Back to Home Page
South Woodham Ferrers
Quarterly Newsletter
Summer & Autumn Edition
Queens Jubilee Celebration
Newsletter No 185
News From The Chair
Hello
All
I hope
everyone is keeping well in this heatwave and being sensible when
outside.
It has
been a year since I was elected to the Chair of our u3a and I have to
thank the committee and membership for the support I have received over
the past year.
It has
been a busy period in SWF u3a since the last newsletter. We have held
the street party, completed another AGM and new activities have been
introduced or resurrected.
First of
all the Street Party to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The
event was a tremendous success that echoed Mary Brindley and her team’s
efforts. Since the idea was raised there was so much impetus put into
the arranging and the eventual successful party. Thanks to Mary and her
team. In addition we also raised £200 to the MND charity, a great
figure. Thank you to all who contributed.
The
AGM
was held a couple of weeks ago and thanks to all who attended. Notable
items were the election of new committee members. I would therefore like
to welcome Ann Woolley as secretary, Mary Brindley as Social Secretary
and as committee members, Roger Gatford and Julie Gillard. The draft
minutes will be uploaded to our website in due course. Finally, on
behalf of the committee I would like to thank Sheila and Brian Chilton
who reached the end of their tenure on the committee. They have been
stalwart supporters of our u3a not only as members but also both held
various roles in the committee. Sheila is continuing as group leader
coordinator for the time being. Again, thanks to you both.
Three activity groups being
re-introduced are the Craft Group, Singles and Social Dining and Digital
Photography.
An area
that has had little mention is the Maldon and District Cluster Group. As
the name implies it is a group of local u3a's to which we as SWF u3a
members can join the Cluster Group activities if we don’t have a
particular activity ourselves. Bob Tyas has included an item with more
details in this newsletter.
Membership renewals have been encouraging but there are a very few that
need to renew. Can those not renewed please make contact with Kay Miles
if you have not yet renewed. The 31st of July is our cutoff
date.
Finally,
thank you to our membership, our committee for supporting South Woodham
Ferrers u3a and I look forward to another successful year which is down
to you, our membership
Enjoy
your summer and stay safe as always
Best
regards
Committee Membership 2022 - 2023
After our recent AGM we have a new committee in place and details of its membership are given below, with some brief detail about the members.
Chairmen - Ian Mathews
Ian joined our u3a in 2020 and immediately took on the role of Vice Chairman for one year, he is currently in his second year as Chairman. One of his interests is photography and he is about to restart the Digital Photography Group.
Vice Chairman - Bob Tyas
Joined the u3a a couple of months after it was set up and this is his 3rd year on the committee. Runs the Walking Group and is a member of several other groups. He maintains the website and produces the quarterly newsletter.
Secretary - Ann Woolley
Ann is a new member of the committee and agreed to taking on the important role of secretary. Ann has written a piece entitled Introducing our new Secretary which you will find below.
Treasurer - Kate Smith
Kate has the very important task of keeping track of the u3a's finances and has been doing this successfully for several years. She is also the group leader for the Local History Group, organising visits to interesting historical site local to our u3a.
Membership Secretary - Kay Miles
Many of you will know that Kay has been taking care of membership issues very successfully for several years now. She is a member of a number of group, and has recently restarted Cards and Games for Fun.
Groups Coordinator - Vacancy
Speakers Secretary - Shirley Masterson
Shirley has the difficult task of organising our monthly speakers, she is also the group leader of Find Your Voice. You will have seen what the group is capable of at the Jubilee Celebration when under her direction.
Social Secretary - Mary Brindley
Mary was co-opted onto the committee last year as social secretary. This year she became a full member continuing in that role. The success of the recent Jubilee Celebration was down to her considerable hard work
Webmaster/Newsletter - Bob Tyas
Member - Roger Gatford
Roger is a new member of the committee having been voted on at the recent AGM.
Member - Julie Gillard
Similarly, Julie is a new member after having been voted on at the AGM.
Introducing our new Secretary
Thank you for voting
for me at the recent AGM.
I have Mary Brindley to thank for
kindly pushing, I mean putting, me forward for the role of secretary!
As many of you won’t know me I thought
it might be helpful to introduce myself.
I have had plenty of experience of the
role having held that post in the Essex Association of Change Ringers
(campanologists) for ten years, and am currently secretary of a Trefoil
Guild group, as well as a committee member of Blackwater Flower Club and
a member of our Town Council emergency climate change working party.
Not to mention still being involved in
Girlguiding running a Ranger unit (14-18 year olds) and helping at a
Brownie group.
