No 93 Autumn 2015 - Chichester · PDF fileNo 93 Autumn 2015 2 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE I would like to welcome all of you to a new year of membership of the Chichester U3A. Membership

CHICHESTER

No 93 Autumn 2015

1 No 93 Autumn 2015

EDITORIAL Deadline Day for the next NEWSLETTER

is Wednesday, 2nd December2015

Please send your articles for inclusion in the

newsletter to the editor by the above date.

Special thanks and best wishes are

expressed from our Committee

members to the outgoing editor

Christine Timblick who has

overseen and produced 16 editions

over the last 4 years and was instrumental

in first publishing the work of our groups.

J.H.

CONTACT LIST

Committee Members

Chair: Nigel Fullbrook :

01903 721290 [email protected]

Vice Chair: Jane Honeybourne


Secretary: Gill Madley


Treasurer: Catherine Gunn


Membership Secretary. Stella Dubock


Groups Coordinator: Maureen Wealleans


SUN Representative: Brenda Atlee


New Members: Gillian Evans 01243 537314

[email protected]

Social Events: Angela Sewell

01243 576 305 [email protected]

Editor: John Harris

[email protected]

Other Responsibilities

Webmaster: Tony Lord

[email protected]

Bulletin Coordinator: Chrissy Gosiewski

[email protected]

Speakers Committee

John Fitzpatrick [email protected]

Suzanne Russell 01243 527189

Hilary Timms


Henry Marshall


WEB SITE:

www.chichesteru3a.org.uk

Chichester U3A: Registered Charity No.1037027

INDEX

The front cover shows members

at The New Forest cycle ride.

1 Editorial and Contact List.

2 Chairman’s Message,

Social Events.

3 Monthly Meetings, SUN Study

Days, Equipment/Resources.

4 Review of Recent Speakers.

5 Christmas Lunch Menu,

Newsletter Delivery Coordinator.

6 SUN Report.

7&8 Local Study Day Report.

9 U3A Conference Report.

10 Webmaster.

11 Latin Group,

Spanish Conversation Group.

12 Discussion Group,

Improver’s Spanish Group.

13 Cycle Group.

14 Travel & Outings Group,

Ten Pin Bowling Averages

The rear cover displays members

at the Isle of Wight.

2 No 93 Autumn 2015

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

I would like to

welcome all of

you to a new year of

membership of the

Chichester U3A.

Membership

subscriptions were

due on the 1st

September so if there are any of you who

haven’t yet renewed please do so quickly.

Looking for things to talk about in this

message I first read our weekly bulletin.

From this it is easy to see that there is a

great deal to be happy about.

Groups are thriving and Maureen Wealleans

and her team are doing great work in

maintaining and expanding the things we

offer.

We are grateful to all those group leaders

who take time to run the many groups on

offer.

Also Maureen O’Brien and Helen Weiner

have successfully organised a number of

trips which are proving very popular. You

will see a report on their trip to the Isle of

Wight in this issue.

Angela Sewell has come forward to lead a

social events group which is already

arranging events which are popular with our

members. She is being helped by many of

those who organised the events in the past

and I look forward to the continuing success

of these evenings.

However, in common with most U3A

committees, we have a continuing problem

in getting enough people to volunteer to

help in the organisation of your U3A.

Over the next six months we will need to

find people willing to replace retiring

committee members.

The New Members Coordinator, the

Membership Secretary and the Chair will

be retiring next May.

M ore immediately we need to find

someone to organise the delivery of

paper copies of this newsletter. If no-one

comes forward this will be the last

newsletter for which paper copies are

delivered to members homes. Please see the

request in this issue for this job. If you feel

you could help then contact me.

So in summary we have much to be proud

of as our U3A is thriving. We need more

volunteers but that is an issue almost all

U3As face.

I welcome you to a rewarding new year of

membership.

Nigel Fullbrook

SOCIAL EVENTS Proposed events

November - Quiz Nights ( 2

Tuesdays) at White Swan, Bosham

December - Christmas Lunch (see p5)

January - Quiz Nights ( 2 Tuesdays)

as above

Film at New Park in the afternoon

Angela Sewell

3 No 93 Autumn 2015

EQUIPMENT / RESOURCES

As the U3A year gets underway, both new and existing Groups are commencing.

