NEWENT & DISTRICT U3A BULLETIN

March/April 2017

If you are interested in joining, please ring:

01531 820826

or see www.u3asites.org.uk/newent

Photo – Robin Lister

Message from our Chairman,

When a voluntary task becomes onerous and a chore it is no longer enjoyable. Regretfully the Chairmanship

of Newent and District U3A has become that and I am not providing the leadership the organisation needs.

Consequently I will not be standing for re-election as Chairman at the next Annual General Meeting to be

held on the 18th July 2017. So this is an opportunity for someone to step up to the plate and take on this

task. It has been an honour to have served and I thank the membership and the committee for their support.

With best wishes.

Stephen Morley

The Christmas Party on the 21st December enjoyed Festive Fayre plus music from Jan and Cliffe Thomas

(pictured) and Newent Classical Brass. There were too many people making individual contributions for

them to be thanked individually here, but you know who you are and Thank You!

The General meeting on the 17th

January had a presentation by Ros and Ron Lane on the glorious Leadon

Valley, which they described as “quintessentially unspoiled English countryside”. Once again, they

combined inspirational photography with fascinating snippets of information about the River and nearby

churches, mills, farms and stately buildings (such as Preston Court, pictured). If you are one of the many

people who would like to know more, then www.hartpuryheritage.org.uk would be a fascinating place to

start.

The general meeting on 21st February will welcome the Friends of Gloucester Waterways Museum with a

presentation on Boaters Crafts and Life on the Waterways. That will be followed on the 21st March by

Martin Brown bringing us part 2 of his very popular illustrated talk about life in and around Newent, this

time in the 1900s, and on 18th April by Richard Bemand with his intriguing tale of WW II “Being a

Soldier”.

Leadership of the Walking Group has recently passed from Jill Beard to June Burden. Thank you Jill, for

all your hard work! June reports that “The Walking Group are a friendly bunch who meet on the second

Tuesday of the month at the recreation ground in Watery Lane at just before 10.00 a.m. to enable us to car

share to our destination. Our walk on 14th March will be around Dymock and 11th April we head to

Tewkesbury, we aim for a pub lunch afterwards. In the coming year we have walks around Ludlow, May

Hill and the Slad Valley to name but a few. I am hoping to arrange a second walk through the summer

months and this will be on any day that suits the leader best. All our leaders are volunteers and the walks

are up to and about 5 miles each. For more information on the next walk or any of the above please ring

JUNE Burden on 01531 820354 or e-mail japhillips@tesco.net. If you intend to join us for a trial walk at

any time please let me know as I need numbers for the pub.”

A reminder from the Geology Group of two coach trips that might interest members outside the Group. On

16th

March there will be a visit to the National Museum in Cardiff. In addition to its natural history and

geology collections, the Museum houses one of the finest art collections in Europe. And it is close to the

shopping centre. On the 8th

June there will be a very special visit to the Jodrell Bank Telescope and

Scientific Centre in Cheshire. If you are interested in either or both, please contact Keith Aston on

kwaston@hotmail.com or 01531 828572 as soon as possible so that he can make the necessary bookings.

I am delighted to report that our chairman Steve Morley has volunteered to take on responsibility for the

organisation of the National Trust Visits Group.

Hâf Ricketts, the leader of the Latin Beginners group reports “The Group continues to work its way

through the Cambridge Latin Course. We meet when we can, more or less every fortnight. The language is

becoming much more complex but we have fun trying to decipher it!”

The last edition of the Bulletin also included advice from the Computer Group on keeping your computer

safe by installing and maintaining protective software. This time, Robin Lister suggests that a few of the

programs that you might wish to consider include Avast Anti-Virus Free Edition, Comodo Firewall Free or

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Free.

Robin says “It's always safest to download software from the publisher's own website (i.e.

Avast/AVG/Comodo). Watch out for tick boxes while installing any programs. Often free programs and

updates have tick boxes (which are often ticked by default) that ask if you wish to install additional

programs onto the computer. If left ticked such programs will be installed and could cause you problems or

frustration because you did not want or need them”. Finally, he says “Don't be fooled by pop-ups claiming

that you are infected and need to download a paid-up version of the software to get rid of the problems”.

Incidentally, the Computer Group is currently exploring the use of spreadsheets.

Freedom Leisure, which operates the Forest of Dean leisure centres, is offering those aged 75 and over

unlimited swimming for 12 months for £10. For more information go to www.freedom-leisure.co.uk (I

failed miserably when I tried that) or visit the local pool where I am told they will sort everything out for us.

A few items from U3A headquarters:-

See https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/ for advice from the City of London Police on protection

against financial fraud.

Oxford Film and Television wants to hear from anyone who remembers the Royal WEDDING (not

Coronation) in 1947. Contact 0207 483 3637 or natalie.woolman.oftv.co.uk

U3A members can explore science at the Royal Institution in London on the 16th

March.

The U3A Spring Concert will be held at Temple Church on 25th

April.

For more information on these and many other events try http://www.u3a.org.uk/ or click on the U3A

heading on our own website. I had no idea how much was available until I tried it.

