GENERAL MEETING REPORTS

FEBRUARY 2020

The February speaker was Gerry Kersey who gave us his talk on 50 years in broadcasting. It was an amusing journey through the decades and brought back many memories of radio from as far back as the 1940’s. Many of our members remembered and could sing along with the theme tunes when Gerry sang them. Dick Barton being one of them. Gerry Kersey

Gerry can be regularly heard on Radio Sheffield at 4.00 p.m. on Sunday afternoons with his programme ‘Musical nostalgia and Chat’. Jess Parkinson

To read an interview at the Sheffield Star go to: https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/gerry-kersey-interview-bbc-radio-sheffield-presenter-looks-back-after-50-years-air-202005

JANUARY 2020

Our speaker for January was Dennis Ashton. Dennis talked to us about the many friends he’s made over the years who have been involved in the Iditarod race in Alaska and which has become known as ‘The last great race on earth’.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of 14 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance of over 1,000 miles in 8 – 15 days or more. Dennis told of the love of their dogs and how well they are looked after by the mushers. Dennis’s enthusiasm was infectious and gave us a very entertaining 50 Minutes.

Jess Parkinson

Lance Mackey

NOVEMBER 2019

A representative from Co-operative Insurance gave a very insightful and humorous presentation to the November general meeting entitled

Tax, Care and Toy Boys!

During the wide ranging financial topic he mentioned inheritance tax, wills and the potential impact on your children after your death if your spouse takes a toy boy as a partner! He said these pitfalls can be mitigated by a trust deed.

When discussing care costs he mentioned their impact on your home. Again he had suggestions regarding these. He had a very engaging style and invited questions during his presentation. This resulted in member participation and turned a potentially dull subject into an interesting one. Power of Attorney was raised and he dealt with it in a professional manner

John Weston

SEPTEMBER 2019

Philip Caine: Barrow to Bagdad and back

From the title of the talk I was expecting to hear about a soldier’s account of warfare. I was surprised to hear the life story of an entrepreneur and author. Philip Caine told his story, starting in Barrow and ending in Barrow. He was easy to listen to as he gave an outline of his working life and experiences in remote and dangerous places across the world. It was a unique insight into a world very few would ever encounter. From cooking for the differing palates of the Scots and the French workers on an oil rig in the North Sea, on to the Soviet Union and an encounter with the KGB and the Russian mafia, with some time in Africa and the Middle East for good measure!

He settled back into life in Barrow and, in a much safer environment, he now works as a writer of fiction, calling on some of his adventures and dubious characters he met for inspiration. A most engaging speaker.

B Thompson

JULY 2019 Our speaker for July 19 was Dr Ann Featherstone who had given us a talk the previous year. I received such good feedback that I thought it would be worth having her visit us again. We weren’t disappointed. Her talk on ‘When Music Hall became Variety’ was both interesting and fun. Memories were stirred with a monologue and songs and everyone had a chance to join in the singalongs. We also discovered that some of the popular songs that we still sing today are a lot older than we realised.

Jess Parkinson

JUNE 2019

David Bell – The Plague Doctor

David, a Geordie, used to live in Byker Grove and is a friend of Jimmy Nail. He now lives in the house of Martin Morton, a plague survivor, next to the hidden waterfall near Eyam. He talked about irritating health problems in the 17th century. This came with a warning - 70% was true.

In the 17th century life expectancy was around 38 years. Oxygen had not been discovered. It was thought that blood was pumped around the body by the magnetic forces from the moon. People had no idea what the heart was for. There were no antiseptics, no antibiotics and no anaesthetics. Hospitals were just places where doctors went to learn. They were teaching establishments with no regard for the health of patients.

Samuel Pepys kept a record of his ongoing health in his diary. He was treated by Dr. Hollier at St. Thomas’ hospital. When reading the following - remember the warning about the truth.

Water Infection:

Treatment: No beer, coffee, tea or wine. Dandelion & burdock was the best diuretic.

Bladder stones:

Pain relief: Wooden mallet to render unconscious or mandrake root (hallucinogenic). Procedure: Incision of a rusty nail. Cutting

with a rusty, blunt knife followed by removal using rusty plier tongs. Treatment of wound: Pack with crushed egg (including

shell) and cover with feathers off the street followed by a hot flat iron to cauterise the wound.

Haemorrhoids:

Molasses in the anus and/or a live leach in the anus overnight - and a new leach each night for the next 9 nights.

Constipation:

Exercise to agitate the bowels: horse & trap going over bumps. A visit to Epsom to drink the water that contained magnesium sulphate. That didn’t work for Samuel Pepys. Procedure: Hollow bamboo cane inserted. Use of beef dripping as there was no Vaseline. The doctor had a clay pipe and blew the smoke up the bamboo tube. Bellows were then used and evacuation followed with 1 hour.