The Committee is aware that some groups may need extra equipment or resources in

order to provide the best experience for the members.

Any reasonable requests will be considered by the Committee, who will then buy them

and loan them to groups so please let us know if there is anything you need.

If the committee approves your request the Treasurer will contact you to arrange the

purchase.

Please email me if you have any requests or suggestions.

Jane Honeybourne, Vice Chair

THURSDAY

MONTHLY

MEETINGS 2015-16

15th October’15: The Duchess of

Richmond’s Ball: A commemoration of

Waterloo: Speaker: Philip Robinson.

19th November’15: The Magic of

Pantomime: Speaker: Ian Gledhill.

17th December’15: Christmas Celebration:

Mary Quiney, Sounds Familiar (Jazz band):

Mike Reynell.

21st January’16: William Hogarth and the

London Art World: Speaker: Bernard Allen.

18th February’16: Lady Hamilton - Harlot

or Heroine: Speaker: Mike Cheshire.

17th March’16: Harlots, Dung and Glory,

Part 2: Speaker Andrew Negus.

21st April’16: The Story of a Stanstead

Maid: Speaker: Rhona Doyle.

19th May’16: The English Justice System:

Speakers: Local Magistrates.

16th June’16: Granny Racing Across the

Atlantic: The first grandmother to race to

the South Pole: Speaker: Tess Burrows.

21st July’16: African Wildlife and

Endangered Species: Speaker: Tim

Woodfine.

18th August’16: Preparations for D-Day

(2.15pm): Speaker: Dudley Hooley.

SUSSEX U3A

NETWORK

SATURDAY

2015-16 STUDY DAYS

17th October: Crawley: Vincent Van Gogh

and Painting in 19th Century France:

Speaker: Leslie Pitcher.

14th November: Rustington: Psychology:

An Introduction to the Brain and the

Senses: Speakers: Duncan Carmichael and

Giles Hamilton Fletcher.

12th December: Crowborough: Thomas

Hardy and Rural Life : Speaker: Geoff

Doel.

16th January: Steyning: Jazz: the Sound of

Surprise: Speaker: Mike Head.

13th February: Pulborough: Fifty Years of

Changing Britain 1942 – 1992: Speaker:

Gillian Pitt.

12th March: Seaford: Mathematics in

Action: Speaker: Dr Roger Luther.

16th April: Crowborough: The Treasures of

Music: Speaker: John Hursey.

14th May: Steyning:

The Changing Landscape of Victorian and

Edwardian England c1830 -1914,

with examples from Sussex: Speaker: Dr

Sue Berry.

CHICHESTER

4 No 93 Autumn 2015

16th September Meeting:

I n a swell of

fond

recollection, a

unanimous forest

of hands answered

the question: who

used to frequent

Lyons Corner

Houses?

Speaker Neville

Lyons, a relative

of the founder,

was on to a

winning theme with “The Joe

Lyons Story – Food For

Thought” as with the

pleasing briskness of one of

the caterer’s legendary

“nippies”, or waitresses, he

served up a tasty selection of

facts and anecdotes.

Barnum & Bailey’s circus,

Spitfires, Olympia, the

Trocadero, royal garden

parties and Freemasons all

got into the saga, which

began in 1887 and continues

today, via Tetley’s and the

Lyons brand.

And we mustn’t forget electronic history-

making: the world’s first business computer.

REVIEWS OF RECENT

SPEAKERS by Terry Timblick

16th July Meeting:

E ven the most

entrenched

Government-should-pay

advocate would have been

moved to generosity if not

tears by Sue

Hennessy’s vivid and

inspirational presentation.

In “Hidden Depths – Women

of the RNLI”, based on her

book, she detailed the

heroines of the never-rest

charity, not just gallant

female crew members, but

the land-based legions of womenfolk who

have helped launch and recover the vessels,

and who still wait and worry when their

local lifeboat is out.

