THE NEWSLETTER OF CHINNOR & DISTRICT U3AThe Editor, Krystyna Hewitt, Email:...

IN THIS ISSUEAnnual Lectures 2017 8Archeology 22Art History 8Bridge 25Carol Concert 7Cards 5Computers 22Contributions to Contact 26 Creative Writing 7Digital Photography 4 Dorset Quiz 16English Tongue 26Family History 5 French Conversation 17Gardening 20Greater Thame Travel Group 25History: A Walk Around Wallingford 18Holidays and Outings 13Holiday to Lake Constance 12Interest Groups at a Glance 28 Literary Appreciation 16Member Memories (Sylvia Hopley) 14Music Groups 6New Committee Members 2New Members 4Patchwork for Beginners 10Programme 27Reading 14Singles/Dining 17 Swimming 16Travel 9U3A National Conference 2016 10Walking: Short Walks 11Walking: Mixed Walks 17Walking: Long Walks 23Walking: Strollers 24Welfare 25Wise Words 17

I am very proud to be your new Chairman and I consider myself to be very lucky for several reasons.

Firstly, Dorrie, our immediate past Chairman, has given me lots of welcome advice about how to do the job – everything from explaining the intricacies of administering the Third Age Matters magazine to tips on speaking in public. Thanks Dorrie!

(For those of you who do have the magazine, you may like to know that a forthcoming issue of the Sources pull out section should include an article on the River Thame project which was organised by the five local U3As of Chinnor, Haddenham, Greater Thame and Thame, and Ridgeway, and in which our own Tony Clark was heavily involved.)

Secondly, Dorothy, who was our very efficient Business Secretary, has made sure that all our paperwork is in order and has outlined what has to happen, and when, over the year. Thank you Dorothy!

Thirdly, we have a splendid new Committee. This year we have five completely new Committee members and six experienced members. Krystyna, editor of Contact, has asked them all to give a brief resume of their Chinnor U3A life. For my part, I joined Chinnor and District U3A ten years ago, when Anne Marie was Chairman. I became a co-opted Committee member under Colin Sear’s leadership when I served as Membership Secretary and continued to do this role when George Hunter and Molly Milner were Chairmen. I became Speaker Secretary when Dorrie Oliver became Chairman. It’s been quite a learning experience. Outside of the U3A I studied with the Open University – being one of their first students. Later I became a volunteer organiser for the Oxfordshire Hospitals; then a social work qualification enabled me to work with older people. And now I’m one of them!

But what makes me feel really lucky is that our U3A has a reputation for being exceptionally friendly. I think one reason for this is that when one of our members is not well or needs TLC for some reason, Diane Carver, our Welfare Officer, will send a card – cards made by our creative Craft Group, run by Janet Roebuck. Thank you to Diane, Janet and all craft members!

So who knows what the next two years will bring? I’m not one for making changes unnecessarily. On the other hand we mustn’t become

From the new Chairman:

Please send all correspondence and contributions to:The Editor, Krystyna Hewitt, Email: [email protected]

The Editor reserves the right to edit, shorten or omit any entries submitted. I would like to point out that any views expressed are not necessarily those of the organisation or of the Editor.

DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE:1st April 2017 continued on page 2

Contact Number 33May 2016

THE NEWSLETTER OF CHINNOR & DISTRICT U3A

2 Contact November 2016

complacent. To this end, I asked Committee members to help me draw up a list of changes and improvements that they would like to see. I’ll report back in the next issue of Contact. I’d also really welcome your views and comments so please email me. (Details in the Programme Card)

Talking of the Programme Card – you know that this gives details of all the talks we plan to have during the year. Thanks to Jennie Marriner-Kyle for planning speakers up to and including August 2017! Sometimes though, speakers have to be changed at the last minute and if this happens Molly will put a notice on our website. An announcement will be made at Coffee Mornings and at Monthly Meetings too. So listen out.

The Programme Card gives details, too, of all our Interest Groups – all run for our members by our Members. Ann Long is in charge of organising all of this – thank you Ann! The Interest Groups are vital in helping us to achieve the motto of the U3A – Learn, Laugh and Live.

We have every opportunity here in Chinnor to learn. We certainly know how to laugh (everyone who goes on one of Sheila’s outings will testify to this), and the result is that we should all feel that we are living life to the full.

Here’s hoping you all continue to enjoy being members of Chinnor and District U3A.Rosie HetheringtonChairman

Vice chairman: Bryan RoebuckI have lived in Chinnor since 1965 and joined U3A in 2001. I’m married to Janet who runs the Craft group and for which I am the official ‘Tea Boy’. I joined the Committee in 2002 and, except for a one year break, have been on it ever since. Originally I was Hall Manager and on my return have been Equipment Manager.

I have been part of various groups, including Gardening, Long Walks, Art Appreciation, Bridge and Archaeology (which ceased many years ago but which I am hoping to resurrect).

Outside of U3A my interests are cycling, allotment gardening, cooking and when – and if – I can find the time – painting and creative art.

Treasurer: Norman KirkI retired fully in 2010 and joined Chinnor U3A the following year. Having been a member of the Digital Photography Group for five years, I like to think my pictures are now much better than before!

I was asked to be Treasurer and having managed the Wycombe High School budget for ten years as well as teaching Maths, I felt I could hopefully do the job.

Now meet the new Committee…

The new committee: Standing (left to right: Ann Long, Mike Dix, Rosie Hetherington, Gretel Allen, Frances Wells, Bryan Roebuck; Front row (left to right): Anna Wood, Sheila Tunstall, Rosemary Webb, Norman Kirk. (Ann Fahey was on holiday!)

Contact November 2016 3

In November we will have lived in Chinnor for 40 years, and have been involved in Long Crendon Baptist Church for the last 38 years.

Business Secretary: Michael DixMy wife Pearl and I joined the U3A in 2013 in order to keep mentally and physically active.

We have been on numerous excellent day trips and three holidays abroad with the U3A. We are looking forward to two more in the next few months. I also belong to the social Card Group.

I volunteered for the Committee to assist in ensuring that this excellent organisation can continue to develop and expand.

Speaker Secretary: Gretel AllenI am Gretel Allen, I’ve lived in Chinnor for seven years and been a member of the U3A for six years. I am on the Gardening Committee and try to go on the Short Walks. I enjoy the Lunch group, visiting places I’ve not been to before. I used to belong to the Art and Art Appreciation Groups and love the arts. I’m looking forward to working with the Committee.

Interest Group Secretary: Ann LongIn December I’ll celebrate fifty years since I moved into Chinnor. I joined the U3A seven years ago when I was still working part-time. Once I was fully retired I was ready to take a bigger role and became the Minutes Secretary for 3 years and then took on the job of Interest Group Secretary in 2015.

I started attending just the History Group but have since joined the Family History, Reading, Cards and Strollers Groups.

I’ve been privileged to be Chinnor’s representative at the U3A National Conference for the past three years, and at the first of those was inspired to set up the Creative Writing Group, which I’ve found most rewarding.

Holidays and Outings Secretary: Sheila Tunstall I have been a member of Chinnor U3A since it was formed. I go to several Interest Groups – Art History, Walks, History, Travel, Craft, as well as enjoying the Coffee Morning and Monthly Meetings, of course. Chinnor U3A keeps me busy but the bonus is that I have made many friends and learnt a great deal. I ran my first outing in 2006 to the Wetlands Centre in Barnes and there is usually an outing every month and they prove to be very popular. Over the years holidays have been introduced, both home and abroad.

Membership Secretary: Rosemary WebbI’m Rosemary Webb – Ro to some, but never Rosie – there is not room for two Rosies on this Committee! I have lived in Kingston Blount for six years with my husband, Richard. We have been members of Chinnor U3A for five years. I have been on this Committee for three years as Membership Administration Secretary. I enjoy both the Short and Mixed Walks Groups – Richard and I have frequently led walks for both groups. I am on the organising group for the very large Garden Group, arranging coach outings and garden visits in the summer months. In the past I have been a member of the Patchwork Group, and the Travel Group (sadly no longer running).

Committee Member: Frances WellsI’m Frances, living in Crowell, who joined Chinnor U3A about five years ago. Previously I didn’t know many people in Chinnor – well I do now! My main activity is walking although I also enjoy being a member of the Art History and Gardening Groups, added to which you’ll very often find me on a coach enjoying one of Sheila’s trips. Having benefitted enormously from the endeavours of others, it’s time for me to become a little more involved on the organisational side.

Minutes Secretary: Anna WoodI moved here eighteen months ago and was lucky enough to be able to join the U3A almost straight away. It is an excellent way to meet people with the added advantage of learning new things and becoming involved in new interests. I enjoy learning about local history, archaeology, as well as the monthly speakers and coffee mornings. Earlier this year I went to Cricket St Thomas, a lovely opportunity to see a different part of the country. I will be joining the Card group.

Being on the Committee gives me the opportunity to be more involved in the planning of what goes on in our U3A group.

