Transcript of Garforth, Kippax & District newsletter
News & Events in August and September 3
Local Interest Groups 3
August Speaker report 3-5
Local History Titbits 5
Down Memory Lane 5-6
Events 6-8 Garden Corner from Incredible Edible 8
Puzzle Corner 9-11
Information from Speaker talks &
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10th Issue Welcome to this issue.
Throughout this newsletter we refer to our Garforth, Kippax &
District UA website.
Important Message from the Committee
Our AGM will be held on Wednesday 1st September at 1:30 via Zoom.
This decision is due to
the rise in infection rates. The meeting will contain short reports
supplied by the interest
groups, reports from key committee roles, election of committee,
short quiz and general dis-
cussion.
Important note: All committee members must be nominated and elected
each year and
generally serve for a lifespan of three consecutive years. At least
two of the committee are
not standing for re-election this year, therefore it is essential
that new volunteers please
come forward to assist in the running of our u3a. New members will
be mentored by
another committee member.
The committee are also looking for a minute taker (who does not
have to be a full committee
member). Anyone interested in this—please talk to Susan Isley, our
committee Secretary .
Please remember all nominations must be with the Secretary at least
28 days prior to the
AGM, which this year would mean no later than 4th August .
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Zoom events in August and September include:
Wednesday 4th August: General Meeting, our speaker will be from
Carers Leeds, giving us an insight to their services; a general
invite will be sent to all UA members. 1.30pm
Wednesday 18th August: Quiz, hosted by the Quiz group: a general
invite will be sent to all UA members. 1.30pm
Wednesday 1st September: General Meeting & AGM: a general
invite will be sent to all UA members. 1.30pm
Wednesday 15th September: Quiz, hosted by the Quiz group: a general
invite will be sent to all UA members. 1.30pm As all of the
interest groups have access to the paid version of Zoom, can
convenors please contact Graham Isley to book a time and to
organise ID and passwords that will be required to be sent to all
participants. If any of our members have a suggestion for speakers
at our monthly meeting please con- tact our Speaker Co-ordinator
Sandra Daly via the website. If contact details are available, or
where you have seen the topic/presenter, then please include these
in your email.
Our local Interest Groups Round-Up
For information on any of our interest groups, check the website,
speak with, or, send a message to the group convenor via the web-
site For Convenors: Any updates for any of your groups? Drop us a
line or two please. Entries for our next newsletter need to be with
one of the Editors by Wednesday 22 August 2021.
Art Group: Topics for August are: 10 Aug 21 Autumn Woodland 24 Aug
21 Cute : Bookworms: If you follow our fb group, you will be aware
that Bookworms have been meeting in mem- bers gardens as per Covid
guidelines. Please contact their convenor Judith Huntridge, via the
website, if you wish to know more. Easy Cycling Group
We have now had 6 group rides around the Garforth area and further
afield. We average between 3 to 6 riders each time and vary the
days and times that we go, to try and make sure everyone is
included. Our mileage varies from 5 to 12 miles and we focus on
off-road cycling, on bridleways and tracks wherever possible,
although do use quiet roads when needed. If anyone wants to give it
a try but is unsure, do get in touch. Everyone is welcome and
no-one is left behind! Dave Swindells, Convenor Walking Netball The
sports hall at Kippax Leisure Centre, is not currently available
(it was being utilised as part of the city Covid Response
purposes). The manager advises it is anticipated the hall will be
available from September.
Monthly Meeting Talk by Martin Lee from Active Leeds
Martin Lee is the Health Programme Manager for ‘Active Leeds’ with
responsibility for deliv- ering a number of programmes throughout
Leeds City Council areas, including the Gar- forth based Active
Travel Project that some may know about. Active Leeds manages all
Leisure centres across the city, which forms 80% of their
work.
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‘Active Leeds for Health’ has four main areas: Health Referral,
Falls Prevention, Keep Mov- ing, Enhanced Weight Management.
Referrals to programmes are around good mental well- being, social
connectivity and improving physical health. The team look
specifically at walking and structured activities linked to re-
habilitation pathways supporting ‘cardiac re- hab’, weight
management, falls programme and mental problems.