20th August Meeting:

A n eye for location –

ah, an unusual place to

find a body – and ear for

inspirational scraps of

eavesdropped conversation

were among invaluable

spurring qualities stressed by Pauline

Rowson, “Portsmouth’s Agatha

Christie”, as she lifted the

shroud on the fascinating

business of making crime pay

via the whodunnit. Her first

book took 18 years to get

published. Now her intrepid

detective inspector has helped

power her to 15 thrillers. And it all began

with Enid Blyton.

LEO 1 (Lyons Electronic Office)

Lyons

nippies

5 No 93 Autumn 2015

U3A Christmas Lunch 2015 : Thursday 10th December 12.30 pm

Our traditional Christmas lunch has been booked at The Goodwood Room, Chichester

College. The meal will consist of three courses, with a choice of three alternatives for each

course, followed by coffee and mince pies. If you wish to book, please send your name and

menu choices (including choice of drink) together with a cheque (£20 per person) payable

to Chichester U3A to: Angela Sewell, Southfield, Main Road, Chidham PO18 8TP MENU

A Tomato and basil soup...OR

B Caesar salad...OR

C Smoked salmon terrine with brown bread & butter

D Roast Sussex turkey served with bacon-wrapped sausage, chestnut stuffing,

bread sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy...OR

E Pan fried sea bass served on crushed new potatoes with sauce vierge...OR

F Parsnip and hazelnut roulade with rosemary and onion stuffing

+All served with potatoes, roast parsnips, sprouts and carrots.

G Traditional Christmas pudding with rum sauce and brandy butter...OR

H Fruits of the forest meringue basket with fruit coulis...OR

I Triple chocolate & orange parfait with cointreau sauce

+All include coffee or tea and mince pies

Choice of: R (red wine) W (white wine) or S (soft drink)

VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER DELIVERY COORDINATOR We urgently need to find someone to coordinate the delivery of the newsletter in future. The

job is as follows: Our newsletter is produced four times a year. Timing is arranged to fit in

with team commitments and monthly meetings. The process starts with the newsletter editor

who coordinates content, prepares the newsletter, organises proofreading and approval. The

editor then arranges printing. Typically we print around 500 paper copies, about 470 for

delivery and a few spares. The copies then pass to the NEWSLETTER DELIVERY

COORDINATOR who leads the team who will prepare and deliver the newsletters.

The first task of the team is to prepare the envelopes - for the annual membership renewal

newsletter in July the envelope contains two or three inserts in addition to the newsletter, at

other times it is just the newsletter and a sheet with the address. Address sheets are printed

from the membership database and provided to the newsletter team. A number of members

assist in envelope preparation.

The newsletter delivery coordinator arranges and organises the envelope preparation. The

filled envelopes are taken to the next monthly meeting where those members who are willing

are invited to take their own and any nearby ones they can deliver. Some of the delivery

team will also be at the meeting and take their area.

After the meeting the coordinator arranges to get the rest to other members of the delivery

team and posts any copies which cannot be delivered.

This is an important job. If you feel you could HELP then please contact Nigel Fullbrook to

discuss any questions you may have.

6 No 93 Autumn 2015

Next year it is hoped one of the courses will

be on Sussex and Hampshire Aviation

History, run by a member of the Arun East

U3A.

The member is liaising with me and the

Tangmere Military Aviation Museum to

produce a really good programme – watch

for more news on this.

STUDY DAYS

For those who are not quite sure about these

– they are held once a month on a Saturday,

venues being spread throughout East and

West Sussex.

The next eight months programme is

included in this Newsletter.. Subjects are:

Vincent Van Gogh, Psychology, Thomas

Hardy, Jazz, Changing Britain 1942 -1992,

Mathematics, Treasures of Music, Changing

Landscapes 1830 – 1914. Cost is £10.00

for the day.

WORKSHOPS

These are free to any member and usually

three are held each year. The most recent

was held at Angmering, (local !! ).

The subject was HUMOUR !! Much

needed in all our lives. A brilliant day.

Notice is given in the weekly Bulletin.

SUN REPRESENTATIVE

I have another six months before I hand

over this position to another Chichester

member.

It is very rewarding and enjoyable, meeting

forty other U3As and helping to run all the

above, meetings are held four times a year.

Who would like to come along to the next

meeting?

