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Wrekin U3A – “Making life-long

learning a reality for all third- agers in the Wrekin locality”

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FROM THE CHAIR

Looking Ahead………

recently re-discovered an article

written by a former Chairman of

Wrekin U3A, the late Dr David

Harding, relating to the ‘Dudley

Bug’ and entitled ‘The Survival of

the Fittest’.

These fossilised shells of a creature

of the Silurian Period were found in

abundance in the limestone area

of the Wrens Nest in Dudley as well

as, more locally, Much Wenlock

and Sheinton Brook, the former

now designated a Nature Reserve

and the latter a Site of Special

Scientific Interest.

This time last year, in the 25th

Anniversary edition of the Wrekin

Review, our immediate, former

Chairman entitled his article ‘What

visionaries!’……..referring to those

far-sighted people in 1991 who

founded Wrekin U3A.

November 2016

saw the Third Age

Trust celebrate the

affiliation of the

1,000th U3A in Britain, namely

Churchdown, in Gloucestershire.

Through Wrekin U3A we have the

opportunity to share interests, both

educational and social; exchange

and assimilate a variety of views on

all aspects of our world; widen our

circle of acquaintances and

occasionally form new and lasting

friendships.

With our membership naturally

changing but remaining almost

constant around the 280 mark, and

with forty active Interest Groups,

Wrekin U3A is unlikely to fall into the

‘fossilised’ category. However,

without an input of different ideas

emanating from that ‘variety of

views’, there is a danger of

stagnation.

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The AGM in March is an ideal opportunity for you to bring

about the further evolution of Wrekin U3A. As I write this I

am aware that there will be vacancies specifically for a

Chairman and Vice-Chairman as well as at least four

Committee Members, but, as I highlighted in the

Autumn Review, all positions are ‘up for grabs’! In the

past several months I have been heartened by the

positive response from Members to my requests for help. Now I

hope that some of you will emphasise your commitment by seeking

nomination.

Notice of the AGM, together with a Nomination Form is

included in this issue of the Review. The Secretary would be

delighted to be inundated with nominations and it would be

refreshing to have to organise an election!

In conclusion, at the centre of the town of Dudley’s original

coat of arms, between the anchor and the limestone miners’ lamp, is

a ‘Dudley Bug’. The motto on that heraldic device reads ‘sapiens qui

prospicit’ – ‘the one who is wise looks ahead’.

Jan Burrows, Chairman.

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WE’LL TAKE THE HIGH ROAD………

On 2nd October 2016 a party of Wrekin U3A members set off by coach for a hotel on Loch Lomond. The 4-night visit included excursions to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Leith (for the Royal Yacht ‘Britannia’) and Callander. Elaine Newton and Dilys and Roger Hargreaves have contributed the following articles about the visit. Photos have

been provided by Jane Apling and Harry Pettitt and sketches by John Johnson.

Elaine Newton: ‘The highlight for me was The Kelpies’

his was my third Scotland trip with U3A. I consider myself a bit of a loner, preferring, at least, in the past, to enjoy the company of my

horses rather than people!! However, Brenda Cockroft persuaded me to join Wrekin U3A some four years back now. During that time, I have met some

wonderful people within the group, joining in things that I would never have dreamed of in the past and interacting with ' people even' and their interests.

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Scotland, again, well organised, complete with excellent company. The highlight for

me was the 30-metre high The Kelpies, at Falkirk, the largest equine sculptures in

the world. I was quiet tearful, as they are so lifelike..... I became more tearful when

I realised the time, and REALISED I WAS GOING TO BE THE LAST ONE AGAIN ... BACK ONTO THE COACH, but I do love

'that look' of our fearless Leader, Jan B!! I am not one for taking photographs, but

on this occasion, I took lots of the Kelpies.

The Kelpies (Harry Pettit)

I was concerned about the time to be spent on the coach, touring Glasgow and

Edinburgh, but realised, essential in order to take in as much as possible of these two lovely cities.

My daughter and I are going to visit both

cities hopefully next year, the coach tours, and our wonderful driver and guides having

giving us an insight into the history, now to be explored in more detail, and at a bit more leisurely pace in the new year.

Our hotel on Loch Lomond The Royal Mile, Edinburgh The Falkirk Wheel

Photos (above) by Harry Pettit, who commented, ‘We had a pleasant room and

were perfectly satisfied with the accommodation. We spent some time looking

around Edinburgh, the Castle and one of the museums, but we needed another day, at least, to complete our visit to the museum. The Falkirk wheel connects

the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.’ (The wheel is the largest rotating boat lift of its kind in the world.)

