MAIDSTONE INVICTA U3AMAIDSTONE INVICTA U3AMAIDSTONE INVICTA U3AMAIDSTONE INVICTA U3A

Newsletter 14Newsletter 14Newsletter 14Newsletter 14

January 2015January 2015January 2015January 2015

Don’t forget: we’re on the Web

Chairman’s ReportChairman’s ReportChairman’s ReportChairman’s Report

Please note the details of

our next AGM to be held on

18th May 2015.

We will be looking for volun-

teers to fill 4 vacancies on

the Executive Committee.

Please think about putting

yourself forward, it is not

onerous and can be good

fun.

If vacancies are not filled it

could mean the end of MI-

U3A.

Inside this issue:

Chairman’s Report

1

Social Secretary’s Reports 2 / 3

Interest Groups 4

U3A Business news 5

Reports from Interest Groups 6

Speakers at Forthcoming Meet-ings

7

Executive Committee Contacts 8

Happy New Year to all MIU3A members –

currently numbering 278- and new mem-

bers continue to join us – Welcome all! The

turn of a new year always prompts me to

appreciate the past and consider what the

future might hold. Perhaps we should all be

doing the same now, in respect of our

amazing branch of the U3A. We have

made incredible progress since the autumn

of 2012 when over 100 of us met for the

first time at Marsham Street to encourage

the foundation of MIU3A. Seventeen volun-

teers steered the way towards the success-

ful inaugural meeting in 2013. Following

the first AGM in 2014 the Executive Com-

mittee had reduced to eleven members.

The post of Business Secretary remains

unfilled and has been covered by yours

truly during the past year.

As we now look forward to our second An-

nual General Meeting, three more of those

original 17 volunteers are looking to stand

down for personal reasons, having given

nearly three years sterling service on the

committee. Simple maths will tell you that

we will soon have more vacancies to fill.

MIU3A is very fortunate to have such a high

calibre and variety of expertise amongst the

Executive Committee members and I give

thanks for each and every one of them for

making my job as Chairman such a pleas-

ure. If you think we are a hard act to follow,

you under-estimate your own potential.

New people will naturally bring forward their

own ideas and viewpoints, which will sup-

port and re-energise those committee mem-

bers who are willing and able to stand for re

-election. The melding of new and existing

committee members will provide freshness

with stability to ensure MIU3A remains vi-

brant and relevant to its members’ wishes.

Work on the Executive Committee is no

more time-consuming than belonging to an

interest group and gives us a great deal of

satisfaction when we see how successful

MIU3A has become. So why is it difficult to

fill committee vacancies? Explain to us;

Please!

We are more positive about the future,

though! Executive Committee members

would like to talk to you, face to face, an-

swer your questions and allay your

(hopefully unfounded) fears about volun-

teering to fill a vacancy on the committee.

We will be happy to explain and show you

what we do during the months leading up to

the AGM. We have arranged a series of

coffee mornings to be hosted by Executive

Committee members, so you can come and

have a chat about what could be involved.

Nothing extraordinary – we just use the

skills we have and learn from one another

as we go along – just like an interest group

in many ways. Even if you have no inten-

tion of joining the committee, your attend-

ance and feedback will be equally welcome

– particularly if we can help you to find and

enjoy a wider scope of interesting opportu-

nities that the U3A movement has to offer.

So we invite you to come along to the up-

stairs room at Judd’s Kitchen & Teahouse

in the Royal Star Arcade, Maidstone 10.30

– Noon on one of the following dates to

have a chat over coffee/tea with cake or

biscuits.

As MIU3A will be funding these events we

need to know numbers for catering purpos-

es, so please let me know on

when

you will be attending. Attendance will be

limited to 30 due to space, so first-come,

first served. Monday, 26th January, Tues-

day 10th February or Thursday 5th

March.

In addition, if you would like to sit in on the

next Executive Committee, this is due to be

held on Monday, 2nd February, 2-4 p.m. in

the Beechwood Hall Committee Room. We

look forward to welcoming you at any of

these events, without commitment.