‘Health referral’ is a Health Coaching pro- gramme, supporting and
coaching individuals to enable people to make changes. Referral is
via healthcare professionals, but self- referrals can be accepted.
The major referral partners in the programme are One You Leeds and
Live Well Leeds. ‘Falls Prevention’, normally run at Garforth NET,
is specifically for people who have either had a fall, are frail
and fear falling or have re- duced mobility due to COVID. Aqua and
Hydrotherapy classes were added for those that are severely
frail.
‘Keep Moving’ is a combination of gentle ex- ercise programmes
aimed at people with health or musculoskeletal conditions, re-
duced mobility or COVID rehab; they run for a number of weeks and
then hopefully the individuals graduate to mainstream activity. The
nearest programme to Garforth is at John Smeaton. Programmes were
delivered re- motely during lockdown; initially by leaflet, moving
to personal support via telephone/ Zoom, DVD and classes via
Zoom.
‘Enhanced Weight Management’, their new- est programme, is planned
to start in Sep- tember, with funding for a year. This may in-
volve referral to local weight management groups.
Martin addressed a few member questions about the nature of
activities and how these have been affected by the infection
preven- tion measures
‘The Active Travel Project’ is looking to im- prove active travel
in LS25/26. The aim being to try to get people to make a ‘mode
shift’ from cars towards walking/cycling/scooting and is based on a
’20-minute neighbourhood concept’, allowing people to be able to
access all healthcare, supermarkets/shops, schools and leisure in
that time. Barriers to these were said to be poor health, inability
to carry shopping, time, traffic, poor bus timings and poor
infrastructure including lack of cycle lanes and paths. Solutions
thought possible within the limited funds available were iden-
tified as encouraging Walking and cycling groups, installing Bike
locks in public, ‘Time to’ signposting, encouraging health improve-
ments places, campaign for kids and families and advertising
walking /cycle programmes. Martin asked what our top 3 would be.
There were a few comments which Martin has not- ed. This also
raised discussion around a leaflet issued by Kippax Co-op/Kippax
Parish Council including walks/paths around the Parish. Following
on from Martin’s talk: - Dave Swindells and his wife Marion made
en- quiries at Garforth Leisure Centre where they met Gary, one of
the duty managers. Gary was enthusiastic about encouraging mature
adults to use the centre and interested to hear about the workings
of u3a. Gary offered some suggestions from the cur- rent activities
programme that might be of interest to our members: Hatha Yoga,
Kettle- bells and perhaps Clubbercise. He also point- ed out two
sessions on Fridays: Active Bal-
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ance and Functional Fitness, and mentioned that, in addition to the
centre led activities, an indoor bowls group meets regularly on the
upper floor viewing platform. Links to Active Leeds and other
helpful advice on walking/cycling around the local are in- cluded
at the end of the newsletter.
Blue Plaques Around Leeds
This issue’s Blue Plaque feature is very well known, following
Leeds City Varieties gain-
ing national fame as the venue for the long- running BBC TV
programme The Good Old Days. This was broadcast live from there be-
tween 1953 and 1983, as a recreation of an old-time musical hall
evening, with Leonard Sachs as the voluble and effervescent Chair-
man. The venue still presents ‘Good Old Days’ music hall evenings
in the Spring and Autumn each year, as well as a yearly pantomime
and a regular programme of stand-up comedy and music events.
Famous artists who have appeared at Leeds City Varieties include,
Harry Houdini, Charlie Chaplin, Marie Lloyd, Eartha Kitt, Les
Dawson, Ken Dodd and John Inman. More recently, the film star
Russell Crowe had a seat named in his honour, when visiting Leeds.
(You might be interested to know Russell is also a keen Leeds
United footballer supporter!)
The City Varieties was built in 1865, as an extension to the White
Swan Inn in Swan Street, just off Briggate, in the ‘old centre’ of
Leeds by local pub landlord and benefactor Charles Thornton. It
underwent several name changes over the years as the venue was
bought and sold and is a rare surviving exam-
ple of a Victorian era music hall. In fact the City Varieties has
remained virtually un- changed since the late 19th century and is
re- garded as a Leeds hidden gem and has the Guinness World Record
for the nation’s long- est running music hall. The ‘Clog Dancing
World Championship has also been held at City Varieties in the
past!