David concluded his talk with some facts about the plague at Eyam, and about Martin Morton, his family and dog, Flash.

A most entertaining talk.

B Thompson

To read excerpts from Pepys’ diary go to https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/summary

APRIL 2019

April gave us John Hoare and his ‘Acorn to Oak’ talk. His knowledge about the subject was engaging from the start. It was fascinating to learn how this massive organisation, The National Trust, started and evolved and is still evolving today. John didn’t take a fee but asked that the money be given to the National Trust instead. So not only did we have a very interesting talk, we gave support to this amazing Trust.

Jess Parkinson

MARCH 2019

Our speaker for March was Pat Osborne, whose talk was ‘Queen Victoria, some surprising and lesser known facts’. Pat, who was still recovering from illness gave her talk from her wheelchair and had us hanging on every word. Queen Victoria, always an interesting lady to hear about and with some very stubborn streaks.

Jess Parkinson

FEBRUARY 2019

In comparison, I found the February speaker, Keith Whatlin, fascinating to listen to. He took a potentially dry subject ‘The History of English Architecture’ and spoke with great knowledge and enthusiasm. Although the venue was far from ideal because it was impossible for members to sneak in and out regarding things that had to be done, it didn’t faze Keith at all and he was thrilled with the feedback our members gave him at the end of his talk.

Jess Parkinson

JANUARY 2019

Our January speaker, Robert Wood, was a perfect example. The talk ‘Gemstones and Crystals’ wasn’t at all what I expected but it was given with confidence if a little ‘drifting’ occasionally. I personally didn’t quite understand what he was trying to get over. There were however a lot of people interested in speaking to him at the end and looking at the stones etc. that he had brought to sell.

Jess Parkinson

DECEMBER 2019

Christmas Event

At what stage and which stage?

The sudden closure of The Trades Club not only created problems for our Chairman and Committee but especially our Drama Impresario, Chris Woolven. He had been visualising the regular stage for his third pantomime when a rewrite was forced upon him by the change of venue. The Catholic Club is darker than the Trades, with different access points to the stage. The regular team of U3A thespians gave bravura performances involving their usual zany characters.

It is a pity that we have been unable to find a pianist among our members or associates when we could form a choir and music could be included into our Christmas Extravaganza, and possibly even a demonstration from our Scottish Country Dancing

group.

Thanks should be expressed to those members who arranged the tables and supplied the food and crackers, and cleared up at the end.

David Allen

OCTOBER 2018

Our speaker for October was Bob Ashton who spoke at length about ‘A Century of Public Transport’, 1902 to 2002. It was very interesting to see the vast changes in the Doncaster landscape over the years. Unfortunately Bob only managed to get to 1952 in the time allocated to him. For the younger members in the audience we sadly didn’t get to see many pictures that we could relate to. However, it was a detailed account given by a very enthusiastic speaker showing his vast knowledge of the subject.

Jess Parkinson

SEPTEMBER 2018

John Stirling was September’s speaker. His talk was entitled ‘Theatre to Actors and much more’. John became a successful child actor on TV working in Noddy, as the headboy with Jimmy Edwards in ‘Whacko’, with Jack Warner in ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ and with Sid James in ‘Taxi’. He gave up television at the age of 16 and went into radio. He worked with Patricia Hayes in ‘Raise a Laugh’. He then became a stage manager and producer working with Morecambe and Wise, Billy Fury, Patricia Hayes, Bob Monkhouse, Marti Caine, and Mark Knopfler and put on variety shows for good causes in the country’s biggest theatres and concert halls. Patricia Hayes initiated a turning point in his career when she asked him to write a play for her. He wrote ‘Marked for Life’. The play included 12 abused, neglected donkeys which had to be rehomed after the production. His wife Annie took them home but people kept bringing more and more donkeys to them. John has worked with, among others, Anneka Rice, Dame Judy Dench, Marti Caine, June Brown, Edward Fox, Kathy Staff (Norah Batty) for the benefit of neglected and abused donkeys. We learnt that Jean Fergusson aka Marina (Last of the Summer Wine) even owns a donkey called Howard. His wife Annie has done two challenging fund-raising walks in aid of their donkey sanctuary and much good work has been done with disabled children. What was perceived as a talk on the theatre took a very interesting turn as the ‘and much more’ became evident. A particularly interesting and memorable talk.

