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Photograph from the Greenfingers Group

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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Hello Everyone

We’re just enjoying the last few hours of warm sunshine in this Indian summer. Perhaps

this helps to take one’s mind off the effects of the latest restrictions, there doesn’t

unfortunately seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel.

Following the advice from the National Executive, at the recent “Zoom” meeting of the

Committee it was agreed that in October we should hold our AGM which was postponed

from last March. This will be in the form of a “Zoom” (an interactive internet) meeting which

every member is entitled to attend. Later in this newsletter you will find more information

including the notice of the AGM, nominations etc. We hope as many as possible will respond

by email (or post) giving their acceptance of the Treasurer’s report and the election of the

Committee.

Just to reiterate from last month’s newsletter, some of you may not be aware of the regular

updates and news in the newsletter from the U3A executive. This has lots of interesting

content and articles and is available to all of our members. If you are interested in receiving

this, please sign up here: https//www.u3a.org.uk/newsletter.

Very important - don’t forget to keep sending in articles for this newsletter and help keep

Janis usefully employed. Many thanks to our regular contributors.

As they say, “keep safe”.

LATE SUMMER SUN AT HANNINGFIELD

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BUSINESS SECRETARY’S REPORT

NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

OF THE BASILDON AND BILLERICAY U3A 2020

TO BE HELD VIA ZOOM

Notice is hereby given that the 31st Annual General Meeting of the Basildon and Billericay

U3A will be held VIA ZOOM (an online video conferencing facility) on Friday 30th October

2020, commencing at 2.30pm. Any member may take part in this meeting and further

details will be forwarded if requested.

Items for inclusion on the agenda must be submitted to the Business Secretary by

Wednesday, 30th September.

Nomination forms for election of Officers and Committee Members were received prior to the last delayed AGM in March 2020 and these still stand.

The Committee Nomination form and Treasurer's report are being sent by email as a separate file, as are the Minutes of our last AGM (22nd March 2019). Those without an email address will receive them by post.

Each committee member must be voted onto the committee, by the members, and will then serve in that role for the following year. They can serve for a maximum of 5 years continuously. They can apply for a post on the committee again after a break of one year. There are 3 vacant posts still without nominations.

Any paid up member of the Basildon and Billericay U3A may stand for election to any of the posts on the committee. THE U3A COMMITTEE CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING POSTS: CHAIRMAN - standing for re-election, (nomination form received)

VICE CHAIRMAN - vacant

TREASURER - has served the maximum full term and the post is therefore vacant (nomination form received)

BUSINESS SECRETARY - has served the maximum full term and the post is therefore vacant (nomination form received) MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY - standing for re-election, (nomination form received)

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GROUPS FACILITATOR - standing for re-election, (nomination form received)

NEWSLETTER EDITOR - vacant

WEBSITE EDITOR - standing for re-election, (nomination form received)

SPEAKERS SECRETARY- standing for re-election, (nomination form received)

PUBLICITY SECRETARY - vacant

ACCESSIBILITY SECRETARY - vacant (nomination form received) Further information about any of these posts can be obtained from the Business Secretary.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

We are asking all members, where possible, to accept the proposed committee via email

before 15th October.

Even if you expect to attend the Zoom meeting, could you please send a short email to the

Business Secretary. The wording can be as follows:

I accept the proposed Committee and Treasurer's Report as detailed in the notice of the

virtual 2020 AGM to be held on 30th October.

Member name ...................................................

Members without email may send this in written form to:

The Business Secretary at her home address.

The committee thank you for your help in this matter which allow our U3A to continue as a

recognised charity.

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PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP

The whole photography group got together once again in August for a lovely afternoon tea in my garden. This time it was to celebrate a very special birthday of one of our members, Val.