I joined the u3a in
2016 shortly after I retired and belong to the walking group, London
theatre group,
Find Your Voice and London walks group
and I do a lot of fund-raising walks for charity.
Campanology (church bell ringing) has
been my hobby since my teens and I currently ring at St John the
Baptist, Danbury as well as doing a bit of handbell ringing.
Another interest is conservation and I
volunteer with the Essex Wildlife Trust at Blue House Farm in Fambridge
where I recently attended the bird ringing event when eight barn owl
chicks and two adults were ringed.
You can still see four of them on the
webcam if you go to the EWT website.
I look forward to getting to know members better
over the coming months.
Ann Woolley
Queens Jubilee Celebration
As mentioned in our last Newsletter, we
celebrated the Jubilee with a "Street Party" and Find Your Voice members
sang an anthem written by Jenny Dale and Shirley Masterson.
.jpeg)
We received a Thank You card and letter from Her Majesty the Queen, which are shown below.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the Jubilee Street Party such a
success. It was so good to see everyone entering into the spirit of the
occasion in their red, white and blue. I think there will be other
photos elsewhere in this newsletter.
The next event is the annual Quiz night. This is on Friday 21st October
7.30 at Champions Manor. Tickets are £3.00 to include a raffle and will
be on sale at our August meeting. Bring your own drinks and nibbles and
come along to make up tables of eight and exercise your brains . A
great fun evening which often brings out a bit of competitive inter
table banter.
Cluster Group
Together with 7 other local u3a's, our u3a is a member of The Maldon and District Cluster Group. The other u3a's are:
Being a member of the cluster group enables u3a members to join interest groups, theatre trips and outings organised by u3a's within the cluster group without being a member of that u3a, provided there is space available.
Lets say, for example, that you are interested in cycling but your u3a doesn't have a Cycling Group. Using the link below you will see that Dengie u3a has a group which meets in the afternoon of the third Tuesday of the month. You then contact the Group Leader by visiting their u3a website, check if there are places available and if there is, hay presto your in the group.
If you wish to join a group of one of these u3a's you will need a u3a Membership Card which can be obtained from Kay Miles.
For information on interest groups that are available within the Cluster Group, follow this link: http://www.maldonu3a.co.uk/activitygroups/ClusterGroupActivitySchedule.pdf
Speakers for the Remainder of 2022
Augusts
Kayla Conley reveals the Hidden Messages in Dreams.
September
Len Taphouse tells us about his time as an Apprentice Dockworker
October
Toni Neobard and Kate Broad present For Better or For Worse which shows us marriage and its pitfalls.
November
A volunteer will come with a canine helper to talk about the charity "Hearing Dogs for Deaf People".
December
Karen Kirby is bound to make us laugh with Anecdotes and Jokes she shares on Kirby Coach Trips.
Notifications
Please note that from now, monthly meeting will start at 13.50.
Reports from Activity Groups
Cards and Games For Fun
Our friendly group has been going for a few months
now. There is a lot of laughter amid the competiveness and concentration
of whatever game is being played.
We have accumulated quite a number of different
board games now so sometimes we are spoilt for choice.
So from numbers, words, strategy and brain teasers
and not forgetting refreshments an afternoon of fun is had by all.
If anyone wishes to join us on the 4th Wednesday
of each month then please give me a call on 01245 401015
Kay Miles
Craft
I am restarting craft classes in September they
will be on a Thursday 10am until 12pm. New group starting 2nd
September and then 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month Still a few
place in the crochet group running now on the 2nd and 4th of the month.
If anyone one is
interested please contact me on my email address below.
sandra.rolfe@btinternet.com
Sandra
Local History
We had two very enjoyable visits in June and
July to the Guildhall, Finchingfield and Flatford Mill.
At the Guildhall we had a talk on the long and
varied history of the building and its restoration, completed in 2013,
and had time to look round the excellent interactive museum.
The Guildhall was built in the 1470s by the Guild of the Holy
Trinity to house a Guild of priests; following the Reformation it has
served the local community in a variety of ways, as a meeting place for
the local trade Guilds, a school for boys, administering poor relief and
as alms houses to name a few. Fully restored it is now run as a charity
for use by the community.
.jpg)
Our visit to Flatford Mill in July included a
guided tour of the site covering the links to the Constable family, who
owned the mill and operated the navigation route between Sudbury and the
coast. Flatford is most famous for its links to John Constable, our
guide took us to the locations of several of his paintings of Flatford,
explaining how they captured the local commercial activity and
landscape. The guide also outlined the difficulties Constable had with
getting his paintings admitted to the Royal Academy and permission to
marry his sweetheart Maria.