Sue Bassett

Chairman

COACH TRIPS AND OUTINGS

Our coach trips this year begin in May

with a visit to Audley End House in Es-

sex. Full details of this event appear

elsewhere in this newsletter.

At the end of June there will be a coach

trip to London for the ‘Barrow Boys and

Bankers’ tour. Contrasting stories of

rags and riches in London districts only a

stone’s throw from each other but worlds

apart. The cost is £38 each, including

morning refreshments and one-course

lunch.

Towards the end of August an ‘East

Anglian Panorama’ coach trip is planned

- a day of arable plains, slumbering vil-

lages and pastoral scenes immortalised

by Constable and Gainsborough, with

time in Long Melford and Lavenham.

The cost of £37 includes morning re-

freshments and one-course lunch.

The tour to explore London’s history of

medicine, ‘Kill or Cure’ is not available

so, in September, we have a ‘Legal Lon-

don’ tour, visiting the Inns of Court and

the Law Courts. The cost of £40 per

person includes morning refreshments

and lunch at Gray’s Inn courtesy of The

Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.

Other events lined up include a tour of

the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry -

on a Saturday afternoon in October at a

cost of £14 per person with participants

making their own travel arrangements -

and a visit to Brooklands Museum in

Weybridge, specially for U3A groups at a

cost of £15 per person to include admis-

sion to the extensive collection of racing

cars, motor bikes and aircraft, refresh-

ments on arrival, an introductory talk and

a private viewing of a VC10; It is limited

to 30 people and would be a car-share

venture at a total cost of about £20.

I look forward to seeing you on at least

COACH TRIP TO AUDLEY END

HOUSE - WEDNESDAY 20TH MAY Visit this Jacobean mansion near Saffron

Walden in Essex. Take the chance to

experience the sumptuous splendour of

one of England’s grandest stately homes.

See grand interiors with a variation of

styles and fashions, rooms designed by

Robert Adam, impressive collections of

paintings by Holbein, Lely and Canaletto,

the Victorian service wing and nursery

and a variety of gardens with landscaped

parkland. In addition there is

Braybrooke’s unique natural history col-

lection, a tea shop, cafe and gift shop.

For further information see the website -

www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/

properties/audley-end- house-and-

gardens/

COST The total cost for this coach

trip will be £15 per person inclusive of

tea/ coffee and biscuits on arrival and

admission. PAYMENT WITH BOOKING

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE.

PICK-UP POINTS Grove Green Tesco

bus stop at 8.15am; Maidstone King

Street outside Boots at 8.30am; Alling-

ton’s Mid Kent Shopping Centre at

8.50am. Arrival at Audley End House for

11am. To return at 4pm., arriving at

(approximately) Allington 6.10pm; Maid-

stone 6.30pm; Grove Green 6.45pm.

TO BOOK For your convenience a

booking form accompanies this Newslet-

ter. Please return the form as soon as

possible to the address given on the

form, enclosing your cheque for £15 per

person made payable to ‘Maidstone

Invicta U3A’, not forgetting to indicate

your pick-up point and emergency con-

tact name and telephone number. Book-

ings will also be taken at the monthly

Members’ Meetings in Beechwood Hall.

If there are still places available after 22nd

April they will be open to family, friends

and members of other U3As.

Social Secretary‘s ReportsSocial Secretary‘s ReportsSocial Secretary‘s ReportsSocial Secretary‘s Reports

Page 2 Newsletter 14

PLEASE NOTE No cheques will be

banked until the trip has been con-

firmed. The policy of MIU3A is that

there will be no refunds unless the

place can be sold on

THEATRE TRIPS

The first social event of the year will be

a trip to the theatre - to see ‘Top Hat’

at the Marlowe in Canterbury on Thurs-

day 16th April. It is now fully booked

and there is a reserve list.

