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South Woodham Ferrers
Quarterly Newsletter
Spring/Summer Edition
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April Meeting of Cards & Games
Newsletter No 184
News From The Chair
Good day All
I hope everyone is keeping well.
As I said in my last address, Spring has really
sprung now with gardens and woods brimming with colour.
Group activities are certainly increasing and
those activities that involve travel have been proactive in making
arrangements for getting ‘out’ again.
A couple of important events that are occurring
soon are the Queen’s Jubilee Street Party and our annual general
meeting.
Mary Brindley is showing a great deal of
enthusiasm in the arrangements for the Queen’s Jubilee Street party and
thanks to all who have booked their tickets for this event. Also thanks
to Mary for her continued enthusiasm. We all look forward to the event.
The other event is our AGM in July. I will be
reminding all members at the next meeting that we will be seeking
nominations for the committee elections.
In my last address I mentioned the ‘mileage’ fee
for those travelling in others’ cars. To save any confusion it is really
up to the groups themselves to agree any recompense but the 45p a mile
is purely a guide.
Our May 4th meeting will be reverting
to Champion’s Manor Hall.
As always, thanks to all those that support
activities and I’ve said the success of SWF U3A is down to you the
members and the activities that you support.
Best regards
Social Committee News
Plans are now well under way for our Street Party on 1st June at Champions Manor Hall.
Although this is on our normal U3A meeting day please remember that it is strictly ticket only. No ticket, no entrance.
As you know by now there is a cake competition and the cakes will be judged by Phoebe of Phoebe’s Pantry at 1 pm before being cut up to serve. Please put your name on the bottom of the plate. There will be a prize for the winner.
The finger buffet will be served from 1pm at the tables, with tea, coffee or fruit juice. There will be a fun quiz on the seats for everyone to participate in if they wish. Just a bit of fun. After the buffet and before cake is served our Find your Voice choir will sing an anthem called Platinum. This was written by Jenny Dale and set to music by Shirley Masterson. We will then toast our Queen before cake is served.
Hopefully this will be a fun afternoon and please feel free to dress in patriotic attire if you wish.
Speakers for the Remainder of 2022
May
Jackie Lucas comes to explain the importance of Legal Power of Attorney.
June - In-House
Celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
July
Charlie Haylock is a Dialect coach who assisted on the film about the Anglo Saxon find at Sutton Hoo.
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
Charity Event in Memory of Janice Tyas
Janice was a member of the u3a for many years and held several offices, including vice chair, chairman, and secretary. As you will know she sadly loss her fight against motor neuron disease in November 2021.
In her memory Jan's granddaughter will be hosting a quiz night on Saturday the 2nd July, which would have been her 78th birthday. It will be held at Champions Manor Hall and if you would like to attend more details can be found by following this link https://fb.me/e/1JaVQYrba . You may also book through Ceri using the email address below. All proceeds from the event will be donated to The Motor Neuron Disease Association,
Ceri Buer-Winyard (ceri.winyard@btinternet.com)
Mileage Allowance
The Committee have agreed that if mileage allowance is being split between those sharing a car, it should be rated at 45p per mile, and divided equally between the occupancy.
Help For Ukraine
Thank you to all those donors who gave so
generously on 6th April. This is the 3rd car load that has been
delivered to Nataliya. She is so grateful and overwhelmed by your
kindness.
The supplies should be well on their way to
Poland and the Ukraine by now.
Thanks again.
The Queen's Jubilee
I'm sure we are all looking forward to the
celebrations, especially our Street Party on 1st June.
A very special card containing a poem by Jenny
Dale and music by Shirley Masterson has been sent to Her Majesty the
Queen from South Woodham Ferrers U3A .
Find Your Voice choir will be performing the
song "Platinum " at the party.
Reports from Activity Groups
Games and Cards
We held our first get together on the 23rd
March at SWF Village Hall, there were 13 members present. We have a selection
of games but it seems the favoured two at the moment are
Rummikub and Sequence.
Sequence is a card game of strategy and we were lucky enough to have a
member who brought it with her and showed others how to play. I think
this might be the next one that we will need to purchase for the group.
Rummikub is a numerical game of strategy,
this did prove very popular, one member had never played before and
actually went on to win.
Both games do get the little grey cells moving
and there was a lot of laughter so with that and tea and biscuits it was
an enjoyable afternoon.
Other games we have include
Scrabble
Draughts/Chess
Dingbats
Cribbage to name but a few.
If
anyone wishes to join us on the 4th Wednesday of each month then please
give me a call on 01245 401015
Some of the p
Local History
After a 2 year pause, we had our first group
event on 12 April. Stephen
Nunn took us on a guided tour of Maldon, themed Maldon’s Founding
Fathers. We started at All
Saints Church with a brief history of each of the 1907 external statues,
which celebrate some of the key figures in the history of Maldon, from
Saint Mellitus (624), through to Thomas Plume (1630 to 1704).
