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Established 2008

NEWS LETTER April 2016

WELCOME to our News Letter on the Web.

If you would like to join us at our next meeting on the 2nd Thursday of the month at

Turner Hall, Mansfield Woodhouse, you will be most welcome.

e start at 9.45am PROMPT. Any members coming in after this time or who will be leaving before the end of the meeting are asked to take a seat at the rear of the hall and sign out when leaving. Can you also ensure that you sign in and pick up your badge.

Please Contact Margaret Taylor (see below) with any definite dates for an event or information for

the website. Members speak on Fund Raising Events, Interest Group Activities and Outings, etc. If

you wish to speak to the members you can book in a slot by contacting – The Chairman

Alternatively you can put an article into the News Letter by contacting

The Interest Groups’ Co-ordinator, Sue Robb, before the end of the

month.

New Members and Visitors Coffee Morning - You are invited to

have a coffee and a chat in the Stables Cafe on the third Thursday

of the month (the one after the meeting) at 10.30. You will meet

other new other new members and some of the Committee. Come along and

tell us how you are getting on.

Local U3A’s that are actively seeking members are:

Rainworth and District U3A www.rainworth-u3a.org.uk Phoenix Centre (Village Hall), Kirklington Road, Rainworth, NG21 0JZ Contact: John Curtis 01623 475590

Sutton in Ashfield U3A www.sutton-in-ashfieldu3a.org.uk Mansfield Hosiery Mills Sports and Social Club, Off Huthwaite Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield Contact: Susan Harrison 01623 472493 Dukeries U3A www.dukeriesu3a.org.uk Jubilee Hall, Wellow Rd, New Ollerton. Contact: Marie Bartle 01623 82326

New Forest Town U3A, St Albans Church

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COMMITTEE MATTERS

SHERWOOD U3A COMMITTEE MEMBERS

CHAIRPERSON Liz Wilson

VICE CHAIRPERSON/HEALTH & SAFETY Lynda Brotherhood

TREASURER Margaret Taylor

MINUTE SECRETARY

BUSINESS SECRETARY

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY

NEW MEMBERS & VISITORS SECRETARY

Josie Earnshaw

Jane Lowe

Rita Foulkes

Terry Dillon

GROUP CO-ORDINATOR Sue Robb

EVENTS CO-ORDINATOR Pat Collins

GREETER & REFRESHMENTS CO-ORDINATOR Wendy Sterland

SOCIAL COMMITTEE CHAIR

WELFARE OFFICER

Jeremy Lloyd

Margaret Minto-Smith

Today’s speaker

April Martin Fish - My Life in Gardening So Far. Martin was born locally and his love of gardening was nurtured from an early age by his grandmother. After studying at Brackenhurst College he went on to become the Head Gardener at Rufford Abbey. Later working for himself he has been involved in garden writing and broadcasting for over 20 years. He will have a variety of plants for sale.

A thank you from Sue Leyden, our March speaker who spoke so eloquently about the Himalayan Trust. You were such a great audience, and so generous too. Not only did you give me the £100 fee (plus £10

expenses) but people spontaneously gave an additional £206 in cash. I have never before been given so

much on the day. So it’s testimony to the generosity of spirit of the people of Mansfield

Woodhouse. Please pass on my great thanks on behalf of the HTUK and the Nepalese mountain

communities. £306 will just about equip a whole classroom in one of our schools for the youngest children,

with carpet, low tables, construction toys and puzzles and other play equipment. Thanks you so very

much. I loved being with you,

MESSAGE FROM YOUR CHAIRMAN – Liz Wilson

Mamma Mia! What a great night we had! I got some great video footage of different “Dancing Queens” cavorting around --- wait until next Christmas!! Some were hardly recognisable; some

looked like the real Abba; some did the hippy bit; some just enjoyed themselves!

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On a more serious note, below, as promised last month is the beginning of our Sherwood 3 Year Plan. It has not yet been fully discussed by the Committee and is not “in stone” but thought you might like to know some of the ideas that we are thinking about.

