December 2018

Wishing You All

A Very Merry Christmas

And A Happy New Year

from West Bridgford U3A

2 December 2018

IN SEARCH OF ROBIN HOOD

The intrepid members of WBU3A Orienteering Group fared no better than the Sheriff of Not-tingham in tracking down Robin Hood, during their recent visit to Sherwood Forest. Little John's wife and the orienteering con-trol posts proved some-what easier to locate! John

As a Yorkshireman by marriage, I am obliged to point out that Robin Hood hailed from Doncaster (South Yorkshire), and is buried in Hartshead churchyard (just out-side Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire). A genuine Tyke! So not surprising they could not find him down here in Notts.

Ed

3 December 2018

Pat’s Page Welcome everyone to the Christmas edition of the newsletter. Membership There is a continuing demand for organisa-tions such as the U3A in Rushcliffe. There are now U3As in Bingham, Cotgrave, Edwal-ton and Gamston, Keyworth and District, Radcliffe- on- Trent and Ruddington. West Bridgford now has over 800 members and Ruddington U3A, which started just a few months ago, already has over 100 members. Yet, I still come across people who have never heard of the U3A and what it does. Volunteers The ethos of the U3A is that we do everything for ourselves, by our-selves. This is one of our many strengths, but it also relies on mem-bers to come forward and volunteer to help. This can take many forms from helping at Open Meetings, to organising groups or joining the executive committee. With our growing membership, we need more members to come forward to help. The more people volunteer to help in any capacity, the better for eve-ryone. So, if you have time to spare, just contact one of the commit-tee members to talk about where you can help. Newsletter Distribution As you know we have changed the way we distribute the newsletter over the last few months. We now have an outside organisation which prints and then posts them directly to you. This is just one of the ways we try to improve what we do and how we do it. If you have any ideas on how we could make West Bridgford U3A better for our members, just let me or another committee mem-ber know. Have a Happy Christmas

Pat Chairperson

wbu3achair@gmail.com 0115 914 6670

4 December 2018

All WBU3A members are invited to join us for the Gardening Group coach trip and show visit on Thursday 25th April 2019

Tickets cost £32 each, including luxury coach return travel, pick up from Bridgford Road at 0800, admission to Harrogate Spring Flower Show, and a tip for the driver. Advance booking is essential.

Contact Heather- 0115 983 0942

WHAT’S ON AROUND THE GROUPS

The Hound of the

Baskervilles

adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson

Hilarious stage adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel.

Lacemarket Theatre Saturday, 15 December 2.30 pm

Standard £12 Concession £11 Buy tickets at the Theatre Table at the next Open Meeting. Or telephone Liz 0115 9145642 or Chris 0115 7529537

5 December 2018

MORE GROUP NEWS

ORIENTEERING WALKS

No walk in December

Tuesday 22nd January - Hermitage, Coalville, Leicestershire.

February walk TBA

John (07721 538057)

REMARKABLE WOMEN

From the first mass petition for women’s suffrage in 1866 over 16,000 petitions were presented to Parliament until 1918, when women over 30 with property qualification won the vote, but it wasn’t until 1928 that all women achieved equal voting rights with men.

So how did political parties adapt to appeal to women voters? Who were the first female MPs? How did the campaign to advance women’s rights continue in the 20th Century?

These are the questions explored in our next meeting on Thursday 17 January at 2 pm, WBBCH.

Contact Pat on 0115 914 6670

6 December 2018

SINGING FOR FUN

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Come along and join us on Friday 14 December for a morning of Christ-mas songs and carols, with festive nibbles and Christmas jumpers.

Everyone is very wel-come to our morning of festive singing.

14 December is National Christmas Jumper Day, so why not get out your jingly top and flash

your baubles! 10:15 - 12 in the Baptist Church Hall, Musters Road.

7 December 2018

PAY ATTENTION AND SIT UP STRAIGHT!