Co-opted Member: Ann FaheyDavid, my husband, and I are originally from Ireland but lived in Lancashire for many years, moving to Chinnor five years ago to be near family. Soon after we moved here we joined the U3A, which was a good move as we have made many good friends through it. I join in two walking groups, the Short Walks and the Medium Walks. I am a co-opted member of the Committee and whilst I don’t have a specific role I hope to be ‘an extra pair of hands’ when needed.


During the spring and summer months we have taken photographs in a variety of interesting places locally, with only one visit being rained off. Our October visit to Cliveden was the last of our outdoor shoots this year. We will review our photographs for the last three visits in November, as well as discussing next year’s programme.

Our meetings in January, February and March will be indoor sessions looking at improving our photographic skills and enhancement of photographs.

From April onwards we will be back out there aiming to get the perfect photograph.

Digital Photography

Welcome to our new members…Margaret Admans

Maggie BondJean Branscombe

Theresa ClarkRichard Dicker

Graham & Janet ErskineGraham Gore

Wendy HawkinsRichard Jacobsen

Peter & Diana Lambert

Peter & Janet LambertShirley Mayo

Shirley MundaySian StevensRalph Westby

We are a self-help group of mixed abilities and photographic experience, who all love taking photographs and are happy to help each other and share skills when asked.

Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 2pm. The winter meetings take place at the Village Centre.

New members are welcome. Please contact Richard Carver, Group Co-ordinator. My contact details can be found on your programme card.Richard CarverGroup Co-ordinator

Photographs taken by Diane Carver.


CardsSince its inaugural meeting on 13th January, 2016, the Card Club has gone from strength to strength.

At the 7th September meeting there were twelve of us crammed cosily around a dining room table. Our hostess ran out of chairs – so high stools were brought in from the kitchen. Hilarious!

Two more new members in September brought our membership up to nineteen which made it difficult to carry on meeting in each other’s homes. Not everyone comes every time of course, but we decided “something had to be done”.

So from now on we will meet in the Games Room at the Village Centre on the first and third Wednesday afternoons of the month from 2-4pm. We will have to charge of course to pay the bills so have decided £10 a head as and when cash is required. This works out at about a pound a session for two hours of good fun and interesting games.

We decided at our inaugural meeting that we would not have a break for refreshments. Two hours never seems long enough for a couple of games – time really flies. Now that we are in the Village Centre you can always have a cuppa after our session if that’s what you want to do.

We were introduced to yet another card game in September which came originally from Canada. We had never heard of it – it’s called Five Crowns – five because there are five suits in the pack. Intriguing…

All the new rules of each game we have to learn gives us ‘brain ache’ but we believe it’s good for us!

There is a lot of “what does this mean?” and “I don’t think you can do THAT!”

By the time Contact comes out the next sessions will be the 2nd and 16th of November. Only one in December on the 7th, to allow for Christmas and the New Year and start back in January on the third Wednesday which is the 18th (the 4th January was considered to be too soon after the festivities).

Please do come along and join us if you want to – there won’t be any limit on space now.

Also bring along any card games you know of that you would like to share with us and we will give it a go (we might already know it of course).

Here’s to the next good hand,Dorrie OliverGroup Co-ordinator

Family HistoryBeginner or old hand, none of us is immune to the dreaded brick wall. How we define these pesky walls depends of course on our level of expertise, one person’s Great Wall of China being another person’s picket fence – but at whatever point in our research we are confronted with one, our progress stops dead in its tracks. Or does it?

By wracking our brains for alternative sources to use, reading up on the historical background, and searching the riches of the internet, not forgetting the help from fellow Group members and on line family trees and forums – then a brick wall can actually be a problem solved without having to use up to many of our grey cells.

So what are the rewards for all this dedication? Without question, tackling our brick walls

with such gusto will lead us into becoming more experienced and better informed about family history. It may also result in a boon of new found and long lost relatives. Hopefully of course, it might mean that those old walls could come tumbling down and we would then be able to go striding on once more back into the past.

Why not come and join us? We meet every 1st Thursday of the month at 10.30am at the Village Centre?George HunterGroup Co-ordinator

Volunteers wantedFor the monthly meetings in the Village Hall

Would you be willing to help with any ofthese tasks? If so please contact the

organisers as shown below:

Welcoming and signing in members asthey arrive at the start of the meeting

Pam Buckingham

Serving tea and coffee when thespeaker has finished the talk

Pearl Dix

Helping put out the chairs and puttingthem away again

Peter Brook

Bringing down and then returning the tea urns and the banner from the store cupboard

Peter Hetherington


As a recent new member of Chinnor U3A, I have been keen to learn more about the Interest Groups.

I have discovered that there are actually four music groups in Chinnor U3A – though the numbering suggests that at one time there were six! The Group Co-ordinators have supplied short descriptions of each, highlighting what each offers.

Not all groups have room for new members unfortunately, but if you think you might be interested in joining you should contact the Group Co-ordinator (details in the Interest Groups table on the back page of Contact).

MUSIC GroUP 1The music we offer at the Group 1 meetings covers a wide choice of various genre, ranging from classical to music from the musicals, jazz to contemporary. All these may be performed by orchestra, band or solo instruments.

Group 1 is very fortunate to have within its membership people who are musically knowledgeable or very knowledgeable and also who have different musical tastes.

The majority of us played an instrument (usually the piano) when young, so have a basic knowledge of notation etc, and, although we no longer perform we enjoy listening and commenting on the music which is on offer.

We, as a group, have used a number of systems to allow members to contribute to an overall programme, such as an alphabetical one of composers’ names, or a composer’s country. We have used other methods of identifying the programme’s style for the year but, at present each member offers a piece of music which they personally like and enjoy.

A new member who recently joined us, Richard, has an extensive range of CDs, some of which not all of us have heard previously, so he has been welcomed with open arms. By the way, we are a ‘nice’ lot of people in the group and welcome any U3A members who would consider giving us try. So if you like any sort of music, please come and listen to our offerings one Friday afternoon (usually the 3rd Friday of the month). Please contact me or Tony so that we can give you details about the next venue and starting time.Bill ParkinsonGroup Co-ordinator

MUSIC GroUP 3 Our meetings are held in Henton, usually on the last Friday of each month. We try to make them varied and informative with the introduction of new music, artists and composers.

At each meeting members choose a theme for the next one. During this year we have covered a wide range of subjects based on Germany, Latino music, Easter, water, sky and advert/film music.

We all bring along our selection of music – which can be classical, opera, pop – any music that fits the theme. This may sound quite simple, but in practice it often requires a great deal of searching through our own and family members’ music collections, plus sometimes the library and charity shops. On occasions it is also necessary for our imaginations to be considerably stretched to allow for some interpretations of the theme!

The above all sounds quite serious, but in practice we spend very pleasant, light hearted afternoons with enjoyable company discussing and listening to our music selections. Jim TrimmerGroup Co-ordinator

MUSIC GroUP 5Music Group 5 has not changed for many years – you might say “Same old, same old”.

We are a group of eight ladies, meeting on the second Thursday each month for all sorts of music, tea/coffee and cakes.

We have been through every imaginable subject as themes, and are now ploughing through the alphabet once again (probably the easiest option). We are very informal and have lots of chat and giggles during our meetings, but it is a well-earned two hours rest for most of us who are SO BUSY.

How did we ever find time to go to work? We LOVE being retired!!Janet WilliamsGroup Co-ordinator

MUSIC GroUP 6We are a social music group covering all types of music. Currently we are working our way through the alphabet irrespective of genre.

We meet on the second Monday of the month and have a couple of spaces for new members.Pam BuckinghamGroup Co-ordinator

Chinnor U3A Music A short introduction to the groups


“What do feet do? Walk, run, hop, skip, jump, swim, ride. Some are long, thin, short, fat, pretty

or downright ugly. We wear socks, stockings, shoes, sandals or boots. (Some prefer bare feet.) Sadly some people have diabetes and must take care not to cut their skin as this could lead to

gangrene. Ouch!” (Janet W)

Feet are absolutely indispensable – to be independent we have to “stand on our own two

feet”. Pain in a foot, or even a toe, affects the whole body. Men with fallen arches can’t serve in the military. I often have to buy shoes half a

size too big to get them wide enough for my feet. Babies’ feet are adorable but too many later get spoilt by prominent tendons, veins or bunions.

(Ann)

Feet are one of the most important parts of my body, taking all the hazards of life’s stages: In war

years, wearing cast-offs or “hand –me-downs” from friends’ children; then teens to early twenties

forced into stilettos when fashion dictated; now in advanced years having to wear “sensible” shoes

with podiatry inserts to correct fallen arches. (Janet R)

Ann LongGroup Co-ordinator

We enjoy the fact that we are all individuals with different ways of thinking – and writing. Here is what came from just a few minutes on the subject of FEET:

Feet (plural of foot) at the end of each leg. Parts include toes, heel, ankle and instep. There are

nearly 30 bones in feet. They have a tendency to smell and can be very sensitive. A foot fetish is

enjoyed by some. Reflexologists work on different areas in feet. (Janet E)

Feet maintain stability and enable movement. So a snail has a sucker foot which adheres to surfaces

with a sticky slime whereas a fly has six feet, each with two claws to hoist the foot free. Birds’ jointed feet go all the way up to what looks like a

backward facing knee but is actually the ankle and can be webbed for swimming. Cattle and sheep have cloven hooves to cope with rocky terrain or marshy ground while cats and dogs have sharp claws for fighting and tearing prey. (Thelma)

My feet are amazing. From first steps to now, walking, running, jumping, climbing, pedalling, skiing, skating, dancing, driving; country-wide,

world-wide; part of the adventure, together skipping through life. (Anne Marie)

Creative Writing

We are now ‘recruiting’ for:• singers to help form a small choir;

• individuals to do a reading, recite a verse or poem;

Don’t be shy – contact us as soon as possible. The success for this event depends on you!