I am advised by the Theatre Team that

tickets have been obtained for another

production at the Marlowe Theatre -

‘Barnum’ with Brian Conley - on

Thursday 25th June. This news is ‘hot

off the presses’ so no costings have yet

been made. Members will be informed

when bookings are being taken.

RAFFLE AND BOOKSTALL

The Raffle will only be held twice a year

at the AGM and the Christmas party but

will have bigger prizes.

We have been unable to find someone

to take over the bookstall from Jenny

da Silva so, until we do, there will not

be a bookstall at the General Meetings.

If you are interested in volunteering

please contact Dave Houghton.

COFFEE MORNINGS

Coffee mornings are held on the 1st

and 3rd Tuesdays of each month,

10.30am until noon, at Audley Mote

House in Mote Park (accessed from

Willington Street). Come along and

enjoy a chat in pleasant surround-

ings. Dave Houghton will usually be

there to greet you.

Details can be found on the Maid-

stone Invicta U3A website

www.miu3a.org.uk under 'events'

and dates will always be shown in

the Newsletter. Parking adjacent to

Mote House is restricted to residents

and those with walking difficulties.

You are requested to use the car

park situated about 250 yards before

Mote House.

The dates of future coffee mornings

at Mote House are 20th January, 3rd

and 17th February and 3rd March. If

you require any further information

please contact me.

Dave Houghton

Social Secretary

———————————————

COFFEE AFTERNOONS

For those of you who prefer your cof-

fee in the afternoon there is a meet-

ing held between 2.30pm and 4pm

on the 4th Thursday of each month

at Maidstone Museum. The next

meeting will be on 22nd January

2015.

Patricia Humphries

Social Secretary’s ReportsSocial Secretary’s ReportsSocial Secretary’s ReportsSocial Secretary’s Reports

Newsletter 14 Page 3

places to meet for this Group. Let me, Liz,

know if you wish to explore this possibility and

I will assist with the organising.

I hear the two PLAY READING Groups

gave great enjoyment with their entertain-

ment at the Christmas party. If this is some-

thing which you would like to be part of this

next Christmas, there currently are vacancies

– It’s all good fun and you will make new

friends. Contact the Group Facilitator to be

sure of a place.

FILM GROUP – Due to another commit-

ment, Patsy has announced that she will

not be available after April to organise this

Group. Here is your opportunity to become

more involved. Please consider volunteering

to take over from Patsy who I am sure will be

only too pleased to show you the way forward

with the minimal amount of administration

required.

Should you have a particular Interest which is

not yet catered for, please let me know and

where a Group is listed as ‘full’ there is no

reason why two or three members cannot get

together and start a parallel Group, you’ll be

surprised how quickly it will develop, just let

me know and I will give all the help needed to

get you started. Remember, YOU have to

play your part in volunteering YOUR time,

knowledge and skills for the benefit of other

members, just as they do for the Groups to

which you belong . All of us have a skill to

offer; driving is a skill and may be you could

offer another member a lift, if not to a Group,

then possibly to the General meeting –

please, think about it and let our Transport

coordinator, Kay Ryan have your details!

Finally, please remember if your Group re-

quires a hall for their activity or a coach for an

outing, this must be booked and paid for by

MIU3A. Please contact a member of the Ex-

ecutive Committee for advice. It is a simple

procedure but needs to be done under the

aegis of the Committee and Treasurer to en-

sure we tick the right boxes for insurance etc.

Liz Judson

Interest Groups Co-ordinator

GROUPS UPGROUPS UPGROUPS UPGROUPS UP----DATE JANUARY 2015DATE JANUARY 2015DATE JANUARY 2015DATE JANUARY 2015

Retired from work, not life! Yes, there is another life after a lifetime of work

and it’s here. No need to feel lonely or wonder

how you will fill your day; MIU3A has proved to

be a lifeline to couples and many single mem-

bers, check the website or pick up a Timetable

Summary, you’ll be spoilt for choice as to which

Group you choose to join. Our Group facilitators

are enthusiastic and dedicated; working hard to

ensure the Group fulfils your expectations.

