RUTLAND U3A APRIL 2019 NEWSLETTERRUTLAND U3A APRIL 2019 NEWSLETTER THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST – Petanque...

RUTLAND U3A APRIL 2019 NEWSLETTER

Throughout this

month’s newsletter you will see

some fantastic images taken by

members of the photographic

group. Stan Stubbs

MONDAY 13TH MAY – Coach trip to

Lamport Hall, Northants. An

interesting programme, which

includes lunch followed by a tour of

the Hall and then an opportunity to

see the gardens. Please see Diane to

sign up.

[email protected]

THURSDAY 13TH JUNE – Sunset Cruise

on the Rutland Belle – Leaves at 6.00

pm from Whitwell Harbour.

Duration 1hr 30. Price includes trip

and canapes £18 per head.

Please see Ros to sign up.

[email protected]

SATURDAY 27TH JULY – Matinee

Performance of ‘Cats’ at Kilworth

House Theatre. £44 per person to

include coach, FULLY BOOKED.

Please see Sheri for final details.

[email protected] to

reserve your ticket.

mailto:[email protected]




THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST – Petanque

and Supper at The White Lion,

Whissendine. Play commences at

6.30 pm, followed by supper at 8.00

pm. Non players welcome to join us

for supper. £19 per person. Please

see Sheri to sign up.

SATURDAY 17TH AUGUST – Matinee

performance of ‘Blythe Spirit’ at

Tolethorpe Open Air Theatre. £18

per person. Travel by car.

Please see Social Team to book your

ticket or email your interest to

[email protected]

PLEASE REMEMBER IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT

WE HAVE YOUR FULL CONTACT DETAILS

(EMAIL/TEL NO) WHEN YOU BOOK A TRIP.

THIS IS IMPORTANT AS WE MAY NEED TO

CONTACT YOU WITH CHANGES. YOU

MUST ALSO MAKE SURE THAT YOU

COMPLETE THE APPROPRIATE SIGN-UP

FORM.

Held at the Victoria Hall,

Oakham.

First Thursday of every month.

Doors open at 10-00am for a

10-30 start.

There is no charge to members

for attending the meeting, tea

and coffee are available for a

nominal charge.

See the Rutland

U3A website for details.



Thursday 2nd May

David Bell

Samuel Pepys

is

Feeling Unwell

This meeting will

include our AGM

Rutland U3A Annual General

Meeting 2019

Date May 2nd, 2019

Time 10.30

Venue Victoria Hall Oakham

AGENDA

1 Welcome and Introductions

2 Apologies for Absence

3 Approval of minutes of AGM held on 3rd May 2018

4 Chairman’s Report Acceptance of Chairman’s report. Election of Committee Members for 2019/2020

5 Treasurer’s Report Acceptance of Financial reports Approval of Examiners

6 Any proposals received from the membership

7 Any other business

8 Date, time and place of the next AGM


The AGM Papers and Reports

required for the meeting are

now available on the Rutland

u3a website on the " Latest

News " page;

Chairman's

Report including

Committee nominations.

Treasurer's Report

Annual Accounts

Social Events - Finances

Independent Examiners

Report

As you will see from the Chairman's

report the number of Committee

members is significantly reduced for

the year2019/2020.

Consequently, the range of activities

Rutland u3a is able to offer may also

be reduced. However, you do not

need to be a member of

the Committee to help with the

various functions of the u3a so if you

think you can help in anyway please

do speak to any member of the

committee.

Last month we told you about the

new groups and additional groups

for you to consider joining, this

month we have a message about the

Photoshop group.

If you are interested, please contact the Groups' Coordinator or add your name to the sign-up sheet

at the next monthly meeting.

I am starting a new

Photoshop (Elements) Group in

May. There was one person who

expressed an interest at the groups

meeting in February but did not

leave a name. The group is almost

full but one more could be squeezed

in.

Ken Rasmussen


Rutland U3A Visit to the

Triumph Motorcycle Factory On a very wet and windy morning in

March, 13 members of Rutland U3A

visited the Triumph Motorcycle

Factory at Hinkley. The group

ranged from motorbike enthusiasts

down to those who, like myself,

have never ridden a motorbike but

are interested in successful UK

manufacturing companies. We also

had one lady who said she had just

come along to keep her husband

company.