Please contact Janet and Bryan Roebuck

Christmas Carol Concert2016

Tuesday 13th December10.30am


Photographs courtesy of Sally Pawlic.

This year presentations have covered a wide range of periods, from the Art of the San People in South Africa in prehistoric times to the 20th century Rex Whistler murals in the Dining Room at Plas Newydd on Anglesey, and also a variety of subjects from portraits to architecture.

In May Sally Pawlic, our guest speaker from High Wycombe U3A, began with the words of a San song which she felt represented the essence of the earliest known people in South Africa:

‘The day we die, a soft breeze will wipe out our footprints in the sand. When the wind dies down, who will tell the timelessness that once we walked this way in the dawn of time?’ Their paintings of animals, such as lions,

giraffe, buck, eland and elephant, can still be seen on rock faces and some of these have been dated to 20,000 BC. In contrast to the animals, the representations of human figures were stick-like, with no defined facial features.

Sally’s illustrations (examples shown left) were taken by her and her friends and added a great deal to her presentation.

Christine Barnett’s June presentation of the Rex Whistler mural at Plas Newydd showed several images of the mural, which was painted on a specially woven canvas 58ft long and 12ft wide. The subject of the mural, completed in 1937, represents the entire experience of Whistler up to that date. It includes a sea or lakeside view of islands, on one of which was a representation of Windsor Castle, with the Welsh mountains

Chinnor U3A Annual Lecture A History of Oxford:

Home of Lost Causes and Forsaken Beliefs and Town and Gown relations;

No Little Scandal to God and Man

Christopher Day

Part 1: Thursday 23rd February 2017Part 2: Thursday 30th March 2017

Both lectures will be held at 2.30pm in Chinnor Village Hall

Art History


and the Alps in the background. Medieval towns and mythical figures fill the landscape and the wet footsteps of the god, Neptune, can be seen meticulously painted on the steps of the harbour.

The June presentation by Elan Preston-Whyte was on the 18th century artist, Romney, who painted over a hundred portraits of Emma Hart, a blacksmith’s daughter from Cheshire who became the wife of a distinguished antiquarian, Sir William Hamilton, and then the mistress of Admiral Lord Nelson in a ménage à trois.

Nine group members went on our annual excursion to Basildon Park, the National Trust property near Goring upon Thames, where the Graham Sutherland studies for his great tapestry, Christ in Majesty, for Coventry Cathedral are displayed. The neoclassical house itself was restored in 1927 from a semi-ruin by Lord Iliffe, the newspaper magnate, and his wife.

Architecture was the subject chosen by Rosemarie Heasman in August which described the Artists’ Colony set up in Darmstadt by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and the four Exhibitions which it produced. The first of these were of the houses designed by the artists for themselves but then later were of grander projects such as the Wedding Tower built as a symbolic gift from the City of Darmstadt to Ernst Ludwig on his marriage to his second wife, Elenore of Bavaria.

Ann Layton’s presentation on Edward Lear in September emphasised that although Lear was

best known for his nonsense verse he was an accomplished although mainly self-taught artist as well as amateur musician. Ann produced photocopies of the illustrations (cartoons) Lear had made to accompany his poems and limericks which complimented them very well. He had also drawn illustrations for many of Tennyson’s poetry when he was the Poet Laureate. However, the most impressive of Lear’s artistic output were the numerous paintings, mainly in watercolour, produced on his travels in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He was a close friend of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Holman Hunt who, although years younger than Lear, was instructive in helping Lear with his painting technique. It was an impressive story, particularly as Lear suffered severely from asthma and epilepsy from childhood.

Still to come in 2016 are:21 October: Brenda Goffin Dame Laura Knight18 November: Frances Wells Winifred Knights (Dulwich Art Gallery currently has an exhibition of her work) 16 December: Mary Williams & Judy Keen Dragons

All our meetings start at 10.30am in the Chiltern Room at the Village Centre, Chinnor. We would be delighted to welcome new members.Elan Preston-WhyteJoint Group Co-ordinator

We said goodbye to the Travel Group on Thursday 1st September.

After many years of meetings –160 in total – it was time to call it a day. At our last meeting we spent time talking about interesting objects members had brought back from enjoyable trips.

Many of the members had been coming since the first Travel Group in September 1999. I would like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported the group all these years. We learned about many countries far and wide, enjoying beautiful presentations by our speakers.

Over the years there have been a several members who helped to make the group run smoothly. Ruth and Geoff Platt acted as treasurers for many years, followed by Pam Buckingham and Ellen Stott. They all made sure the money was safe and bills paid. Colin Sear was our technical adviser, always ready with the projector.

John and I will miss seeing and talking to the members of the Travel Group on the first Thursday of the month. Thank you all for being such a lovely group of people.Anne GordonGroup Co-ordinator

Travel


The conference took place at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham 23rd-25th August. I was privileged once more to attend as Chinnor’s representative.

One of the underlying questions in people’s minds was whether the existing structure of the UK organisation is adequate to serve 1,000 local U3As. Some say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” but the leaders want to be clear on what is needed, so each U3A is being asked for their views. At the same time we had the opportunity to learn some new things, and to network and share ideas with people from many different areas of the country.

Delegates each chose to attend two of various seminars. I went first to one on “Telling your life stories”. Some will want to publish but many others will write just for their families. Recording one’s memories can be useful for universities, libraries and museums. A memory box containing objects (like a Dinky car, a ration book, old photos etc) can be helpful for giving talks, or for taking to Day Centres and especially dementia groups. The other seminar was about the development of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Many universities are now providing these on a great variety of topics. They are easily accessible, open to all, free, and regulated by the individual’s learning pace (by turning off the deadlines!) As well as being interesting for those in the Third Age, these courses are already beginning to revolutionise education throughout the world; many who would never find time, money or

opportunity to attend a university are going to be able to get good qualifications this way.

The two plenary lectures were fascinating. The first was given by Dr. Nick Hawes, a Reader in Intelligent Autonomous Robotics. He said people always ask him if and when robots are going to take over the world. He thinks they will not since any robot is developed to solve a problem. He showed us how “Bob” is a security robot in a firm, wandering in and out of offices to check for unexpected people or things. He copes with open doors, but can get stuck unless someone opens a shut door for him. He’s been programmed with lots of pictures of things he knows are OK (or not). But sometimes he comes across something he can’t identify. So then he sends an email round the firm with “these are things I saw today. What are they?” which tells people they need to add a bit more to his programming!

The second lecture by Dr. Victoria Williamson was on “Music for Wellbeing”. As well as short-term pleasure and long-term life fulfilment she showed us how music can be used to help people recover speech after a stroke. It can also help some people with Parkinsons’ etc recover movement and for people with dementia it can (for short periods at least) help them recover meaningful connection with others or with their past.

The actual AGM this year was brief as reports had been published and there were no important elections to vote on.Ann Long

The group meets on the third Friday of each month. It is a small friendly group where we share ideas and expertise on sewing projects while chatting about anything and everything. The numbers are limited by the space available around the table as we need enough room to work.

The group has been established for some time, so most months members continue with some patchwork they have started or look for something new to do. Everyone works at their own pace on their chosen project. We also look at new ideas and techniques which can be used in the future.

At the September meeting we started a Christmas project and for once we are all doing the same thing. For this we had to expand to two

tables as the project involved tracing a design onto a piece of material, cutting strips of material to make bias binding, making the bias binding and attaching it in the shape of the design using an iron. As one of the members said, it was like a cottage industry with everyone helping each other when an extra hand was needed. The result should be a small wall hanging of a stylised Christmas tree, once some embellishments and a backing have been added. We will be continuing on the Christmas project over the next few months and using any spare time on other Christmas related sewing items. Val PullenGroup Co-ordinator

U3A National Conference 2016

Patchwork for Beginners


We’ve had some lovely walks this spring/summer, thanks to our superb walk leaders. The walks have been quite varied, the weather generally good and we usually ended up with tea and cakes at a café or pub. All the walks have been very enjoyable but some were a little out of the ordinary – I’ll mention some of those here.

In April we visited the Koi Carp Fish Farm in Towersey as part of our walk – yes, there is indeed a fish farm at Towersey – I didn’t know either! The owner, Mark, showed us around and talked about his fish, some of which are worth thousands of pounds. We saw a fairly large very warm “shed” where the carp were swimming around in big round tubs – individual tubs containing fish of similar ages from birth to fully grown adults. Mark told us about the sorts of diseases the fish can get, during a detailed talk about the breeding process and the management of the business.

