WOKINGHAM
NEWSLETTER May - June. 2005
The May Meeting
Azores - Whales and Dolphins
Leslie J. Borg is a professional wildlife photographer, an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and Secretary of Lee Valley Nature Photographers. His talk will cover the trip he made to the Azores, generously illustrated by pictures of marine life..
Tuesday, 17th May 2005
St Paul's Parish Rooms at
2.00pm
Wokingham U3A
Chairman: Len Smith 01344 775517
Secretary: Muriel Froom
Membership Secretary: Gordon Wall, 55 Priest Avenue, Wokingham, RG40 2LT 0118 978 6021
Editor: Paul King
Registered Charity No: 1049995
WEBSITE www.wokinghamu3a.org.uk
E-group sign-up: wokinghamu3a-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Chairman's Notes Our U3A continues to grow, the latest figure being 615, although after all subscriptions are in and a few people haven't renewed, the number may drop back a little. We have recently produced a graph of our membership and the trend line is quite definitely upwards. Growth has benefits and problems and you can be sure that we are monitoring the situation to take advantage of the benefits without having to cope with insuperable problems. The recent questionnaire that has been issued is an important input for us in deciding how to proceed.
The new committee is up and running and I have been pleased to welcome Muriel Froom as Hon Secretary and Andree Harrison as a committee member, both have shown excellent enthusiasm. Just to remind you all that being a committee member or group leader is a learning experience, and is fun with the opportunity to meet pleasant people who share many of your interests. I must say my time on the committee has given me many opportunities to improve my skills especially with ICT.
There is a notice elsewhere in this issue about the Regional Conference in Swindon, do think about attending, I am sure you would enjoy it. We do, of course reimburse expenses incurred in attending.
Len Smith
If you know of any member who is ill please inform Marion Povall on 0118 978 6240 so that she can contact them.
Regional Conference, Swindon, 2nd June 2005
This year's Regional Conference is at Swindon and our U3A is likely to be invited to send up to 6 people. It will run from registration at 9.30 am until 4.00 pm. The theme is "Communication". Following workshops will be held: -
• " Publicity and recruitment"
•" Electronic communications"
•" Modern presentation aids"
•" Sources and resources"
•" Public speaking"
•" Bottom up communication"
It can be interesting, informative and fun to participate. Would anyone interested in attending please contact Len Smith or Muriel Froom by 1st May.
Len
Group
News
ARCHITECTURE has abandoned meetings until September when they hope to have a
new and exciting programme planned. This group would benefit from some members
with an appropriate background or recent studies. Up to now we seem to be lacking
direction. If you have any architectural knowledge I would like to hear from
you - for one-off meetings or visits or just advice about planning.
TEN PIN BOWLING did not succeed as a group, not for the want of trying by John H Webb, but perhaps due to the difficulty of timing a game when members were available. It is, of course, possible for any member to set up a game, but be warned, it is not a cheap option.
PETANQUE (boules) will be ongoing now the weather is warming up. They do not have a regular meeting so are not listed in the Diary. They need reasonable weather and they arrange from one occasion to the next. If you are interested they would like more members so that team matches can start. They are all beginners. Phone Ken Ridgeway on 976 0229 for details of next game.
CROQUET - will start at Whitek-nights as soon as the grass is firm enough. There is also a hard court and a small swimming pool there and Heather Bradly will welcome you to her beautiful garden. Croquet will be held every Wednes-day, alternating between mornings and afternoons. Phone Heather for a "lawn report" and time of next session
PLAYREADING - the first session was very successful. Copies of plays are borrowed from Wokingham Theatre and the group were spoiled for choice. This is a group that could expand. Phone Shirley Stokley . This is an evening activity.
CHESS - The Chess group have long been seeking competition from new members. They reckon that more than 50% of members have played as children, so why not spend a couple of hours once a month renewing the enjoyment. If another day/week would suit, please advise Keith Davis. They are quite happy to teach beginners too.
WALKING - We are trying to find a leader for a walking group on another day/week from the existing one. If you are prepared to help start this group please telephone Derek Broad.
GRANDCHILDREN - The group have created the text for a pamphlet on where to take the grandchildren. We are thinking of producing it for sale at cost of photocopying. Jan says they were surprised at the variety of activi-ties they found in and around the neighbourhood and further afield. Watch out for a further announcement on this one.