City Varieties is a Grade II Listed Building and the Theatres Trust
says, ‘What is seen today would appear to be the 1865 hall,
possibly incorporating earlier fabric, and still more or less in
its 1888 form. It is one of the most im- portant early grand music
survivals, compara- ble in rarity and completeness with both Hox-
ton Hall and Wilton’s Hall in London and the Glasgow
Britannia’.
The City Varieties Hall is 72 feet long, 36 feet wide and 30 feet
high and has been described as having excellent acoustical
properties. There’s a spacious retir- ing room for perform- ers,
plus various dress- ing rooms immediately behind the stage. Barring
a much-needed facelift in 2009-11 and the current pandemic, Leeds
City Varie- ties has never closed her doors. Audiences from far and
wide still flock to see stars from comedy, music, variety and
pantomime con- tinue to perform on her stage. The Leeds Civ- ic
Trust blue plaque is sited on the wall by the entrance to this
truly ‘one off’ historic venue.
Down Memory Lane In this issue, we’re concentrating on just one
year, to test your memory! Pop Music in 1965 – did you know? •
Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones came up with the famous guitar
riff for
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‘Satisfaction’ when he woke up from a deep sleep and sang the riff
into a tape recorder and then went back to sleep again! • The
unofficial anthem ‘Flower of Scot- land’ was only written in 1965.
• In the same year Bob Dylan said if he ev- er sold out to a
commercial interest, it would be in ‘ladies’ garments’. In 2007 he
and his music appeared in the lingerie company Vic- toria’s Secret
commercial! • The pop singer Bobby Darin was an ad- vocate for
civil rights in the US and participat- ed in a civil rights march
to Alabama. • In 1965 Pete Best (the original Beatles drummer
before Ringo Starr) released an al- bum called ‘Best of the
Beatles’, which con- tained no Beatles music but fooled so many
people into buying it that it was investigated for consumer fraud.
The case was dropped, because no fraud had been committed, as he
was actually ‘Best, of the Beatles’. • Hit pop songs of 1965
included ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Broth- ers,
‘California Girls’ by the Beach Boys and most popular of all was
‘Satisfaction’ by the Rolling Stones. • One of Aretha Franklin’s
most popular songs ‘Respect’ is actually a cover, as it was
originally recorded by Otis Redding. • The Beatles’ album ‘Rubber
Soul’ was released in 1965. • Other hit songs in 1965 included
‘Crying in the Chapel by Elvis Presley, ‘I’ll Never Find Another
You’ by the Seekers, ‘Tears’ by Ken Dodd, ‘Go Now’ by the Moody
Blues’ and ‘Tired of Waiting for You’ by The Kinks. • The lyrics of
the song ‘Turn, Turn, Turn, by the US group the Byrds are taken
almost exactly from the Book of Ecclesiastes, in the Old Testament,
in the King James Bible. • The Who released their first single ‘I
Can’t Explain’ • The Animals recorded ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This
Place’ in 1965, as a follow-up to their hit ‘House Of The Rising
Sun’ of the year before.
Cover page Icons
August, the eight month of the year and the sixth month of the
Roman cal- endar. The Romans called the month Sextilis, which means
six. Eight years before the birth of Jesus the name of the month
was changed to
Augustus in honour of the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar because
many of the im- portant evets in his life happened around that time
of year. Anglo-Saxons called it ‘Weod monath,’ which means weed
month (because it is the month when weeds and other plants grow
rapidly). In a standard year, no other month begins on the same day
of the week as August, except in leap years when it begins same day
of the week as February. In the northern hemisphere, August is
consid- ered to be the last month of summer. August the 1st is
Lammas Day - the start of the Lammas Festival (Thanksgiving/Harvest
time). The name comes from Anglo-Saxon word Hlafmaesse which means
Loaf Mass. Lammas Day also used to be a time for fore- telling
marriages and trying out partners. Two people would agree to a
trial marriage lasting the period of the fair (usually 11 days) to
see whether they were really suited for wedlock. At the end the
fair if they didn’t get on they could part! People would go to
church to give thanks for the first crops be- ing harvested and
Farmers mak- ing loaves from the new wheat crop, giving these to
the church where they were used as the Communion bread during
special mass of
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thanks. The custom ended when Henry VIII broke away from the
Catholic Church. Today, harvest festivals are at the end of the
season. (Michaelmas Day – 29 September is tradition- ally the last
day of the harvest season. Other UK festivals include:
Firstly, the most important to many of our members -’Yorkshire Day’
! on 1st August, the start of the Grouse season (the glorious
12th), Edinburgh Festival and the Royal Na- tional
Eisteddfod—
And, last but not least, Leeds and Nottinghill Carnivals .