.jpg)
We have two more visits planned for this year,
sign-up sheets for both will be out at the August meeting, please note
they are not on our usual meeting day as the venues are not open on a
Tuesday or our usual day was not available.
The visits are
A guided walk in
Chelmsford themed - the Forgotten History of Chelmsford on Tuesday 20
September at 2pm.
Cost
£5pp. Our guide has
sent the following details about the walk
This walk of Chelmsford City centre brings to life the fascinating past
of our city, which dates back to Norman times and has a name that is of
Saxon origin. During the guided tour you will hear some of the unusual
stories behind the buildings and get an insight into how the past
residents of Chelmsford lived. The commentary will roughly follow the
evolution of Chelmsford from the Iron Age through the industrial
revolution and up to the present day. As a bonus, during the walk
information will be included on some of the city’s many blue plaques.
The walk starts at the Stone Bridge in the High Street next to Toni &
Guy, and finishes 90 minutes later at the railway station.
Our October visit is to the Bata Heritage Centre
in East Tilbury on Wednesday 26th October at 10am, cost £5pp
The Bata Heritage Centre presents the
interesting history of the British Bata Shoe Co Ltd, it’s fascinating
industrial and architectural heritage, and the social history of those
who worked for the Bata company and the people who lived on the Bata
residential estate.
London Walks
Apart from the disruption caused by the train strike to our Thursday Canal walk they are up and running and being enjoyed. Both groups are very sociable and we often finish with a nice pub lunch before making the journey home
These are just a couple of photos of our very enjoyable Mile End to Limehouse walk along the Regents Canal.
For details of this years London Walks programme follow this link.
Mary Brinley
Paint
and Pastels
The Paint and Pastels Art Group meets on the 2nd
Monday of the month between 10.00 and 12.00 in the morning. We like to
have a theme or topic for our meetings but members are welcome to bring
along their own projects to work on alongside that.
Since the last Newsletter we have had a look
at using Acrylics and Soft Pastels. In August we plan to work outdoors and
into the Autumn we plan to have a go at portraits / figure drawing
followed by a session with a theme of 'working large'.
New Members
Since restarting in
February we have settled into our new venue at the WI Hall in SWF and
would welcome new members to join the group. If you are interested
please contact Chris on 07946 024302
or come to see me at one of the monthly meetings. We will need to keep
and eye on how many can be accommodated in the hall but please contact
Chris if you may be interested in joining the group.
Gallery
This picture of bluebells was created by one of our group members using Acrylics.
Chris Miles
Pics and Bricks
Pics and Bricks is an Art and Architecture
appreciation group. We arrange visits to Art Galleries, Museums and
other places with an artistic and / or architectural interest. Typically
we arrange a guide to talk about and explain what we are looking at. Our
normal day for visits is the 4th Tuesday of the month but this will
sometimes change to fit in with venue opening days.
We arranged three popular guided visits this
season. Walking tours of Colchester and Battersea and a Visit to Copford
Church near Stanway (Essex)
Walking
Tour of Colchester
This tour was in April and used the long and
varied history of Colchester to introduce us to some of the town's
architectural heritage including one or two modern additions.
We had two guides both of whom were excellent.
One lasting memory for me is the way that building materials from Roman
times were recycled in later Norman and other buildings including the
castle. The tour finished at the Firstsite Art Gallery, a striking
modern building where we were able to see some examples of contemporary
art.
The images below are of Colchester's 40 metre
Grade II Listed water tower affectionately known as Jumbo and Michael
Landy's similarly massive Essex Man. Essex Man is in the Firstsite
Gallery, stands 8.3 meters tall, and reflects on the way the media has
stereotyped our county over the last 30 years or so. It is based on an
original drawing by Edward Collet.
Battersea
In May we had our
guided tour in Battersea to see and learn about the regeneration of the
area including the new American Embassy,
the repurposing of the Battersea Power Station
and the new extension to the Northern Line
tube. Again our guide was excellent and we learnt about the individual
styles of notable modern architects involved in the regeneration.
The scale of regeneration in this part of London
is breathtaking. It is all impressive but I was struck by the way in
which public space is being incorporated. One feature that stood out was
the swimming pool 'in the sky' linking two buildings. The only shame was
that no-one was using it when we were there. We were treated to a
spectacular thunderstorm. Fortunately we managed to find cover just at
the right time.
The regeneration project is not finished and in
particular we were not able to see inside the former power station. With
this on mind we plan to arrange a return visit either next year or the
year after to see how it all has progressed.
The Images below show the Swimming Pool, one of
the public spaces and the American Embassy.