WAITING LISTS - Several more groups have recently reached the limit of ability to squash members into their sitting rooms. It is necessary to consider starting duplicate groups for some subjects. This will mean asking more members to act as Contacts and Leaders. Some groups don't work so well if they are too big - individuals don't get a chance to have their say. Once a hall has to be booked, the cost escalates. If you are in a group bulging at the seams, possibly even with a waiting list, and think you could help to start a second string - maybe on a different day/week - please contact me. There are new members joining all the time so the problem will not go away. Also new members find it less daunting to join a newish group.
LANGUAGES - There is always a demand for beginners' language groups. Starting with holiday vocabulary and progressing slowly using books, tapes and videos can be quite rewarding. We are always seeking those who have a fluency in a language to help groups with pronunciation, grammar and usage. Please contact me if you are able to help.
MORE NEW SUBJECTS? - If, in the long list of subjects for study groups you cannot find something you are really interested in, tell me, and we will try to help develop a group for it. For example, a new member has Guitar skills - are there others out there who might join in and enjoy performing as a group? How many members have or have had boats and would like to get together to tell fresh or salty stories? What do you know about Africa? I don't even know the names of the countries, let alone anything about the people or their languages - its a very big place and we are supposed to be trying to assist development there - so - anyone interested in learning something about it?
GROUP LEADERS AND CONTACTS - please keep me informed with names and telephone numbers if you have to turn members away because you have no room for them. New Members - please contact me if you are unable to join a group of your choice because it is full or too far involved in the subject for you to catch up.
HELP - Now we have so many groups with more in the pipeline, it would be nice if I could have some help in keeping in touch with them. If you would like to join me in aiding the start-up of new groups and solving some of the problems of existing ones, please let me know, as I would like to create a 'Support' group.
Pauline Riocreux
Copy date for the next issue is Friday 3rd June
YOGA - The waiting list for the Yoga group is now open, we meet fortnightly at the Woosehill Community Hall on Friday morning 10am - 11.30 am, if interested please contact me. Gentle class suitable for beginners. Thanks,
Nancy
STARTING FAMILY HISTORYAfter a successful first meeting, the group is now fully subscribed and currently has a waiting list. If you would like to add your name to the waiting list then please phone Charles Crane
OUT &ABOUT - Proposed visit to a local micro-brewery at Dunsden nr Sonning in May, date & time to be arranged please contact myself for details. New members welcome! Nothing yet arranged for June.
ITALIANISSIMO! The Intermediate Italian Group is looking for new blood. We are a small friendly group who meet on Monday mornings to read and discuss magazine articles and short stories, (using parallel texts), and watch recordings from Italian television. From time to time, we revise our rusty grammar. We would welcome anyone with reasonable knowledge of Italian, and would also be delighted if any native Italian speaker could join us to help us with our conversation. Contact Ian Chambers
GREEK STUDIES - We are an established group of people interested in researching and discussing various aspects of Ancient Greek life, covering such topics as the original Olympic Games, slavery, the wine trade and Greek religion. It has been decided that we should come under the wing of U3A (as we are all members) with the aim of attracting a few more participants. We meet on the first Tuesday afternoon of each month at two pm. We are fortunate to have an experienced university lecturer to lead us. The venue varies and should you be interested in joining us please contact Angela Langley (after 12 noon weekdays).
ORIGIN OF WRITING WORKSHOP - The Series on the Origins of Languages was highly successful with over sixty people attending each of the three meetings. The Researchers from Archaeology and Language Groups, who made presentations, are very much to be congratulated.
Follow up talks are now planned on the Origins and Evolution of Writing in October and Musicality early next year. Details for the latter will be published nearer the time. These are part of the ongoing study by the Archaeology Group of the evolution of the culture and behaviour of early Modern Humans. Other Groups and U3A Members, who are interested, are invited to join the research or attend the meetings.
The Research Team preparing the talk for the Writing Workshop comprises Dr Ken Ridgway (Callig-raphy), Sylvia Nathan (Linguistics & Archaeology), Kevin Toal (German) and Don Macdonald (Military History & Archaeology). It will cover from the first civilisations in Mesopotamia to the present day and describe some of the scripts, which are in use around the world today. This workshop will be held in the downstairs hall in Woosehill Community Hall at 10.15am on Thurs-day 27 October (cost £1). Please contact me to book. Alan Povall (0118 978 6240)
THE BELL GROUP - The Bell Group are celebrating their 5th Anniversary on Monday 23rd May. We would like to invite any prospective new members to join us on this day at 10.30 for coffee and refreshments when we will demonstrate how easy and enjoyable it is to participate. We have one or two vacancies and no previous musical knowledge is required. Please contact Beryl Page for details.