‘Yorkshire Day ‘originated as a military holiday with its roots
stemming the emanci- pation of slaves in 1834, a few military cus-
toms and some protests about losing York- shire’s cultural
identity. The military custom involves light infantry (originally
as Minden Day), although later joined by five other regi- ments in
this tradition. The military permitted the regiments to wear a rose
in their head- dress; although the original Light Infantry use a
white rose instead of the standard red rose.
The emancipation anniversary is cel- ebrated in the honour of
William Wilberforce, whom successful- ly campaigned for the
emancipation. The cultural iden- tity protests were against the
Local Government re-organization of Yorkshire in 1974. Yet with
such a long and diverse history of changes, Yorkshire has kept
itself from changing, keeping it’s old world appeal and aesthetic
as the Day has become more and more known world-wide.
To follow tradition, the ‘Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity’ needs
to be read out to declare the boundaries of which the County, and
City, of Yorkshire, exist and prosper. The entire declaration is
aimed towards solidifying the ties to one’s compatriots, to uphold
tradition and not let any person or body change that. In the City
of York, the Declaration is made four times by the Yorkshire
Ridings Society. Other historical August events: 55BC: Julius
Caesar and his army landed in Britain 79AD: Mount Vesuvius erupted
burying the city of Pompeii and its remaining residents 1492:
Columbus set sail from the Canaries 1762: The first-ever sand- wich
was created. 1774: Joseph Priestly discov- ered Oxygen in the
Laboratory at Bowood House, Wiltshire 1914: The start of WW1 1945:
End of WWII & VJ Day (victory over Ja- pan) 1962: Jamaica
gained independence after be- ing a British Colony for 300
years
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1963: In the UK - Great Train Robbery, and in the in US: Martin
Luther King Jr gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.
1964: Josef Jakob, a German spy during WWII is the last person to
be executed at the Tower of Lon- don, and Britain carried out the
last executions of convicted mur- derers in Liverpool and Manches-
ter prisons before the abolition
of capital punishment. 1966: Francis Chichester left Plymouth on
the first successful attempt to sail single handed around the world
on his yacht Gypsy Moth IV 1977: Elvis Presley left the world
behind.
1987: Corporal punishment was banned in schools 1997: Princess
Diana sadly lost her life fol- lowing a car accident in Paris
Garden Corner: From Incredible Edible
Now is a great time to be thinking about what veg to sow to keep
you going over the winter months and get sowing. Veg like har- dier
brassicas (sowing cabbage now avoids the cabbage white butterfly
peak) and are then ready in Spring. There's also spring greens,
turnips, Chinese greens (Pak choi, mi- zuna, leaf mustard etc).
Keep things well watered during the hotter weather and reflect on
what does well with
less water and where. This is a great tip for future years facing
climate issues where wa- ter might be minimal. Planting leafy
greens densely, such as broad- cast sowing bulls blood beetroot
leaf or sorrel will help shade the soil and reduce evapora- tion.
Look into tree guilding to provide areas of different habitats and
beneficial compan- ion planting too. Keep an eye out for ladybirds
moving in to protect your plants from greenfly. Try to find balance
in your garden and let nature move in to help. Keep picking sweet
peas to keep them flowering and keep picking any fruit such as
tayberries and raspberries. You can al- ways freeze them for
topping porridge in winter. If you find it hard to sit still when
you can see all the tasks that need doing, take a moment to breathe
and make a list. It's so important to be a mindful gardener - it
helps you to en- joy just being surrounded by the beautiful space
you've created and learn for future years too.
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Puzzle Corner
Quick Quiz Questions Quiz by Penny Brighten from Quiz Group. An-
swers will be published in our next issue.
