PowerPoint PresentationU3A
Welcome to the end of Lockdowns – we hope.
It has been such an extraordinary time, I think we have all run out of superlatives.
Some people have come off pretty lightly, while others have had immense challenges to
cope with. For most off us the U3A has been there as a calm, and at times comforting
symbol of friendship and normality.
There have been some changes ,- as you would expect in over 18 months. Some
people have given a home to a lockdown puppy or kitten, some people have taken up
baking or home brewing, or tapestry again; others have walked miles or acquired an
electric bike; some have even taken up cold water swimming I’m told; -nobody I know,-
but I do know a couple of people who returned to the pool when they re-opened. I think
its fair to say that the majority of us have had to become more tec’ savvy !
The most important things to our branch of U3a is Pete Miller stepping down as Chair,
and Linda Curry being elected to take his place. We also have a new committee, - and
almost unbelievably, new members have been joining on line.
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A Thank You To Pete
Pete is one of the founder members of Kings Norton and District U3a and has been
Chairman Twice! In 2017 he was one of the group of local movers and shakers who
got the whole thing started. He stood down for a couple of years, and served as Vice
Chair, and then picked up the baton again as Chair. His capacity for hard work , and
his enthusiasm can be gauged from this small selection of photos. ! ( not that being in
the beer appreciation group is hard ! )
We all want to say Thank you ! Pete. See you in September.
Deputising for Santa Testing out the equipment at Stirchley Baths.
An Ad Hoc Committee Meeting - Important taste testing work.
If coronavirus isn’t about beer, why do I keep seeing cases of it?
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Welcome to Linda
I am writing to you to introduce myself and the other members of the committee -
some of whom you already know and some whom you will be less familiar with.
You will find us in all our glory at the bottom of this email.
I have taken over from Lorna as Chair. I have been a member of U3A for a few
years now - starting off with Kings Heath/Moseley and then joining Kings Norton,
so now a member of both. I belong to a few of the special interest groups and
absolutely love them.
It has been a difficult 18 months but we have a loyal membership and lots of ideas
about how we recover from the lockdowns. We are continuing to live in a time of
uncertainty and are aware that this is an opportunity to rethink how we do things.
Don't worry - I'm not proposing major changes!
Some groups have continued to meet, but virtually, and we have also had the
Murthy talks. We have not renewed our subscription to Murthy as we plan to start
up again with face-to-face talks. I think that it is now going to be a case of trying to
create a balance between those who are still wary about mixing too much and
those who are desperate to get out and meet people.
So, at the moment, we plan to meet up again in September. This should be
Tuesday 21 September but a reminder will be sent around. The plan is that we will
not have a speaker for that meeting (our first speaker meeting being in October). It
will be an opportunity for people to meet up and to raise any issues they may have.
Given the awful year we have had, it would be really good to have some feedback
and some ideas for improvement!
I look forward to seeing you in September.
Best wishes
Membership Secretary - - -vacant
Website Admin (co-opted) - Margaret Lusher
Support to Interest Groups Coordinator (co-opted) - Beryl Blood
And an array of volunteers without whom we could not function.
The co-opted committee members will stand for election at the
2022 AGM.
History of Architecture
Harriet Martin wrote.
The Architecture Group has met monthly throughout the pandemic. Over the winter
months we shared presentations of interesting architecture over Zoom. We've had in
person visits to the Moor Pool Estate in September 2020 and this summer, Avoncroft and
Harvington Hall and are planning to visit Coventry Cathedral in September. We currently
have about 22 members with an average attendance at our meetings of around 12.
The Granary .
Harvington Hall . Nr Kidderminster
Both book groups have been Zooming throughout the lockdown and
beyond. The Friday group plans to continue on Zoom for the time being
but the Monday group had a successful open air meeting in August and
plans the same for September. If anyone would be interested in setting up
a group on another day please do get in touch and I am very happy to
help judyletters1@gmail.com
Circle Dancing
The Circle Dance group was able to dance outside during June and July, thanks to
the purchase of a Bluetooth speaker, and plans to continue doing so during August.
Although the space was limited and not as even underfoot as we are used to, we all
enjoyed returning to the joy of dancing, the great mix of music and, of course, being
together face-to-face (but not hand-to-hand!). I am delighted to be able to say that,
although we have had to change the day of our meetings, we will be able to return to
Cotteridge Friends Meeting House from 2 to 4pm as from Thursday, September 9th
and thereafter on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Thursdays.