Triumph, originally a bicycle

manufacturer, first started the

production of motorcycles at

Coventry in 1902. Their first model

was essentially a motorised bike

with pedals, which were required to

help get the bike up hills. Production

moved to Solihull in 1942 and

eventually moved to Hinckley in

1988 when the company was

bought out in 1983 by John Bloor,

the owner of the building company

Bloor Homes,

Our guide was a real motorbike

enthusiast!

He has

ridden in the

Isle of Man

road races

including the TT! We started right at

the beginning of the production line

with the individual components

being ground to fit the various

engines under manufacture. Most of

this was computer controlled and

delivered the individual parts to a

‘high specification’, a key word

throughout the whole tour.

The assembly line proved to be a

great attraction, as we could see the

engines being built and added to the

frames, before the further addition

of the other components (e.g.

wheels, lights etc) then another new

motorbike rolled off the production

line to be shipped all over the world,

including Japan.

Triumph are close to producing their

millionth motorcycle at Hinckley and

are optimistic it will be reached later

this year or early 2020.

After lunch we wandered around

the museum admiring bikes from

earlier years and brand-new models,

including revamped versions of

some of their iconic machine


Triumph Speed

Twin which transformed the

Triumph name

Triumph TR6

650 used in the iconic wire jumping

scene in the Great Escape. (It

appears that Steve McQueen didn’t

perform the jumps in the film as his

contract wouldn’t allow it!)

Everybody agreed it had been an

enjoyable and interesting tour and

several suggestions were made for

other visits. Watch this space!!!

Alan Costello

In the current political and socio-economic climate, the axiom that the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history is apparent. Well the Living History group looks at events with a view to learning from the past to enable a better understanding of the present. Our modus operandi is to agree a year for investigation and then we all do personal research before we

meet and share what we have found. So far, our range of years is 1913-2009. We emphasise “Living” as the year will be in the living memory of our members as well as what they have learned from parents and grandparents. We particularly enjoy sharing memorabilia such as photos, antiques, letters, posters, music, clothing and the like which really brings the year to life. We are an experiential group and by no means subject focused requiring expert speakers. Rather each member is valued for their own personal expertise and experiences. We always like to consider how our current affairs have been shaped by previous events locally, nationally and internationally. It was Henry Ford who infamously said that “History is Bunk”. Well perhaps it was for him and others who have been put off history by boring teachers or self-promoting TV historians. The Living History Group is for those who see history as fascinating while coming along for a morning of fun! We meet every third Monday during 10.00am -12.00pm in the home of one our members in Oakham. You can contact me at [email protected] if you would like to come to our next meeting.



French Conversation - le poisson d’avril

For our meeting on 1 April we looked at le poisson avril tradition, the French version of April Fools’ Day tricks where youngsters create decorative paper fish which they attempt to pin to friends’ backs without them noticing. The origin of this custom is not certain but it seems that after 1564, when the start of the new year was moved from 1 April to 1 January, there were those who were either ignorant of the change, or who forgot about it, and continued to offer new year gifts on 1 April. Such folks were mocked, but what started the idea of using paper fish to make fun of them? It has been suggested that, as fishing is not allowed in France in April (to allow stocks to regenerate), paper fish were given as a “new year gift” to folks who were unaware that 1 April was no longer le jour de l’an (New Year’s Day).

We moved on to discuss April Fools’ Day tricks in the media in England, and all remembered the item on the 1957 Panorama programme about the spaghetti harvest in Italy, in the days when the only spaghetti most of us knew came in tomato sauce in tins! We also recalled The Guardian’s 1977 seven-page San Serriffe supplement, supposedly commemorating the tenth anniversary of the fictional island’s independence, complete with themed advertisements from major companies. The paper’s editor, Peter Preston, received letters of complaint from airlines and travel agents due to the disruption caused by customers who refused to believe the islands did not exist, and car rear window stickers were produced saying “I’ve been to San Serriffe” These days, most newspapers include a spurious article on 1 April which readers delight in trying to spot - not so easy in these days of fake news! Jane Gillon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Preston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Preston


It has been a busy time for the Art

appreciation group. As well as many

of us travelling independently to

London to visit the excellent Sorolla

exhibition at the National Gallery, a

number of us travelled by train from

Corby to Bedford to visit the Higgins

Gallery.