Please contact me……... Brenda Atlee

SUN REPORT

AWAY DAY AT ARUNDEL WETLANDS

CENTRE

It was certainly a sunny day. Twelve

Chichester members attended who all

agreed it was a

lovely day so

thanks to the

SUN committee

for arranging it

on the Thursday.

(The day before

and after were

both“washouts”).

We were

provided with a

really good lunch

and a film of the

history of the

Centre.

SUMMER SCHOOL AT CHICHESTER

UNIVERSITY

Once again Chichester provided excellent

entertainment for the Wednesday evening,

David Parsons played his saxophone and

was accompanied by a vocalist and

guitarist.

The course with the highest accolade went

to the Knitting programme, this included the

history of the subject and different methods

from all over the world.

7 No 93 Autumn 2015

divorced her for serial adultery. Whilst

certainly he did have both “vast wealth and

curious habits”, her basic misjudgement has

left us all now able to enjoy the Foundation

and the estate. Unfortunately for him, the

later divorce was seen by some in society as

inappropriate behaviour for a gentleman,

and his partial ostracism led to him moving

away for much of his time to Mexico - and

spending a fortune to create a concrete

surrealist garden in the rainforest.

A U3A study day group kindly

organised by Thea Sydenham had the

pleasure of inspecting those “footprint”

carpets, and very much more, on a

stimulating visit to the House and gardens.

Starting with a house tour and lecture by

Janet Sinclair, we learned something of the

estate’s history and the eccentricity of the

man. Whilst he wanted to be remembered as

a simple poet, it has in fact been his huge

generosity in supporting the arts, and

especially the Surrealist art of Dali,

Magritte, and others that lives on today,

whilst his poetry now has a very limited

readership. The current House is Georgian

LOCAL STUDY DAY

WEST DEAN HOUSE AND GARDENS

H ow very satisfying it must have been

to be so eccentric – and so rich – as to

have had woven your own luxurious carpet,

plain but with the ‘wet’ footprints of your

new wife dancing

her way up a spiral

staircase to your

bedroom. And then,

when that marriage

collapsed in socially

disastrous acrimony,

to have another

made but now with

the wet paw prints of

your favourite pet

wolfhound instead.

One man did –

Edward James, who

was born into West

Dean House and its

huge estate, became a

very rich and wide-

ranging patron of the

arts, and the man who

conceived and funded

the Foundation that

has borne his name

with distinction since

1964. The footprints belonged to the

beautiful dancer Tilly

Losch, reputedly a gold-

digger, who married him

believing that he was gay

so that she could

immediately divorce him

in righteous indignation

and start spending his

fortune. Unfortunately for

her, but luckily for us, Edward’s sexuality

was much more ambiguous than simply

“gay”, and four years later it was he who

(Continued on page 8)

8 No 93 Autumn 2015

admirable source of information, and also

showed us the old Victorian glass houses,

including three partly sunken ones which

were dedicated to the production of the then

highly prized pineapples. In those days,

producing pineapples in Sussex required

dedicated buildings and a team of gardeners

throughout the year, another enviable

indulgence by the super-rich James family.

They can never have dreamed that a century

later we would be able to pop down to

Waitrose and buy one for £1. But then,

Edward himself would scarcely have

believed that his protégé, the young Rene

Magritte, was then creating paintings that

would now sell for £7-10 million pounds

each.

D uring his life,

the hugely

eccentric Edward

James had a

reputation for

making a mess of

everything he did.

But West Dean is his

unique and wonderful bequest to posterity,

and the Foundation and College have an

international reputation for excellence in

craft and conservation. We were fortunate

to share it for a most enjoyable and

instructive day.

P.S …..… and did you know you can stay

there for bed and breakfast too!?

Mike Dunn

“gothic”, built originally in 1804 but much

changed over 1891-3. Its faux-battlements

and towers look more suited to a gloomy

glen than our gentle Lavant valley, although

the astonishingly skilled flint work is

typical Sussex. Inside, an eclectic and

unlikely collection of objects co-habit

surprisingly well. Stuffed exotic animals

jostle for attention with Samurai weapons

and a bust of Vespasian, whilst traditional

‘landed gentry’ family portraits look down

bemused at extraordinary surrealist art. A

telephone with a lobster hand piece sits near

a seductive Dali-esque sofa shaped as Mae

West’s gorgeous red lips, yet both fit in

happily enough with faded old tapestries so

large that the ceiling had to be raised to

accommodate them. This is a challenging

and multi-layered house indeed.

