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New Groups Launching in March
AmDramAn exciting new group will be launched on Wednesday 16th March at our next general meeting.
Anyone interested in any aspect of amateur dramatics, should see Ruth Bonner for details, at the meeting.
Activities involved in amateur dramatics cover everything from hair and makeup, costume design, back stage, lighting, scenery making/painting, prompting, directing and a multitude of other skills needed to get a production off the ground and ready for an audience. Of course we need those who would like a chance to get under that spot light and act, so don’t be shy, give it a go, come along and sign up with
Ruth Bonner
Anyone for arranging flowers?Jen Sykes, Mel Stevenson and Bev Crofts are going to launch a new interest group.
The group will be for everyone interested in flower arranging, experienced or not, it doesn’t matter. What we hope is that it will
be fun, colourful, relaxing and any other adjective that describes a good time!None of us profess to be experts, or in a position to ‘teach’, what we hope is that we can all learn from each other. We believe that everyone and anyone who buys or receives flowers enjoys them for what they are and how much nicer would it be if we can display /arrange them in the best possible way we can.
So please think about it, if you’re interested, sign up with us in March!
Bev Crofts
Current Affairs Discussion GroupOne or two of us are wondering if there would be interest in a Current Affairs Discussion group. I belong to a CADG in Chesterfield and it’s great. We discuss all manner of topics, selected by members of the group – for example, ‘Should Trident be renewed?’ or ‘Is a hereditary monarchy appropriate for today?’ or ‘Are faith schools divisive?’ The idea is to discuss and share views, not to decide or vote.
If anyone would be interested I will be at the meeting on Wednesday 16th March and we can see if this idea would be viable.
Barbara Kirsop
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Bolsover District U3A Registered charity number: 288007
NewsletterLearn, laugh and live Spring 2016
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Forthcoming General MeetingsHeld 2.00 to 4.00 at the Assembly Rooms Hilltop Avenue, Bolsover S44 6NG 16-03-2016 Introduction to the Interest groups20-04-2016 AGM - Bolsover District U3A currently has a steering committee
that will operate until the AGM, when we need to elect a committee. There is a nomination form at the end of this newsletter. This is your opportunity to be involved, plan and help support and guide our U3A.
18-05-2016 ‘Tax Care and Toy Boys’ a talk by Collective Legal Solutions 15-06-2016 ‘Old Bolsover’ Bernard Haigh
BD U3A current steering committee membersUntil April 20th 2016
Neil Haddy Chair [email protected] 07958 311131
BevCrofts
Vice Chair (and Social Secretary)
[email protected] 01246 810758
Rose Bailey Secretary [email protected] 01623 743573
Jen Sykes Membership Secretary [email protected] 01246 899261
Mary Ellen Broughton Business secretary [email protected] 01246 825383David Stevenson Treasurer [email protected] 01246
853699Elaine McNeill Groups coordinator (and Web
group)[email protected] 07434 943724
Jean Hull Speaker seeker [email protected] 01246 825943Lyndall Bond Newsletter and publicity [email protected] 01623
746290George O’Neil Publicity (Radio and social
media)[email protected] 01246 240468
BarbaraKirsop
Publicity Press (and Web group) [email protected] 07773677650
Important new committee!We will be holding our first AGM on 20th April 2016 and now invite nominations from members who would like an opportunity to become a committee member. The nomination form (is for you to nominate yourself or others – so please come and join in helping to continue the success of our BD U3A! follow the link for a form bdu3a-nominations-form-2016-2017-final 2
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Interest GroupsMost groups have places for new members but please contact the group convener before first attending a meeting.
Art and Craft
The art and craft group continue to meet monthly on the 3rd Tuesday at Bainbridge Hall, 1.30pm. We had a demonstration from Katrina on book folding and making an ‘Angel’.” There is a
new craft making wreaths from recycled materials. We are also looking at making a U3A banner for display outside the hall for the monthly Wednesday meetingsContact Gene Brothwell 01246 823 102 [email protected]
Creative Writing Thursday 18 Feb, Creative Writing, was so much fun, we were tasked with writing a short poem entitled my house/home, well, as per usual, I got that slightly wrong, and wrote a story! Anyway they were all so good, but one stood out for all of us, this was written by Mary, about her childhood home through WW2, very moving and vivid. The group have challenged Mary to add a few finishing touches, polish it up a bit and present it at our next general meeting as part of a promotion package for creative writing. We also presented, to each other, words we had found through the previous month that we didn’t know the meaning of. The idea behind this was to improve/ extend our vocabulary, and knowledge of the meaning of words.
Contact Gene Brothwell 01246 823 102 [email protected]
Family History We have asked the library to reserve the room for us on the 2nd Tuesday every month for the rest of 2016.I’m also planning a trip to Matlock Archives and another to Chesterfield library to peruse local newspapers for news of family ancestors. I found a relative mentioned killed in an accident at work
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in Staveley in 19th century. Much to be gleaned from old newspapers. My grandmother came from Chesterfield many moons ago although I am a born and bred Londoner. We are also considering making a collage of old family photos, with a few details, from each group member for display at monthly meetings and/or on web.