I have the attention span of a gnat, so the thought of attending the U3A National Conference last August did not appeal to me at all. Sitting in serried ranks listen-ing to some old codger droning on reminds me too much of school assemblies. Anyway it was so hot in August that on doctor’s advice I had to stay wired up intravenously to a supply of cold lager.

But it turns out these conferences are actually quite interesting! On page 14 Joy draws your attention to a really helpful talk from the aforementioned conference. Take a look and be inspired.

It’s been suggested to me that our humble tome may be of interest to the Nottinghamshire County Archive. That may just have been someone’s not so subtle way of telling me that I’m a broken down dusty old relic, but apparently social historians love this sort of publi-cation, documenting as it does the goings on of voluntary bodies which would otherwise go unrecorded and unobserved.

I guess you have to wait a while though for what now seems mun-dane to become historically significant . So from now on I will do my best to ensure that the Newsletter accurately reflects the to-ings and fro-ings of us humble WBU3A folk in the early 21st century. Then in 10,000 years time when alien invaders from the planet Tharg have obliterated humanity from the face of the Earth, at least their historians will be able to read the WBU3A Newsletter and see what an interesting and fun loving species they have just destroyed.

And speaking of accuracy – my humble apologies go out to Malcolm who supplied the lovely article about the Ukulele Strummers in our October edition, but whose name got squeezed off the page thanks to my clumsy editing. I blame it on the lager. Salud!

Steve Degnan Editor

8 December 2018

MORE FROM AROUND THE GROUPS GARDENING

5 December Herbs and Spices from your garden– a talk. £4 inc’ ref’. 1.45 pm Bowls Club, Musters Rd.

19 December Mince Pies at Keith’s. 2 pm.

16 January GM Crops– an unbiased view Talk by Mike Davey £3.50 inc’ ref’. 2 pm Bowls Club

13 February Holme Pierrepoint Hall– see the snowdrops £10 tour coffee & cake. Car share 50p Set off 12.00 Kingston Road.

All dates Wednesdays. Heather 0115 983 0942. Keith 0115 982 0515

FRIDAY CYCLING

14 December Big Track & Christmas Meal 10 m start 10.00 Welbeck Rd. Pete 07828 647221

11 January Grantham 17m Graham & Christine 07803 123339

WEDNESDAY LUNCH CLUB

5 December George’s. Queens St. Nottingham Up-market fish & chips

19 December Rancliffe Arms. Bunny. Up-market carvery.

Contact Lorna 0115 982 2546

WEDNESDAY WALKS

12 December Discovering Gamston Walk followed by optional lunch at the Meadow Covert p h. Assemble there 10.00

David 0115 808 7074. Christine 07971 916367

PSYCHOLOGY GROUP

Sadly the group will not meet again after December. Our thanks to Ann for leading the group for many years and to all who have helped.

Liz

BIRDWATCHERS

Monday 10 December. Brandon Marsh, Warks. Expert leader. £10/£15 with transport. Pete 07828 647221 or Lynne 07811 707868 STOP PRESS– January trips now arranged- Old Moor Wetland Centre, Dearne Valley. Clumber Park.

9 December 2018

WBU3A COMMEMORATES ARMISTICE CENTENARY

The Social Committee hosted this special afternoon to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of the First World War.

Chris, former County Archivist told us poignant stories of local men who fought in the war. Chris told us about a collection of letters from the Great War given to the Archive by the grandson of Harold Priest-ley. These were letters sent from Harold on the Western Front back to his wife Eva in Hyson Green. Beautifully written, they convey the dreadful life in the trenches and can be read today at the Notting-hamshire Archive Centre in the City. Sadly, Harold was one of those who died in the War although his body has never been found.

Chris spoke of the projects he runs involving children in schools today and the respectful fascination the war holds for them.

Steve spoke about the role of the Trent Bridge cricket ground during the Great War. Like most of their generation, many cricketers volun-teered or were called up, and County Cricket was suspended “for the duration”. The pavilion and changing rooms at Trent Bridge were commandeered and used as a convalescent hospital. In all, over 2,000 soldiers were nursed there by “VADs”, the volunteer women nurses of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. The pitch at Trent Bridge was used for all manner of fundraising efforts. If you have any information or me-mentoes about the convalescent hospital or its patients and staff, Steve would be very pleased to hear from you.