L ater, we enjoyed visiting the most

beautifully kept walled gardens,

packed with a horticultural delight of

vegetables, fruit and flowers. These once

supported the House and its society guests

such as Edward VII when visiting

Goodwood, but now are mainly for show

purposes. Our guide Laura was an

(Continued from page 7)

9 No 93 Autumn 2015

U3A CONFERENCE 2015 This year we had to vote for a New

Chairman. There were three nominees. The

results were very close. The “winner “ was

Pam Jones, who used to be our Regional

Trustee. Pam is in the front row, second

from the left.

Pam was also on the front

cover of the TAM (Third

Age Matters) magazine

which you all get a copy of,

abseiling down the Spinnaker

Tower in Portsmouth. She is

not young in years but

certainly is in mind! Well

done Pam.

Also in the photograph is our current

Regional trustee, Hilvary Robinson, she is

in the back row, second from the left.

Hilvary came to our last AGM and I was

recently appointed to be one of her three

assistants.

This enables me to go to East and West

Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey U3As when

Hilvary is unable to accept invitations to

attend their various meetings.

YOU can go to these Conferences, you do

not have to be on a committee or a group

leader.

Even if you are a newish member you can

apply to the committee who may offer

support with the cost.

This year there were four hundred

delegates.

Accommodation was in student’s single

rooms, all mod cons including en-suite!

The date for next year is:

23rd – 25th August 2016.

There will be Workshops and Discussion

groups.

This year’s subjects were:

How to get volunteers !!!

Publicity

Philosophy

Singing for Health

University Partnerships

Resource Centre Diversity

Self-Publishing

Chairmen

Secretaries

Groups co-ordinators

Newsletter Editors !!!

Web-site managers

Treasurers

Our world in 2020 etc. etc.

Of course you do not attend all of these, we

could choose four – that was exhausting

enough but we do have fun too.

Entertainment was provided by a Ladies

Barbershop Chorus which was excellent.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you

would like more information.

Brenda Atlee

10 No 93 Autumn 2015

WEBMASTER

Keeping Safe On-Line Part 1 Over the past three or four months, three of

my email contacts have had their email

accounts hacked.

The sign was when I received an email from

them that was unusual. It started like this:

Hi tony

Note the lower case in my first name,

unusual. The body of the message was just a

link and it was signed in the name of the

sender followed by :

Sent from my iPhone

I looked at the email address in detail. In

my email system I have set it to display

the full email address of the sender and it

said (names changed to protect identity):

Charlie Brown

<[email protected]>

Seeing this it is obviously a scammer.

In your email system is there a setting to

allow you to view the full email address? It

is worth finding out.

The link in the email was also displayed for

all to see and I did not click it but deleted

the email immediately. I then deleted it

again from the Trash folder.

It is time to check your on-line security and

awareness. I say awareness as some of the

tricks attempt to build on your unfamiliarity

with computers.

Here are some helpful tips about passwords.

1. Keep your login details safe and do

not share them.

These details identify YOU. So anyone

using them will be acting as if they are you.

Take special care when dealing with bank or

other financial logins.

2. Use strong passwords

Mix upper and lower case letters and

numbers. You may think this is far too

difficult to remember them all, but it

can be really easy, and yet personal.

Do you have a favourite book? Let’s say

‘Death Comes To Pemberley’.

Take the initial letters in the title, DCTP and

use these as the first letters of your

password.

Now mix up the case, say alternate upper

and lower, DcTp. This is the first version of

this password so add a number, DcTp1. This

is the root of your password.

For each site you have a log in add the first

four letters of the site’s web address. So, for

Facebook it would be: face

Your password would then be: DcTp1face

For gmail it would be: DcTp1gmai

Easy for you to remember and very difficult

for anyone else to guess.

3. Never use a password that is too

simple or is your username.

Building on the last point, scammers are

clever.

Many are university graduates in IT and are

intelligent and smart.

They also know how to write computer

programs to help them crack simplistic

passwords.