Edinburgh Castle (Harry Pettit)

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Dilys and Roger Hargreaves……‘we knew this was going to be something

special’

his was our first holiday trip with U3A. We have been on many coach holidays and have visited Scotland on several occasions by

car. Right from the start, we knew this was going to be something special. The whole of the five days were run like a military operation – every detail had been planned with nothing left to chance. It must have taken hours,

days, weeks even, for Jan to organise this holiday, which ran so smoothly and was really appreciated, certainly by us, and I’m sure, everyone else who went.

The hotel was exactly as we had expected – a rambling building with many

rooms, ideally suited to catering for coach parties. We accepted the quirky irritations with good humour but the most apparent problem, after the first evening, was with the meal time staff. They were mainly young lads & lassies

who appeared to have had very little training in the hospitality business and, for the majority of our stay, lacked any obvious leadership in the person of a

senior member of staff. The food, however, was very good.

The daily tours were excellent in all aspects – destinations, timing, length of

trip. We particularly enjoyed the journey

on the canal at the Falkirk Wheel and the visit to The Kelpies. Our driver was just

about right with his humour and chat, and his driving and route knowledge were

excellent. All we can say is “roll on the next trip” – thank you so much Jan, for all your hard work, humour and tolerance of

our foibles.

Inside the Royal Yacht Britannia

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SKETCHES OF SCOTLAND

When John Johnson boarded the coach he brought with him his sketchpad and

returned with these evocative ink drawings of some of the places visited on the journey.

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Callander, The Trossachs View of Edinburgh, Princes Street

The Kelpies Walter Scott monument, Glasgow

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HOUSES AND GARDENS GROUP

Owing to an oversight on your editor’s part Eileen Dowell’s article about the

popular Houses and Gardens Group was inadvertently omitted from the Autumn 2016 edition of the Review. However, this has provided an

opportunity to take a look at last year’s varied itinerary and, maybe, encourage even more of us to enjoy the various visits which Eileen arranges.

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Back in March 2016 twenty-two members visited Benthall Hall, Broseley (above left) where many more rooms are now open and there is now a very

small café. The gardens were just coming into flower and the large clusters of spring bulbs were very attractive. The gardens of Dudmaston Hall, Quatt

(above right), on a fine, dry day in April revealed a covering of massed spring bulbs, with the lake and garden looking picturesque. Like Benthall Hall, Dudmaston Hall now has more rooms open for visitors.

By May it was time to go further afield, this

time by coach with thirty five on board, to The Dingle Garden, near Welshpool (left).

This garden for all seasons is amazing and full of unusual plants and trees, tempting

the visitor into The Plant Centre which stocks many hundreds of plants and trees. The Derwen Garden Centre, a few miles

away, was the venue for lunch.

On a showery day in June a group of 46 went further afield to Waddesden Manor, Aylesbury

(right). Quite a long journey, arriving back in Shifnal just after 6.30 p.m. Waddesden Manor is a renaissance-style chateau packed to the

ceilings with all sort of furniture, clocks, ornaments and pictures. Eileen commented,

‘An interesting and varied collection, but maybe too much like a museum’.

Eileen takes up the story for the rest of the year –

On 12 July 2016 we visited Newstead Abbey, near Nottingham. This was the former family

seat of the Byron family, including the infamous Lord Byron. Much of the Abbey had been demolished but one façade remained propping

up the end wall. An hour tour took us around the vast place and the two guides were both very

pleasant and informative. Most of us enjoyed

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the £10 buffet which was excellent in both quality and value. After lunch a

wander around the extensive grounds. Finally the last cuppa before starting off home. A very interesting place and I am sure we will return at some point.

Unfortunately

our planned visit to

Jessamine Cottage Garden, Nr

Kenley had to be changed

because the garden was

not open this year. We will try again next year. Instead we

returned to one of my favourite gardens, Arley Hall and Gardens

(above), Northwich, Cheshire. In

August the

herbaceous borders are

amazing within the walled garden. Other

areas of the garden were

impressive too. The rain held

off until we almost ready

to leave. Each time we have

visited it always impresses in some way and is a delightful place,

both the Hall and the Gardens.

In September we visited another new venue, Lyme House, Garden and Park (left), near Stockport. This was a

very large Elizabeth house and its lavish interiors reflected the life of a

great estate. Pleasant gardens to wander around after lunch and it was

such a lovely day. Before boarding the coach time for the last visit to the

Café.

In October we revisited Bodnant

(right) the National Trust Garden, near Conway. We

stopped for our coffee break at the

Ponderosa Café in the Horseshoe Pass.