Copford
Church
At the time of 'going to press' we have not yet
been to this Church which boasts some of the most impressive Norman Wall
Paintings in the country.
Turner
Collection - Tate Britain
Our one disappointment this year was having to
cancel this planned visit. Hopefully this will actually be just a
postponement as we will look into including it in our next year's
programme perhaps at a less busy time of the year.
New
Members
We always welcome new
members to our group and hope to have a varied programme for next year
with something of interest for everyone. If you would like to join
please contact Chris Miles on 07946 024302 or
chrismilesu3a@gmail.com
Singles Social & Dining
We all met at Club Woodham on 13th July. I have been to Club Woodham several times and I can recommend the venue. They accommodate my wheelchair with ease. The staff are patient and caring and the food, while being traditional ‘pub food’, is well presented and enjoyable. The portions were large and a bit overwhelming for some. We all enjoyed our first outing and will be revisiting Club Woodham again soon.
Lyn Kear
Walking Group
We walk on the first and third Friday of the month with walks
starting at 10.00 and finishing between 12.00 and 12.30 depending on
the walks length. Most of our walks are within a 10 mile radius of
Woodham and vary in length from between 5 and 6 miles. At completion
of the walk we often visit a nearby pub for a well deserved pint,
but its not compulsory.
We have a website with more information about the group. It also includes details of the current walks, a schedule listing the years walk programme and a catalogue of most of the walk we undertake. You can access it by taking this link https://swf-u3a.org/walking_2020/index.htm
One of Our Unusually Wet Walks taken by Larry
Walks for the next three months are:
Friday 5th - Danbury/Blake Wood Walk - 5.5 miles - meet in Mayes Lane car park in Danbury.
Friday 19th - Mayland Walk (new walk) - 6 miles - meet in the Bakersfield car park off the Drive in Mayland.
Friday 2nd - South Woodham to Cock Clarks and return - 9.5 miles - Meet in Compass Gardens car park for 10.15 start. It is the intention to have a pub lunch in the Fox and Hound before returning.
Friday 16th - Bicknacre Walk - 6 miles - meet in the sports field car park adjacent to Bicknacre school.
Friday 7th - Bradwell Second Walk - 6 miles - meet in St Peters on the Wall car park.
Friday 21st - Bicknacre/Cock Clarkes Walk - 6.5 miles - meet in sport field car park adjacent to Bicknacre School (this is one we missed in Jully when unable to park).
Wine Appreciation Group 3
Wine group 3 have been enjoying some interesting wines over the past
couple of months.
We decided that we would concentrate on a single varietal of grape,
one red, one white, each month but compare them from different parts of
the world and how this affected the taste of that grape and the wine
produced. The results were very interesting, and in some cases
quite surprising. We will continue on this theme for a couple more
months following our August group meeting in Mary and Roy Brindley’s
garden for a social get together. We just have to hope that this
spell of lovely weather continues .
Brian and Sheila
Groups Monthly Programme
| Day of the Month | Weeksof the Month | ||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||
| Monday | AM | Golfing Group Book Group 1 |
Golfing Group Paint & Pastels Art Group |
Golfing Group |
Golfing Group Strollers |
| PM | Book Group 2 (NCA) |
Gardening | |||
| Tuesday | AM | Pics & Bricks (Art & Architecture) | |||
| PM | Gin Appreciation | Local History Tai Chi |
Pics & Bricks (Art & Architecture) Tai Chi |
||
| Wednesday | AM | Find Your Voice | London Walks 1 | ||
| PM | Monthly Meeting | All Kinds of Music (NCA) |
Cards & Games for Fun | ||
| Thursday | AM | Craft Science & Technology (NCA) |
Crouchet | Craft | London Walks 2 Crochet |
| PM | French | ||||
| Friday | AM | Walking Group Bowling |
Bowling | Walking Bowling Digital Photography |
Bowling |
| PM | Wine
Appreciation Groups 1, 2 & 3 |
Whisky Appreciation |
|||
| Theatre as Arranged, Curry Clique 2nd Wednesday of odd months, Singles Social & Dining as Arranged | |||||
NCA = Not Currently Active
Useful Links
Crouch Valley u3a - www.u3asites.org.uk/crouch-valley
National
u3a -
www.u3a.org.uk
Deadline for Inclusion in Next Newsletter
Please send your contributions to the next
Newsletter by
Wednesday 19th October, to Bob
Tyas at
webmaster@swf-u3a.org
or deliver to 55 Clements Green Lane, SWF. Alternatively you can
ring him on 01245 321110.
Back
to Home Page