III and his family, who at times lived in the house. The tour was very around 450 planes in the time we thorough and lasted till 7:30, after were there. (I used to be a maths which we boarded the coach and teacher you know). headed back to the hotel to be fed. In spite of the road train Pat and I On Tuesday we came home for a still did a lot walking, as it seems well-earned rest. most other people did. Even Mandy We are indebted to Margaret White denies that she spent all day on the train. But finally we all met up at the for all the effort and stress that went group rendezvous near Kew Palace. into organising this excellent trip. At With time to kill, Jean (Childs) then one time it looked as if it would not go ahead as she was struggling for began to give us information about all the aircraft passing overhead. She numbers, but she persevered and had an app on her smart phone that somehow made it happen. Many magically knew each flight number, thanks to Margaret and anyone else the name of the airline, where it had who helped. circuit of about 3 miles. This took about 40 minutes and after such an intense exertion we of course had to dive into a café for a well-earned cup of tea before continuing our travels. Here we bumped into a few fellow U3A-ites. I suppose we should have been looking where we were going.
come from, its speed and altitude and probably the captain’s shoe size. Wow! I do try to keep up, but compared to Jean, I am a technological caveman.
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Mike Robinson
Visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Monday wash day!
Molecule Man—J Borofski
Buddha Nina de Saint Phalle
Emer and the giant rabbit! Page 19
The Family of Man—Barbara Hepworth Page 20