It was a lovely clear day and the views were stunning. We arrived at Bodnant in time for

lunch. As usual this Garden was

amazing, full of flowers and ablaze with

autumnal colours. There was a lot to see and some changes had

been made since our last visit. Time for a

quick cuppa and then back on the coach

homeward bound following the coast road for a short time. A most enjoyable day out.

Ink and water colour drawing by Wrekin

U3A member, John Johnson

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In December again we went to

Bodenham Arboretum by coach for our Christmas Meal. The decorations were

very Christmassy and as usual the food was excellent. A good choice of

Starter and desserts and I think we all ate too much.

Look out for Next year’s programme.

See where we are going!

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SINGING FOR FUN

GROUP

Singing for Fun is just what it says.

Musical experience is not necessary as we are very fortunate

to have John Soper and Diana Barnes to help bring forth our hidden talents, enabling us to try a wide range of material. Singing has many benefits, helping

the general feeling of wellbeing.

We sing for our own pleasure, but as happened in early November we again

entertained the Live at Home with song and verse, putting a smile on many faces

including

ours. Interested in

Singing for Fun? Come along on the

3rd Wednesday of the month, meeting at The Plough, Shifnal starting at 2pm and finishing at 4pm.

Further photographs can be found on the U3A web site.

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Book reviews by Reading Group 1 and Not Another Book Club

A Moveable Feast By Ernest Hemingway _________________________________________________________________

This slim volume it is said, presents the author’s memories of his

life as an unknown writer in Paris in the 1920's. He is looking back at his younger self, already hard drinking, and addicted to

betting on the horses. He and his wife seem to manage to live a high life of travelling, consuming huge amounts of alcohol and good food on very little money, though bouts of evident poverty are

vividly described when they have no money to buy food or warm the flat which they rent. All this high life in Paris accomplished

whilst still a struggling writer, not yet to having published a novel and with the extra baggage of a son named Bumby and a cat named F Puss!

Many other authors already and, later, to become famous, are his friends, among them Gertrude Stein , Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound, who lived in Paris at the time. He uses a large amount of space recalling his relationship

with Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda. The trip he took with Fitzgerald across the French countryside in a car with no top, getting wet and drunk,

with Fitzgerald obsessing about his health, is both moving and funny in equal measure.

Towards the end there is a strong feeling of what his life is later to become when, apparently, he gets in with a 'rich crowd' whom he feels he allows to exploit him, fairly evidently having had an affair which will, eventually, lead to

his divorce from Hadley, and his descent into drink and the moment of despair when he takes a gun and shoots himself in 1961, still in his early sixties.

I found the book enjoyable and it was generally well received by the rest of our group, stimulating an interest in both Hemingway and the Paris of this time.

Frances Jones (Reading Group 1).

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MY NAME IS RED

BY ORHAN PAMUK

This was a difficult read written by Orhan Pamuk who received the Nobel Prize for Literature for his work as a whole. It is a

cleverly constructed piece which received much critical acclaim. Notionally written as a murder mystery, it explores the late

sixteenth century culture of Instanbul at a time when the ideas of

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the West were impinging on traditional Muslim thought and the author

cleverly uses this conflict both to provide motive for murder and to unmask the culprit.

The book is some 650 pages, a considerable part of which explores the place of

book illustration in preserving traditional Muslim culture. To a modern western reader much of this is of little relevance, although it is interesting to see how

little some aspects, such as the role of women in society, have changed over the intervening centuries.

The author also uses multiple narrators to tell the story, including inanimate objects and the dead. Although this is successful in viewing events from different

perspectives it does tend to make all but the most determined reader wonder where the story is going and how quickly it will get there. It is, I think, a book

which only gives up its secrets to those who are prepared to study and analyse it in considerable detail, and for such a reader it would probably be a very rewarding read. However, within our group few managed to complete the read

and those that did breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the last page.

Caroline Rawson (Reading Group 1).

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RABBIT STEW AND A PENNY OR TWO by Maggie Smith-Bendell

This book is an evocative and instructive personal account of

a Romani Traveller’s life from the 1940s to the present day. It is an easy read which contains vivid descriptions of a life we are largely ignorant of.

Travellers were wise and skilled at all things pertaining to

their peripatetic life – from skinning rabbits to making wooden clothes pegs and flowers, from looking after their

horses to stone walling and hedge laying, from picking peas, beans and hops to catching and eating rabbits, pheasants

and wild duck, not to mention hedgehogs and snails! However, they were

completely ignorant of education and the law.