We will be happy to welcome newcomers to the group in September. If you’d like
more information contact me, Jackie Spearpoint, on 439 5824 or
at jackiespearpoint@gmail.com.
Flower Arranging Group.
This month's flower arranging group, which took place in a member's garden,
with thanks to Mary Small for her hospitality and delicious cake.
Stella . August 2021 6
Gardens, and Garden Visits
It has been lovely to be able to resume our monthly visits since the easing of
restrictions. We have been to Winterbourne, Morten Hall, Coughton Court and
Martineau Gardens as well as bonus pop up visits(with cake!) to members gardens
(thanks Yvonne, Beryl, Eileen and Tommy for hosting). More visits are in the pipeline
before winter sets in and the WhatsApp group is still providing daily inspiration.
Judy Letters.
Board Games and ‘Crafternoon’
The Board Games group will restart, meeting on 3rd Friday of each month,, 2pm.
We were thinking we could share the room/space and have a 'Crafternoon' 'A
Social Afternoon' 'A coffee and Chat' gathering. Call it whatever you want! Bring
something of interest to share or talk about. Anyone want to support it by
attending? Anyone interested in trialling it for a few months? Let me know if you
want to help or you have a friend in the u3a who could volunteer for 2 hours a
month.
Kings Norton U3A
Exploring World Faiths
Our Exploring World Faiths group have continued to meet throughout the lockdown with mainly
Zoom sessions, which sadly excludes those members who don’t have access. We have been
particularly grateful to Chris Martin and John Adams, who have hosted these sessions, and to the
members who have researched and presented each of the Dharmic faiths in turn. This acted as revision
sessions, as we have already visited and explored these faiths before the lockdown.
We are in an intermediate period now, where we are more-or-less out of the lockdown, but places of
worship, are not yet holding ‘normal’ services, let alone receiving visitors. The exception to that was
our visit to the Church of Scientology building in Moseley, which is very spacious and could easily
accommodate us. They were very hospitable and welcoming, and fortuitously there were 2 national
officers visiting for other purposes, who gave generously of their time.
Church of Scientology, Moseley
We are just preparing to cover the Mandean and Spiritualist faiths, before we move on to the
Abrahamic faiths. We normally meet at 10.0am on the 2 nd
Thursday of the month, so the next meeting
is 9 th Sept.
Following the hugely successful WM Regional Exploring World Faiths Week, which was extended
nationally, and attracted between 200 and 273 members each day, we were asked to arrange more
national sessions on Zoom. Two of these have been held so far, one for organisers of Exploring World
Faiths groups in other u3as, and an open session on the Baha’i faith. There are 3 more national
sessions planned:- Sept 8 th for organisers of Exploring World Faiths; and 2 open sessions:- Oct 4
th on
the Jain faith; and Nov 17 th , which is during Interfaith Week. on Faiths Working Together. There is no
need to book these sessions and anyone can attend – details are on my Exploring World Faiths page
on the national u3a website
Peter
Puzzle Corner
What Book ?
1. According to the UK Met Office on what day does Summer officially begin?
2. At which of her residencies does The Queen traditionally spend the summer months?
3. Which single of 1977 gave Donna Summer her first UK number 1 hit?
4. In which European country is the First Day of Summer celebrated as a public holiday on the first Thursday after 18th April each year?
5. According to the nursery rhyme, what did the Queen of Hearts make
"all on a summer's day"?
6. According to the lyrics of the song "Summer of '69", what did Bryan Adams buy at the five and dime?
7. When does British Summer Time begin each year?
8. Which Irish poet wrote "The Last Rose of Summer" in 1805?
9. What instrument is American Jazz musician Mark Summer famous for
playing?
10. In the film "Summer Holiday" in what did Cliff Richard and the Shadows travel to Greece?
Ten Summer ‘Quickies’
UK's first medicine packet recycling programme
Hoping to be more green this year and recycle more? Well we've got great news
for you! We've teamed up with brands Buscopan, Dulcolax and TerraCycle UK to
include collection boxes in every Superdrug Pharmacy, so you can recycle your
empty medicine blister packets. For every blister packet collected,
TerraCycle® will donate points to Superdrug pharmacies to be redeemed into
financial donations towards Marie Curie.
Start collecting empty medicine blisters so the next time you are able to visit
your Superdrug pharmacy, you can drop them off in the dedicated collection
boxes. Start collecting your little packs now and start making a big impact!
