Baddow & Galleywood

Autumn 2017 Newsletter

Baddow & Galleywood Newsletter

Autumn 2017

Stop Press

It is with some regret that Tony Granados our newly installed treasurer has resigned last week for personal/health reasons. Our prime desire is for him and his health, and I ask all to have him in your thoughts at this time.

Some discussion has taken place within the committee and with a potential co-optee and at the committee meeting this afternoon (Monday 4th), it was agreed to co-opt Hugh Armstrong, a former B&G U3A treasurer and chair, onto the committee with immediate effect and appoint him as treasurer.

A treasurer cannot function fully until they can sign cheques etc. for the organization, and banks take some time completing this process. The hand -over to Hugh will take place as soon as possible, but we need to give him a bit of time to settle in.

If there are any queries, please contact me in the first instance.

Roy Brackley Chairman

The Wandering thoughts of our Chairman

As I write this I am preparing to attend the Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Third Age Trust, the umbrella organisation covering the U3As in the UK. Having had the privilege of attending last year as a newbie, I look forward to attending again this year with a bit more experience. I hope I will meet representatives of many U3As along with our regional trustee and the national Subject Advisers. From all of these I hope I can glean ideas for Baddow and Galleywood and see what works and what doesn’t in other parts of the country. I will also be able to get the thinking of the Third Age Trust (for obvious reasons I do not use the initials which would save typing time!) as they look at the organisation and examine if and how it needs to change in how it is managed and run so it can best serve the U3As at this time.

This examination of an organisation is something that your committee has been considering for Baddow and Galleywood U3A at this time and one of the first things that has been considered is the constitution. The constitution we are working under currently was approved in 1999 and, over the 18 years that have passed, things have changed. The Third Age Trust have suggested for several years that U3As bring their constitutions up to date and, as in my previous Wandering Thoughts of Our Chairman, “change is here to stay” and your committee believe the proposed new constitution will give us accountability to you, the members and also to the public as we, being a registered charity, have responsibilities in out charitable purposes. If you are reading this before our September meeting I encourage you to attend the Extraordinary General meeting at 2:15 which precedes our speaker for the month from the homeless charity CHESS. If you are unable to attend please let us know, through the information sent out you.

Another thing being considered by the committee is whether we are meeting the needs and desires of the membership. The committee make up only a very small proportion of the membership and cannot meet with each one of you individually to get your thoughts. To this end we need you to contact us with opinions and ideas, which some have been doing. To aid you with this Norma Henty has set up a Suggestions / Comments Box which is out at every monthly meeting and we ask that you use it, not only to give comment on the meeting but as to ideas and suggestions (and even criticisms) of YOUR U3A. you can also email or write to me or talk to any committee member (Details elsewhere in this magazine).

I close these “Wanderings” with thanks. Thanks to Maggie for pulling together yet another issue of this fantastic magazine on time even if the chairman disrupts the timing. Also to all the contributors who produce articles that inspire and inform more than the contributors think they will. Last but not least, thanks to everyone who is a member of OUR U3A for the support you give to me, the committee and each other. We are a unique group because no other group in the world has all of us working together with each other and for each other.
Enjoy the rest of the summer, as Maggie has informed me the next “Wandering” will be for our December issue which I don’t want to think about yet!

Roy Brackley

Notes from the Interest Groups’ Co-ordinator

If you have been attending the General Meetings recently, you will have noticed, hopefully, that I have moved the Interest Groups notice board to the back of the main hall, instead of in the corner in the small hall. In this way, I hoped that more of you would have an opportunity to look at the board and sign your name as being interested in some of the new interest groups that have been suggested or perhaps give me some ideas as to what you might be interested in.

As this does not seem to have brought any worthwhile results, I considered a suggestions box – in this I received one form!! Not to be one to give up easily, at the last General Meeting, with the help of Maurice, we gave out Feedback Forms for members to give a rating to the speaker and asking whether members could see and hear the speaker O.K. There was also a space for suggestions. Eureka – we had 16 responses. So maybe we are getting there gradually.