Not forgetting Edward Bright, ‘the fat man of Maldon’ too large
for a statue at 42 stones, but there is a board about him in the grounds
of the Church. The legacy of
these founding fathers can be seen in the Church building, the Moot Hall
and Plume Library, all worth a visit in their own right.
Our tour took us from the High Street, down to The Hythe, past
the Salt Works and back up Market Hill and Cromwell Hill, each with its
own story and contribution to Maldon’s history.
It was a good afternoon, perfect
weather and the perfect guide.
Our next 2 visits are in June and July, details
below. If you are interested, please can you sign up at the May meeting
or let me know, as we need to know numbers for both visits by the end of
May.
Tuesday 14 June, The Guildhall, Finchingfield.
The cost for this
is £13.50 which includes a talk on the history of the Guildhall, tea and
cake and entry to the museum.
This is an afternoon visit, meet at 1.50 for a 2pm start
Tuesday 12 July, Flatford Mill, Dedham.
The cost of this is £3.50, refreshments are not included but are available at Flatford Mill. This is an afternoon visit, meet at 1.50 for a 2pm start.
London
Theatre - May Report
Grease
- Thurs Mat - 16th June
- 8+ £45.00, 20+ £35.00
Tickets will be circulated in May.
All tickets are now sold and refunds
made.
Witness for the Prosecution
- Thurs Mat - 5th
May - 8+ £42.50
Tickets are now circulated.
My Fair Lady - Thurs Mat - 21st July - 10+ £55.00. Tickets are booked and will be available nearer the date.
Cinderella
- Wed Mat - 12th
or 19th
October -10+ £49.50
- 20+ £39.50. Please note
revised dates - A new list is out so please add your name or let me know
if you wish to be included and indicate which dates you are available
and I’ll make a booking for the most popular date after the meeting.
& Juliet
- Thurs Mat
- August or
November -10+ £45.00, 20+ £37.50.
Now extended until 15th
December ‘22.
A board is out for interest so please
add your name and indicate which month you would be available I’ll look
at a date if there are sufficient numbers.
The Choir of Man - Fri Mat - 10+ £22 - The Arts Theatre - A friend has been twice and says it's like no other performance. Critic quote "the best night in your local you've ever had. It's a party, it's a lock in like no other. Featuring breath-taking reinventions of chart topping hits from artists including Guns 'N' Roses, Fun!, Adele, Avicii, Paul Simon, Sia and many more. THE CHOIR OF MAN has something for everyone". I'll have a board out for interest.
Pauline
London Walks
It is so good to be starting London Walks again
after a full two years of pandemic. In fact I am actually writing this
on the train after our first walk which was Riches to Rags Spitalfields
and centred around the Huguenots the French Protestant immigrants from
the sixteenth and seventeenth century who fled from the French Catholic
government fearing persecution and violence. They were master weavers
and expert silk workers which in time led to great wealth for some and
in the very least, employment for others.
Our next walk in May
is Musical Covent Garden and in June it is the walk along the Regents
Canal from Mile End to Limehouse. July is Trafalgar Square in focus.
Please note that as June is the Street Party Ann and I will need to take
names for these walks at the May meeting.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
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.
Recent topics / exercises include:
·
Drawing or
painting from an upside down photograph
·
Blind Contour
drawing
·
Drawing your
own hand
·
Tonal Values
Using an upside down
photograph encourages you to closely observe the subject that you are
working from as the shapes will be unfamiliar. If you are drawing a
familiar subject there is a tendency to draw what you
think
something should look like rather than what is actually in front of you.
Blind contour drawing is a drawing exercise, where an artist draws the outline of a subject without looking at the paper. The idea, again, is to encourage close observation. It is said that when drawing, an artist should spend 90% of the time looking at the subject and 10% at the drawing but it can easily be the other way round.
Tonal Values are all about lights and darks and
are an important aspect of picture making.
Themes under consideration for the coming months
include:
·
Acrylics
·
Working
outdoors
·
Working large
·
Portraits /
Figure Drawing
·
Abstract
painting
Gallery
Below are three
examples of work produced by group members. The first is an example of
an 'upside down' painting using acrylics on board. The second is an
exercise in tonal values where the artist has drawn the orange and lemon
with pencil first looking at dark and light then painted them in
watercolour using the opposite colour on the colour wheel to mix the
darker tones. The third is still life.
An 'Upside Down' Painting
Exercise in Tonal Values
Still Life
Pics & Bricks
Pics and Bricks is an Art and Architecture
appreciation group and as such we arrange visits to places with an
artistic or architectural interest.
We have two remaining trips planned for this
summer that we are now taking bookings for. If you are interested in
booking you can come to our table at the monthly meeting on the 4th of
May or can contact Chris on chrismilesu3a@gmail.com or 07946 024302. If
you are new to the u3a and would just like to have a chat about what we
do we will be pleased to see you at our table.