Jackie Spearpoint
Cotteridge Quaker Meeting House, 23A Watford Road B30 1JB
Harriet Martin is considering starting a new interest group
"U3A Act on Climate"? To meet monthly on the second Tuesday of the month at
2pm. First meeting Tues October 12th in my garden (or conservatory if raining) at
39 Hawthorne Road, B30 1EQ. Contact Harriet Martin on
harrietmartin@btinternet.com or 0121 475 2088 if interested."
Many of us have long had an interest in this subject. As the happenings around
the world this year have shown, we all need to make a personal contribution.
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U3A Matters You might be interested in viewing the latest West Midlands regional newsletter,
which is available at https://u3asites.org.uk/files/w/west-
midlands/docs/wmregionnews06julyaug2021.pdf.
It contains details of the movement-wide initiative to stay fit, keep moving and
improve your general well-being. 'Exploring World Faiths' will be holding further
sessions in the autumn following on from the successful event in the spring. And,
there is Regional Philosophy Week in just over 3 weeks' time. If we have any
quilters out there, there is the 40th anniversary quilt competition.
So, do take a look.
Lind Curry.
The following was forwarded to us by Alan Walmsley, our representative on the
West Midlands Regional Committee
Attached is the July/August edition of the WM Region u3a Newsletter. I hope
you find it interesting and useful, and if you want to direct your members to it, a
copy is on the West Midlands Region website as usual. Click
on https://u3asites.org.uk/files/w/west-
midlands/docs/wmregionnews06julyaug2021.pdf
Please circulate it as widely as possible to your members, include it on your
website, or refer to articles and links in your own correspondence or local
newsletter. All information and contact details are freely available, so you can
post the newsletter on any public noticeboard or leave it in GP surgeries etc as
part of your recruitment drive, along with your own local contact details. The aim
of the newsletter is to provide information but for u3a members it helps to show
what’s happening within the wider u3a movement.
General Meeting. 7th September 2021.
Come and Have A Cuppa We are meeting up in person for the first time since spring
2020.
So that we can have a socially distanced meeting its been
decided that we will have an informal ‘drop in’ meeting at St
Joseph’s Church Hall on Station Rd Cotteridge between
2pm - 4pm. We will be well spaced out with good
ventilation , and hope that members will be able to meet
and chat in a relaxed way. Our Chair Linda Curry will be
sending a ‘formal’ invitation.
Dear Members,
Some of you will remember the launching of the High Street Survey Project
2020.
This is a national U3A project managed under the auspices of the National Research Committee with Peter Cox, a U3A member with a retail background, supported by a working group comprising U3A volunteers of various skills and perspectives. The project aims to record changes in UK shopping patterns, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A report will be published in 2022 to help raise the profile of U3A in celebration of our 40th anniversary.
500 members took part in surveying their local shopping areas, and 20,000
premises were surveyed. In the West Midlands area 16 U3A branches, with a
total of 46 members took part King Norton & District was one of these
branches !: Thank you to our intrepid surveyors.
We were provided with downloadable recording sheets, and walked round our
area (in a Covid safe manner), marking down the type and size of the
businesses, and took photographs. We then transferred these results onto
digital sheets, inserted the photos and uploaded them the to the Project data
base.- A good learning experience.- ( the project co-ordinators were really
helpful if we hit a snag, - we all had differing levels of IT expertise).
The information that we have collected will be an invaluable resource in the
future in a variety of areas e.g. Local and Social History, Change and
Development in Architecture, Demographics /Sociology,. Art & Design. Much of
the data recorded has already been archived and will be held by various
agencies; The National Archives, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the
greater part of the survey from the London area is already in the Greater
London Metropolitan Archives
Workshops for local High Street projects: A series of on-line workshops
were held in January-March held to get people started and thinking in
practical terms about local projects they can undertake, using the High Street
theme. PTO. 12
If you are interested in this project and would like more details please contact me.
Helen Kempster . email p.helenkempster48@sky.com
Big Strong Men or
before a General Meeting.
Putting out the Chairs.
Moving the odd table.
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Groups from all over the country had already begun been doing this. Some
ideas that emerged were,- creating a walking trail of an historic or interesting
area: Outdoor sketching as a starting point for other art work: in pairs using it
as a chance to practice Foreign Language skills and learn more vocabulary.
The High Street Survey makes a great group activity or project. Why not try
one as a part of an interest group, as U3A starts looking for ways of ‘getting
back to normal ‘ in summer 2021.
Nature Notes. April- August 2021
One Swallow Doesn’t Make A Summer
When I signed off the last ‘Nature Notes’ I was looking forward to the arrival of the
Swallows, hoping for the 23rd of April as usual.