Our June walk, organised jointly with Chinnor U3A Geology Group, took us around the BBOWT College Lake near Tring. This was a guided tour (paid for from Chinnor U3A funds) of the flora, fauna and geology of the lake area given by Rodney Sims, who has a long-standing relationship with College Lake. The lake was an old chalk quarry transformed thanks to the hard work of BBOWT staff and volunteers into a thriving nature reserve supporting more than a thousand different wildlife species. Rodney pointed out many wild flower species; he showed us orchids, including bee orchids, growing naturally on the lake banks. We heard about the history and transformation of the lake from the original chalk quarry and how a huge drill/excavator machine (a little like a tunnel drill face) had to be transported from the West Country to College Lake in order to transform the lake. Rodney also mentioned that the water levels in the lake had to be controlled to avoid flooding and so on. This was altogether an interesting walk and tour.

I should mention our walk around Dorchester in July. It was a lovely sunny day and not long after starting we passed an archaeological dig of a Roman Villa. There were people working on the dig and near the footpath was a marquee. There were more than twenty on our walk and we were fairly noisy, as usual (there’s still life in us U3A members!). Unfortunately there was a talk being given in the marquee about the dig, and somebody came out to ask us if we could keep the noise down as they couldn’t hear the lecture – but they were very nice about it!

We saw where the river Thame flows into the river Thames, which personally I’d never seen before, and at the end of the walk we came to Dorchester Abbey. In one of the nearby Abbey buildings, tea and cake was being served, so we went in. Though they hadn’t been warned that so many people might descend on their little café the ladies running it were very nice and coped very well – even though we filled the café, spilling out into the garden. We all had delicious cakes and tea; no wonder we are sometimes called the ‘café walking group’!

As well as the walks I have mentioned above, we had a nice walk along the Firecrest Trail at Wendover Woods in May, a very enjoyable walk in August around the Spade Oak Lake near Marlow, and a superb walk in September on the public footpaths at Waddesdon National Trust. Thank you walk leaders.

In the coming months we have a canal walk near Marsworth, and walks in West Wycombe and along the public footpaths of the Oxfordshire

Golf Course. Other walks have still to be decided. We do, of course, have our usual Short Walks Group Christmas Lunch at The Crown in Chinnor at 12.30pm on Tuesday 13th December – the same day as the Chinnor U3A Carol Concert in St Andrews Church.Graham StoneGroup Co-ordinator

Short Walks

‘Oh help! Oh no! It’s a gruffalo!’ We met this very famous children’s character on our walk in Wendover Woods in May.


On Monday, 30th May, 2016, some thirty members of the U3A set off for our long-awaited holiday to Germany. After a swift journey to Heathrow and a late afternoon flight to Stuttgart we then transferred by coach to our resort, Überlingen on Lake Constance; our Hotel Ochsen was very welcoming and we were all quickly shown to our comfortable rooms.

Sheila had chosen a full and interesting itinerary for us. We began with a guided tour of the town on Tuesday, when buildings and places of interest were pointed out and we visited the City Hall, built in the 14th and 15th centuries. Überlingen is a bustling, lakeside town and our hotel was located close to the lake, shops, cafes and boat station. There are some very colourful municipal gardens and a market is held each Saturday, packed with stalls selling cheeses, fruit, vegetables and lovely flowers.

Wednesday saw us heading for the railway station, where we boarded a double-decker train to Friedrichshaven. Here we visited the Zeppelin Museum, which proved to be extremely interesting. Our guide had a wealth of knowledge about the construction and history of the airship. Did you know the Hindenberg was the length of two and a half football pitches? It could hold

50-70 passengers, plus crew, and took 4-5 days to cross the Atlantic. I don’t think any of us envisaged seeing anything like the exhibits shown and it was so good for the men to have their technical questions answered.

We then had time for lunch and a leisurely walk back along the lakeside to catch the train to another pretty town, Lindau. We visited the Old Town Hall, which has an unusually shaped façade decorated with beautiful paintings; it houses a vast library of pre-1800 written books and a complete first edition, hand-coloured Bible translation by Martin Luther from 1534, which the curator proudly showed us. We then had more time to explore the narrow streets of this small town before our return train journey.

On Thursday, oh, what a treat we had! We caught the 10.30am boat for a 2½ hour ride on the lake to the Swiss town of Stein am Rhein. We floated through reed beds alive with crested grebes, cormorants and many swans; there were lovely views of vine-clad hills and the pretty half-timbered houses of the towns bordering the lake. When we disembarked and began to explore Stein we were all enthralled at the picturesque buildings decorated with colourful murals and metal signs outside the shops, depicting the type of goods sold. All too soon we had to re-join the boat for our return journey in the glorious sunshine.

Friday was our free day. While some took the local bus to Meersburg or another village along the lake, most of our party went across to the pretty island of Mainau. This is known locally as the “Island of Flowers” and it certainly lives up to its name. There are beautiful flowers – huge peonies in shades of crimson, pink, cream and pale lemon, great globes of light purple alliums, rhododendrons of every shade, mixed borders and rockeries, a

Holiday to Lake Constance, Germany

below: Lindau Old Town Hall.right: The boat which took us to Stein am Rhein in Switzerland.


children’s area with pets, magnificent trees, fountains and views of the lake from every vista.

On Saturday we visited the baroque church set high above the lake at Birnau. Outside it was a plain building, painted pale pink, but inside incredibly ornate with a magnificently painted ceiling and other decorations in stucco and gold leaf. We then moved on to the Monastery at Salem, home of the Cistercian Monks in the Middle Ages. There we were given an intensive tour. We were told that there has been a school here for many years, which Prince Philip attended. There were many other buildings and a small garden to relax in; the old stables feature stucco décor, murals of horses and elaborate wooden stall partitions.

So, at the end of an action-packed, fun-filled week, with sunshine, tasty and interesting food and good accommodation, we had to say farewell to Überlingen. By then the rain had set in, so our leader had done it again and planned favourable weather for us!

We had a wonderful holiday and a huge “Thank you” goes to Sheila for all her hard work and organsiation to make our trip a resounding success.

It was a truly “Tunstall Travels’ triumph!”Patricia Durrant

Holidays and outings I think you will agree there has been a varied programme this year – music, dockyards, castles and being behind the scenes at the centre where our rubbish is recycled. Visiting stately homes has made me appreciate attending the Art History Group. I am delighted when I can say “we’ve had a presentation about him”.

Home entertainments included an Afternoon Tea Party with a country music group, followed by a wonderful tea. We are looking forward to our Blue Badge Guide, Sally, taking us for an exploratory walk around the City of London. Still to come is our Christmas Lunch at the Oxfordshire Golf Club. There may be some places still available but I can’t promise – so please contact me as soon as possible.

Our holiday to Lake Constance was a great success. We travelled by plane, a boat over the lake to Switzerland, and a double-decker train. Being part of a group means that anyone who is a little nervous of travelling abroad alone benefits from being with friends.

Our next venture abroad is to visit the Christmas Markets in Valkenburg and Aachen. We are looking forward to our Glüwein!

I believe that outings improve our general knowledge, which must be the aim of U3A, not to mention the valuable social advantages of meeting people and making friends.

Latest newsThis is to let you know that I am standing down for a while from organising the Outings for 2017. Ian isn’t very well at the moment and this is demanding more of my time. If anyone would be interested in volunteering to organise an outing or two please contact Rosie Hetherington. Sharing the job would not be too demanding.

I am very happy to help and advise in any way and explain the routine of planning the dates and show you the paperwork necessary to record applications and then advise everyone about their coach pick up times. I find it very interesting and you do get to know our members very well.

Perhaps it is not too soon to wish everyone who supports the Outings and Holidays a very Happy Christmas!Sheila TunstallOutings Organiser

top: A statue and mural at Stein am Rhein.below: Birnau Church.


MEMBEr MEMorIES

Wales and whales, and other

adventures! Some of us look upon retirement as a time to relax, enjoy our leisure pursuits and slow down. For others retirement from our career is a chance to begin another adventure. After retiring from teaching in 1986, long-time U3A member, Sylvia Hopley, took on not one role – but two!

Sylvia married her husband Jim in 1950, raised her three children then started training to be a teacher when her youngest son was 7 years old, managing to balance three years of study at Reading University with family commitments to qualify as a Biology teacher. Once she started teaching she continued to study so that she could develop courses and teach environmental science alongside biology. She taught pupils aged 11-16 at a secondary school in High Wycombe; Sylvia greatly enjoyed the practical side to her subjects, inspiring pupils on field trips to Snowdonia, the Lake District and other places of interest.

She was also a member of various bodies with an interest in environmental studies and continued to develop her knowledge of the subject at conferences and on field trips, sometimes abroad, with those groups.

After ten years at the school Sylvia was promoted to Head of Senior School. This meant that she had extra responsibilities for support and counselling of pupils and their parents but also staff members if there were difficulties such as discipline problems, disruptive behaviour and unexplained absences. She found this work really rewarding and it added to her great satisfaction with her chosen career, which she loved. She found teaching to be a wonderful profession, with really supportive colleagues, many of whom she is still in touch with today.