Many of you may know Val as she has previously been on the U3A committee and the editor of this newsletter for about 5 years. She took over the role from Terry and passed it on to Bob in 2017. She was also a teacher at Brightside Primary School, Billericay, in the early 1970’s and then Head Teacher at Springfield County Primary School, Basildon, until the mid 1980’s, followed by 7 years as Head of Ryedene Primary school until 1990.

We wanted to do something special to celebrate Val’s birthday, but given the current circumstances we knew it had to be outside. We prayed for good weather, and our prayers were answered. Despite heavy downpours the day before, the day of our afternoon tea proved to be glorious - beautifully sunny, and pleasantly warm. We started the afternoon with glasses of bubbly and Bucks Fizz, and then tucked into scones with cream and jam, and delicious homemade cakes contributed by our members. Val was presented with a beautiful bouquet from all of us and everyone agreed it had been a wonderful afternoon.

Given the new laws which came in on 14th September restricting gatherings to 6 people, it looks like we won’t be meeting again for the foreseeable future, even outdoors. However, we will be continuing with our zoom meetings which have proved to be a very acceptable alternative to meeting in person.

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WRITING FOR FUN During lockdown we have successfully communicated via email and phone. We have continued to write about a given topic each month, and in August we met in Lake Meadows. Although very hot, we all sat under the shade of a gigantic oak, and we brought our own chairs and refreshments. For some of us it was our first trip out other than to the shops. We had already written our pieces beforehand so we read our work to the group in glorious sunshine. The topic was friendship. As usual we had a wide variety of responses, ranging from friendship with animals, young children searching for friendship and friendship between different races. We had a lovely afternoon, two new members joined us and made lively contributions. We hope to continue to meet outdoors as long as the weather allows.

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GREENFINGERS GARDEN GROUP

Frances Wolseley (1872-1936)

Gertrude Jekyll was a supporter of Frances’ Gardening School for

Ladies, although the traditional social order of women‘s role of

wife, mother and homemaker was being challenged by a growing

demand for equality and emancipation, it was not yet seen as a

suitable occupation for young women.

Frances Wolseley offered young ladies the opportunity of an

independent and useful life in gardening as a career. She found

her own fulfilment in gardening and recognised this as a means of

social improvement and a way of reviving rural life.

She went on to found the Glynde School for Lady Gardeners in the

garden of King Edward VIIs Sanatorium, Midhurst, Sussex in 1907.

Students were selected by her who were prepared to work hard

for a period of two years, giving them practical training in gardening, management of hardy

garden plants, laying out, design and arrangement of gardens, and the routine of private

gardens and gardening.

Students paid for their lodgings plus £20 annually for practical instruction as well as extra

fees for lectures. At the end of the course she hoped they would be equipped with the

knowledge and skills required to become professional gardeners or growers.

The atmosphere was akin to a superior boarding school, considered to be hard work, good

manners and fun, with any transgressions punished by fine, including acts of indifference or

forgetfulness where they affect the welfare of

plants. There was also a school uniform, military

in tone, with a khaki coloured coat, what was

considered at the time to be a daring midcalf

length skirt, white blouse and felt hat. Breeches

were worn for practical activities (with a short

skirt over for propriety!) gaiters and leather

boots.

Outgrowing the space, Frances purchased a south

facing cornfield which she turned into a teaching

garden, where students grew and sold flowers

and vegetables and learnt about garden

maintenance, glasshouses, as well as plants and planting.

Although Frances continued to teach garden design, leaving the running of the school to

others, she began writing about gardens producing her first book “Gardening for Women” in

1908, and published in 1916 was “Gardens, Form and Design”, proving a comprehensive

guide to everything found in gardens.

Her most lasting memorial is the garden in Midhurst, built in 1906, for soldiers suffering

from tuberculosis, designed by Jekyll and planted out by the student gardeners, where

plants such as lavender, lupine, delphiniums, pinks, foxgloves and roses still survive, with a

distant view of the Sussex hills that Frances loved.