BELL TOWER VISIT - The visit to the Bell Tower at All Saints Church has been arranged for Wednesday 25th May at 7.30 pm. Details from Beryl Page.
Help with Audio Equipment To cover for absence and spread the load help is needed at the monthly meetings to set up the audio equipment . From September it is proposed to set up a rota of people prepared to undertake this task once or twice a year. Familiarisation training will take about 30 minutes. If you can help please contact Alan Povall on 0118 978 6240
MUSICAL EVENINGS - There have been musical evenings at Stephanie Bishop's house for almost 60 years. They were started by her first husband Peter. When he died John took over, and since his death some 3 years ago I have carried on the tradition. The evenings are always on the first Friday of each month and start at 8 pm, with refreshments served in the interval by Stephanie. Since her illness last year we transferred the venue from her home to the Quaker Meeting House in Denton Road. The people attending are primarily friends of Stephanie (some of them are U3A members). As we have more room at the Meeting House we would welcome some additional U3A member or indeed anyone interested. I play mainly classical music with sometimes a touch of humour or an unexpected twist to the programme. The theme is normally announced on the night. There is no charge as we consider this to be part of our Quaker outreach.
Donald Gardner
RED KITES and SNOWDROPS - On a cold but clear day in February, the Bird group visited Stonor Park in Oxfordshire in the hope of seeing Red Kites. We were not disappointed! We walked the footpaths through the park, and overhead glided these huge, graceful birds, easily distinguished by their fork tails. When the sun appeared and highlighted the Red Kites, we could clearly see their striking chestnut red with white patches under the wings. A herd of deer lay contentedly under trees in the vast park Upon our return to the cars, one individual Red Kite, came and circled low over our heads. Was he hoping for a snack, or merely curious? On Christine's suggestion, we drove just a few more miles ahead to Swyncombe church to see the snowdrops. The graveyard was a carpet of snowdrops, and it was so silent, only a blackbird's song from the yew trees interrupted the peace. We all had a look around this charming little church nestled in the Chiltern Hills, and agreed that we had had a thoroughly enjoyable winter's afternoon!
Joyce Sweatman
PHOTO COMPETITION FOR ALL OUR MEMBERS - We are running a photographic competition for all or any Woking-ham U3A members, the rules are as follows:-
1. Three sections :- Travel/People/Nature
2. Enter any one or all three sections
3. Separate awards for each section, and perhaps "Best in Show"
4. Prints only, 10" x 8" Max, 6" x 4" Min, unmounted, with sticky label on back with name and address and which sec-tion(s) entered.
5. Judging would be by an external judge.
Closing date for entries is 15th September 2005 and there will be notification in the October Newsletter of the date and location for the judging and display.
Please send your entries (with a stamped addressed envelope if you want your prints returned) to:-
Len Smith (Competition), "Four Pines", 19 Bramley Grove, Crowthorne, RG45 6EB. Please enter, we want it to be a success.
Len
U3A National Confer-ence and AGM 2005 - This year's National Conference will be held at the University of Leicester from Sunday 21st to Tuesday 23rd August with the theme 'The Challenge of Change'. Wokingham U3A hopes to send three voting delegates plus one further member and will be reim-bursing their conference fees and reasonable travel costs. The formal AGM occupies three hours of Monday 22nd and the rest of the time will be given over to Discus-sion Groups, a reception and some entertainment.
Any U3A member is welcome to attend the conference and agm but needs to complete the infor-mation request that can be found on page 9 of the Spring 2005 U3A News.
Any Wokingham U3A member interested in representing us at the conference and agm should contact me.
Colin Mitchell
Members Write
Dear Sir, Some members of the U3A have already seen the questionnaire regarding monthly meetings and the rest will hopefully be considering their answers now they have it with their News Letter, however I suspect that the vast majority will look at the subject and say "I don't go to monthly meetings so this does not concern me". (But it could do).
The short answer to "should we have them", "should we move them" "should we have them at a different time can only be "we can't please all of the people all of the time".
The present location, time and parking availability for the monthly meeting obviously suits around one hundred of the current six hundred members, (not counting committee members etc), and this figure does not seem to change as the membership grows.
To cancel the meetings at the end of the 2006 programme would also affect the very small number of members who belong to the U3A, but only attend the monthly meetings, in many cases to meet friends and have a chat.
So dear readers, please look at the questionnaire carefully and give us your considered opinion, the more answers we get may help us to reach a positive conclusion, alternatively, it may just confuse us even more, but unless we ask you we will not know how you feel about it.