Another legacy of her teaching career is her great interest in whales, which came out of helping some pupils with a project on the ‘Save the Whale’ campaign. As she learned more about them Sylvia realised what fascinating creatures they are. She has been lucky enough to join research boats on whale-watching trips in Canada, Alaska, South Africa and Australia, as well as Mull, in the Scottish islands, where the eight passengers on the boat were joined by Kate Humble and the team from BBC’s Countryfile. Sylvia enjoyed a moment of fame: her conversation with Kate was included when the programme was broadcast!

Sylvia retired, with a great send off from her

below: Sylvia on a school field trip to Snowdonia in 1983.bottom: Opening gifts from her teaching colleagues at her retirement party.


colleagues, at the age of 61. Word got around that she had time available! A friend realized she was perfectly qualified to teach at an open prison in Buckinghamshire, working with young offenders. She went initially for a couple of days but worked there for nearly ten years! Her role there included teaching life skills and basic skills, such as banking and applying for jobs. She also helped them read letters they received and write replies (often very personal and sensitive). As well as this she discovered an unused greenhouse on site, and put it to good use teaching gardening tasks to some of the young people.

In the 1980s Victim Support was a new organisation, manned entirely by volunteers, set up to support the victims of crimes. Another friend suggested that Sylvia’s counselling skills would be perfect for this role. She took a six weeks training course, and so began a very long association which lasted over twenty years! All volunteers worked from home, supported by monthly meetings with other volunteers. A small committee arranged fund raising events to support the organization. For her part Sylvia gave talks – from WIs to Round Tables, Rotary and church groups. The groups usually gave a voluntary contribution in return.

Her work involved visiting the victims of crime, to offer practical and emotional support at an often very traumatic time. This might be as simple as finding a locksmith after a burglary, or

arranging a loan if the person’s money has been stolen. Support often included helping with statements, preparing the victims to go to court, meeting with magistrates and attending trials with them. Courts in the early days often had no private area for victims – they could be sitting in a corridor with the accused close by – but Sylvia and her fellow volunteers lobbied and got a private room at both High Wycombe and Aylesbury courts. She also supported victims at Crown Courts and the Old Bailey. Support extends to helping victims after a verdict too, especially if the outcome isn’t what they are hoping for. Children need support too, and may need to express their feeling through talking and drawing. Sylvia also helped with this.

Victim Support were also involved in a process called ‘restorative justice’, Restorative justice brings those harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward. Policemen, probation officers and sometimes parents attend with the guilty party, and Sylvia would often attend these meetings to support the victim in this very stressful situation.

In 2005 Sylvia was one of a group of people whose contribution to the local community was recognized at the Wycombe District Council’s annual reception.

Sylvia resigned from Victim Support when she and her husband felt that perhaps the late night drives to victim’s homes was too much for a lady in her eighties.

We can never know what pattern our lives will follow; teaching led Sylvia into a counselling role, which she has used to benefit so many people all her life. It also led to her great interest in the environment and whale conservation, which in turn led her to enjoy adventurous holidays with her husband. Life may be less hectic for Sylvia now but it has given her so many interesting memories, and I thank her for sharing some of them with me for this article.Krystyna HewittContact Editor

left: Sylvia’s husband, Jim, took this amazing photograph on a whale watching trip off the coast of Massachusets in 1997.


Swimming Have you enjoyed the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer? Inspired by the swimming? Come and swim at the pool in Princes Risborough and, as I discovered at the coffee morning organised in June (see last Contact) a visit to the pool need not mean a swim but therapy following surgery or injury. Just walking in the pool can be great exercise for limbs and muscles… the “dolphin” pool at Risborough is perfect… and… you won’t be the only one!

Do come along and join us. Anne Marie LordGroup Co-ordinator

Dorset QuizAll answers are villages, towns or landmarks within the county. 1 A slope that was used for a cycle ride for bread. 2 A by-product of a farm animal? 3 Disabled person faced with a country footpath obstacle. 4 A tanner for Tommy perhaps? 5 A builders tool on a slope maybe. 6 The Queen's bird getting older. 7 Fortified wine combines with an area of soil for William. 8 Regal weight gets an old fashioned large. 9 Cured meat joins with celestial body 10 An old fashioned bob joins up with a pebble. 11 Perhaps this can be found on top of your roof?12 This may sting when you do your hair.13 A posh hotel in London?14 A penny for the man who has a fire on a bog.15 A mixed ale for a retired footballer called Cyrille.Good luck.Richard CarverAnswers on page 26

The books we have read since the last issue of Contact are:

The Name of the Rose by Umberto EcoAgnes Grey by Anne BrontëWolf Hall by Hilary MantelSlaughterhouse 5 by Kurt VonnegutLfe of Pi by Yann MartelThe Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

We will be reading After the Storm by Margaret Graham (a local author) and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Further reading still to be decided by group members.

Attendance at meetings has been high, with only one or two absences due to pre-booked holidays. Discussion usually starts by sharing our feelings about a book – did we like it? did we enjoy reading it? We move on with our views of characterisation – how do we relate to the fictional characters? Did they seem ‘real’ to us as readers?

We always review the author’s biographical details, which tends to lead on to a discussion and examination of the social history issues, the sexual, racial and religious issues and how these have altered (or not!) over time. We discuss language, structure and style, using quotes to argue our points, and we have recently discussed post-modernism in literature.

We are all avid readers – with different tastes in authors and genre. Just occasionally a book presents a challenge – but group discussion always brings new insight and interest, even if, or perhaps especially if, a book is a re-read. Thank you to all group members for their contributions to our meetings. Regrettably we are not looking for new members – six people with varying views is quite enough for a good discussion!

I would recommend reading groups. Discussion always raises awareness of the role of fiction in explaining our complex modern world. Even if the book we are reading was written and published some time ago we find relevance in our experience of today. Jenni ThackwrayGroup Co-ordinator

Literary Appreciation


NEW!French Conversation

Be you beginner, fluent or in between, the group will try to entertain all levels in French. Useful for holidays in French speaking countries or just for keeping your brain active.

So that beginners can get the help they need at the appropriate speed and to make the group more interesting for those who already speak French, we have separated the group into two sections, with beginners meeting on the first Monday of the month and more experienced speakers on the third Monday. The meetings in November will therefore be: Beginners 7th, Experienced 21st.

Meetings are held at Janet’s house. Please see the Interest Groups list at the back of this newsletter for details. New members are welcome.Janet ErskineGroup Co-ordinator

Singles Dining In July we had a lovely lunch at the Red Lion in Chalgrove, a venue we have returned to many times.

We ate at the Coach and Horses in Chislehampton in August, again a very popular pub with our group.

The Peacock in Henton was as excellent as ever at the end of the month. We never need to pre-order and the service was speedy and of its usual high standard.

We are going into the Chilterns at the end of September to the Fox and Hounds, which is a lovely venue on a fine autumn day.Val WelfordGroup Co-ordinator

Our spring and summer walks have attracted, on average, eighteen members joining us each month.

We started with a series of walks with Godalming and Haslemere Ramblers, culminating with two tours of Oxford, led by Carole Wheeler and Brian Gribbin and several helpers. The whole exchange holiday was managed expertly by Frances Wells.

This was followed by walks from Swyncombe Church, Christmas Common, Stokenchurch, Little Marlow, Lane End and Wendover Woods. These walks averaged a distance of 5½ miles.

We are blessed with quite a lot of good leaders willing to help, so much so that I thought I would get away with not leading in the winter programme. But I managed to sneak in with leading a short walk from Crowell before a Group Christmas Lunch.

Thanks to Les Martins, Alison Orr, Christine

Burrows, Fliss Akehurst, Ros Noy, Carole Wheeler, Brian Gribbin, Jean Wadsworth and Frances Wells, we have a very varied programme this winter with walks from Marlow, Little Hampden, the Phoenix Way, Hailey near Wallingford and, by popular request, a repeat of the historic tours of Oxford. All the details are on our U3A website – www.chinnoru3a.org.uk. The average length of these walks is 5½ miles and so please contact me if you would like to join us.

If you want to build up to walking 5 miles, you may like to join the Chinnor U3A Short Walks Group. Contact Graham Stone (see Interest Groups list at the back of this newsletter). There are other organisations in the area that also offer walks of 3-4 miles. Please contact Frances Wells if you want to know more.Peter HetheringtonGroup Co-ordinator

Mixed Walks

www.chinnoru3a.org.uk

The website is updated regularly and gives a full two-monthly calendar of all the interest group meetings, links to other U3A websites

and useful tips on a variety of subjects. You can also read Contact in colour on the website.

Wise Words?My Mum taught me…

RELIGION: “You had better pray that that comes out of the carpet.”

LOGIC: “Because I said so, that’s why.”

IRONY: “Keep crying and I will give you something to cry about.”

WIsdOM: “When you get to my age you will understand.”

JustICE: “One day you will have kids and they might turn out like you.”


A Walk Around WallingfordThis is an abridged summary of a History Group talk and slide presentation by Peter and Pat Hearmon

in June, followed up by a History Group walk in July. We selected an easy circular town route starting at the Riverside car park and culminating at the ruins of the castle, built on a hill overlooking the old ford

crossing at the entrance to the town.