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Photographs shared from the

Greenfingers Group

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ACCESSIBILITY CO-ORDINATOR

Keeping in touch

September has arrived, I can't believe we are six months into the Covid crisis. I am finding

the thought of the winter approaching rather daunting.

It has been great that we are able to be out and about more than March, April and May but

obviously there are still plenty of restrictions and group gatherings are still a way away.

On the home front our garden has definitely benefited from more than normal TLC. This

late Indian summer during September is making me think about spring bulbs and winter

pansies.

I feel I am more confident ordering things on line. Tiptree afternoon teas, delivered, have

been the 'Present of Choice' for birthdays and 'get well soon' greetings. On line cards and

gifts have been a bit hit and miss. I had delivered two gifts to a friend and another friend

flowers to herself!

Trying to keep busy and positive involves planning and list writing. My Autumn and Winter

plans include transferring and sorting out digital photographs and finishing organising my

old photo albums. What has been lovely has been looking through photos of past holiday

and special occasions, some of which had been forgotten.

Several people from the U3A contacted me with information concerning what they had

been up to over the summer. Walking, gardening, reading all seemed popular. Some of you

may have some really exciting pursuits, if you have, let the U3A know. You may be a trend

setter.

Finally, did I tell you about my moorhens? We have seen 7 chicks reach maturity, in two

broods. We think the last of the babies have been thrown out as it has now gone quite

quiet, just the adults left. We are now definitely suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome.

I hope you manage to have a good beginning to 2020 Autumn.

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JAZZ APPRECIATION GROUP

Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke (1902-1931)

Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke was the first great white jazz musician, achieving a place in jazz on a par with the black giants of the music. He was born in Davenport, Iowa into an upper middle class family and in the ordinary course of things would have become a doctor, lawyer, or college professor. The path he chose was one his parents disapproved of and never came to terms with despite his subsequent success. When he returned home, sick and near the end of his short life he found that all the records he had proudly sent home, still wrapped, and unopened, in their mailing envelopes. During childhood piano lessons he drove his teachers to distraction by circumventing the tedious business of sight reading music, relying on his ‘quick ear’ and his reluctance to stick to the written notes. It seemed natural that Bix, with his anarchic spirit, would be drawn to jazz through the records his older brother brought home, and the sounds of jazz emanating from the river boats arriving from New Orleans. He obtained a cornet and although self-taught and with an unconventional technique he, by trial and error, came to produce one of the most compelling sounds in all jazz; flawless pitch, warm tone, biting attack and perfectly controlled vibrato. By the time he met Louis Armstrong, at the age of 19, Bix had already acquired a strong style of his own and thus avoided the overpowering influence of Armstrong to forge a distinctive approach to playing jazz. Eddie Condon, a jazz guitarist, famously said that when he first heard a phrase played by Bix the sound “was like a girl saying yes”. Mezz Mezzrow, the clarinettist, said “I have never heard a tone like he had every note full, big, and rich” His recording career began in 1924 with a group calling themselves The Wolverines, a band mainly remembered for Bix’s contributions He quickly became widely admired and copied by other jazz musicians and when the band moved to New York he came to the attention of the celebrated band leader, Paul Whiteman. Whiteman was known as ‘The King of Jazz’ and it was a prestigious job to get for Bix, as it was the most popular and commercially successful band of the time. His role in the band was to provide hot solos and it is for these that the recordings are still remembered and treasured. More importantly, between 1927-1930, Bix recorded with a variety of pick-up groups, usually consisting of his friends from the Whiteman band. Among these are some of the most admired recordings in the history of jazz and they have never been out of the catalogues. One of the great disappointments for jazz aficionados is that he never recorded with any of his great contemporaries. Perhaps from a lack of self-esteem rather than opportunity. In 1929 his years of alcohol abuse, starting in his student days, finally began to catch up with him and his decline was rapid. He seemed unable to break free of his addiction despite