Copford Church - Tuesday 26th July (2:30pm)
St. Michael & All Angels church is ranked in the
top 100 by Simon Jenkins in his book 'England's Thousand best Churches'
and described by Pevsner as the most remarkable Norman Parish Church in
the County. It is interesting architecturally and has a pretty woodland
setting beside the village cricket pitch but
the remarkable Norman wall paintings are the real attraction. It is
located five minutes off the A12 just south of Colchester. You can
Google copfordchurch.org.uk
to see example of the wall paintings.
The plan is for an afternoon visit (2:30pm meet)
with a tour inside and out followed by tea / coffee and cake. The cost
per person will be £5.00. Any cash donations will be welcome on the day
if you would like to support the church.
Turner Collection of Paintings at Tate Britain - Tuesday 23rd August
(11.00am)
We have booked this guided tour of Tate
Britain's Turner Collection with Simon Whitehouse who has treated us to
some amazing gallery tours in the past. Turner was an English Romantic
painter and printmaker and is known for his expressive colourisations,
imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent, marine paintings.
Depending upon numbers the price per person to cover the cost of the
guide is estimated to be in the range of £12.00 - £15.00
Chris Miles & Roy Brindley
Tenpin Bowling
We have had a very
enjoyable time at Madison Heights so far this year. Several new members
have joined us and we have become a great, supportive team. I purchased
a new bowling ball, well, second hand in fact, in an effort to improve
my somewhat meagre scores and it really did make a difference. This
appears to have rubbed off on some members as a few of our number have
gone on to purchase new bowling balls, shoes and bags - my husband
included! Five of us also had a very quick lesson at the bowling centre
in Collier Row. What a revelation! Especially for me as I was told that
I have been bowling with the wrong foot forward all this time! It just
goes to show that we can all learn no matter how old we are. As everyone
has been so supportive of the group over the last few months, I decided
to make hot cross buns for everyone on our meet on Good Friday morning
as a treat. I was going to take a picture of the whole group, with me
holding the entire tray of buns. However, they disappeared very quickly
and the picture shows the only three left after we all had our fill!
Never mind, just shows how hungry you get after two games of bowling!
Just one final thing to add - because of the popularity of the group, I
am having to decline any new members at the moment as I cannot get any
more than three lanes booked each week. However, if you do feel that you
may like to give it a go in the future, please feel free to contact me
and I will let you know if and when we have any spaces. Best wishes,
Diane Hurrell Contact details: please call me on 07969012451
Hot Cross Bun Break
Diane Hurrell
Walking Group
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.html
Programme of Walks for the next three months follows below - all walks start at 10.00.
May Walks
Friday 6th - Goldhanger and Blackwater Walk - 6.5 miles - meet in Chequers Inn car park in Goldhanger.
Friday 20th - Paper Mill Lock Circular Walk - 6 miles - meet in The General Arms Public House car park in Little Baddow.
June Walks
Friday 3rd - Danbury Circular Walk - 7 miles - meet in Mayes Lane car park in Danbury.
Friday 17th - River Crouch/Stow Maries Walk - 6 mile - meet in Compass Gardens car park.
July Walks
Friday 1st - Bicknacre/Cock Clarkes Walk - 6.5 miles - meet in sport field car park adjacent to Bicknacre School
Friday 15th - South Woodham Ferrers/Stow Maries Aerodrome Walk - 6 miles - meet in Compass Gardens car park
Purleigh walk on a beautiful Friday in April
Wine Appreciation Group 3
Well we were a little thin on the ground for our Friday meeting this
month, but still managed to have a great afternoon tasting some of the
wines on offer from Majestic Wine. These were all wines currently on
promotion and rated in their reviews with 90 plus scores. I have
to say we didn’t always agree with the reviews, but that is part of the
fun and enjoyment. We always taste three white wines and three reds
sometimes a single varietals, other times blends.
In recent months we’ve been exploring Australia, concentrating on a
single vineyard each time and tasting from their range with
some interesting wines on offer.
As well as tasting our wines and chatting about how good or
indifferent we find them, we all very much enjoy the social aspect
of our group and there is a lot of conversation, laughter and fun.
At Christmas we were very brave and had a wonderful meal once again at
The Lion in Broomfield. We were all a little cautious given the
proximity to the big day, but all was well.
Our group is currently full, but that doesn’t mean someone couldn’t
start another group. Goodness me 4 wine groups??? We’ll get a bad
reputation!
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 Singles Social & Dinning |
Golfing Group Strollers |
| PM | Book Group 2 | Gardening | Drawing Group |
||
| Tuesday | AM | ||||
| 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 | Cards & Games forFun | ||
| Thursday | AM | Craft Science & Technology |
Craft | London Walks 2 | |
| PM | French | ||||
| Friday | AM | Walking Group Bowling |
Bowling | Walking Bowling |
Bowling Photography |
| PM | Wine
Appreciation Groups 1, 2 & 3 |
Whisky Appreciation |
|||
| Theatre as Arranged, Curry Clique 2nd Wednesday of odd months | |||||
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 20th July, to Bob
Tyas at
webmaster@swf-u3a.org
or deliver to 55 Clements Green Lane, SWF. Alternatively you can
ring him on 01245 321110.
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