We all appreciated the effort that the social committee had put into this event which was so worthwhile. And thanks to Sue for being such an admirable MC.

Carol

10 December 2018

MONDAY Venue When Leader Phone

10 am Bird Watching O 1st/3d M Pete 07828 647221

10 -12 Finding out about Music B 1st M John 0115 923 2819

10.30 -12 Writers’ Group O monthly Tony 0115 921 1451

1.30 Finding out about Musical Movies B 1st M Susan 0115 808 7074

1.30 -3 History B 4th M Carol 0115 841 1237

2-3.30 Table Tennis 2 O 1st/3d M Ann 0115 914 0255

2 -3.30 Discussion Group 2 O 2nd M Pat 0115 923 4285

2-4 Brush Up Your Bridge FULL 0 monthly Marian 0115 923 4552

2-4 Card Playing B 3rd M David 0115 808 7074

2-4 Traditional Games B 5thM qutly JanetPaul 0115 923 1352

TUESDAY

10-11 Yoga Type Exercise O weekly Elizabeth 0115 914 6941

10-11 Spanish Conversation O 1st/3dT Lawrie 0115 981 5308

10-11.30 Greeting Cards B 2nd T Joan 0115 981 8477

10-12 Art Appreciation B 2 wkly Heather 0115 923 2824

10– 12 Painting & Drawing w/list B 2 wkly Aileen 0115 981 9254

1.30 -3 The Study of Ballet O 1st T Auriol 0115 981 1449

2-3.30 Art History B 4th T Martin 0115 981 6433

2 –4 Quiz Group B 2nd T Andrew 0115 877 1446

2-3.30 Knit and Natter O 1st/3dT June 0115 981 9561

2-3.30 Photography B 1st T Paco 0115 923 3109

2.30 -4.30 Book Group J FULL O 2nd T Judith 0115 923 1539

2-4 Scrabble O 4th T David 0115 982 5360

2-4 Cryptic Crosswords O 3rd T Stephen 0115 914 0255

WEDNESDAY

10 am Short Walks O 2 wkly Christine 0115 974 3309

12.00 Lunch Club O 2 wkly Lorna 0115 982 2546

1.45-345 Dance Around the World B 1st/3dW Nora 0115 925 9726

2-3.30 Philosophy B 2 wkly Tony 0115 921 1451

2– 4 Book Group W O 3rd Wed Maureen 0115 923 3517

2 –4 Table Tennis B 2nd/4tW Glenys 0115 837 0932

3-4.30 Badminton w/list O Weekly Ian 0115 981 3110

7.30- 9. Jazz Appreciation O 3rd Wed Don 0115 982 0996

2-4.30 Gardening O 2 wkly Keith 0115 982 0515

2.30-4 Discussion Group 1 O 1st W Veronica 0115 923 1567

7 –8 French Conversation O 2 wkly Anne 0115 981 4196

11 December 2018

THURSDAY

9.30-3 Peak District Walking O 1st Thu Pete 07828 647221

10.- 12 Painting & Drawing w/list B Alt Thu Ron 0115 923 4176

10—12 Mah Jong w/list B 1st /3rd Thu Graham 0115 923 1376

10-12 Sailing for Pleasure O April to Oct’ Peter 07840 177972

10-12 Poetry Appreciation O 2nd Thur Joan 07881 718784

10.00 Hiking O 3rd Thu Richard 07857 243182

2- 4.30 Play Reading O 1st Thu Jacky 0115 933 2905

11-1 Guitar Players O 2 weekly Pete 07828 647221

2-4 Remarkable Women B 3rd Thu Pat 0115 914 6670

2-4 Scrabble O 2nd Thu David 0115 982 5360

2 – 4 Book Group AP w/list O 1st Thu Angela 0115 998 6679 2.30-430 First Editions Book Group O 2nd Thu Christine 0115 974 3309