Communication is so important in any organisation especially one as diverse in its interests as the U3A but it shouldn’t just be one-sided. So my plea to you this month is please let us know what you feel about the efforts your committee is making on your behalf and if you are sent an email, whether by a committee member, or your co-ordinator, please reply. It doesn’t take long to at least acknowledge you have received it and sometimes something as simple as ‘Yes OK’, or ‘Received but no thank you’ will suffice.

Norma Henty

Editor’s note:

I am really pleased that two of our members read my little message in the last issue, and sent in their contributions – see them on page 5. Thanks to them and to all our contributors, without you the Newsletter would be very bare! I hope other members will feel inspired to send me something for the Christmas edition – find date for copy on p.15.
Information for Co-ordinators is on p 4, and forthcoming U3A events, extracted from the website are on p 14.
Although I’m writing this in August, summer has vanished and it feels like Autumn, so welcome to the Autumn issue. Enjoy reading it, it’s packed full of interesting articles. (NB: some pieces have been edited, in order to fit everything in.)

Maggie

Our Readers Write.......

Hi Maggie

I have enjoyed reading the Newsletter, as I always do but don't usually say so!

I found the piece by Roy Brackley interesting as it made me think 'what sort of member am I'? I am definitely in category iii - which isn't quite good enough! I have responded to Norma's suggestions about a couple of new groups
It is a shame we have lost our Churches Visiting Group. I realise it does require quite a commitment to organise.

Our Weekenders group with Sara & Denis is excellent. I mainly enjoy our Sunday lunches and Linda gives her all for our Family History group. I hope we show our admiration and appreciation to them and to everyone who gives their time and effort - like you! I tell everyone, who will listen, how good it is to belong to the U3A, even someone in NZ. How could anyone complain about being bored or lonely?

If you can use any of this in the newsletter, Maggie, please do, otherwise, I am happy just sharing my thoughts with you!

In our Summer Newsletter, Norma suggested a Film Discussion Group. She also suggested a Luncheon Club, excellent! Maybe combining the two and making use of our Millennium Centre Community Association, if their food is still as good as the last time I went there! We have plenty of choice in Chelmsford anyway.

I am glad you have written - 'making a suggestion does not mean we will be asked to be the co-ordinator'. As much as I wish I am afraid I am not able to volunteer.

On page 6 of U3A Sources issue 61: Peter Cox has written about their group called Armchair Critics who discuss films, books, TV, radio etc. over lunch or coffee - just a comment!

Doing my best to be a better U3A member as per Maggie Nutt's comments!

Eileen Arnell membership no, 161

The Intruder

It all started with the sight of a “calling card” on the conservatory floor after the doors had been left open on a very warm evening. I mopped it up and thought no more about it.

Opening the kitchen door the next morning – oh dear – more of the mess greeted me and I noticed that the cat’s saucers had been cleaned to the last crumb.

Was it a rat?

There was only one place the thing could be hiding - a hole left behind by the builders under the dishwasher in the kitchen.

Around l0 o’clock that evening my husband John switched the kitchen light on and was amazed to see a very fast moving hedgehog disappearing down the hole under the dishwasher.

We rang the RSPCA to see if they could supply a trap, but they didn’t have such a thing. Later a very efficient young RSPCA Officer in crisp white blouse and black trousers arrive hoping to extract the hedgehog from the hole. The hole branched out into a tunnel under the dishwasher and sink – no good.. She said she would leave it to us, murmuring that she had lots to do and to be careful of fleas.

John thought he would make a one-way flap over the “escape hole” and this did the trick. When the hedgehog (Harry, by this time) came out at 10pm for the cat’s left overs, it was grabbed with a welding glove and taken up the road to a neighbour’s garden, which has a hedgehog house!

So - keep the doors closed when the hedgehog is about!

Pauline Bowen.

Interest Group Reports

Singing for Pleasure

For the past two years the 'Singing for Pleasure ' group has been privileged to be led by Mike Silk, a Graduate of the Royal School of Music, and former teacher of music. Mike revealed to me that during his early early career in music publishing his line-manager was our own Glad Deamer.