Contact Mary Ellen Broughton [email protected] 01246 825383 or Rose Bailey [email protected] 01623 7435730
Gardening The gardening group meets monthly usually the last Monday but it does depend on the venue. The next meeting will be Friday 29th April at 2pm. Renishaw Hall to see the large gardens. Take your Gold card half price entry fee Monday 23rd May at 1pm. Ashford-in-Water for the Well Dressing Monday 20th June at 2pmPleasley pit to see the wild Orchids If anyone has an idea of where to go, or would be willing to open their garden for us I would love to hear from you. I would ask everyone to check the U3A Web page phone or email me before each event.
Contact Hilary Rugless 01246 241743 [email protected]
History Thanks to Enid and Barry Hibbert for bringing along Ellen Taylor from the Derbyshire Law Centre on 23rd February. Ellen gave a very interesting presentation on the history of social housing in North Eastern Derbyshire from the late 1700’s. More can be found on the website www.socialhousinghistory.org.uk where it delves even further back in history.The next History meeting will take place at the Blue Bell in Bolsover from 12 noon on Tuesday 22nd March when we will start to look at the emancipation of slaves – a very broad subject so we ask that you bring your views and knowledge to the table for what promises to be a very lively discussion.
Bletchley ParkUnfortunately the coach trip which was planned to go to Bletchley Park in April has had to be cancelled as there was not enough interest to make it feasible. Hopefully we can look at this again later in the year if we can increase the numbers. Apologies to those who had been looking forward to this.
Contact Rose Bailey [email protected] 01623 743573
Lunch Club February 19th 2016 we went to the White Hart, Calow. There were seven of us, we had all arrived by 12.30, and went in to a very cosy, friendly restaurant. The menu is very varied, reasonably priced and very tasty. But more importantly for one of our members there was a glutton/lactose free menu with a great choice of starters, mains and sweet. I feel confident in saying that everyone thoroughly enjoyed our lunch time outing, and, we would all like to thank Brenda (Eastaff) for organising this for us. We all enjoyed it so much it was decided to go there again next month, this time on a Thursday, 17 March, meeting 12.30ish. Have
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attached 2 photos of sweets served, guess which is the gluten / lactose free, just for fun, no prizes offered! Contact Brenda Eastaff Tel 01246823848 [email protected]
Neil Haddy and George O’Neil are two of our group interested in learning through MOOCs
MOOCs and U3AsNo, it is not a form of insult along the lines of “silly old MOOC” but a (usually) free means of learning. Now I’ve got your attention with a four letter word - free - let’s have a look at MOOCs and our U3A.
The general idea of U3A Interest Groups is self-learning and management. Certainly the idea of a live tutor is discouraged. Perhaps, though, for some subjects or interests, a traditional tutor led group is more useful. So the question we need to ask is; is there a way of accommodating such needs within the U3A system. I think there may be - in the form of MOOCs.It’s a strange name, so where does it come from? It’s an acronym for MASSIVE ONLINE OPEN COURSE. Let’s see what each of those words mean.Massive Literally thousands of people taking a course at the same time -
from all over the world.Online Yes, it needs access to, and a basic knowledge of, a computer
(PC, Apple, Tablet or even Smartphone).Open No entry qualifications (although some courses suggest pre-
requisite knowledge but this is not mandatory) and, importantly in these days of exorbitantly high tuition fees, no entry fees.
Course designed to follow a specific topic or area of study
Let’s see how they work. Firstly you will need to register with your chosen MOOC supplier (I've include a list of the most popular at the end). You can register with all of them if you wish. I’m registered with at least 6! Then browse through their list of courses or course catalogue - they are usually divided into subject areas - Maths, IT, Arts and Humanities enc. Select the course (or courses) that you fancy and click on enrol (or enroll because many of the MOOC providers are American and they write a form of English). That’s it - it really is that simple to get enrolled on a course.
Bear in mind that not all courses run all the time and that many are tied to the academic terms (I’ve never had to wait more than 3 months to enrol on a course I want). Once you have enrolled you will have access to the course syllabus which will tell you how the course is organised, when it starts, when it ends, how many hours per week and what work you’d be expected to do. The US based courses tend to be more academically challenging than the British ones so there might be homework and an end of course exam (often multiple choice).Teaching materials are usually video lectures often with downloadable transcripts and handouts. In that respect it is like a traditional college course - except that you can’t ask the lecturer direct questions. However, they all have discussion forums where you can chat online with other students (but see later for my ideas on how we could interact in our U3A).Now you’re hooked (you are, aren’t you?), you’ll want to know what courses you can follow. I can’t list them all - too many and it would burn up the Newsletter budget for the next few years! However, quickly browsing through I noted:
Italian - Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and 19th Century Orchestra
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How to Write a Novel Ancient Philosophy Making Sense of the News The Great War and Modern Philosophy Nutrition and Well-being Robert Burns Discovery of the Higgs Boson Introduction to Dutch Shakespeare and the World
That’s quite a range in itself and that’s just a small part of what’s on offer.So the question now is - how could we, Bolsover District U3A, use MOOCs to assist our interest groups? Let’s assume that a few of us are interested in learning Italian, for the sake of argument. We would get together, decide to enrol for the course and agree to meet regularly (how often depends on the length and complexity of the course) to discuss what we’ve learned, to work through problems and discuss exercises etc.