Answers from Issue 9
Sudoku - Issue 10
Charles I?
probocscis?
3 Which actress starred in the films ‘The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie’ and A Room with a View’?
4 Who had a 1986 hit with Addicted To
Love?
5 What is the latitude of the equator?
6 Who is the hero of John Buchan’s novel The Thirty-Nine
Steps?
7 Of which Central American country is
Managua the capital?
8 Who said: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ in the Bible?
9 What is a moving staircase called?
10 Trent Bridge is the home ground of
which county cricket team?
5 3 6 7
8 5 2 4
9 1 3 2 6
3 1
4 5 9 3 8
1 5 7 2
8 1 4 7
Crossword solution for Issue 9
Now, have you wanted to formulate a puzzle? Please contact us via
the links on the website and we will publish it in a future issue!
Quiz: Submit 10 questions and answers Sudoku: Submit a completed
puzzle, clearly marking the numbers you wish placed as a
starting point in red Crossword: Submit your crossword grid with
clues and answers
F R A N C I S C A P R I
A L O A S H S O N
C L O W N E D A L O O F
E N I I R D E
D E A F S A M P L E R
C E M E R
A M P E R E C H A S T E
V R R O D
A C O N I T E O W L S
L N C K O D
I R O N S A M E N I T Y
E U U R N R R E
R I N S E T A S S E L S
Crossword solution for Issue 8 (included with issue 9 owing to an
error in issue 8)
M Y S T E R I O U S P
O A O D E I
B U R N C O D I C I L S
N G K I R O
I G N O R E T R E A T Y
E D R Y T
F R E S H T E M P O
T M A D R
G R O U S E O P E N E R
U D D C D S
M I L I T A N T G L E N
N E L O E N
S D I S C R E D I T S
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Crossword Issue 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9
10 11
25
CRYPTIC Across 1 Film manufacture (10) 8 Use spoon and Jug (4) 9
Fashionable and well-known (notorious in fact!) (8) 10 Short of
cash – difficult acquiring increase (4,2) 11 Competitor often flat
out? (6) 12 Tuber available in many a market (3) 13 He has right to
performing bird (5) 15 Thick – needs to be sorted out (5) 17 To
relieve thus won’t evoke appreciation! (3) 19 Is felt to have
suffocating effect (6) 21 Time of year flower should be on the way
(6) 23 Unattached and, it’s said, tactful (8) 24 Forget to order it
(4) 25 Determinedly organise trolley use (10) Down 2 Fierce
struggle – deciding first to leave sinking ship? (3.4) 3
Challenged, are confined by theologian (5) 4 What cheerful and
lively bird sounds like? (6) 5 Failing in business (6) 6 Someone
must think he’s suitable (7) 7 Put out, but nothing used? (5)
14 Policeman one with major re- sponsibility? (7) 16 Place is maybe
exceptional (7) 17 Is revolting – they all are! (6) 18 Happened to
be a stretch of moorland (6) 20 They can be very similar links (5)
22 Descriptive of a fatty drink (5) COFFEE-TIME Across 1 Making
(10) 8 Get Moving (4) 9 Of ill-repute (8) 10 Lacking money (4,2) 11
Carpet Strip (6) 12 Sweet potato (3) 13 Wading Bird (5) 15 Stupid
(5) 17 Steal from (3) 19 Suppress (6) 21 Festival (6) 23 Separate
(8) 24 Miss out (4) 25 Firmly (10) Down 2 Competitive battle (3,4)
3 Was bold enough (5) 4 Perky (6) 5 Weak (6) 6 Candidate (7) 7
Quench (5) 14 Forces man (7) 16 Particular (7) 17 Rises against (6)
18 Came about (6) 20 Pair born together (5) 22 Kind of beer
(5)
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Garforth, Kippax & District U3A - Using our Facebook
pages
Garforth, Kippax & District U3A has two presences on Facebook –
Our Facebook page and our
Facebook group.
The page address is https://www.facebook.com/garforthkippaxu3a and
following this link will take you initially to the Home page as
shown here.