It is staggering how many people use

‘password’, their user name, 1234 and

similar. Don’t be one of them!

Tony Lord, Webmaster

www.chichesteru3a.org.uk


LATIN GROUP Our Latin group meets fortnightly on a

Friday afternoon.

We started following the Cambridge Latin

Course 2 years ago under David Rymer’s

leadership.

After only one year David sadly passed

away. Partly as a tribute to him and also

because we were enjoying following the

course so much, six of us decided to

continue.

Most of the group are complete beginners

but a few have distant memories of Latin at

grammar school.

We are now half

way through the

second book of

the course and

although it has

become more

demanding we are persevering and mostly

manage to progress by mutually supporting

each other.

We could accommodate

up to two new members

and would welcome any

U3A members who

would like to join us.

You would probably

need a smattering of

school Latin to

participate.

By the way we have a very relaxed

approach; we don’t set homework or learn

vocabulary lists.

We simply enjoy working together to

translate the Latin passages.

Jane Mulholland

SPANISH CONVERSATION

GROUP

“Estamos en camino” (“We’re on our way”)

The Spanish conversation group continues

to meet pretty well every Thursday

throughout the year in the homes of various

members (we usually give ourselves

Christmas and Easter off for good

behaviour).

There are 13 on our books but, because we

all have other interests and commitments,

the numbers at our meetings can vary

considerably, so this year we have said we

would welcome one or two newcomers.

I am a relatively new member of the group

and, if anyone is considering joining us, I

can honestly say I found everyone very

welcoming and helpful – so I hope you

would do too.

We really are a “self-help” group. Although

I am technically the group leader, I think of

myself more as a coordinator/administrator

because we all have our strengths and

weaknesses in Spanish and we pool our

knowledge and use the dictionary!

We would love to have a fluent

Spanish speaker join us from time

to time to correct and help us.

Any volunteers?

Each month we choose topics we will

discuss during the following month and to

ring the changes we sometimes do puzzles,

read a book, listen to CDs, remind ourselves

of/learn some points of grammar or even

watch a film – not forgetting the Christmas

party when we bring and share some

refreshments.



We are a sociable group and like to keep

abreast of each other’s holiday activities etc.

speaking either in Spanish during the

session or in English with our tea and

biscuits afterwards!

Amazingly the group has been going for 23

years (we still have 4 of the original

members) and we can see no reason why it

should not continue for another 23!

Sue Frost

MONDAY MORNING

DISCUSSION GROUP

We are told that you should never discuss

politics or religion but I have to say that our

Monday morning discussion group

constantly disobeys this rule!

In fact nothing seems to be off limits and we have very lively debates on all

subjects including topical and local events

as well as broader philosophical discussion.

Here is a 'flavour' :

Locally: 20mph speed limit, should the

market be moved, dangerous cyclists,

outsourcing at St. Richards, etc. Politically -

any current topic - election, budget, foreign

policy, etc. Other: Should drugs be

legalised, should the Pope interfere in

politics, internet crime, bullying of

teenagers, should obesity be treated on the

NHS, etc

We take it in turns to be Chairman and each

brings a selection of questions for

discussion and this format has worked well

for us.

At the moment we cannot take any more

members due to limited space but we

will let the co-ordinator know if anyone

should move away or drop out.

Dorothy & Ivan Olney

IMPROVERS SPANISH

GROUP 'Como llama el vaquero a su hija?'

(‘How does the cowboy call his daughter?’ )

Hijaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

(Hija is the Spanish word for daughter and

the h is silent.

Hija is a play on the word Yehaaa! (cowboy

speak)

Spanish improvers is a small friendly group

with spaces for new members.

To take part you need some knowledge of

basic Spanish.

Group members take turns to host the

fortnightly meetings and also prepare some

activities for the sessions.

Everyone contributes which leads to an

interesting and fun approach, which can

accommodate everyone's interests.

We use a variety of materials which include,

books, CDs, magazine and newspaper

articles and on line content.

This enables us to extend vocabulary and

get to grips with Grammar, in order to be

able to deal with every day situations in

Spanish.

A few words of Spanish for you to learn!

Claro Sure, of course

Esta bien OK

Como? For use when the taxi

driver tells you the

cost of the fare !