Twice monthly our small group (20 -25, mainly ladies) starts with breathing exercises, proceeding to singing in "rounds" (without music) which is excellent memory training.

Ability to read music is not essential - we learn as we go along. Sheet music is used when we rehearse familiar and less familiar works e.g. "Moon River", "Ave verum corpus", "True love", "The Rose". The talented Mike conscientiously arranges much of the music himself to meet the requirements and abilities of the group, so that we have the pleasure of harmonising in 3 or 4 parts

Mike is also our accompanist (he is ballet pianist for, among others, the Cecchitti Society, and New Hall School) and can on occasion pre-record the accompaniment on his keyboard..

Group singing has recently become a most popular activity, with proven health benefits. Don't restrict your singing to a few minutes in the shower! Let us hear you -particularly if you're a man. We rehearse on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 2 pm at the URC. Next meeting in September 2017"

Rita Roscoe

Poetry Appreciation

The group have enjoyed an entertaining few months studying poets such as Ivor Gurney, Wallace Steven, Zaffar Kunial and War poets. We also had three free choices including “Humorous” poems and poets whose surnames began with the letters “C” and “D” which got us searching through our books and reading poems by Charles Causley, Roald Dahl, Carol Ann Duffy and G K Chesterton to name but a few. Also one by Billy Collins called Forgetfulness which had us laughing.

We are a lively group of seven ladies and have to limit our numbers as we meet in each other’s homes, but we could accommodate and would welcome a couple of new members. When I first joined the group, I had not read poetry since my school days but now have a keen interest, shelves full of books and have enjoyed many hours of fun and discussion at the meetings. We meet on the fourth Wednesday afternoon of each month and if you are interested in joining us, which I hope you are, please phone Sheila Speller on 01277 215406 and express your interest.

Janet Hobart

Needles and Pins

A dozen ladies got together at the May meeting of the Needles and Pins group to make MORE things! Several were sewing needle cases in fabrics suggesting Joseph’s famous coat: others were doing applique work or knitting hats etc. Someone who shall be nameless had just completed a really cute doll’s dress = it had been meant for Christmas originally, but was well worth the wait! (Matching knickers are to follow.)
Another duo (with help from Google) managed to master and ingenious plastic contraption of Debbie’s and produced …. ta-rah…. a pom-pom to a round of applause. Tea, coffee and biscuits were needed to restore us. Thank you,

Debbie

Local History 2. {Visit to Rayleigh.}

On a lovely sunny day most of our group decided to take the scenic route and set off on the no 3 bus to Rayleigh. We spent a very interesting morning at Rayleigh Mill and the afternoon at Rayleigh Museum. The talks at both venues gave us a lot of information about the history of the town. The artefacts on display at both the mill and museum were excellent.

We were impressed by the work that the volunteers do and found them enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their town. The local community give them great support.

It was an excellent day!

Gill Flynn

Local History 1

This year we are starting our winter meetings in the URC on 27th September (a month earlier than hitherto) with a talk on Henry Winstanley. A famous son of Saffron /Walden best known for his Eddystone Rocks lighthouse but described by our speaker as an amazing person – painter, engraver, engineer and inventor. Subsequent meetings will involve historic snapshots of Essex, the railway to Shoeburyness, the Pryor family at Hylands, 18th century social history, Old Leigh and life in the workhouse. Further details from me. Last year some new members joined us – welcome to you all - still room for more!

On a sunny, windless day in May we stood on the sea wall at Shoebury viewing the display of bright red poppies on the old Garrison pier brought from the tower of London. The main purpose of the afternoon however, was the site of the former garrison. Its story began with the wars between Britain and Napoleon – invasion threatened and the army needed to improve its weapons and a site where they could be tested (and retrieved after firing). In 1849 the Thames mudflats at Shoebury were ideal and ten years later the School of Gunnery was established
Leaving the evidence of the piers built for unloading the guns built at Woolwich Arsenal, we viewed the casements and batteries from which the guns were fired and also evidence of the pits which replaced them when the guns became too heavy. Passing by WW2 searchlight emplacements, we entered the former barracks area – ranging from the Commandant’s house to the hospital block via the various barracks occupied according to rank (the ‘horseshoe’ block being unique in design). We finished at the Garrison church – never used as such – and the cricket field, regarded in the 1930’s as one of the best in Essex.