20th April. Our U3A bird Watching Group took a beautiful walk over the Lickeys, and
round Barnt Green and Bittel Reservoir.( Thanks to Brian for planning the route) On
a ‘phone wire somewhere near Barnt Green we saw the first Swallow ! It was only a
fleeting glimpse, but enough to raise the spirits. (During the walk we went through
Cofton Church yard. I’m ashamed to say I’d never visited it before; it was absolutely
charming, a beautiful Church set in a sea of daffodils and blossom trees. (I must
remember to take photos in future). We also heard a skylark, his soaring, tumbling
song pouring out over the open fields: wonderful.
22nd April. Saw my fist swallow, at home, in the afternoon. On the morning of the
23rd, My best friend in North Yorkshire texted to say she had seen her first !
May 1st.& 2nd Very Cold, and rain nearly all day. Poor swallows, I hope they find
enough to eat; it’s not exactly good weather for insects.
3rd & 4th Very windy, cold, wet, with hail showers, and a proper hail storm on the 4th.
Rough Winds Do Shake The Darling Buds of May
Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
This is certainly looking to be the case for this month. It is still cold with those frosty
mornings, which look very nice, but make gardening difficult. The afternoons are
sunny, with blue skies. The buzzards are cruising high up and the greater spotted
woodpeckers, and nuthatches are much in evidence.
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The May blossom seems late coming out, - but then I often think that. Perhaps the
very cold weather has held it back.
Hawthorn blossom was traditionally supposed to bloom on 1st May, but it never does.
Perhaps the reason is the alteration to the calendar in 1751.Which gave rise to the
Calendar Riots.
In 1751 Britain changed from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar. The
Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, had become out of sync with
the seasons,( due to a solar miscalculation, 1 day for every 128 years) . Pope
Gregory X111th had introduced the ‘new ‘ calendar in 1582 to rectify this, but it took
Britain some time to catch up.
It was proposed to omit 11 days from the year to rectify the seasonal drift. This
would affect Saint's days, festivals and rent payment dates ( for one year only)
Unfortunately it became politicised , the Whigs supporting the change, and the
Tories opposing it. This lead to the growth of myths and illogical beliefs –’fake
news’, people thought they had literally lost 11 days of their lives. There were riots,
and rabble rousing cries of “ Give us back our 11 Days !” We ‘lost’ 11 days - and
that is why the hawthorn rarely flowers on May 1st.
Apart from a mini heatwave in July, this has been a very gloomy Summer.
According to the MET office it has been the cloudiest August on record. This has
not been very good for my butterflies. But looking back over my records they have
done better than expected. On my herb patch I recorded, 8 pairs of Gatekeepers,
3 Meadow Browns, 6 Tortoiseshells 2 Peacocks, - and – I was delighted to see 2
Red Admirals, 1 Painted Lady and 1 Comma, - There's always 1 Comma every
year.
Dates For Your Diary
General Meetings: List of Visiting Speakers October 5th Keith Edwards ‘Black Holes’ Exploring underground world of Caving.
Confirmed.
November 2nd Dr. Michael Leach, Natural History of Christmas. Looking at the
festive season through the lens of a professional wildlife photographer. To be
reconfirmed.
Jan. 4th 2022 Alan Hill. A Tale of Two Towers. The story of Tower Bridge and the
Eifel Tower. Booked but to be confirmed .
Feb. 1st 2022 Trevor Shields Clent Hills Conservation and Archaeology.
Christmas Newsletter . Deadline for Copy. Sat 11th Dec. email to
knu3anewsletter.com
Answers to Quiz and Puzzles
What Book…1.Ring of Bright Water. 2.Howards End .3. Bring Up the Bodies .Brighton Rock.
5.To Kill A Mocking Bird.6 Room on the Broom. 7.Ivanhoe. 8.Far From The Madding Crowd..9.
Fifty Shades Of Grey. 10 1948. 11. Heidi. 12. The Tiger That Came To Tea. 13 Middle march.
M14. Northanger Abbey. 15.War and Peace 16. Kidnapped. 18. The Big Sleep. 18. A Man For All
Seasons.. ………………………………………………………………………………………….
Ten Summer Quickies 1..1st June. 2. Balmoral. 3. ‘ I Feel Love’ Iceland. 5. Some tarts. 6
His first real six string ( Guitar). 7. Last Sunday in March. 8. Thomas Moore. 9.Cello. 10 London
Bus.
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