Bridget Thompson

His biography is ‘Never work with children or animals - the memoirs of John Stirling’ - Memoirs Publishing

JULY 2018

Our Speaker for July and her second visit to DU3A was Maureen Taylor. Maureen is a very knowledgeable historian and spoke to us on the subject of Bess of Hardwick ‘a woman of many parts’. She spoke for the whole time without notes, showing us her extensive knowledge of her subject. It was nice that Maureen was able to give her talk in costume. Given the intense heat at the time, without the air-conditioning it would have been extremely uncomfortable for her. I helped carry her costume to and from the venue and was surprised at the weight of it. I only carried the skirts and it made me realise how difficult it must be for her to stand for so long in the full costume. All in all a very interesting insight into Bess of Hardwick

Jess Parkinson

JUNE 2018

Ann Featherstone: Music Hall - Singers and Dancers

Ann told us how music halls had their origins in public houses. Singers used to sing their signature song once an hour and the main intention was to sell beer not to ‘entertain’. The public houses were soon too small so they had a small room at the back. The publicans were not allowed to charge for the ‘entertainment’ so they sold tokens to enter the room and have a beer. It was men only and they ate there, often between 11.00 p.m. and 5.00 a.m.

There was one song for each entertainer and the song belonged to them. We joined in with songs such as: Champagne Charlie, My Old Dutch, The boy I love is up in the Gallery, Daisy Bell (Harry Dacre), and My old man said follow the van.

B Thompson

Albert Chevalier Marie Lloyd Vesta Tilley

FEBRUARY 2018

February 2018 saw Neil McGregor, Assistant Manager (Exhibitions, Art and Outreach) at Doncaster Art Gallery and Museum illustrating the changes in the town recorded in drawings and paintings. Before WW1 Doncaster was a small market town on the A1 road, linking London and Edinburgh, with 10 coaching inns at its centre and 12 stately estates around the perimeter. Whilst the town was affected by the Victorian Industrial Revolution, it was the development of industry and therefore housing which powered the expansion from 1918 up to the 1970’s. The Racecourse along with grand facilities of the Mansion House and the Noble Estates with their house parties made the town a meeting place for High Society. There were comparatively few paintings recording industry. He showed a couple portraying a smoky view of the Yorkshire Main Colliery, Edlington and a delightful painting of two famous steam locomotives being repainted ready for fast rail services at The Plant. In closing, Neil invited us to arrange parties to visit the Gallery along with the Archives.

David Allen

JANUARY 2018

Our speaker in January, Mike Atherton, recalled his life in the British Army, where he became the first Trauma specialist in the Service. Serendipity is a word that I like to apply where changes in life have come about, not through planning but by accident, being in the right place at the right time and seizing opportunities that have presented themselves. World Politics dictated that a number of theatres of war from The Falklands to Iraq involved our Services and Mike was in the Medical thick of it. His story was fascinating and his natural wit kept us all rapt with interest.

David Allen

DECEMBER 2017 Ladies who love to Sing

The ‘Ladies who love to sing’, accompanied on the keyboard by their conductor, presented us with an eclectic programme of songs covering several decades. The use of harmony, unison and counterpoint singing created a warm atmosphere. Wendy Hattrell manned the computer, making sure that the words of the songs for community singing were well displayed on the screen.

Bridget Thompson

Pantomania!

‘OLDILOCKS

What a great bunch of people we got together for this year’s Pantomime.

I was quite uncertain about how we would get on, with so few people coming forward to take part and to some extent I had to write the script around the people we had.

After the success of last year’s “Little Old Granny Riding Hood” Diane and I decided that this year we would give it a rest.

However, when we were approached and asked to produce something for this year I forgot all that, foolishly agreed and came up with a plot for “Oldilocks”

After the initial casting and rewriting we all got together and started to work it through bit by bit. Always open to suggestions we did manage to adapt things as we went along, including some brilliant gags and suggestions made by members of the group.

One problem I did find was that of reproducing on stage what I originally imagined when I wrote it! For example, the more observant in the audience will have noticed the abundance of chairs that appeared on the stage for the last scene. This became necessary when we realised that the script demanded that the cast should each fall to the floor as a spell was cast on them one by one. Unfortunately I had failed to foresee that most of the cast were of an age where falling on the floor was a major difficulty and that even if they did manage to get down, it was still impossible for most of the cast to get up again unaided…..hence the chairs!

In the event though the hours and hours of rehearsals and props, set and costume making were rewarded by an unforgettable performance that was well appreciated by cast and audience alike.

I must say a big thank-you to everyone who took part and helped us with the show.

Chris Woolven

Photos by Nora Boyle & Malcolm Johnston

NOVEMBER 2017 1,000 Years of the English Language.