No longer MOD, the area is now partly wildlife, public recreation, new housing with the barracks converted to high class apartments.

We had had an informative and enjoyable afternoon visiting a little known historic gem, a unique part of Essex with military history brilliantly explained to us by the Secretary to the Shoebury Society.

Brian - Co-ordinator

Stow Maries Aerodrome – Local History 1

For the July meeting, the Group visited Stow Maries WW1 Aerodrome on a rather dull, blustery day but fortunately without rain. We were taken into the Hanger where the Aircraft are housed and given a very detailed account of each aircraft, one of which had flown the previous Sunday on their Flying Day.

Our Guide, Terry, then took us to various buildings, including the Transport Sheds and Pilots’ Ready Rooms. We saw the Memorial dedicated to the Pilots killed during WW1 from Stow Maries, all in flying accidents, and most of them are buried in the Stow Maries’ churchyard. There are two very interesting Museums to look around.

Our very interesting afternoon was rounded off by being shown two films about the aerodrome and treated to playing of tunes on the Pianolas. A cup of tea and very large piece of cake, which was delicious! completed the afternoon.

Peggy Ager

Spanish Conversation

Do you like going on holiday to Spain?

Would you like to be able to say more than ‘Hola’,’ Muchas gracias’ and ‘Por favor’?

Why not join our Spanish discussion group? We cover all kinds of subjects, from health food, Spanish writers, fashion and politics (Cataluña, corruption, pressure of the press etc).

New members would be very welcome. Contact Sara

Weekenders

Our well attended visits have enjoyed the regular monthly lunches and coffee mornings. Earlier this month we were at The Hanging Gardens near Writtle. This was a new venue for us, fortunately the weather was fine and we could sit in the patio area of the café. We did however have an unexpected visitor. A chicken came looking for crumbs amongst the tables, some of the ladies, wearing open shoes were worried about getting their toes pecked. However, it did not deter us from enjoying our refreshments, and we will return.

All our activities can be seen in the bi monthly program published on the Baddow and Galleywood U3A web site.
We have a strong membership but welcome new people, singles and couples.

Denis Ketley

Strollers
Some of the strollers Group, enjoying lunch in
Isobel & John's Garden after the walk in July.

Music Performing

Pam, the group co-ordinator for Music Performance, commented in her introduction to the meeting that it is very difficult to think of something different to say each time, unlike Jeremy Paxman, who always seems to find a different way of welcoming the teams in the University Challenge programme.

Similarly, after a lovely afternoon of listening to the fruition of a few months’ work by friends, it is hard to find different things to comment on. So this time I will be mercifully brief! We had a debut performance from Ken on the clarinet, a good range of music from early Baroque to Gershwin, and instruments ranging from the human voice, through recorders, strings and woodwind, not forgetting of course the piano and our stalwart accompanists, Pam, Ken, Barbara and Lorna, who are all so much in demand. Have a look at the website for some photos of intense concentration!

Debbie

“Canasta is inevitable, you might as well relax and enjoy it” Richard L. Frey
When I retired my friend, Margaret, persuaded me to come along and join the Canasta group. I hadn’t played cards since I was a child, but I soon got hooked, and after several years I now find myself the group’s co-ordinator.
Deciding to find out more about the game, I went to the Internet. I was surprised to find out that the game had been invented in Uruguay by Segundo Santos and Alberto Serrato in 1939. It was developed over weeks of trial from a combination of elements of Bridge and Rummy. When the inventors were satisfied, they decided to call the game Canasta after a small wicker basket, in which they stored their cards. The game spread rapidly through Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil becoming very popular.