The Cecil Higgins Museum, as it was

formerly known, opened its doors to

the public on 25th July 1949, housed

in the former Higgins family home.

The Museum was founded by the

philanthropic brewer, Cecil Higgins

(1856-1941) to house his collection

of ceramics, glass and objets d’art

for the benefit, interest and

education of the inhabitants of, and

visitors to, Bedford. Cecil Higgins left

a complex will to protect his

collection which stipulated how the

museum was to be organised. He

also left a trust fund, to be used for

museum purposes, but principally

for acquiring works of art

From 1988, the focus has been on

collecting prints, this time

concentrating on the 20th century.

The print collection now numbers

over 400 pieces, including works by

some of the finest British artists as

well as internationally renowned

figures such as Picasso, Lichtenstein

and Dürer. The collection charts

styles as well as print processes,

from Whistler’s delicate etchings to

Edward Bawden’s magnificent

linocuts.

Recently the museum and gallery

have benefited from a lottery grant

and it is now a wonderful building to

display works of art to their full

advantage.

We enjoyed a tour of the galleries

before adjourning for a lovely Italian

lunch. After lunch we had time to

visit the temporary exhibition “A

celebration of horticulture in art”

where different ideas of gardens are

explored using works by major

artists including Lucien Pissaro, John

Everett Millais and Walter Sickert. In

all a lovely day out.

Members outside the gallery.


Items from the local area

that U3A members might

find interesting

Our choir is called the Rutland Rejuvenating Singers. It meets every Tuesday afternoon from 1.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at The Railway pub in Oakham's Station Road. Most of our members are of retirement age. We are trying to find new singers to sustain our growing momentum and reputation. We sing songs from the musicals, songs from Africa, songs from the two World Wars and are starting to learn some rock'n'roll numbers! We perform in local care homes, churches and village halls. We are informal and very friendly - you do not need to read music to sing along with us. If you might be interested in trying out with us, please contact choir leader Diana de Wet at her e-mail address - [email protected]. We look forward to meeting you!

Time-banking is coming to

Rutland!

What is a Time Bank?

It’s a way for people to help others in their

community and be rewarded for it – in

time. For every hour of time you give

helping someone, you receive one hour of

time credit to use on help you need.

Benefits of Time-banking

Time-banking helps people provide

mutual support - When people

begin to help each other, to give and to

receive, they begin to understand other

people’s needs and situations and

build community spirit. We all have

something to offer.

Time-banking brings like-minded

people together into a flexible, trusted

network.

Come and find out more and

how you can help us get this

going in Rutland

1-4pm on 8th May 2019

Rutland Adult Learning, Unit 16a, Gate 2,

Oakham Enterprise Park

Ashwell Road, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 7TU

Let us know you are coming: Reply

to: [email protected]

or Telephone 0116 305 343




Membership Details Keeping your membership details up to date.

We want to make sure we have the right contact details for you. If you move, change your phone or email please tell us by either: -

Emailing [email protected]

Dropping a note in at the monthly meeting

Third Age Trust

Sign up on the National U3A website

www.u3a.org.uk

to receive the National U3A monthly newsletter

Don’t forget to visit the Rutland U3A Website


http://www.u3a.org.uk/


2018/19

Committee members

Chairman Rowena Langtry Vice Chairman & Data Protection Ros Kenny Secretary Ann Smyth Treasurer Nic Greenfield Groups Jane Gillon Membership Lucy Marsland Speakers Irene Reay Social and Events Sylvie Raven Shadow Treasurer Bob Bennett Shadow Groups Bryan Howard

*Deadline for publication

for our next edition is 20th May 2019*

Committee advisors and

helpers

Publicity Barbara Webster Minutes Ann Mayo Website Phil Grimley Hall set up and AV Peter and Jane Hammond Michael Seccombe Beacon Vic Newland IT Mike Shea Events Diane Case Sheri Evans Noticeboard Lynne Costello New Member Support Kath Rolison Janet Bilby Jenny Wilce Printing Margaret Macpherson

Send your contributions to

[email protected]

RUTLAND U3A APRIL 2019 NEWSLETTERRUTLAND U3A APRIL 2019 NEWSLETTER THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST – Petanque...

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