Malcolm Johnson gave us a most enlightening talk on the history of our language starting at 1066 and describing the language at 100 year intervals up to present times plus possible future developments.

Those who were present may recall the mention of mondegreens. A mondegreen (also sometimes spelled ‘mondagreen’) is the accidental mishearing of a phrase in a poem, or song in such a way that it acquires a new, and usually humorous meaning. The original poem included the lines: “They have slain the Earl o' Moray, And layd him on the green”. This was misheard as “They hae slain the Earl Amurray, And Lady Mondegreen". Scattered around the newsletter are a few more mondegreens, some of which you may recognise.

B Thompson

OCTOBER 2017 A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Crematorium

IT'S YOUR FUNERAL

At first glance the subject, funerals, could have been a little touchy considering the audience was retired people, with at least four long-time members of Doncaster U3A who are well into their nineties, one of whom being Joyce Burgin, who was incidentally present, and had her ninety first birthday on the day of the meeting.

However, in spite of the dour subject, the speaker Jane Price happily managed to keep her talk on funerals on a light note that

was often very funny. Jane is a lay preacher and has officiated at many funerals, which gave her an insight into the many different forms funerals can take. Jane also passed on to her audience practical information about various aspects of what can, and cannot, be done when arranging a funeral, be it one’s own funeral, or for someone else.

One thing that emerged from listening to this talk was that really anything goes so long as the basic legal aspects are followed. This became apparent during the talk when Jane described how she was asked by a person who was dying, if she would officiate at her funeral when the time came, and then stipulated that she be allowed to be sitting upright in her coffin, facing the mourners for the duration of the service. Jane then gently explained that for various reasons this would not be practical, and excused herself from officiating at that particular funeral. The talk was informative and thought provoking as well as amusing.

It is to be hoped that it will be a long time before we need to use the information that Jane Price gave us in this talk.

Betty Alexander

SEPTEMBER 2017 MUSICAL CONNECTIONS

Alan Copley came up with the idea of a Musical Quiz when he was on a river cruise and the evening entertainment was sparse. Unless he happened to have a case full of music scores he must have delved into his musical memory.

There is no doubt that, in general, our members are of an age where nostalgia gets us through life and it has been found that old favourites of songs trigger the life into fading brain cells.

Songs that we enjoy stay with us through the sheer melody. It is proved that if an audience does not leave a theatre humming the music of a show, then that show is doomed.

Alan kept us both entertained and challenged as he teased us with his quizzing links between rousing choruses.

David Allen

JULY 2017

Geoff Tagg, one of our own U3A members gave an enlightening talk about his work with the Prince’s Trust. Many of us knew of the Prince’s Trust but actually knew little about what it achieved. The Trust believes that every young person should have the chance to succeed. They help 11 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed or struggling at school to transform their lives by helping them to develop key skills while boosting their confidence and motivation. Well done, Geoff!

Bridget Thompson

MAY 2017 Wildlife and Wild Places.

Steve Drinkall, a Wildlife & Landscape Photographer based in Sheffield, gave an informative and extremely enjoyable talk about his own experiences of wildlife and wild places, His talk was illustrated by some of his own stunning photographs. Joining him in his travels around some of the Scottish islands, we saw otters, eagles, puffins, kingfishers, owls, red squirrels, wild landscapes, beautiful sunsets and more.

Wildlife and landscape greeting cards were also available for U3A members to buy.

As a novice photographer, I was quite envious of the quality of the photographs that were shown but was also made to feel that I too could capture images of such wildlife and places.

Bridget Thompson

MARCH 2017

The Universe, It’s Stars and Planets

Even after Dennis Ashton's fascinating illustrated talk on the Universe, I find that I cannot get to grips with the distances which he used to try to illustrate the size of our wonderful Universe. His photographs came to us by the courtesy of N.A.S.A. and so that service keeps Dennis's talks bang up-to-date. Going on an imaginary journey from earth, past the Moon and Planets all seeming with extreme temperatures which will be a problem for human settlement, we were transported to the extremes of the Universe. Being millions of miles in diameter I pose the question, just where is Heaven?

David Allen

FEBRUARY 2017

Elizabethan Times

Lady Mary Palmer, alias Maureen Taylor, led us through a story of Elizabethan Life. Dressed in a very heavy (and warm) outfit of the period she regaled us with the attitudes and situations of the poor and wealthy ways of life of that era. All the mundane subjects were touched on especially hygiene and toileting arrangements. The well off lived the good life with money marrying money, whereas surfs were happy to receive shelter and food from being good servants. We shall see Lady Mary Palmer included in our programme in the future.