It wasn’t until 1948 that it reached the United States, by means of a tourist from Buenos Aires. It took off like wildfire. In 1949 Life Magazine had a leading article on it.”The latest US card game craze is a new version of the old game of Rummy... This Christmas it is providing a sales avalanche of Canasta sets, Canasta trays and Canasta books”. By 1953 over thirty Canasta books had been published, many going into the best seller lists. The game continued to spread all over the world, producing variations such as Samba, Bolivia and Argentine Canasta.

Just look on the Internet and you will find numerous entries, not just the for the games and rules, but mugs, tea shirts, bags and greetings cards. Some of my favourites are a beer mug saying “I’m a really great Canasta player. Other times I’m Sober”, and on a fridge magnet “Yes I have a retirement plan. I plan to play Canasta. There is even a baby’s bib saying Canasta champion.

So come along, even if like me you haven’t played cards for many years. We are a friendly group of between twelve and twenty players. We meet in the Reading Room the 2nd and 4th Tuesday afternoons 2.20 for 2.30pm. It is £1 a session- you’ll get tea and biscuits as well. The game is easy to learn, fun to play and we’re all ready to welcome you. So you might as well give in and become another Canasta addict.

Pat Vickers

Art Appreciation

The artist Pieter Bruegel 1525 – 1569, the elder, was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painter. He was the ‘father’ of a dynasty of painters that spanned 150 years of the Bruegel family who lived in the Antwerp region of Holland.
The five paintings chosen for the meeting were:
Big Fishes Eat Little Fishes c1556 - engraving
The Hunters in the Snow - 1565
Children’s Games – 1560
Two Monkeys – 1562
The Beekeepers – 1568 - engraving

The engravings are etched from intricate sepia pen and ink drawings. The image in Big Fishes Eat Little Fishes c1556 was not an easy picture to look at and reflected Bruegel’s commentary on the Antwerp business community. The Beekeepers c1568 depicted individuals with face masks picking up hives.

The Hunters in the Snow – 1565 is one of a series of paintings representing the months of the year. Bruegel’s attention to detail, communicated in the cool colours, the feeling of a cold winter day as reflected in the stylised landscape of bare trees and skaters in the distance. The Hunters in the foreground of the picture are bringing home their meagre offering of one fox.

Two Monkeys is a very small picture in oil 23 cm x 23 cm depicting the guenon monkeys chained up, eating nuts, in a deep window of a tower with a painted backdrop of the city of Antwerp.

Children’s Games is a very large picture that depicts lots of cameos of children playing. We talked about the games represented in the picture which were compositions in their own right.

Sue Simpson

Art Appreciation

This newly formed group by Pam Greenwood meet on the second Friday each month in the house of Debbie Collins and view selected paintings by artists chosen by those who attend.

On Friday, 28th April the paintings were chosen by Sue Simpson and all by the Dutch painter, Pieter Bruegel (1525 – 1569) and sometimes referred to as Bruegel the Great. Five paintings were projected in turn onto a large screen from a laptop which enabled them to be enlarged to examine in detail items in the painting not seen before.

Big Fishes eat Little Fishes, 1556 - was an etching and was thought to show his disgust of the way commercial interests and money over-rode the talent of the artist.

The Hunters in the Snow (or the Return of the Hunters) 1565 - showed an imaginary scene during the “mini ice-age” when the winter’s food became difficult to obtain and to keep warm.

Children’s Games 1560 - showed an incredibly busy scene of dozens of children playing games – many of them the gathering could recognize – and not playing on X-Boxes.

Two Monkeys 1562 - produced very mixed feelings from the audience – were they symbolic of something sinister as they were chained to a window ledge or simply shown having eaten a Hazel nut.

The Beekeepers 1568 - showed 3 men dressed in well-fitting coats with their faces hidden behind gauzes and holding woven straw Bee Skeps. I was able to add more detail because my Father had been a famous Bee-farmer in Cheltenham and started in 1911 by cycling around the Cotswolds and exchanging similar Skeps for modern wooden hives.
To obtain honey before about 1850 the Bee-farmer would set fire to the Skep so driving out the bees - arranging for them to be rehoused in a new Skep, which was cheap and easy to make in those days – collect the remains which consisted of burnt straw, bees, wax and of course honey. This was strained but according to my Father tasted pretty dreadful – but it was honey. As we all now know honey is very lovely and clear – free of this mess.
In the painting the Bee-farmers could be seen going through the motions of this traditional process. A very interesting snap shot of Bee-farming as had been carried out for thousands of years.

