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Littleborough

March Newsletter 2021

Hello everyone!

At last, the sun is shining and, hopefully, spring is on its way and the light at the end of the

tunnel is getting brighter.

In this month’s Newsletter we have:

1. News

2. Forthcoming Zoom events

3. News from the groups

4. Contributions from members

5. Virtual Quiz report

6. Bits & Bats

7. Answers to Mid-February puzzles

8. Puzzle time

1. NEWS

• BYO Coffee & Chat last Tuesday was a jolly event. Sandra tried out using the Zoom

subtitle facility which, although amazing, did cause some hilarity in its mis-interpretation

of some of our comments! We also shared some interesting websites that we’d

discovered – more of that later.

• AGM the Committee is currently sorting out the arrangements for our next AGM and

Liz Walker, our Business Secretary, has sent this letter to all members:

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Littleborough

February 2021 Dear U3A member, Once again, and hopefully for the last time, the Annual General Meeting of Littleborough U3A will need to be held via the Zoom video conferencing facility due to the Covid 19 situation. The 2021 Annual General meeting will be held on Monday, 14th June 2021 at 2:00 pm All those whose membership is current on that date are entitled to attend the meeting, to put a motion to the meeting and to vote to elect a new committee. Several members of our committee are due to retire this year so we are looking to appoint new members to these roles. Committee Nomination Form, Motion Form and 2020 AGM minutes will be sent out with the next Newsletter in mid-March. In the meantime, if you feel you would be interested in becoming a Committee Member please contact Sandra Kokocki, or one of the other Committee members, for more information. Sandra’s contact details are Tel. 07828 297991 or email sandrakokocki12@gmail.com With best wishes, Yours sincerely, Liz Walker Business Secretary

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2. Forthcoming Zoom Events

Invitations will be emailed to all members before each event

Date Time Information

Monday 8th March 1.45pm for 2pm Sex, Secrets, Scandal and Salacious Gossip.This ZOOM talk will be given by Sara Slater who is a Qualified Guide Lecturer for Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court. Sara will present an insight into the Sex Scandals and Salacious gossip of the Royal Court from 1660 to 1830.This is the History we did not learn at school, covering subjects such as prostitution, sexual diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

Bring your sense of humour and enjoy a rollicking good afternoon.

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Date Time Info

Wednesday 24th March 1.45 for 2pm BYO Coffee and chat

Monday 12th April 1,45 for 2pm BYO Coffee and chat

Monday 19th April 1.45 for 2pm Colin Meredith: 40 years an actor

Monday 17th May 1.45 for 2pm John Pearson: Blessed are the cheesemakers

Monday 14th June 1.45 for 2pm AGM

Monday 12th July 1.45 for 2pm Jim Holmes: Travelling photographer

Monday 9th August 1,45 for 2pm Phillip Cook: My family and the Titanic

Monday 13th September 1.45 for 2pm Paul Isherwood: Gamblers get the spots the families get the symptoms

3. News from the Groups

• Philosophy Group – Val Bracken sent in this report from their last meeting

on the group’s discussion on David Hulme:

The U3A Philosophy Group met on Zoom to discuss the Scottish

Philosopher David Hume born 1711 died 1776. Hume was an

Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, librarian and

essayist. Hume strove to create a naturalistic science of man that

examined the psychological basis of human nature. The group had

unearthed a great deal of material about David Hume, his life and

times. Born in a time when it was a crime to deny the existence of God, his views on the

philosophy of religion, including the rejection of miracles and the argument against a world

designed by God were very controversial.

As always, we endeavoured to discuss Hume in the context of the time he lived in and as usual

we strayed into our own times and how his philosophy fitted into current thinking. Hume

proclaimed that “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions” There were many

differing opinions about what that actually meant. He had strong views about how our thoughts

resulted from our experiences and were not part of a grand plan of god’s creation. A discussion

ensued about ‘Nature versus nurture’ and how even twins can develop in totally different ways.