2 - 4 Psychology FULL B 1st Thu Liz 0115 923 5464

2-4 Wine Tasting O varies Rod 0115 923 2019

2-4 Cryptic Crosswords O 1st /3rdThu Stephen 0115 914 0255

2-4 Ukulele w/list B 2/3rd Thu David 07771 515810

FRIDAY

10 am Longer Walks O 1st Fri Rita 07815 084413

10 am Longer Walks O 3rd Fri Liz & Ian 0115 923 1605

10 am Cycling O 2nd/4th Fri Peter 07828 647221

10-12 Latin O 2nd Fri Anne 0115 981 4196

1015-12 Singing for Fun B 2nd/4th Fri Sue 0115 986 4446

2 – 4. Science for Everyone B Last Fri Joseph 07760 458791

2-4 Rummikub B 1st/3rd Fri Cheryl 0115 877 1446

2-4 Patchworking & Quilting B 3rd Friday Hilary 07899 888408

SATURDAY

10..15 Holiday Companions FULL O 1st Sat Marian 0115 923 4552

VARIABLE

Jig-saw Puzzles B Open Meetings Hilary, Inez

Theatre & Concert Visits O Occasional Chris 0115 752 9537

9.30– 4 Orienteering Walking O 3rd M/4thTu John 07721 538057

B Baptist Church Hall. O Other location- refer to group

Steve Degnan - editor.u3awb@gmail.com 07443 596534

12 December 2018

A FESTIVE CROSSWORD from Sinclair

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9

10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20

21 22

23 24

25 26

Across: 1.Gives a false notion around France as bell spaces (8) 6.One hun-dred forte years is unclear (6) 9.Not explained before 3 down come on (13) 10.What records used to be made of (6) 11.Call pies for pimento (8) 13.Not anxious like the merry gentlemen (10) 15 Cancel United Nations party(4) 16 It gets hot with impatient desire (4)18.No lies or lapses for persuasive talk (5,5) 21.Directional telly is superficially brilliant (8) 22.South Eastern social engagement proves tranquil and dignified (6) 23.Anxiety after rest in con-servative people group (13) 25.Aromatic evergreen shrub with white flowers (6) 26.After ABC Pope’s representative is sent to a conference (8) Down:- 2.Son in lieu escapes me (7) 3.Outdoor decoration at Christmas (5,6) 4.Slide runs slowly (5) 5.Brief account sounds warm (7) 6.Infers from swindle with five hundred clues (9) 7.Unconscious (3) 8.Reasoned that back-ward intentional act contains half digested food (7) 12.Rich fruit boiled up at Christmas with a lump inside (4,7) 14.Some let it become a parasitic plant (9) 17.16 across contained by moving involuntarily (7) 19.Successive slices from squirrels nest and beer (7) 20. Index tinctures no longer exist (7) 22.Direction to specified height plays for time (5) 24.Irreducible price (3) Solution on Page 17

13 December 2018

UKULELE STRUMMERS WAY OUT WEST

In November the WBU3A Ukulele Strummers gathered in WBBC hall for a Friends & Family concert. Sporting Western dress the band kicked off with a rousing rendition of Alexander’s Rag - Time Band, followed by numerous tunes from the past. The Happy Wanderer proved a big hit as our band leader swapped his Stetson for authen-tic Swiss attire. Everybody had a jolly good sing song and left on a high note, with Bring Me Sunshine ringing in their ears. Thanks to all who contributed towards the grand sum of £243.85 raised for the BBC Children In Need appeal. A most enjoyable afternoon.

Reg

VINCE EAGER

You’re Never Too Old To

Rock n’ Roll!

A talk by Rushcliffe’s very own rock n’ roll recording star. He performed with

some of the all time greats in the hey day of the British

beat explosion.

Open Meeting Thursday 20 December. Doors 1.45. Talk 2.30.

Be there or be square!