Year 2016/17 Discuss and decide 3 year Plan

Auxiliary membership – possibly “Buddy” System – Trial Workshops for Members not just Group Leaders (Network)

Explanation of U3A strata Info PowerPoint Presentation Screen at Meetings

Holiday Group Committee established Promote joint leadership in Interest Groups

Comments instead of Complaints Book 2017/ 18

Increase Group Leaders Develop Induction for new Committee Members

Look for larger venues Discuss a Second U3A in Woodhouse

Depending on trial, implement changes to membership Implement Workshops (Network)

2018/ 19 Increase Group Leaders – ongoing

Induction of Committee Members --- ongoing Depending on Venue search – start new U3A in Woodhouse

Workshops --- ongoing Membership changes to be reviewed

Review 3 Year Plan and develop a new 3 Year Plan. I will explain several of the above ideas during the Meeting and make note of any comments!

May’s speaker

Maggie Allan – Corsets and Camis, Swimsuits and Smiles Maggie brings along a delightful array of ‘vintage underneaths’ to show us. She takes us from the sublime to the ridiculous in a lively hour of information and fun.

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GROUP DATES

LUNCH CLUB 27th April The Coopers, Mansfield Woodhouse 12.30 for 1.00pm

LUNCH CLUB 2 20th April And Why Not Meet 12.30pm for 1.00pm

INTERNATIONAL DINING 3rd May The Full Moon, Morton (British/European) 6.30 for 7.00pm £5 deposit.

ORIENTAL DINING 29th April Cosmo, Nottingham 7.00pm for 7.30pm. Buffet £16

STROLLING 5th May Teversal Trail Meet in carpark for 10.30am start

RAMBLING (meet Morrisons car park 10am for car share)

Thurs 28th April Ling Lane, Market Warsop 6.5miles (Easy) Market Warsop Tea Room. Start – Centre of Market Warsop Wed 11th May Through Monsal Dale, the Valley of the Gods 6miles –(Moderate) Tea Room in Ashford and at Monsal Start – Car Park in Ashford-in-the-Water

WALKING 26th April Clumber Park, meeting Clumber park car park for 10.00am start.

BIRD WATCHING 8th April Pleasley Pit Meet in the car park at 10.00am

DAYS OUT Tuesday 19th April Liverpool. Guided tour round Anglican cathedral plus 2 course

lunch there followed by time at Albert Docks. £27 Bus Iceland 7.30 Morrisons

7.45. Names taken today for the reserve list. Tuesday 12th July Malton, Yorkshire Lavender Fields including Buffet lunch and

tea/coffee £24. Pick up Iceland 8.15am Morrisons 8.30am

16th April, Croome, Nr Worcester £18: Pick up times are Iceland, Mansfield 9am & Morrisons, Woodhouse 9.15am. The journey will take approximately 2hours and we will return at 4.15pm. 11th June, Ickworth, Bury St. Edmunds £20: Pay by April due to holidays.

Devon holiday 13th - 20th June 2016. Queen's hotel Paignton Cost for 8 days £529 includes £18 variety show but optional excursions . Two twin/double rooms vacant. All cheques now in - thank you! Itineraries, luggage labels, coach plans and insurance policies, for those taking company's insurance, to given out at the May meeting. Please tell me if you want board the coach at the Sidings (Redfern's garage) the Travel Company needs to know how many passengers there will be at

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this point and luggage labels have to be filled!