It would be impossible to cover the depth and width of our discussions over almost two hours,

but I would say that this was probably one of our liveliest meetings to date.

Our next meeting on the 16th March will be looking at the Philosopher and Politician John Stuart

Mill.

• Reading Group 2 – Mark Pearson reports that Readers Group 2 has continued

to meet over Zoom during lockdown: We have settled into a routine of meeting at

7.30pm on the third Tuesday of the month and find that video conferencing is not a

barrier to a good chat. New members have recently joined the group and we do have

some capacity should anyone be interested. The plan will be to again meet face to face

when the current restrictions are lifted.

At our February meeting we had a lengthy discussion of Jasper Rees'

biography of Victoria Wood - Let's Do It. A weighty tome (unless you

read on a Kindle or other electronic device ... or indeed listen to the

audio book version). The general opinion was a thumbs-up with some

of the group feeling that it went into too much detail. The die-hard Victoria Wood fans

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amongst us, enjoyed that extra layer of information.

We are currently reading Fludd, by Hilary Mantel, a dryly humorous novella

set in a fictional Yorkshire mill town in the 1950s centring on its church and

its catholic priest… think "Father Ted meets Henry James” and you’re not far

off. We’ll be meeting on Tuesday 16th March to discuss this book and plan

our March-into-April read, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.

4. Contributions from Members

Now as you may know, before each Newsletter I send out a cry for help, and kind members

come to my rescue by sending in delightful contributions. Last Tuesday at the BYO Coffee

and Chat I thought it was an opportunity not to be missed, so suggested … once or twice,

maybe… that those present may wish to send in an item or two by Friday…. and it worked!

By Friday…. By Chris Thornton

With Brian, Ken and Laura, too, David, Margaret, Bob and Sue, Me and Sandra had a chat - ‘bout nothing much, just this and that. Online jigsaws, postcards, too, Virtual trips for us to do… Covid jabs we all had had, Things that niggle, make us mad. Roofing problems (Bob, that’s yours), Finding stuff to do indoors. Wishing we could meet a friend, Praying June will bring an end. Chatting over, Sue declared, ‘That topic’s great – it should be shared. Just write it up and send my way. Be sure to do it…. ….by Friday’

And Bob Coley responded with this:

Desperate to go on holiday?

Of course, we all are, so your Groups Co-ordinator and his wife

Margaret thought they would go on a tour round Venice last week

and also a tour round beautiful Sicily. I can hear you all saying,

‘how did they do that?’ Well, it’s easy really and you don’t have to

move out of your living room…………..

Firstly, you go to Google and put in the following link or type the

details into your address bar: Virtualtrips - Sign up , then sign up

and follow the on-screen details, it is completely FREE to join, then

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you are set to go on a LIVE tour in many parts of the world. You can

give a Tip to the tour guide if you wish but it is NOT compulsory.

Each tour lasts about 45 mins.

ENJOY….Good weather not guaranteed!

(Having heard about this website at the BYO coffee afternoon, I went off to Paris last

Thursday…what a treat!)

Jean Mills has been doing some

gardening - Maxie decided to help:

“WELL....YOU DID SAY WE

WERE GOING TO DO SOME

DIGGING...SORRY ABOUT THE

PLANTS”.

Two of our choir members, J and J Webster sent this lovely photograph of the snowdrops in

their back garden

‘You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try’. A

quote from Beverley Sills (opera singer) sent in by Marilyn Aldred.

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Someone who most definitely has not failed is Alison Gavagan who has sent these stunning

photographs taken in February:

Fence encased in ice on Reddy Shore Scout

The same fence from a distance

Along the Pennine Way above the Summit pub A hump backed bridge also on the Pennine Way above the Summit pub.