However, you must remember, self-help and

learning from one another, not having a tutor to

teach, (unless for Health and Safety reasons) is

the ethos of u3a.

New Discussion Group got off to a very

good start in December. And to start off this

New Year we have a Ukulele Group beginning

and for which a member has kindly offered her

home as the venue. Sign up via the website,

monthly meeting or use the blue contact sheet.

Also, Village Visits Group 3 Variable day of the

week have their launch meeting on 15th January

– it’s not too late to sign up.

Requests have been received from a number of

members for sessions on technical topics,

iPads, Smart phones, Tablets, Social media.

Would you consider giving some of your time to

help acquaint members keep up to date and

therefore, not feel isolated from those of us with

the know how? This need not be a year-long

course but could be a series of say 3 or 4 ses-

sions. If space is at a premium, Maidstone mu-

seum coffee shop is a good place to meet and

they are very obliging to accommodate miu3a

meetings. Contact me, Liz, and I will assist you

with the set up. You probably know more than

you think you know! Please help.

Wine-tasting, photo shop elements, Guitar,

Spanish, Ambling/strolling, astronomy; all have

members waiting for your help – please, to get

them started. Once again I remind you to collab-

orate with fellow members to ensure continua-

tion of miu3a learning Groups.

VACANCY – NOW RECRUITING Facilitator

is sought for FAMILY HISTORY remember,

each member will be able to offer some

knowledge to help others. If you are lacking

space in your home, don’t let this deter you from

coming forward. Local Libraries are excellent

Interest GroupsInterest GroupsInterest GroupsInterest Groups

Page 4 Newsletter 14

Do remember if for

any reason you are

unable to attend a

Group meeting please

advise the Host or Fa-

cilitator. It is a great

help to know how

many will attend.

Kent U3A Study Day—

Interrelationships: Literature,

Film, Photography and Art.

There will be a Study Day on Sat-urday 11 April 2015 at Sinden Theatre, Homewood School, Ten-terden from 9.15am to 3.30pm ap-prox.

The cost will be £12.50 which in-cludes 3 lectures and coffee. Please bring a packed lunch. Numbers will be limited to 150 and is open to all members of a U3A in Kent.

The programme includes a lecture

by Steve Migden on “Mood Music

at the Movies”. Steve Migden is

a Musician and lecturer.

Kevin Nash on “Adaptations

from book or play to screen”

Kevin Nash is a lecturer in Docu-

mentary Practice at the University

of London and a film-maker who

supports Mike Leigh’s film-making

techniques.

Dr Graham Whitham on “Art

and Photography: a special re-

lationship.

Graham Witham is an Art Histori-

an.

For instructions on how to apply

please see the application form

which is attached to this newslet-

ter.

U3A Business NewsU3A Business NewsU3A Business NewsU3A Business News

The 2015 Annual General Meeting

(AGM)

Maidstone Invicta U3A’s AGM will

take place at 2pm on 18th May

2015, at Beechwood Hall, Barming.

At that meeting, the Executive

Committee will stand down and a

new Executive Committee will be

elected by the membership. Nomi-

nations will be required for all 12

posts. Currently there is a vacancy

for the post of Business Secretary.

Additionally the current Chairman,

Newsletter Editor and Minutes Sec-

retary have all stated that they will

not be seeking re-election at the

AGM.

In the event of there being more

than one nominee for a particular

post, the outcome will be decided

by secret ballot at the AGM.

A précis of the Executive Commit-

tee posts has been sent to you with

this Newsletter. Please read it and

consider whether you would be pre-

pared to be nominated for any of

the posts. Blank nomination forms

will be supplied with the March

Newsletter.

Page 5 Newsletter 14

Reports from Interest GroupsReports from Interest GroupsReports from Interest GroupsReports from Interest Groups

No.1 Short Walks Group A bright, sunny, frost-free day was very wel-come for our monthly Short Walks Group that took place on Friday 9 January 2015 at the Vinters Valley Nature Reserve.