William the Conqueror initially was unable to enter London from the south and had to march round the city looking for suitable river crossing points. William crossed the Thames at Wallingford and at Berkhamsted he was met by a peace delegation accepting William as their king. William was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 25th December 1066.

Wallingford was believed to be a Roman town, partly because of the rectangular shape of the old town defences and the grid-like streets. In fact, Wallingford was a Saxon fortified town – the best surviving example in England. Its earthwork ramparts and ditch were built in the late 9th century by order of King Alfred as part of a defensive network against Danish attack. By the 11th century it was the leading town of Berkshire. The old Saxon town soon became a centre for trade. A moneyer was licensed by the king for minting coins and silver. Wallingford pennies have been found several hundred miles from the town indicating the extent of Saxon trade routes.

Wallingford is one of only four towns mentioned in Magna Carta in 1215.

We entered Wallingford over the bridge, it was first recorded in 1141 but repaired and widened after the flood in 1809. We saw the toll house base which is the only part remaining of the toll house built in 1819, to formalise a 1571 charter allowing transport to pass over and under the bridge. Just beyond the bridge is St Peter’s Church which is the burial place of 18th century Judge Blackstone who was an important personage in the town residing over Town Hall court proceedings and was an MP for Wallingford. He was also the author of Commentaries on the Laws of England; his books were widely used by the law makers of the American Constitution and legal system.

Next we passed the George Inn, the oldest coaching inn in Wallingford, with records back to 1517 when it was the George and Dragon. Of course there were many ghost stories surrounding the pub and perhaps these were enhanced by a 1893 Advert which reads “whiskey costing 3s 8d a bottle!”

We arrived at the Town Square, from St Mary’s Street (containing many quaint old shops) to

find an ornate drinking fountain donated by Alderman Hawkins in 1885. The war memorial commemorating soldiers in both World Wars is in front of the Hall which is timber-framed, but its stucco rendering gives it the appearance of a costlier stone building. It now houses the Information Centre as well as the Town Hall.

Behind the Town Hall, the Church of St Mary le More is mainly a Victorian church standing on the site of a smaller medieval church. The tower was rebuilt in 1653, after being struck by lightning, largely with reused stones from Wallingford Castle

The Town Hall with St Mary’s Church Tower behind.


which had been demolished a year earlier. On the south west buttress of the tower is an inscription 'Will Loader 1653'; he was the builder who rebuilt the tower.

We continued down to St Leonard’s Square where there is the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel beside the Free Library Institute built in 1871. The Silversmith building is adjacent, and just off the square is Wilders Ironworks Foundry; the original foundry was first recorded in 1869 as James Wilder & Sons. When the original foundry was built they discovered over fifty burials from the 12th century or earlier.

Leading into Reading Road we reached the Angier Alms houses. In 1680 John Angier left in his will a major request regarding the founding of an alms house for some of the poor people of Wallingford. His instructions were that £850 be provided in trust to buy land within the borough, whereupon an alms house may be built for six of the poorer widows or widowers and for them to be allowed £4 per annum and a gown yearly with any surplus for the repair to the alms house. By 1981 the Grade II listed building had fallen into disrepair and it was agreed to modernise and house six people in accordance with his original will.

Retracing our steps to Crofts Terrace a path leads to Kinecroft field, which was originally used for cattle. On the left traces of the original moat is seen and would have formed part of the palisaded ramparts running along three sides of the town to encompass the castle to the north meeting with the river Thames on the fourth. Kinecroft field has revealed much archaeological evidence following an extensive dig in 2008, including timber buildings dating back to 12th to 13th century.

Nearby, we visited 15th century Flint House, now housing Wallingford museum, where we were given an additional wealth of information about the town. At this point, the walk was disbanded due to heavy rain, but had we been able to continue we would have gained access to the castle grounds via Bear Lane.

The castle was probably built between 1068

Castle wall remains.

and 1071, taking advantage of the old Anglo-Saxon ramparts, with the motte hill close to the river overlooking the ford, a key crossing point on the Thames. Inside the grounds of the castle some of the original castle walls can still be seen, together with the remains of St Nicholas College which housed a sixteen-strong college of priests within the castle.

Apart from two outer castle walls and small sections of some outer towers nothing else remains but the landscaping of the castle grounds including the motte and the depth of moat indicates the extent of the fortifications described by the historian Nicholas Brooks as “one of the most powerful royal castles of the 12th and 13th centuries”. Later, Cromwell used the castle as an armoury and prison for six years but in 1652, following an order from Cromwell’s Council of State, it was totally demolished. Peter and Pat Hearmon History Group


animals. In the walled garden the gardeners were in the process of planting out the flower-beds, and we were able to talk to them about the plants that they were putting in. We were then free to enjoy the Wildlife Park – to view the animals, travel on the train around the park, or watch the penguins being fed, and generally to enjoy a great day out. The icing on the cake was that the weather was lovely, the rain held off until we were back on the coach and we drove back through a torrential cloud-burst feeling very thankful that we were under cover.

Temperatures soared for our July visit to Chesham Bois House – summer had finally arrived! Some light cloud cover provided relief from the hot sunshine in the morning but after the cloud cleared we were treated to a hot sunny afternoon, which sent all of our group searching for the shade.

The owner of the property gave us a brief history of the house and garden, going right back to Edward the Confessor. When she told us that she only has twenty hours of help in the garden, and the rest of the digging and weeding she does herself, as well as working part-time in London, we were all filled with admiration. The garden itself provided something for everyone with a well-tended lawn, and herbaceous borders, a rill running into a rectangular pool complete with water-lilies, some interesting sculptures and a woodland walk which provided us with some welcome cool shade. Tea and cake on the lawn at the end of the visit was much appreciated.

In August we went to Green and Gorgeous, a flower farm in Little Stoke near Wallingford. We were given a talk by Rachel, the owner, a trim and energetic flower arranger, who showed us the poly-tunnels which house the flowers grown specifically for cutting and arranging. She explained how the poly-tunnels extend the growing season by three months, so that sweet peas, for example, can be sown in January for

Our summer programme this year got underway with a trip to Wisley, in April. We were lucky to wake up that morning to clear blue skies, and it was wall to wall sunshine all day. Wisley was sparkling in the sun, the spring flowers were beautiful, and the camellias, magnolias, azaleas and rhododendrons were in full bloom. There was also an orchid display in the glass-house, which was really exceptional. By the end of the day, many people were encumbered by pots of plants that they had bought at the Plant Centre, and everyone was very appreciative of a great day out.

Our May visit to Turn End in Haddenham was adversely affected by torrential rain. The garden was beautiful. It is about half an acre in size, divided into small ‘rooms’, and each one is delightful. A lovely wisteria covered one patio area; this had originally been designed by the architect owner as an outdoor office and meeting space, but now has a garden pond and water-feature. There was a huge variety of plants, and the full-time gardener was available with first-hand knowledge to answer our questions. It was such a pity that we were all anxious to head home to the warm and dry, and we all found out what the expression ‘soaked to the skin’ actually feels like!

In June we went by coach to the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford. Most of us had visited it before for the purpose of entertaining children or grandchildren but had not realised that there are actually gardens there. The head gardener gave us a short talk about the different problems involved in planning gardens with a variety of planting to reflect the natural environment of the

Gardening


cutting in March, when she can charge a premium rate for them because they are ‘out of season’. She was able to tell us about the latest fashions in flowers for weddings, bridal bouquets, and ‘flower crown’ head-dresses for brides and bridesmaids. There was also an extensive range of shrubs and trees and ferns grown for foliage cutting. This was one of the most interesting visits of the year.

In September a coach took us to Solihull in Warwickshire, where we visited two NT properties in close proximity to each other – Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House. The house at Baddesley Clinton is totally surrounded by water with just a footbridge over the moat. The house itself has a cosy feel to it, with plenty of wood panelling and lots of small intimate rooms with fireplaces and oil-paintings. Beyond the moat the gardens around the house are very well tended, with a colourful display of dahlias and shrubs in the walled garden, and a vegetable garden in which there were many scarecrow characters guarding the crops. A walk around the grounds revealed a Great Pool, a nature walk through the wooded area, and a lawn on which a large group of very tame ducks were attempting to sleep. After lunch in the restaurant we

transferred by coach to the second destination of the day, Packwood House. This house is bigger than Baddesley Clinton; it has been extended over the years, making it into a country residence of some distinction. The gardens are really lovely, with a unique Yew Garden, consisting of clipped yew trees, each standing at least fifteen feet tall, and said to commemorate the Biblical ‘Sermon on the Mount’ with the Prophet standing tall at the top of the slope, the disciples clustered in front, and the masses around the outside-an amazing sight. The head-gardener had a lot to say about the upkeep of these trees and the drainage system involved to keep them healthy, conveying to us all the responsibility he feels in caring for this national treasure.

The final visit in our summer programme is the October visit to Waterperry to tour the apple orchards – a follow-up to the talk we were given last winter about the work that goes on there.