Mallorca September 26th-October 3rd 2016 Fergus Pollensa Park Hotel One twin/double now available. Cost, including excursions £824. I need to know by the June meeting if you are interested. At the time of writing balances, to be paid in May, no later than June - £784 (single rooms) £714 double or twin rooms, £518 for the two passengers buying their own flights. Please leave cheques to be filled in at my table in case I have any cancellations. I may have to recalculate, although it shouldn't be much different. Cheques to be paid to Mansfield & District U3A. London 5th and 6th October All included £255 theatre - Showboat, B&B at St Giles hotel, entrance to The Shard, entrance to Windsor Castle, . Single supplement £36. Theatre £49.50 before discount of £10, make cheques payable to Mansfield U3A, pay at the meeting or send to Sheila Whalley 335 Berryhill Lane Mansfield include your phone number and which U3A you are in. You do not need to go to the show, deduct £49.50 2017. Thoresby Hall . Monday 9th January 2017 to Friday 13th January 2017. £182pp Monday 20th February 2017 to Friday 24th February 2017 £220pp. Room upgrades available. For full details see Mansfield U3A website under Interests & Hobbies >> Holidays. At the time of writing I have 140 booked for January so waiting list only but still vacancies for February. 2017thoresby@whiteheaduk.plus.com or 01623 626991 THEATRE Wed 11th May ‘Breakfast at 'Tiffany's' Paid Sat 20th Aug. ‘Chicago’ Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Matinee Pay May 15th New show The Full Monty Wed 28th September. Matinee

Members’ Coffee Morning

Thursday 21st April at Turner Hall 10.00am -12.00noon

Celebrate with the Queen at 90 featuring many interest groups with their special

displays.

Bowling Bonanza

Monday 9th May at Mansfield Superbowl 6.30pm start. Tickets £8 to include buffet

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Would YOU like to help or know more about the role of a

Committee Member?If the answer is “YES” then consider joining

the Committee at this year’s AGM in May. Bring your new ideas on

ways to further improve Sherwood U3A.

You will be welcome to come along to one of our Committee Meetings to get a “taster” of

what the Committee does for Sherwood U3A. If you are interested please speak to Margaret

Taylor or any other Committee Member before 1st May

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Secretary is giving notice that the Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 12th May 2016 at Turner Hall, Mansfield Woodhouse at 9.45 am. There are several vacancies on the Committee. If you wish to volunteer please inform the Secretary before Friday 1st May. If there are more applicants than vacancies a vote will take place at the AGM. If you have Any Other Business that you wish to bring up at the AGM please put in writing to be received by the Secretary by Sunday 1st May 2016. Please note that items submitted after this date will not be considered at the AGM. An Agenda and last year’s Minutes will be published in the May newsletter but if you wish to look at these documents prior to the AGM please contact me. AGM Secretary, Margaret Taylor 01623 624266

margarettaylor@sherwoodu3a-mansfieldwoodhouse.org.uk

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Your membership finishes at the end of April.

At future meetings you will be given an envelope with your name on together with a membership form. Every individual member will receive an envelope and if you do not get one please ask Rita Foulkes, the Membership Secretary. You will need to complete the form with your name, address, telephone number, email address and tick the appropriate boxes, which are self-explanatory. Please return the form together with your cheque/exact cash back in the envelope which will need to be handed to Rita Foulkes as soon as possible. Cheques made payable to ‘Sherwood U3A’ PLEASE NOTE - DO NOT HAND CHEQUES/CASH &/OR FORMS IN SEPARATELY TO ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE. Any payment/form not received by the June Meeting will mean that your name will be removed from the membership and your place will be offered to a person on the potential members list. Once your cheque has been cleared you will be given a membership card which you will need to sign and retain. This will be your proof that you are a member of Sherwood U3A.

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HERITAGE

Mansfield Fire Museum

On a sunny, but cold, February day about 30 members of the heritage group had a tour around the Mansfield Fire Museum. The museum is run by volunteers and is situated behind the fire station, in a building which was the Nottinghamshire Fire Brigade Training School. Two sets of doors from the old Mansfield Fire Station have been fitted to the front of the museum so it looks like a two bay

fire station. As you enter the building you see various items of fire equipment, including a working 1950s fire engine from the Retford fire station. A lot of the equipment is from the Welbeck and Thoresby estates and dates back to the 19th century. There is a horse drawn pump purchased in 1866 by the Duke of Portland for the estate. When it was needed, 22 men would be used to pump 100 gallons of water per minute to a height of 125 feet. There are various pieces of fire equipment including pumps, ladders, fire extinguishers and hose reel carriers. One unusual item is a part of a wooden medieval water main from London. Going further inside the building there are rooms devoted to different collections. In one room is part of the Merryweather collection of fire equipment dating back as far as the 17th century. A very old item in this room is a brass syringe-like device called a fire squirt which was used to fight the Great Fire of London, although it wasn't very effective. Some other items in the Merryweather collection include leather and metal buckets, more