Gordon Wall Membership Secretary.
Dear Sir, The New Scientist published a report recently that showed laughter as a way to a healthier heart. Blood flow apparently decreases by 35% after stress - such as watching harrowing scenes on the television - and improves by 22% after laughter. To aid us all they included the following:
What do you call a cat that swallows a duck? Fattypuss
Two antennas meet and fall in love. Their wedding was terrible but the reception was brilliant
A neutron orders a pint of beer. The barman hands it to him and says 'for you, no charge!'
Try them on the grandchildren. Yrs Ffly, Poppy Ricks
Spare Equipment
I have a Mustek Scan Express 1200P scanner and an Epson Stylus Colour 440 inkjet printer available if anyone would like them. Both are for parallel connection to a PC. Both work well.
Call Maurice Mingay
Sixty Years Ago
May 2nd Bright but cold. Jim being on afternoon duty, I went alone to the Odeon (late Ritz) to see the pictures of Belsen concentration camp. Felt cold with horror. Realised that it was no use turning away from those dreadful scenes: it had to be faced, but I felt ill by the time I came out of the cinema.
May 3rd Hitler and Mussolini dead within a few days of each other. Germans surrendering everywhere.
May 7th Jim was on 6 o'clock duty this morning. I got up just after 7. "Let us climb, in this period of meditation, to the top of the mountain, away from the fog of the valley" U.S. Captain Weaver is the "Lift up your hearts" speaker this week. Listening to him, you imagine wide plains and mountains; a real refreshment to the spirit. For the last few days no announcer's names have been given for the news. Jim telephoned to say that he was standing by until 3 o'clock, as they'd heard rumours that the V.E. Day announcement would come then. It was blazing hot and I was getting ready to go to the hairdresser, when there was a knock on the door, and in toddled Felicity, looking like a little pink blossom herself in her pink dress. It was her first walk out. I got to Roe Dore's at 2.45 for my shampoo and cut, then Lilian set my hair beautifully. No announcement at 3 o'clock. Then at 8 o'clock the wireless programme was interrupted to say that V.E. day would be 8th May. (Unfortunately the page for entries for 8th and 9th May has been torn out of the diary for one reason or another. R.)
May 10th Spencer had 48 hours leave and flew home to America. Mr Thorpe took him and Christine to Bovington where Spencer boarded the 'plane. Christine returned with Mr Thorpe. Spencer certainly isn't on a starvation diet! Philip said "hasn't Uncle Spencer grown?" - an understatement! Celia and Felicity were exchanging views in general - dear little things. Philip declined to enter into conversation with them - too girlish I suppose. Jim was very fed up when he came home. 8 am to 6 pm is a long time to hang around now when there's no necessity for it. Channel Islands are free today. Thank God. 'planes are streaming home from Germany loaded with returning POWs.
May 11th Very hot sunny day. Channel Islanders have eaten every dog and cat on the islands during the German occupation. May 12th There was a victory party in Whitton Dene today. The racket was so strident we thought it was a fair.
May 17th Blazing hot. Edna (Podge) and I went to Richmond, arriving there at 2 pm. Got ourselves deck-chairs and sat by the river: it was really lovely, and I was so glad Edna suggested it; she really is very good fun (probably this is what made her so attractive to Jim! R.)
May 27th Walked along by the river from Twickenham to Richmond this afternoon with Jim. River was busy and quite gay considering it was so cold. Man spoke on the wireless tonight about Belsen concentration camp. Thank God we got there and saved some of them.
June 1st Shampoo and set at the hairdresser's. Owing to hose trouble had to go to and fro between cubicles. Went to a social at Chatsworth schools tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Must learn to dance better.
June 2nd Feel very tired and stiff after last night.
June 5th Got our new ration books. This afternoon went to the cinema to see "A place of our own". Far-fetched, but I enjoyed it.
June 12th To Richmond theatre tonight to see "Suspect". Very well acted.
June 30th Jim's last day of Civil Defence Duty.
Rosemary Goldschmied
A Website Success!
| Long time readers of the diary may be interested to hear that as a result of our website displaying a copy of one of our newsletters, a lady in Colchester has contacted me. Her mother is Christine's cousin, and she is therefore Felicity's second cousin. |
|
She is researching
her family history and wants to know more, so I have sent her extracts
from the other newsletters, which relate to her family. |
 |
Advance Notice Our Summer Garden Party will be held on 19th July. Full details will be in the next issue of the newsletter
Copy date for the next issue is Friday 3rd June