I have followed a lot of these courses (I got the academic bug doing an Open University History degree) - some are very good, some mediocre, some not so good. There is one thing that would have helped with all the courses I have followed - the ability to discuss it with someone else who is doing it. Yes, there are discussion forums but, with enrolments in the tens of thousands, they are like a computer Tower of Babel - nothing beats face to face interaction.I think we could use some MOOCs very productively and would be happy to discuss the concept further with anybody who is interested. I can’t promise I’d be interested necessarily in the one you want to follow - but that’s no different to our interest groups. Give it a go, I think you’d be pleasantly surprised.
Neil Haddy (February 2016)
List of MOOCsCoursera (USA) https://www.coursera.org/EDX (USA) https://www.edx.org/Future Learn (UK) https://www.futurelearn.com/coursesCanvas (USA) https://www.canvas.net/Open2Study (Australia) https://www.open2study.com/Stanford (USA) http://online.stanford.edu/courses/
National Trust Visits Saturday 19th March: Belton House and Garden Centre. £15. Pick up Bolsover 8.45amSaturday 16th April Speke Hall, further info: to be arrangedFriday 27th May Bidulph House, further info: to be arrangedSaturday 9th July Lyme Park, further info: to be arranged.
Other suggested places of interest to visit are, Waddeson Manor, Anglesey Abbey, Peckover House, Sutton Hoo, Baddesley Clinton, Kinver Edge Rock House, Shugborough Estate, Stoneywell, Wightwick Manor & Gardens, Quarry Bank, Fountain Abbey & Studley Royal, and finally Powis Castle. All of these places were suggested and agreed by members.
The next National Trust meeting is on Friday 18th March at 2pm at the Blue Bell in Bolsover, everyone is welcome to join us, the friendship and camaraderie within this group is second to none, so please join us Contact Brenda Berresford on 01623 364299 or 07709961855
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Supper Club 3rd March 2016 we had supper at Bella Donna, beautiful woman, or the name of a poisonous plant! The restaurant is in a building that was formerly a pub and a hotel, with a large carpark but it is on the 53 Bus route from Bolsover, outside Renishaw. Ten members of BDU3A came with us to Bella Donna and it was good to get together again. As ever the venue was recommended by one of our group, we have more than 2 years of venues to try before we need to start at the beginning of our list again!
I had a pancake filled with some salmon and topped with a sauce. Then three of us shared profiteroles! Mmmmm. When it came to the bill one of our members was charged £12 for garlic bread, which left a rather a bad taste in the mouth after a cheerful evening catching up with friends.
Our next visit will be to the Van Dyk Hotel.
Contact Lyndall Bond [email protected] 01623 746 290 for date, time and to book a seat.
Walking 29th March from the Longshaw visitor centre car parkWalks start promptly at 10.a.m.Contact Hilary Rugless on 01246 241743 [email protected] 07712968665
Interest GroupsNew convenors needed!After a lots of work setting up some successful groups a few convenors are now looking for members to step forward to take over running them. It does not have to be one person taking on all the responsibility but maybe you could help, so that your group can continue to run. Setting up a new groupIf you have not found the group you are looking for why don’t you consider setting up a new group? Please contact the Group Co-ordinator Elaine Mc Neill; she has links to specific national support for groups and will be able to guide you. Activities involving money have to be run past the committee due to the implications for our charitable status. There is a general booklet available from the national U3A providing advice about how to run a group and this can be obtained from the Committee members. It is strongly recommended you take a look at this to help you make your new group a huge success. Contact Elaine Mc Neill [email protected] 07434 943724 or while Elaine is away contact Bev Crofts [email protected] 01246 810758
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Website management To provide information about your Interest Group or other BDU3A activities, send a message to [email protected] from where the web management group will add it to the web site. BDU3A website http://bdu3a.com/ is where to find the very latest news, this is managed by an enthusiastic team: Geoff Cutts, Elaine McNeill and Barbara Kirsop [email protected]
Newsletter Editorial The Newsletter only exists if you contribute. Please send information to the website or deliver it to the editors. We specifically would like to know what you did at the last meeting, dates times and locations of forthcoming meetings along with any preparation you need to do or expenses that will be incurred. If you have good photographs, this will help to get information in the newsletter so every member can help the group convenor by taking photos them and sharing them. If there are any errors or omissions then please let us know and we will do our best to make corrections in the following issue. Lyndall Bond: [email protected] 01623 746 290 Barbara Kirsop [email protected] 07773677650 Editors reserve the right to edit, or omit information submitted and the final decision will rest with the committee.
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