Below is a photo of my Father's portable Skep he used to collect a Swarm -
this is something the bees tend to do in spring - a new Queen wants to set
up a new colony and takes half of the old colony with her. In this photo
the swarm has been captured having been shaken off a small tree and now
waiting for evening to collect the skep and take it back to his Apiary. In
this case the Bees are transferred by shaking them out and the Skep lives on
to do more business another day.

The next photo is of Tommy Swain, Queen Bee expert (left) holding a travelling
box in which my Father is "shaking" a frame of bees. Notice he always had a
veiled hat (but rarely was the veil covering his face) and bare arms and
hands - he was rarely stung. The man to the right is an Irish Government
Inspector supervising the purchase of 50 stocks of bees to be sent to
Ireland. My Father died the evening after this photo was taken.

My Father used to suffer badly from damaged travelling boxes until he put on
a notice which said "Damaging this box will allow the Bees to Escape" - no
more trouble.

John Bowen.

Family History

Cosmopolitan London

On Friday 12th May, 40 of us set off to London to meet Sarah, our City and Village guide, outside Liverpool Street station. After coffee we crossed the road and immediately found ourselves leaving ‘The Square Mile’ of the City and entering Spitalfields in the East End. Though the area is now becoming ‘gentrified’ it is an area settled successfully by the Huguenots, [or as one of our U3A speakers said ‘the Huggy Nots!’] the Jews, the Bengali and Bangladeshi communities. Brick Lane was famous for its curry houses, but now regulations are making it difficult for them to bring in experienced staff, so many are artisan shops – many being makers of chocolate. After this interesting walk [during which we saw either ‘Gilbert or George’ [wearing a wonderful green tweed suit!], we met up with Ray and the coach [he was always in the right place at the right time!] and then journeyed through London to the side of St. Martin’s in the Field, with Sarah giving us a commentary about the communities who lived there. Some went with Sarah to China Town, but most of us found lunch round the Trafalgar Square area and several us popped into the Portrait Gallery.

After lunch, and back on the coach, we headed for Neasden, and the first traditional Hindu Mandir [temple] built in Europe. We turned the corner from a very ordinary road where mums were collecting their children from school, to find this wonderful marble temple. It really is breath-taking, both inside and out. The marble blocks were carved by craftsmen in India, brought to Neasden where the assembly was done by more than 1000 volunteers. The people there were very welcoming – we had a short film to show us how the temple came into being and then were free to wander, wonder and marvel.

Linda Knock

Art Appreciation

As the July meeting of the Art Appreciation Group fell on the 14th we decided to look at French paintings. There were plenty to choose from, but we chose six ranging from just before the revolution to just after the First World War – a span of around 220 years.

As always there were plenty of opinions, much discussion and we found other people’s ideas thought-provoking, giving us new insight and helping us look at the pictures in a different way.

The first picture of ‘The Swing’ by Fragonard, was a seemingly innocent picture of a girl in a beautiful frothy pink dress on a swing. However when you looked more closely you realised that her husband was pushing the swing and her lover was hiding in the shrubbery with an excellent view. The exact details of that view were hidden from us, outside the picture, but one member of the group had researched ladies’ underwear of the time, and found out that at that period, knickers were not worn, so presumably his view was rather more revealing!

After looking at a lovely picture by Renoir, we then ventured into the world of cubism with a landscape by Cezanne, which drew mixed reactions, leaving some of us rather cold, and others imagining a stiflingly hot day in an old village in Provence.