Saludos Best wishes

Meetings are on Thursdays at 10.00 to

11.30am fortnightly.

Please contact me if you are interested.

Sue Brown



CYCLE GROUP NEW FOREST CYCLE RIDE

With long ago memories of well known

groups of five, hot summer days and

lashings of ginger beer, the Chichester U3A

cyclists made their way to Brockenhurst in

the New Forest for two days of fun; some

by train and some by car. This adventurous

gang consisted of Ray, Roger, Dave, Rod

and Barbara all way past the age where

taking their pensions

seemed the right

thing to do.

Even before the

cycling started train

travellers Roger and

Dave arrived late at

Brockenhurst Station

but told us the story

of the blind man that

they met on the train

who wanted to go to

Portsmouth but they

took him on to

Southampton; not a

very altruistic act but

maybe I didn't hear it

quite right.

The weather for the first day was

particularly warm and sunny and our first

stop was at the Master Builder hostelry at

Bucklers Hard for some well deserved

lunch. The hotel and village lie on a very

beautiful part of the Beaulieu River which

we spent some time exploring before

pedalling on to Beaulieu; another very

pretty village. Fortunately this had a good

ice cream shop so we all bought a cone to

cool down before cycling the last few miles

back to Brockenhurst. We all felt a little

tired but also good about the 21 miles we

had covered without any major problems.

Dinner at Alberos, in the centre of

Brockenhurst, was a really enjoyable event

with lots of good chat, pizzas, beer and

wine. We all learnt that Serena Williams

was slightly less titanic than we believed

being only 5 foot 9 inches tall; the less

sophisticated learnt that black paste in

bowls can sometimes be called tapenade

and Barbara learnt all sorts of things about

Cliff Richard that she really didn't want to

know.

We stayed at various guest houses around

the town and we

all agreed that we

were treated well

and given a good

breakfast before

we embarked on

the travails of the

second day.

On the second day

the cyclists were

joined by another

U3A member,

Rachael, who had

traveled down the

previous night.

The first part of

the journey took

us through some heavily forested areas with

some very large trees; a really wondrous

sight. We continued until we reached a large

house in the middle of the forest which had

part of it turned into a cafe selling cakes and

cream teas; the cafe had been opened just



TRAVEL & OUTINGS GROUP ISLE of WIGHT VISIT

The happy smiling faces on the photograph

featured on the rear cover, say it all.

The group of U3A members who visited the

Isle of Wight thoroughly enjoyed the day.

After a very windy crossing on the

Wightlink ferry we visited the lovely village

of Godshill and then went to Shanklin to

spend a few hours exploring the area.

The photograph was taken outside the last

port of call at the Rosemary Vineyard, we

listened to a very interesting talk about the

vineyard and the wines liqueurs and ciders

made from the grapes and apples grown on

the estate.

We enjoyed the talk but enjoyed sampling

the produce even more!

The wind had died down for the return ferry

journey and we made the crossing in bright

sunshine and arrived home on time.

Maureen O’Brien and Helen Wiener

for us by the lady who owned it and we felt

rather privileged.

Despite being only a short time from

breakfast most of the party weakened and

had a cake and one of the cyclists felt strong

enough for a full cream tea.

We all then cycled on to Burley for lunch

and parked our bikes; everybody still had

their cakes from earlier cramming their

stomachs and we all agreed that we would

go without lunch and continue back to

Brockenhurst.

However, when we came to unlock our

bikes Barbara discovered that her padlock

key was back at the guest house and we

then made friends with the local cycle shop

who found some chain cutters and Barbara

was released for the final leg.

Most of the last part of the ride was on a

cycle path along an old railway line; quite

easy going and we clocked up a total of 17

miles for the second day.

At the end of the epic adventure we all

agreed that it had been a really good time

and we were keen that something similar

could be arranged before summer finished;

someone even suggested la belle France

avec beaucoup de bière de gingembre.

(The beautiful France with lots of ginger

beer)

Rod Wing


Documents

No 93 Autumn 2015 - Chichester · PDF fileNo 93 Autumn 2015 2 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE I would like to welcome all of you to a new year of membership of the Chichester U3A. Membership