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returning home to his parents and spending time in a sanatorium. On his return to New York he resumed drinking, and at the tragically early age of 28 died a horrible death in a boarding house in Queens. Already a cult figure, after his death he became a legend; the sensitive artist who had to compromise his art for the sake of commercial consideration, and the prototype of the ‘Young Man with a Horn’ depicted in a subsequent novel and Hollywood biopic. The reality was that Bix was immensely proud to be a member of Whiteman’s orchestra and remained in it almost until his death. His tragedy was one of self-destruction due to his alcoholism. Nevertheless Bix had shown that there was another approach to playing jazz, not just the bravura, extrovert Armstrong way but with the artistic assurance to play within a narrower emotional compass, the sonnet rather than the epic. In that he was the product of his well-ordered middle class, conformist background as much as Armstrong was of the slums of New Orleans. Humphrey Lyttleton wrote “Bix flashed like a comet across the sky, leaving in his recordings some evidence of the brilliance and magnificence of his passage” Suggested listening: - Singing the Blues…. I’m Coming Virginia…. both from 1927

OUT AND ABOUT

Paper Mill Lock

Early Morning Swim at Gloucester Park

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A VIST TO THE RHS GARDENS AT HYDE HALL

The site was purchased by the Robinson family in 1955 and consisted of a run-down 18th

century farmhouse and acres of wet and windy sticky clay.

The changes and development of the building and gardens, first by the family and later by

the RHS, who took over the site in 1993, have resulted in an ever-changing landscape, full of

plants from all corners of the world.

For more information on the history of Hyde Hall use this link

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall/about-hyde-hall/history

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GOLF GROUP

Summer 2020 Report Group members were delighted to hear national news in May that lockdown for golfers was

raised. So on Wednesday 13th May we joined the socially distanced queue on a dry windy

day at Dunton Hills Golf Course, and again on the 14th. It was easy queuing there, with no

booking requirements and “instant” pay and play, so we came back on our regular Thursday

at 11 o’clock slot on 21st & 28th May.

Dunton Hills is a lovely open course with extensive views towards Canary Wharf and a few

testing “water” holes, but the poor conditions of the greens and desire for change sent us

booking at Hartswood in Brentwood on 4th June. Four members turned up and we had an

enjoyable Texas scramble through the tight woodland course with greens in good condition.

We then had a run of different courses each Thursday: June 11th at Mardyke, 18th at

Cranham and 25th at Risebridge, where we finally experienced “blazing June” playing in a

temperature of 35C. It was too hot on the clubhouse patio for our closing cup of tea so we

sat in the cool clubhouse.

July 2nd saw us at Stapleford Abbotts. Then we tried Belfairs at Southend on 9th with a new

experience of sharing the course with dog walkers and balls “lost” due to dogs walking off

with them! Next we accepted the excellent “breakfast included” offer price at Top Meadow,

Ockenden on 16th. Then to Blakes at Ongar on 23rd and back to Stapleford Abbotts on 30th.

The 9 hole course at Bunsay Downs was the venue for August 6th... Although the greens on

the main course were poor, the par 3 Badgers course on very steep terrain was a physical

challenge for some U3A members. Back to Cranham for the 13th, followed by delightful and

immaculate Toot Hill on 20th.

The U3A golf group welcomes members of all handicaps and if you would like to sample

some of our visits please get in touch with the co-ordinator before winter!

Newsletter Contributions

If you have any items please send them by 12.00 Noon on Wednesday, October 14th I am always happy to receive your report or comments at any time before the cut-off date. Please send all items in editable format to bbu3anewsletter@gmail.com If you are sending photos please send them separately in JPG format. Only send photos that you have taken yourself. We cannot use photos or pictures that have been downloaded from the internet, unless copyright free. All contributions will be acknowledged. Current and past newsletters can be viewed on our website https://u3asites.org.uk/bb Please note that, in the interests of security, all details of individuals (name, address, phone number) have been redacted from the on-line versions. Editor