The Reserve is one of the few areas, close to Maidstone town centre, which is dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of nature. Run entirely by volunteers, it is a quiet oasis where animals and plants can exist together and if you are careful you can experience the joys of nature yourself, first hand. The reserve contains magnificent trees, a won-derful lake, open grassland. wildflower meadows, bramble patches and quiet hidden spots. It is a mosaic of different habitats, packed into 90 acres of land, celebrating the diversity of life, in this small part of our won-derful planet.

The attached photo shows our intrepid band which had just managed the 42 steps down into the valley, over a stream and 36 steps back up the other side to gratefully rest out-side the Bird Feeding Station. (The Feeding Station had been installed by Volunteers from the Hilton Hotel doing their bit for the community).

The rest of the walk was over flat and easy terrain and took just under one and a half hours. At the end, many of us went on to have a social snack lunch at Notcutts Garden Centre and put back on all the calories we intended to lose on the walk!

Everyone said they had enjoyed this walk very much.

Sandy Chenery

Christmas Party

I have included these pictures as a re-minder of the very entertaining after-noon we all had on Monday, 15th De-cember 2014.

It seems a long time ago but it is not too late to express our thanks to the Execu-tive Committee for their hard work or-ganising the event. Also thanks go to the Play Reading Groups. The Singing Group, the Poetry Groups and the Gar-dening Group who provided such won-derful entertainment.

Special thanks goes to the Flower Ar-ranging Group for providing the beauti-ful flower arrangements on each table.

Page 6 Newsletter 14

cial or economic factors, the arts and

crafts garden design movement was

no exception. This style was not sole-

ly intended for the garden, it was a

generic style that also incorporated

interior design.

20th April 2015

HAUNTED PLUCKLEY– by

Dennis Chambers

Dennis was born and raised in Stock-

port, Cheshire. In 1966, whilst living

near Manchester, he and his family

lived through a series of unusual and

unnerving experiences that prompted

him to take a much closer look into

the circumstances and forces appar-

ently involved. This was the start of

long period of research into the world

of ‘matters psychic’. He moved to

Kent in 1967 but the move in no way

affected his pursuit of knowledge and

experience in this field of interest.

“He is the author of “Haunted Pluck-

ley”, a guide book which so many

have used over the years to steer

themselves around the village’s

haunts. He is regarded as some-

what of an authority on its haunted

reputation.”

STOP PRESS

The speaker for 15th June will be To-

ny Lloyd who will talk about the histo-

ry of Bewl Water, where he was Head

Ranger for 30 years. It’s the largest

reservoir in Southern England and is

much more than just a place to store

water!

Martyn Roads

Speakers at Forthcoming MeetingsSpeakers at Forthcoming MeetingsSpeakers at Forthcoming MeetingsSpeakers at Forthcoming Meetings

Page 7 Newsletter 14

19th January 2015

JOHN BETJEMAN & THE

RAILWAYS – by Chris Green

John Betjeman's love of railways

between the wars which influenced

so much of his poetry and his post-

war campaigning to stop stations

such as St Pancras being demol-

ished by developers and modern

planners.

16th February 2015

A YEAR IN MOTE PARK –

by Simon Ginnaw

I am a Country Park Ranger and

Wildlife Tour Guide in Kent, with

qualifications in ecology, conserva-

tion and forestry. I developed a

rich passion for Mote Park from my

Granddad who was also a Mote

Park Ranger before he retired.

Mote Park dates back to the 1250s

and is one of Kent's largest parks,

with a wealth of habitats and wild-

life. This talk is illustrated by my

own wildlife photography showing

the park through the seasons and

is accompanied by birdsong and

music.

16th March 2015

THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT AND IT’S GAR-DENS – by Stephen Harmer, Hadlow College

Gardens have always been affect-

ed by changes in fashion and so-