Thanks go to Ro Webb and Mary Trimmer for organising our coach trips this year.

In November we start the winter programme of talks at the Pavilion Community Hall with a talk by garden writer Geoff Hodge on the Scented Garden.

We do not meet in December, but our programme for 2017 starts with three more talks:16th January Death in the Garden by Michael Brown;15th February Edible Growing by Tom Cole;15th March The Winter Garden by Kathy Brown.Ann HineJoint Group Co-ordinator

left: Chesham Bois House.top: One of many scarecrows in the gardens at Baddesley Clinton.right: Packwood House.


Windows 10 is now fully established as the operating system of choice for most of us, apart from those determined to stick with old, unsupported software on elderly computers.

The move has not been without its issues. Both Colin and I have had our C: drives trashed for inexplicable reasons. It could be a virus but I don’t think so. I had installed a Solid State Drive in addition to the existing Hard Drive on my PC. The usual upgrade process was used to upgrade the windows 7 system to windows 10 on the hard drive. This registered my PC with Microsoft so that I was able to install a clean copy of Win10 on the Solid State Drive (SSD).

Of course people were reporting that the “anniversary” update was causing the system to freeze if you tried to access data on the hard drive when running Win10 from the SSD. This was exactly my plan so I decided to continue just using the old system on the hard drive. It was not long before the C: partition on the hard drive became inaccessible and so the old system was no longer available. Fortunately my data was on separate partitions and this was rapidly copied to a separate USB drive as backup. I am now using the new, clean installation and keeping the “Anniversary” update at bay.

Problems never come alone and of course Microsoft had to withdraw support for the Windows Live Mail client that I use(d). My email backups are fine for Win Live but what use are they for an alternative such as Thunderbird?

Using a fully web based service such as Gmail would be unaffected by the troubles on my PC

but I have been reluctant to put all my emails and contact lists in the hands of Google for them to study with a view to selling me, and the contacts, services and products none of us want.

Anyway Win10 will give us material for our meetings for some time to come. New programs (now called Apps) like Sway, Ink and older apps like Mail, Photos have changed markedly and anyone who has mastered any of them is invited to tell us about them, We are looking forward to hearing from Krystyna on how she puts our Contact magazine together, as well as a talk from the owner of the computer shop situated above the pet shop in Thame.

All U3A members are welcome to attend any meeting of interest to them and the programme can be viewed on the Chinnor U3A website.

SoME TIPS• When ageing eyesight make the computer screen hard to read I hold the Ctrl key down and scroll the mouse wheel to enlarge the script.• If you wish to get a printout of the files in a folder do this:

Place the cursor over the folder you wish to list. Hold down the Shift key and Right Click the mouse and click “Open Command Window here”. This will produce a Terminal window. Type dir > filelist.txtA file called ‘filelist.txt’ listing the files will appear inside the folder being listed.

Robin Preston-WhyteJoint Group Co-ordinator

ArcheologyAnyone interested?

We are looking at the possibility of forming an Archaeology group to either join with the Geology group or stand alone.

Subject to the number interested it is proposed either a monthly or every other monthly meetings with mainly local site visits and possible ‘digs’ if there is sufficient interest. Dig involvement will be at the basic level and probably under supervision.

If you are interested please get in touch with Bryan Roebuck.

Computers


We have had a good mixture of walks over the summer mainly focusing on the Chilterns but with two exceptions, one from Watermead in September following part of the river Thame and the other in July from Abingdon.

Our April walk was from Ibstone Common, where we were lucky enough to see an array of daffodils en route to Turville Heath. May saw Alison and Frances lead a walk, during which we enjoyed wonderful displays of bluebells in Bottom Wood but also encountered a gaggle of turkeys. Then in June Margaret and Ann led a delightful walk from Turville.

Our walks are generally between 6 and 7 miles in length, but this summer we introduced two longer walks which included picnic lunches.

The first of these was at the beginning of July and was led by Peter and Rosie Hetherington. We met at Abingdon and walked the Thames path to Oxford enjoying a picnic at Sandford Lock and had enough time to include a visit to Iffley Church, which was very interesting, before returning to Abingdon by steamer on the Thames. The weather was cool at the start but by the afternoon was warm and sunny.

The other day walk was in August when Fliss led an 8½ mile walk from West Wycombe. It was a lovely walk but unfortunately wet for most of

the day. However we managed to eat our lunch during one of the drier periods.

We have a full programme of walks over the winter; a list can be found on the Chinnor U3A website. We also have our 4-night holiday at Bourton on the Water in October, organised by Ann Goold, which we shall have enjoyed by the time you read this.

We should like to thank all members who have led walks over the summer and who have offered to lead over the winter.

We have also welcomed some new members to the group this summer and are always open to new members joining us.Christine and Ray BarnettJoin Group Co-ordinators

The photographs show some of our members enjoying our April and May walks.

Long Walks


The Strollers have enjoyed some lovely walks over the last few months.

On Friday 1st April, we met at Brian’s house in Oakley Lane and walked along to Percy’s farm at the start of the Driftway. Percy is an organic farmer. He’s in his eighties, but is remarkably sprightly, and helps his son run the farm. He showed us his cows, of all different ages. We then walked back to Brian and Jessica’s house, where an excellent afternoon tea had been prepared for us all – the cakes were delicious. Altogether a very enjoyable afternoon.

For our next walk, in May, Jessica and Brian Dowse led us through the bluebells in Cowleaze Woods. On a beautiful spring morning eighteen strollers (including a lady from another U3A wishing to join us) enjoyed an hour long walk through beech trees with fresh green leaves, bluebells and other woodland flowers. Our walk took us as far as the boundary overlooking the Wormsley Estate and included a visit to the memorial for the crew of a bomber that crashed there in 1944. Afterwards we enjoyed a meal together at the Leathern Bottle pub at Lewknor.

Our walk in June, led by Ann Long, took us to Aston Rowant Audio Trail. Tree stumps talking or singing surprised us as we walked on the hill above Aston Rowant. The audio trail was created

in 2012 as a cooperation between sculptors, naturalists, poets and schoolchildren and we enjoyed a different walking experience, though some of the exhibits now do need some attention.

Unfortunately due to very poor weather conditions our trip to Wendover Woods had to be cancelled in July.

We had a very pleasant afternoon on 5th August in Ewelme village. Brian Dowse led us through the village. The church was really interesting and we heard about Jerome K Jerome who is buried in the churchyard. The walk took us via the watercress beds and we passed by some lovely cottages with beautiful gardens. The villagers were charming and friendly and even their dogs stopped to ‘chat’. The weather was beautiful. At the end of the walk we stopped at the Community run shop and café. The owners

were very welcoming and supplied us with homemade cakes and refreshments. I know that some extra cakes were purchased prior to leaving to be consumed back home in Chinnor!

Our walk on 2nd September was led by Pat and Peter Hearmon and took us via Donkey Lane in Chinnor to the Ridgeway, down to the nature reserve where again we discussed the many

From Cows to Donkeys

top: Strollers at Cowleaze Woods. below: Outside the Church in Ewelme.


flowers with our budding botanists, and eventually through the recreation ground and back to the Village Centre, where we enjoyed each other’s company over a meal. It was a lovely morning and it was good to see the beautiful countryside that we have right on our doorstep.

Our walk on 7th October will be to Cuttlebrook Nature Reserve in Thame. The walk will be led by Sylvia Hopley. Again this is an area very near to Chinnor yet unknown to some of us. I am sure we will find it very interesting.

The walk on 4th November is to Watlington and led by Elaine Du Lieu. Judy Crocket, Watlington U3A, has kindly offered to guide us through this interesting and historical village. Venue for refreshments to be advised. Please contact Elaine Du Lieu on 01844 351894 for further details.

As December is already a busy month for most of us we haven’t arranged a walk but walks planned for 2017 are:

6th January: A guided walk of Thame 3rd February: Haddenham Village 3rd March: Long Crendon Village 7th April: Prestwood 5th May: Dorchester Abbey and Days Lock. For the time being we have decided to hold all

our walks in the mornings. We aim to be at the start of the walk by 11.00am to allow for travel from Chinnor. Always check with the walk leader for full details. Car sharing is encouraged so do ask about lifts for those who do not drive.

Please come along to experience the lovely area we live in, to make new friends and to take some exercise. Please contact Val Edwards if you require any further information.

Looking forward to meeting you on the walks.Val EdwardsGroup Co-ordinator

You can still travel…As you will have read elsewhere in Contact, Chinnor’s Travel Group has sadly ceased to exist. Should any members wish to continue to enjoy interesting talks about places people have visited, I have been asked to let you know that you would be most welcome to attend the Greater Thame U3A Travel Group, which meets at the Guide Hut, Southern Road, Thame on the 3rd Monday of the month. More information can be found on their website: u3asites.org.uk/greater-thame.

BridgeThe Bridge Group is still running along steadily, though attendance in August was low; probably because of holidays etc.. There is concern about a lack of new members in the group; although the tranches of new U3A members are always approached on the subject, none seem to play or be interested in learning to play. Long term this situation will no doubt cause problems.