fire syringes, fire axes and lamps for the fire engines. This room also has a collection of fire helmets, toy models of various fire appliances and hand-made wooden models of fire-boats. Other rooms have a collection of cap badges from different fire brigades, fireman's helmets, brass nozzles and brass fire extinguishers. Most of the items are from the UK, but one room is devoted to fire helmets, cap badges and other small items from other countries. Thank you Sue for arranging another interesting visit. Robert Watts

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What happened in March……Birdwatching

For our March birdwatching walk we did a circuit of Kings Mill reservoir on a beautiful sunny morning. The birds were singing and a lot of the ducks were building nests. Down at the heronry the herons were already sitting on their nests, and the celandines and pussy willow were out, a sure sign that Spring is on its way. All in all we saw over twenty species of birds, quite a good total to say that there was a lot of noisy tree pruning going on. We did notice that the swan population was well down on previous visits. After our walk we did the usual U3A thing and retired to the cafe for chip cobs and hot drinks. A good way to spend a beautiful morning. Chris Wain

…… The Eclectic Music

Group had a Colourful

meeting The Eclectic Music Group decided to have a theme for our music this month we chose COLOUR. We played twenty songs and I have written the following story for our report . Can you pick out the music we listened to.

(No prize) I have been on a date with a

brown eyed handsome man, you may know him, he's the one with the goldfinger. He looked good, he was wearing a white sports coat and a pink carnation, and I wore my red shoes and carried my little green bag with the silver lining. I like him, I hope he doesn't make my brown eyes blue. He took me to the Red and Black bar for blue, red and grey cocktails. Tomorrow I'm going for a ride on a Chestnut mare with Mr. Blue Sky. We will be calling in at the garden where the green rushes grow, and I am hoping to gather Lilacs again and see the Roses of red and the Violets of blue, however, I will have to wait awhile until the white Rose blooms again. We will end our visit sitting on the terrace in the shade, drinking black coffee. It's going to be a colourful day The artists who sang the songs were Van Morisson, Tom Jones, Peggy Lee, Nana Mouskouri, Les Miserables, Tim McGraw, Terry Dene, Welsh Choir, Ruth Etting, Elvis Costello, Crystal Gayle, ELO, The Byrds, The Platters, Jeff Beck, Altan, Bobby Vinton, Sheena Davis, Shirley Bassey and The Who. Sandra Evans

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NATIONAL TRUST It was cold………

We had heard the forecast, so hats, scarves, gloves and extra thick socks were put ready for our day out. It was a cold, frosty but fine start from Iceland. Snow covered the hills in Derbyshire and Eyam had had a fresh fall of snow the day before. It was cold, but looks picturesque. At the hall a fire had been lit to greet us, in front of which was the only warm place in the house. The Wright family had lived in Eyam Hall for over four hundred years but had finally moved out, mostly due to the cold. There were craft shops in the court yard. When we were younger we often admired the Blue John jewellery but the budget never extended to actually buying. Today it did, we really must be better off than we ever were! From Eyam we travelled to Stainsby Mill, again very cold. This was soon forgotten as we became strangely engrossed by the explanation of how the mill worked. The guide spoke with a passion. From the mill we went up the hill to Hardwick Hall. After a warming hot drink time was running out. A brisk walk round the gardens and just as brisk a walk in the hall, very cold. We hitched a lift on the estate buggy to get back to the coach on time. We arrived home with a warm glow inside, just a great day out despite the cold. Thank you to all of you who shared the day with us. Michael and Marilyn Hughes (More about Eyam Hall next month)

Upcoming Social Events:

Treasure Hunt

Saturday 4th June, Turner Hall 6.30 -9.30pm

“Royal Revelry” (Organised by North Notts Network)

Tuesday 7th June, John Fretwell Centre 10am start. Programme available in May

Web site: sherwoodu3a-mansfieldwoodhouse.org.uk