14 December 2018

STILL COMPLETELY PUZZLED

The Cryptic Crossword Group have been meeting on Thursday afternoons twice monthly for a year now, in the Test Match pub in West Bridgford.

Most of the time we spend solving crosswords from a variety of newspapers, in a social setting to cater for crossworders with all levels of experience, so don’t be afraid of joining us!

Some of us have also ventured into setting our own crosswords, one of which has appeared in the newsletter, and we are working towards one for the national magazine – maybe!

We are also contacting other U3A groups with a view to exchanging crosswords and ideas; at the mo-ment we are ‘twinned’ with Edin-burgh and Verulamium (St. Al-bans) and have sent them one of ours and worked (successfully) on solving one of theirs.

Stephen

IT’S ONLY UP THE ROAD!

Besides our very own WBU3A Singing for Fun group performing, there were lots of other interesting events at the U3A National Conference in August . Here is a link to the slides of the presentation given by Professor Janice Thompson entitled "Moving + Eating Well = Ageing Well". It provides sensible and well-evidenced advice on exactly how much exercise or just movement will keep you going and explodes many trendy myths about what we should be eating. See: https://conference.u3a.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/10/Janice-Thompson-speaker.pdf

You can find all the 2018 conference materials on the U3A website: https://conference.u3a.org.uk/workshops/

The National Conference is held every year in August at the East Mid-lands Conference Centre, Nottingham University. All U3A members are welcome to attend for a modest fee! You don’t have to stay over.

Joy

15 December 2018

DRIVE ON! Drive safely for longer

Over 50 WBU3A drivers took the plunge and attended this course. We tested our knowledge of all those pesky Highway Code rules we learned way back when the roads were mostly empty, and all you had to master was a three point turn! And it was great fun!

There were quizzes: what year were front seat belts made compulsory? Why was the urban speed limit set at 30 mph? What is the national speed limit on a single carriageway rural road? What are all those strange signs on "smart" motorways these days?

And information: what changes can we expect as we get older? Eyesight in particular will limit our abilities to drive at night, especially on unlit roads where the pupil constantly has to accommodate total darkness then full car headlights. Maybe we can simply avoid those enormous roundabouts on trunk roads and take a back way or approach from a different direction to avoid that horrendous right turn where no-one can decide who has priority?

This event was designed to give advice to prolong our abilities to keep driving - most of all, just keep doing it as long and as often as you can to keep your hand in. There were displays of aids to make driving more comfortable, make getting out of the car easier, a stand from Kwik Fit with advice on tyre pressures and depths (and free goody bags) and a table where we could check just how much alcohol is in a "unit". My pour-at-home G and Ts are approaching a triple!

After a session from a former police driver and now driving instructor, we were offered the chance of a free observed half hour with an Ap-proved Driving Instructor in our own cars who would help us be confi-dent in our abilities and pick up any areas where we may have got

into bad habits. He was almost knocked down in the rush! Thanks to the Nottinghamshire Road Safety Partnership who worked so hard to entertain us. We shall run the event again (if it remains available), prob-ably later in 2019.

Joy

16 December 2018

MORE FROM AROUND THE GROUPS

POETRY APPRECIATION

Thursday 13 December FAMILY Let's face it we’ll probably be seeing quite a lot of them over the fes-tive season so, love or hate, let's celebrate them with some poetry.

Thursday 10 January TRANSPORT Why not make it your New Year's resolution to give us a try?

Please contact Joan on 0115 7526159 or 07881 718784.

FINDING OUT ABOUT MUSIC Please note the group now only meet on the first Monday of the month So that’s 3 December and then the first meeting in 2019 is on 7 January.

Do come along or give us a call.

John and Barbara 0115 923 2819

PEAK DISTRICT RAMBLERS 10 January Winster to Nine Ladies Dancing, Birchover & Stanton Moor Leader John 5m.