Another funny one from Martin Luke

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Here are a few of several amusing extracts sent in by Regina Welsh, of complaints sent to

Councils:

Lis Kay wondered if an old-fashioned small ads section might be useful in the newsletter for our members as we switch from group to group. She has given up the ukulele as she found her fingers were too stiff to be of much use picking out the chords, so she has a redundant ukulele which may be of use to another member wishing to take up the instrument. Maybe you have books or equipment lying around that you no longer need for your group and that you would like to advertise here in the Newsletter? Let me know if you have…or if you need a ukulele!

Something I read this week which made me stop and think: I have learned not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. The onus of making

everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection.

Food for thought!

And two more from Martin Luke’s collection:

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5. Virtual Quiz feedback

The next quizzes will be on Thursday 4th March set by Martin Luke and Thursday 18th March set by Barrie Whitehead.

Questions are emailed out at 1:00pm with the answers following at 3:30pm. The quiz is open to all members, their households and bubbles (even if these are not members).

If you wish to have more information, supply a quiz or opt out from the emails you can contact me at lynnwild.u3a@gmail.com

Lynn

6. Bits and Bats

I don’t know if you’ve had a look recently at the National u3a website (www.u3a.org) but I was amazed at the variety of FREE on-line (Zoom) events members can access. I thought you may be interested to see what is on offer over the next couple of months:

A taste of Japan Virtual choir

The wonders of the world – old &

new

The drifting continents – a lesson in

geology

Cyber security – staying safe on

line

Beginners Genealogy course

Wellbeing in nature Leonardo da Vinci – would he have

made a good u3a member

Egyptology – women in ancient

Egypt

FIRE! A century of the volunteer fire

brigade

Springtime treats The Paradigm of plate tectonics- a

lesson in geology

Where did our favourite plants

come from?

Maths on the back of an envelope

Turner and mythology - with the National Gallery – cost: £5.50

For dates and times go to the website and click on ‘EVENTS’

7. February puzzle answers Quiz Answers, Anagrams 1)Bangers And mash. 2)Beef Wellington. 3)Black pudding. 4)Bubble and

squeak. 5)Cauliflower cheese. 6)Cottage pie. 7) Faggots and peas. 8)Fish and chips. 9)Strawberries

and cream.

10) Irish stew.

Missing Letters - 1)Scimitar. 2)Katana. 3)Cutlass. 4)Hanger. 5)Epee. 6)Rapier. 7)Sabre. 8)Claymore.

9)Falcata. 10) Foil.

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Ditloids – 1) One cell in an Amoeba.2)One man went to mow. 3)Two humps on a camel. 4)Three

strikes and your out.5)Four inches in a hand. 6)Five lines in a Limerick. 7)Six wives of Henry

the Eighth. 8)Seven wonders of the world. 9)Thirteen bakers dozen. 10)16 ounces in a pound.

Cryptic clues – 1)Blackpool. 2)Bolton. 3)Sale. 4)Crew. 5)Runcorn. 6)Haydock. 7)Warrington.

8)Stockport. 9)Leigh. 10)Knutsford.

General Knowledge – 1)Edward IV. 2)Tactical. 3)(a)Peter the Great. 4)Egg Yolk. 5)Dave Dee, Dozy,

Beaky, Mick & Tich. 6)Cobra. 7)(c)Herbert. 8)Tea Cake. 9)Dartmoor. 10)Penelope Keith.

Dingbat Answers – 1) Income Tax. 2)Too stuck up for words. 3) Adding insult to injury. 4) No two

ways about it. 5) Syrup. 6) Endless love. 7) Scrambled eggs. 8) 7 Up cans. 9) Death Valley. 10)

Tennessee. 11)You are out of control. 12) Upside down.

8. March Dingbats (answers next time)

And finally… here we are and the sun is still shining! Don’t forget, if you need technical help to join in any

of the on-line activities, the Littleborough u3a Tech Buddies will be happy to help. If you

have mislaid the contact sheet that came out with the November and December newsletter,

get in touch with me or a committee member and we will put you in contact.

Until mid-March, take care and keep smiling!

Sue

(suetemperleyu3a@outlook.com)