However, Betty Yendell is still prepared to provide initial tuition and perhaps this will encourage any new members in the future.Stuart BakerGroup Co-ordinator

Welfare NewsI do hope that you have had a good summer and that you have remembered to have your flu jab to protect you through the winter. There have been quite a few cases of shingles too amongst our members, so don’t forget to get that vaccination as well if you are eligible.

Since you last heard from me I have delivered, on your behalf, twenty four cards to those members who have been unwell or have needed our TLC.

Sadly we have lost some of our friends recently, namely Frankie Marlton, Jane Vaughan and very recently Phyllis Tugwell and Brenda Wilson. We will miss them all.

Take care all of you and don’t forget to let me know if I can help anyone or anywhere.Diane CarverWelfare Officer

Cows at Percy’s farm.


The English TongueAn elderly German friend shared this poem with us. He had learnt it when he was at school in Germany. Sheila Tunstall

When the English tongue we speak,

Why is ‘break’ not rhymed with ‘weak’?When we want to make a verse,

We can’t rhyme a ‘horse’ with ‘worse’.‘Beard’ is different from ‘heard’,

‘Lord’ is not pronounced like ‘word’.‘Cow’ is ‘cow’, but ‘show’ is ‘show’,

‘Do’ is never rhymed with ‘go’.Think of ‘rose’, and ‘nose’ and ‘lose’,

And of ‘goose’ and yet of ‘choose’.‘Cough’ and ‘through’ don’t rhyme with ‘plough’!

Nor do ‘rough’ or ‘dough’ with ‘bough’.Don’t rhyme ‘flood’ with ‘food’ or ‘good’,

You’d be laughed at if you ‘should’.We have ‘year’ and ‘hear’ and ‘pear’,

‘Come’ and ‘home’, and ‘are’ and ‘care’,‘Five’ and ‘give’, and ‘boat’ and ‘foal’,‘Post’ and ‘cost’, and ‘shut’ and ‘put’.And since ‘lay’ is rhymed with ‘say’,

Why not ‘laid’ with ‘said’ I pray?Wherefore ‘done’, but ‘gone’ and ‘stone’?

Is there any reason known?And in short it seems to me,Sounds and letters disagree.

Contributions for Contact

I am really enjoying being the editor of Contact and I would like to thank everyone who has contributed an article: without you there would be no newsletter!

I welcome your ideas on how Contact can be improved. For my part, now that I have prepared a few editions I have a few suggestions which I hope may be helpful.

Most Interest Groups send in a report. I realise that every group is run in its own way, but as well as telling readers about recent activities I think it is helpful, where possible, to include some information about forthcoming meetings, in case people may wish to join the group (remember when listing ‘future activities’ that Contact is not published until a month after the copy deadline), ie publication is in May and November.

I welcome contributions on any subject that you think would be of interest to our members, including written articles, letters, poems, quizzes, drawings, photographs and cartoons. We must be very careful about using material that we haven’t created ourselves, though, for fear of infringing someone’s copyright. No material – text or pictures – from books, newspapers or magazines can be used without written permission.

Please try keep articles relatively short; it might help to know that a full page of text, without pictures, is about 800 words. Luckily I normally get plenty of material for the newsletter so I try to keep articles to a single page, or a spread at most, and do have to cut text to fit if necessary.

If you have anything you would like me to consider for publication in Contact please send them direct to me – my contact details on the front cover of the newsletter.

If possible please send text as a Word file, and pictures as a tiff or jpeg to my email address. When choosing photographs please remember that Contact is printed in black and white, though the photos do appear in colour on the website

Don’t be put off if you do not use a computer though – you can send me typed or handwritten articles and original photographs and illustrations. (I will return all original photographs.) You can find my address on the front page of Contact.

The deadline for the May 2017 issue is 1st April. Krystyna HewittEditor

ANSWErS To THE DorSET QUIzSee page 161 Gold Hill (Shaftsbury); 2 Wool; 3 Cripplestyle; 4 Sixpenny Handley; 5 Hod Hill; 6 Swanage; 7 Portland Bill; 8 Kington Magna; 9 Hammoon; 10 Shillingstone; 11 Ridge; 12 Nettlecombe; 13 Hilton; 14 Guy’s Marsh; 15 Bere Regis

Free legal advice for U3A members

The Third Age Trust has an arrangement with ‘Arc Legal Assistance in Association with Irwin Mitchell Solicitors’ to provide legal advice to U3A members.

This is a FREE service, available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

Just phone: 0344 770 1040 and quote: ‘U3A Legal Helpline’.


Programme November 2016 to April 2017Monthly Talks are held at 2.30pm in the Village Hall

Coffee Mornings are held at 10.30am at the Village Centre

NOVEMBER 2016 11th Coffee Morning 17th Deaf but not Daft Louise Reed

DECEMBER 2016 9th Coffee Morning 15th A Celebratory History of Christmas Andy Thomas

JANUARY 2017 13th Coffee Morning 19th A Solo Walk Across Africa Fran Sandham

FEBRUARY 2017 10th Coffee Morning. 16th Elgar Barry Collett

23rd ANNUAL LECTURE PART 1: A History of Oxford: Home of Lost Causes and Forsaken Beliefs and Town and Gown relations; No Little Scandal to God and Man Christopher Day

MARCH 2017 10th Coffee Morning. 16th An Introduction to Pub Signs Angela Panrucker

30th ANNUAL LECTURE PART 2: A History of Oxford: Home of Lost Causes and Forsaken Beliefs and Town and Gown relations; No Little Scandal to God and Man Christopher Day

APRIL 2017 14th Good Friday: no Coffee morning this month. 20th Votes for Women Roger Mason

Programme CorrectionsAll members should have received their new Programme Cards. Unfortunately we have found that there are a couple of errors:

• the coffee morning, scheduled for 14th April 2017 has been cancelled as it is Good Friday, so there will be no coffee morning in April;• the Monthly Meeting for June is listed as 16th, instead of the 15th; it will of course, take place on the usual third Thursday of the month.


Interest Groups – at a glancePlease contact the Co-ordinator before attending a group for the first time

Amendments since the last issue of this list are shown shaded

Group Co-ordinator/s Day of Month Venue Times

Art History Rosemarie Heasman 3rd Friday Village Centre 10.30–12.00 Elan Preston-Whyte Not December

Bridge Stuart Baker 2nd & 4th Thursdays Village Centre 2.00–4.00 Not December

Cards Dorrie Oliver Every other Wednesday Village centre 2.00–4.00

Computers Colin Sear 1st Friday Village Centre 2.30–4.00 Robin Preston-Whyte Not August

Creative Writing Ann Long 2nd Monday ‘Phone 10.30–12.00

Digital Photography Richard Carver 2nd Monday Village Centre 2.00–4.00 Not Sept or Dec

Family History George Hunter 1st Thursday Village Centre 10.30–11.30

French Beginners Janet Erskine 1st Monday ‘Phone 2.00– Experienced 3rd Monday 2.00–

Games Diane Carver 4th Wednesday ‘Phone 2.00–4.00 Not July, Aug & Dec

Gardening A & B Ann Hine 3rd Wednesday Various 10.30–12.00 A (pm) & B (am) 2.00–3.30

Geology Christine Prior 4th Monday ‘Phone 10.00–12.00 Nick Marriner-Kyle

Handicrafts Janet Roebuck 1st, 2nd & 3rd ‘Phone 2.00– Groups 1, 2 & 3 Wednesdays

History/Archaeology Molly Milner 3rd Friday Reading Room 2.30–4.00 George Hunter From January 2017: Hilary Goodchild

Holidays & Outings Sheila Tunstall Various Various Various

Literary Appreciation Jenni Thackwray Last Thursday ‘Phone 10.00–

Music Group 1 Bill Parkinson 3rd Friday ‘Phone 2.00–4.30

Music Group 3 Jim Trimmer Last Friday ‘Phone 2.30–4.30

Music Group 5 Janet Williams 2nd Thursday ‘Phone 2.00–4.00

Music Group 6 Pam Buckingham 2nd Monday ‘Phone 2.30–4.30

Patchwork for Val Pullen Third Friday ‘Phone 10.00–12.00 Beginners

Poetry Mavis Rimmer 2nd Monday ‘Phone 2.00–4.30

Play Reading Pam Clark 2nd Friday Reading Room 2.00–4.00

Reading Ann Goold 4th Thursday ‘Phone 10.30– Not Sept or Dec

Singles/Dining Valerie Welford Fortnightly Various

Swimming Anne Marie Lord Monday Risborough 2.00–3.00 Thursday Springs 10.00–11.15 Friday Pool 10.00–11.00

Walks:Long Walks Ray & Christine Barnett 1st Tuesday Various 10.00–1.00

Walks: Mixed Walks Peter Hetherington 3rd Tuesday Various 10.00–

Walks: Short Walks Graham Stone 2nd Wednesday Various Summer 2– Not December Winter 1–3

Walks: Strollers Valerie Edwards 1st Friday ‘Phone 11.00

Printed by Adlam Reprographics, Princes Risborough

THE NEWSLETTER OF CHINNOR & DISTRICT U3AThe Editor, Krystyna Hewitt, Email:...

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