The page, which is visible to any Facebook user, is intended
primarily to present Gar- forth, Kippax & District U3A to the
outside world. So, if anyone (typically one of our interest groups
but any U3A member may do this) wants to put something out to the
whole Facebook world then this is where it should go. Please ensure
that this is something that people outside our U3A should
see.
The best way to do this would be to post the material to the page
yourself. Do this by clicking/tapping the Create Post button seen
the lower-right of the illustration and then typing or pasting the
text content as usual on Facebook. Photos and other graphics may
also be added in the usual way. Note that your post won’t be
visible to anyone else until it has been approved by page
admin.
The page administrators are currently:
Heather Dobson
Graham Isley
Isobel Todd
You may contact page admin by clicking/tapping the Send Message
button which is visible to the right of the illustration.
See next page for details of the Facebook Group
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The group address is
https://www.facebook.com/groups/348310975725681 and following this
link will take you initially to the Discussion page as shown
here.
Unlike our Facebook page described above, our Facebook group is a
private group so is visible only to Facebook mem- bers who have
applied to join and have been admitted to it.
Important
Only members of Garforth, Kippax & Dis- trict U3A are admitted
as members of our Facebook group and anything posted on there will
be visible only to our U3A mem- bers. It is therefore intended for
private sharing and conversation between our own U3A members so if
you want to post something that is intended only for our members
then this is where to put it but, you have to be a member of the
group to do this.
To join our Facebook group, which is open to all our U3A members,
then go to the group ad- dress at the top of this section and apply
to join.
Feel free to invite someone to join our facebook group (not our U3A
which is another matter) and you may do this as for any Facebook
group by clicking/tapping the Invite button. However, please
remember that only members of Garforth, Kippax & District U3A
are admitted as mem- bers of our Facebook group so invite only our
U3A members. If you invite a non-member to join the group then
sorry but the invitation will be declined by admin.
Once you have joined our Facebook group then you’ll find that this
works like any other. To post something click/tap What’s on your
mind [your name] and proceed as described above for posting on our
page but unlike our page, your post will be visible to all members
of the Face- book group once you have click/tapped the Post
button.
Important
Before posting on our group for the first time please read our
rules and bear them in mind when posting or commenting on a post.
To see the rules click/tap About and scroll down to Group rules
from the admin. These are the “standard” rules recommended by
Facebook. Hope you enjoy using our Facebook page and group.
Hope you enjoy using our Facebook page and group.
Garforth, Kippax & District Facebook Admin.
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https://u3asites.org.uk/garforth-kippax/ welcome
Active Leeds:
https://active.leeds.gov.uk/active-leeds-for- health Click on the
various icons for more infor- mation, register interest in a
programme, to make a self- referral, or download the Keep- ing Well
at home booklet. Cycle pathways in West Yorkshire (part of City
Connect).
https://www.cyclecityconnect.co.uk
From Rachel Unsworth (Leeds City
Walking Tours):
www.leedscitywalkingtours.co.uk
Several new tour routes are coming up. This year it’s 200 years
since John Barran’s
birth and 150 years since he had the foresight to acquire the
Roundhay estate to make a park for Leeds. 10:00am Sunday 1 Aug:
Walk in Roundhay Park on Yorkshire Day, followed by picnic OR
12:30 Sunday 1 Aug: join in the picnic and then come on the tour
after lunch
'The route of the Middleton Railway' Sunday 15 August and probably
also Sunday 29 Au- gust: a walk from Leeds Bridge to Moor Road
station. With some slight wiggles, we’ll follow the route of the
Middleton Railway. Initially a wagonway with horses pulling carts
of coal into Leeds, it became a delivery service bene- fiting from
the first ever steam locomotive. You’ll reach Moor Road in time to
take the steam train ride up to Middleton on the short stretch of
line that remains. Special price for train tickets on the day and
also a special offer for the walking tour tickets
From ua’s National Learning Pro- gramme Further information on the
following free talks is available on https://www.u3a.org.uk/
learning/national-programmes
If you check the above website you’ll see there are also many other
ideas, themes and topics you can apply to join in with. Please note
events which require members to book are at
https://www.u3a.org.uk/events/ educational-events
Endnote:
Please note that any contributions from our general membership and
Convenors will need to be with us by Wednesday 22nd August for
inclusion in the next edition.
Thanks!
Newsletter Editors