We then moved onto more modern pictures from Matisse, Braque and Leger, which all had very different impacts on different members of the group. One was lucky enough to have seen the Matisse dancers at the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg and said it was totally overwhelming, but others remained to be convinced. Perhaps a visit to Russia needs to be arranged! We spent a long time looking at the Braque, trying to find the man and the guitar in the picture with that title. Again, some people liked the picture for its colours and shapes, and weren’t worried that it was a very distorted view, whilst others found dull. Finally, the City, by Leger with its blocks of colour, appealed to most of us, but at 3m x 2.5m, we decided that it would not fit on our walls at home!

Debbie

Photography

In the last year the membership has grown and the technical prowess of the members has increased through greater confidence and understanding of the aspects of photography. This has been achieved through workshops, planned photoshoots and to get members to take on more responsibility for their skill development.

Our visit to the Chelmsford Fire Station in April was a great success and enjoyed by fourteen of our photo group. It was a visit that required a great deal on planning, as at any time the fire crews could be called out on a shout. Red Watch gave us a good time showing various aspects of their work, the equipment they use and taking us through what they do in the event of fire in a building with a demonstration carried out in a smoke filled area.

Reece one of Red Watch team donned his special gear & used the water hose to show us the powerful use of varying sizes of hose, we all agreed it was very inspiring to watch & to understand what hard work they all do. Subsequently a selection of photos taken were given to the Fire Station as a thank you for their efforts.

In May, eleven of us travelled to the beautiful village of Finchingfield to capture photos of this interesting old world sleepy village.

In July the group held a photo competition for all members to enter. In all there were 54 photographs which were judged by the steering group. The results and critique were given to members at a recent meeting.
Results were : 1st Veronica Stevens Grand Canyon in winter, 2nd Ken Pallett Looking down to the sky, 2nd Andrew Pepper Swallowtail on lavender.

In July 12 members of our group visited Cambridge for an very enjoyable days photo-shoot . We set ourselves some broad objectives on the essence that symbolised this great City, such as the History & Architecture, Canals & Boating, Street activities & Market, and people.

You will be able to see the results of the days shoot in next month's Photography Groups U3A webpage, http://u3asites.org.uk/baddow/page/9230

John Westwood

Copped Hall

I am pleased to report that the committee has agreed to make a donation towards the expenses for the outing to Copped Hall, and the price will now be £16.00. The outing is open to all interested members and a deposit of £5.00 will secure a place on the trip. Thank you to those who have already sent me their deposit, your cooperation is appreciated.

John Chapman

Reading 2

Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee

When our group discussed this book it turned out to be quite controversial.

Most of the group found it rather a hard read with a cumbersome style and unfamiliar subject set in the deep south of America.

It centred around a feisty young woman Jean Louise who could see that the negros were not always treated well and felt that they should have equal rights with white people. Having lived in New York she had experienced a more liberal society and resented the attitudes of the south. We follow her love affair with Henry (Hank) who took the usual view of the whites, which led to the end of the relationship.

I enjoyed the book which was interesting and at times amusing. The various characters were well portrayed and were distinctive personalities. Atticus, the head of the household and set in his ways and Henry, the rather feeble fiancé of Jean Louise who was a strong, headstrong character. It was clear that they were unsuited and eventually Jean Louise decided to leave him and go her own way.

Diana Buckroyd

EVENING CLASSES FOR MEN - Open to men only

Note : due to the complexity and level of difficulty, each course will accept a maximum of 8 participants. The course lasts two days, and topics covered include:

DAY 2

Empty milk cartons – do they belong in the fridge or the rubbish bin?
Health watch – bringing her flowers is not harmful to your health
Real Men ask for directions - Testimonial from a man who did
How to be the ideal shopping companion
-Relaxation exercises and breathing techniques
Remembering important dates and calling when you’re going to be late
-Bring calendar or PDA to class
Getting over it – learning how to live with being wrong all the time
-Individual counselling available

When she is having a bad day – the difference between sympathetic listening and asinine advice. -Practical tips on body language and phrasing responses
Living with adults – basic differences between your mother and your spouse -Role playing
Is it genetically impossible to sit quietly while she parallel parks?
-Driving simulation