Membership subscriptions expire on March 31st for all who joined before 2017. Named forms are being

distributed through Group Leaders or are available at the monthly meeting. For further details, contact the

Membership Secretary, Gill Moseley on 01531 820826 or at gillmoseley@hotmail.com.

As last time, our “What’s On” diary of events is on a separate sheet at the end of the Bulletin. The idea is

that this can be used to publicise the local U3A and attract new members. Please, please either print off a

few extra copies or collect them from one of the monthly general meetings and arrange for them to be

displayed on village hall notice boards or in shop windows, or wherever you can.

I am sorry that I introduced a rather sad note into the last Bulletin, with news of the condemnation of our

Christmas Tree as a possible fire hazard. Well, I am delighted to report that some of our more intrepid

members (and U3A members can take some beating when it comes to intrepidosity) have taken scissors and

matches to the tree and proved that it is not a fire hazard at all. I thought that their actions deserved to be

immortalised in verse. If you are of a musical bent this may be sung - to the tune Tannenbaum or the

Internationale, depending on the direction of your bent.

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree,

How lovely are your branches,

With leaves of green and lights aglow,

Through summer’s sun and winter’s snow,

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree,

How lovely are your branches.

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree,

Reminder of our A, U3,

Of Christmas present and of past,

Unless it’s flameproof that’s that the last,

We must give up our Christmas Tree,

And miss those lovely branches.

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree,

Salvation came from members three,

With matches bright they did conspire,

To set bits of the tree on fire,

But every bit they lit went out,

Our tree is flameproof, there’s no doubt.

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree,

How flameproof are your branches,

Under the U3 Banner we

No longer fear the HSE,

We’re not defeated now, and see!

We’ve kept our lovely Christmas Tree!

Brings tears to your eyes, doesn’t it?

Have you ever looked at the work of journalists and thought “I could have done that”. Well, it’s not too late.

This is my last Bulletin, so we are looking for a new Bulletin editor. I should be happy to explain to my

successor how I have been doing what I have been doing, but there are lots of opportunities for further

improvements. If you might be interested in taking it on, please do contact Steve Morley at

stevemorley@hotmail.co.uk.

I am pretty sure that my successor will want to have any material for the May/June Bulletin by the 1st

April, or earlier if possible. If you don’t have contact details for the new editor you can send it to me (Paul

Evans on jpevans@waitrose.com or 01531 820557) and I will pass it on.

NEWENT & DISTRICT U3A

WHAT’S ON March and April 2017

March

1 Jazz Appreciation pm

1 Poetry am

2 Art Appreciation 10.00

2 Computer Improvers- No meeting unless

organised by members

10.00

7 Writing for pleasure 14.00

8 Discussion Group 10.30

9 Spanish 10.00

13 Guitar Group 10.00

14 Walking 10.00

16 Art Appreciation 10.00

16 Book Club - Elena Ferrante "My Brilliant

Friend"

16 Investment Discussion 10.30

16 Lunch club – Travellers Rest, Ross 16 Geology – Cardiff Natural History

Museum

20 Photography - Meeting to be led by

Adrian Evans

pm

21 General meeting Friends of Gloucester

Waterways Museum. Boaters Crafts and

Life on the Waterways.

09.45

23 Spanish 10.00

27 Guitar Group 10.00

27 Q.A.C.K.S 14.00

28 Gardening 14.30

April

4 Writing for Pleasure 14.00

5 Jazz Appreciation pm

5 Poetry am

6 Geology – Droitwich Salt

Springs

6 Art appreciation 10.00

6 Computer improvers 10.00

10 Guitar group 10.00

11 Walking 10.00

12 Discussion Group 10.30

13 Spanish 10.30

17 Photography 14.00

18 General meeting Richard

Bemand on “Being a Soldier”.

An intriguing tale of WW II

09.45

20 Art appreciation 10.00

20 Book club - Maria Angel

Anglada "The Auschwitz Violin”

20 Investment Discussion 10.00

20 Lunch club - Dog at Over 24 Q.A.C.K.S 14.00

24 Guitar group 10.00

25 Gardening Group 14.30

27 Spanish 10.30

For more detailed information, please refer to the Groups and Events pages on the website

(www.u3asites.org.uk/newent) or to displays at monthly general meetings. Group leaders can be contacted

via the Group co-ordinator through the Contact page on the website or via the details given on pages for the

individual groups.

There are no entries for the French Group because they have changed from meeting on the second and fourth

Fridays of each month to fixing meetings when members are available. In case you don’t know,

“Q.A.C.K.S.” is short for the Quilting and Craft Knitting Sewing Group.

Potential Members - U3A caters for retired or semi-retired people who wish to share

activities and interests and expand their knowledge and skills, not for courses and

qualification but just for sheer enjoyment. If you think that you might be interested in joining

the Newent & District U3A, please do make contact via the website or come along to one of

our monthly general meetings. Interest groups are led by enthusiasts who may or may not be

experts. If we haven’t got a group that you like, why not join and start one?