If you would like to join a walk, please contact Pete 07828 647221

17 December 2018

Festive Crossword Solution Across:- 1.Belfries 6.cloudy 9.unilluminated 10.vinyls 11.allspice 13.undismayed 15.undo 16.itch 18.sales spiel 21.tinselly 22.sedate 23.consternation 25 myrtle 26.delegate.Down:- 2.Elusion 3.fairy lights 4.idles 5.summary 6.concludes 7.out 8.deduced 12.plum pud-ding 14.mistletoe17.twitchy 19.layered 20.extinct 22.stall 24.net.

QUIZ NIGHT

Monday 14 January 6.30 pm. Bowls Club, Musters Road. Fish & chips supper £7. BYO drinks. Booking form on website, or contact Sue - or Joy - 0115 981 3357

The social committee is in constant need of volunteers and new ideas. If you think you can help in any way, great or small, over a longer term or just for one project, please get in touch.

TOUR OF BBC NOTTINGHAM STUDIOS

In October, WBU3A visited BBC Nottingham. Radio presenter Jo Da-vies gave us a very interesting tour. We sat in the East Midlands To-day studio where meteorologist Anna Church– explained how she presents the weather. Verity Cowley invited us into her studio whilst she presented the Drive Time radio programme. We all left with good-ie bags and a good time was had by all.

Louise

18 December 2018

Visit our website at https://u3asites.org.uk/west-bridgford/home West Bridgford U3A is a registered charity no. 130962 .

WBU3A Committee Members

Pat Chairperson

0115 914 6670 wbu3achair @gmail.com

Carol Secretary

07767 154172 wbu3asec @gmail.com

Lynn Vice chair, Groups co- Ordinator

0115 981 2758

Bob Treasurer

0115 923 3455 Wbu3atreasurer @gmail.com

Irene

0115 982 0918

Tony Membership Sec.

0115 921 1451 wbu3amembers @gmail.com

Pushpamal 07538 919099

Brian Equipment Technician

07761 094170 wbu3atech @gmail.com

Paco Vice chair, New members

0115 923 3109

Linda 0115 981 1663

Steve Degnan Newsletter editor 07443 596534

editor.u3awb @gmail.com

19 December 2018

GALAPAGOS ADVENTURE

(continued from page 20).

A blue footed booby fed its chick within a metre of us. We saw an iguana us-ing its “paw” to re-move prickly pear spines before eat-ing. Along one trail we literally stepped over land iguanas and lava lizards. Mocking birds, yel-low warblers and ground finches hopped at our feet. Seeing the breeding site of the waved

albatross and each island’s unique species of mocking birds and finch-es were absolute delights. With frigate birds, shearwaters and brown pelicans circling our boat, there was always something to watch. Snorkelling with turtles and small sharks was amazing. Our boat was a converted minesweeper, with a fantastic chef. Wow did we eat well!

Then onto mainland Ecuador with its lush rain forests and perilous “roads”. Here the birds were more plentiful and brightly coloured. Who could forget seeing nineteen species of humming birds in an hour, watching the cock-of-the-rock lek, meet-ing the famous “antpitta man”, the sight of a ju-venile Lyre-tailed Night-jar snuggled up to its mother, the roosting oilbirds, or the trip high into the mountains to see the condors?

Finally we headed home, with fond memo-ries of our encounters with the rich wildlife of Ecuador and its islands.

Terry

20 December 2018

WBU3A BIRDERS’ TRIP TO

GALAPAGOS & ECUADOR

Our first day was spent on the most inhab-ited island where we saw giant tortoises

ambling freely and visited the Darwin centre. Little did we know that would be our last taste of “civilisation” for a week.

Las Islas Galapagos are unique with volcanic is-lands, some with no vege-tation, some carpeted in multi-coloured succulents, others covered in dead wood (which comes alive when the rains hit!). We made some very wet landings from pangas (open boats), with visits carefully planned to en-sure minimum impact on the environment.

We were supposed to keep two metres from the wildlife but clearly no

one had told the animals that! The seal pups were very curious, and a night heron strutted through our midst to get to its crab meal. A Galapagos hawk was close enough to touch (We didn’t, hon-est!). Continued page 19.