David Allen

JANUARY 2017

The Story of the Plant Works

In a planned series of talks about Doncaster, Hugh Parkin related the history of The Plant Works from its establishment here rather than Peterborough, the great Locomotive designers who delivered so many advanced steam driven engines, through the two world wars into the demise of steam. Many in the audience had memories of the highlighted events especially during their younger days. Employing 3,000 people at its zenith, it generated a living for quite a proportion of the workers in the town. Towards the end of his talk Hugh showed us photographs of prototype coaches and engines especially Nigel Gresley’s pre-war electric locomotive. One has to ask, where did things go wrong?

David Allen

DECEMBER 2016

Christmas at DU3A

The December GM had become known as the ‘Christmas Event’ and had Chris Woolven’s name down as the organiser. Chris had form – many of you will remember the bearded tutu wearing ‘dying swan’ from 2 years ago - so we were all curious to know what was planned this time. Words like ‘pantomime’ and ‘duets’ were being mentioned along with ‘rehearsals’ while volunteers were sought from the membership for people to get involved, but for people on the outside, like me, it was all a bit of a mystery.

The things I did understand were catering, mince pies, cake etc. and setting out tables. This was organised by Diane who was ably assisted by Monica and the cast of the panto as table layers. As I didn’t belong to either of these groups I volunteered to sell the tickets. Sales were brisk and to my amazement I found the numbers sold were exceeding our usual attendance at General Meetings and in fact ended up at around 100. The news had obviously spread……

The tables looked lovely decked out in festive napkins and cloths and with rather a lot of food on offer, the £4 entry fee was looking like good value. The panto turned out to be a variation on the theme of Red Riding Hood – something about granny being imprisoned in a care home. Nobody really cared - we were all there to join in the fun and laugh, in true panto fashion, at people making fools of themselves.

Most people also had a go at the quizzes which had been provided by Bridget and there were prizes for the clever people who knew the answers, a raffle with more prizes than usual and a free draw based on entry ticket numbers.

The afternoon was rounded off with a duet between Chris and Jo Copley who entertained us with her beautiful soprano voice.

If you didn’t make it to the Christmas Event you missed a treat. Thank you to all those who put in the hard work to make the whole thing a very memorable and enjoyable afternoon.

Wendy Hattrell

SEPTEMBER 2016

Musical Meeting

The General Meeting in September was not the usual “Run of the Mill” affair. I had invited “Stringalongs” Ukulele Group from Barnsley U3A to come along and entertain us. They were a little uncertain as to whether they were going to be suitable for the whole afternoon so I spoke to a friend, Jo Copley, a retired professional singer, who is thinking of becoming a member and asked her to come along and help out. She kindly agreed, and with my accompaniment gave us a small sample of her repertoire.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon so we may be inviting them again next year. I look forward to seeing more of Jo too—perhaps she can be persuaded to come back and sing for us at Christmas…..watch this space!

Chris Woolven

JUNE 2016

You've Heard of Swann-Upping?

At the June 2016 General Meeting, Alan Swann, member of Barnsley U3A and current Chairman of the YAHR Regional Management Committee, kept over 80 members entertained with a presentation giving a lighter view of life. Many of the images were taken when something tickled the humour of the photographer. The flexible use of the wonderful English Language either with misuse, punning or double entendres generated much laughter. The presentation was the first of its type that I can remember. Laughter boosts our endorphins and lifts us from the gloom of day to day living.

In July 2016 we welcome Worshipful Brother Stuart Grantham of The Don Valley Masonic Lodge, who will address us on a subject which intrigues many, namely Freemasonry, not a secret society but simply a society with secrets.

David Allen

MAY 2016 Yorkshire Wildlife Park

In spite of technical projection problems, an audience of over 80 members enjoyed the talk by Neville Williams, co-founder and co-director of the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Neville set out the story of how he and his wife were looking to establish a modest animal project and by chance the old Brockholes Horse Riding establishment was available. With very little capital they followed their passion and set about collecting exotic animals. Serendipity played a great part in the expansion and development, such as, when animals at an old run down Romanian Zoo could not be cared for, they jumped in and offered a home with plenty of space. Many businesses freely assisted such as Jet2 freight who loaned a plane free of charge for one day in order to ship the beasts to the Park. The financial figures were amazing and illustrated that from the original 35 part time Brockholes staff, they were now in year 6 employing 250 staff and investing millions in the continued development of purpose built units for each to the new animals, rather than continue with the rather basic builds that they had to employ in the beginning. The Yorkshire Wildlife Park was the fastest growing such attraction in Europe. Neville paid tribute to the assistance received from various Departments of the Local Authority. If you have not visited the park, make a point of going this summer (when we get it).

David Allen