Some of our group thought the book was an oversimplified, romantic apology for the Romani way of life, as they had experienced the negative side of the

gypsy interaction with ordinary house dwellers. However, all in all, an enjoyable read.

Gill Stimpson (Reading Group 1).

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THE WATERMEN BY PATRICK EASTER

enjoyed the book. It is a fairly simple tale/thriller(?) set in the challenging times of London’s 18th century docklands. The book flowed

well into each chapter and the characters were well described, especially Joseph Boyling, Tom Pascoe and Sam Hart. I also enjoyed the

description of the different types of boats on the Thames, where the glossary at the end of the book came in very useful. I also enjoyed how the book ended – with the repetition of the character, Hannah Pinkerton, wearing ‘her ragged

blue shawl’.

However, I did find the characters of Peggy Tomkins and Charity Squibb – the two hospital nurses – to be very annoying

and not quite believable, but perhaps this was intentional by the author – to enhance the historical era – namely, women

were looked down upon in 18th century London and their most ‘traditional’ occupation was that of a prostitute. Again, this is a repeated theme through the character of Hannah Pinkerton.

By reading this book I learned a lot of the way trade was

conducted, both legally and illegally, and of the role of the police and judiciary system. I thought the author described very well the general chaos, poverty and

wealth of London’s 18th century docklands and I felt transported to that time and place. I also discovered how the ordinary man, woman and child attempted to survive during this period. The book gathered pace towards the end and the

hanging sequence of Joseph Boylin was well-documented.

Enjoyable as the book was it is unlikely that I will choose a further title by this author. It failed to ‘keep me guessing’ throughout the plot, there were no ‘red

herrings’ (which I like in thrillers), no surprises, not enough characters and my imagination was not stretched.

Lynne Young (Not Another Book Club).

NOT ANOTHER BOOK CLUB MEETS ON THE 1ST MONDAY OF THE MONTH AND YOU WOULD BE VERY

WELCOME TO JOIN US

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A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE SHAKESPEARE GROUP

In the 6th year since the Shakespeare Group was formed, 2016 was probably the fullest year of all - three plays, two absorbing documentaries, a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon to see a performance of ‘Cymbeline’, a ‘Shakespeare celebration’ at

April’s monthly meeting and a number of Shakespeare-related articles and a quiz in the Review to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

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His writings have endured for many reasons, not least because they are an

exploration of every aspect of the human condition. His plays are peopled with a

vast array of characters and he reveals to our gaze and ears every human emotion.

This year, we looked at a comedy, All’s Well That Ends Well, and probably his greatest tragedy, King Lear. In between, we studied Cymbeline, which has

elements of tragedy, comedy and romance and is one of Shakespeare’s most

complex and, some would say, ludicrous, plots. The sessions we spent studying this and looking at a production on DVD certainly helped me to understand the

play better when we went to see a controversial production at Stratford in July.

(Thanks, again, to Jan Burrows for organising this.)

The two documentaries on DVD were Simon Callow’s, Being Shakespeare, and Michael Pennington’s, My Life with Shakespeare. Both actors, having spent a

lifetime performing in and studying Shakespeare’s plays, delivered a multi-dimensional picture, steeped in scholarship, of the man behind the plays.

The icing on the cake was the multi-group presentation to the April general meeting of a celebration in words and music called Brush Up Your Shakespeare. This

seemed quite a challenge, but, thanks to great teamwork and commitment, it

seemed to go very well on the day.

Barry Stimpson.

Wrekin U3A Appointments 2016 / 17

Committee

Chairman Jan Burrows

Secretary Carol Winterbottom

Treasurer / Membership Secretary Roger Phillips

Assistant Treasurer Suzanne Walker

Groups Co-ordinator Marilyn Higson House Manager Tony Etherington

Programme Secretary Sheila Etherington

Web Enquiries/

Web Liaison/’Buddies’ Sheila Purbrick

Ex Officio:

Wrekin Review Editor Barry Stimpson eNewsheet Editor/

Refreshments Co-ordinator Gill Whitehouse

Assistant Refreshments

Co-ordinator Kate West Publicity Lorraine Parkes

THE COPY DEADLINE FOR THE SPRING REVIEW IS 31ST MARCH 2017

Our magazine provides a space for members and groups to communicate through the medium of the

written word and to enjoy a broader vista of our U3A and all the activities that go on in it. If you have

not contributed for a while, or would like to for the first time, please write to or email (barry.stimpson2@btinternet.com) or, if you have any questions, telephone

him on 01952 586449.

The Wrekin U3A is an educational and recreational charity registered in accordance with the Charities

Act 1993 (Charity No.1098219).