Number 20 - December 2019

Season’s greetings from Dagenham U3A!

November’s meeting saw us singing and dancing to tunes old and new from

Skip Atkins. Lots of you have remarked how much you enjoyed the event.

Maybe we should try karaoke some time and then at least we wouldn’t have

to try to remember all the words? Also, many thanks for your generous

donations to St Francis Hospice at the meeting.

We asked for your views about the time of the monthly meeting. The vote

was overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the time unchanged, so that’s what

we will do.

Unfortunately, one of our members had a bicycle vandalised at the meeting

and we have raised this issue with the Football Club. We would like to

remind members to make sure all vehicles are secured and, where possible,

please park at the front of the car park or in view of the CCTV cameras.

Our next meeting on the 20th January will be a quiz hosted by Laurie. There

is no need to be in a team, just come along and join in the fun.

Refreshments will be provided and there will be prizes! To get you in the

mood here are some fun seasonal questions (Answers on the last page).

1. How many types of birds are mentioned in the Twelve Day of Christmas

song?

2. Who was crowned King of England on Christmas Day in 1066?

3. Popular in Victorian England at Christmas and also appearing in the

Dickens' story A Christmas Carol, what is 'Smoking Bishop'?

4. Feliz Año Nuevo means Happy New Year in which language?

5. In which author's novel is it "always winter but never Christmas”

With best wishes for a happy and healthy Christmas and

New Year

Felicity Hawksley

History Group

Our latest visit was to the Petrie Museum, a hidden gem tucked

away on the University College campus. Founded in 1892 by

Amelia Edwards, the museum was named after Flinders Petrie. He

was the young archaeologist recruited by Amelia to carry out

excavations in Egypt. He was clearly something of a magpie, since

the museum houses a vast collection of over 80,000 artefacts from

his excavations at the cities of Hawara and Amarna and the pyramid

at Meydum.

Amongst the rare exhibits is the Tarkhan dress, the world’s oldest

woven garment estimated to be over 5,000 years old. Amazingly

this was kept rolled up for over 60 years and labelled as “old linen”.

It was only during conservation work by the V& A that its true

significance was realised.

Another wonderful garment was the bead net dress

which may have been worn for dancing in around

2400 BC. It is made of beads and has a hem made

of shells which would have rattled when the wearer

moved. The dress was reconstructed based on

recent interpretations; although the museum holds

further beads, the back of the dress has never

been reconstructed as no-one is quite sure how it

would have looked.

We also saw some of the collection’s “mummy

masks” encaustic wax portraits of those buried in

the mummy cases. The photograph shows a

woman called Isauros who wore

roman style clothing but was

buried according to Egyptian rites.

Some historians have suggested

that the portraits are idealised and

not lifelike: however x-rays taken

of the associated mummies indicate that they are

uncannily realistic representations.

The museum is used by students studying

archaeology and is well worth a visit.

Our next visit on Wednesday 5th February is the rescheduled trip to

Rainham Hall.

Felicity

We have had advance notice of the dates for next year’s London

Region Summer School. This is a non–residential event held over 3

days near Blackfriars. If you are interested see the flyer attached to

the Bulletin.

Birdwatching group

Early winter coughs and colds put

paid to our November trip so we

are having another attempt at

visiting Walthamstow Wetlands on Friday 6 December.

You would be most welcome to join us. Give me a ring if you’d like to

know more.

Jill T 07789 918396

Bridge group

We continue to meet every week and pit our wits against a deck of

cards, and against our opponents of course. We do play in the

friendliest of spirits but that doesn’t stop us being

delighted if we win! Our teachers, Laurie and Mike,

have usually got something ready to show us or quiz us

about, which helps us think back over everything we

are learning. And so every month we learn a little

more about this brilliant game.

Jill T

Ukulele

We had our last meeting for the year on Monday

afternoon and we are getting better, or so we think.

We have set ourselves some homework which is to

learn to play along to Happy Birthday. We also attended

a ukulele workshop at the Queens from which I am

pleased to say we learned a lot. We then watched, and

enjoyed, the ukulele show in the evening.

Our next meeting is on the second Monday in January

at 2.30.

Tricia

Walks Group

For our November walk, we chose one from the official ‘London Walks’ brochure led by a qualified Blue Guide, and as the days were becoming

colder, we decided on ‘Covent Garden Interiors’, the idea being that if the weather was inclement, there would be some shelter. The brochure defines over 65s as Super Adults – so that is how we shall be known in future! We started our walk in the old market, originally called Convent Garden in the Middle Ages on land owned by Westminster Abbey. With the dissolution of the

monasteries, Henry VIII granted the land to the Earl of Bedford in whose family it remained until 1918. The area became very fashionable with many grand houses all of which have since been demolished. A market was established in the late 17th century and since then the area has been bohemian, seen the development of theatre land, been a red light district and had the market area rebuilt in the early 19th century. When the flower and vegetable market moved to Nine Elms in 1974, the area became fashionable again and is now a busy and thriving tourist district. In the market area, there remain some large boards stating all the rules which traders had to abide by and they make interesting reading today. We looked at St Paul’s Church, designed by Inigo Jones, described as the Actors’ Church and also the ‘back to front church’. Jones designed the main doors of the church to open onto the piazza but was not allowed to carry this plan out as the altar must always be at the east end of a church so the doors are now at the back. We visited Rules Restaurant in Maiden Lane, often frequented by Noel Coward, Graham Greene and Daniel Craig, which was beautifully finished and has individual dining rooms, ideal for royalty to entertain their mistresses! Across the road, through an insignificant door, was the large Corpus Christi Church, also known as an Actors’ Church but specifically for those who were Roman Catholics. Our tour ended in the crypt at St Martin in the Fields, now converted into a large, stylish coffee bar and restaurant. However our ‘Super Adults’ preferred a local hostelry to rejuvenate themselves after an interesting walk! There will be no walk in December but plans are afoot for January. Details in the New Year. Laurie

As part of our drive to attract new members, we are trying

various initiatives to publicise our activities. As a first step,

listen out for our new advert on our local community radio

station Time 107.5FM. Our thanks go to the radio station for

donating the airtime and helping us record the ad.

CUPPA CLUB

Come and join us! Meet for a cuppa, a chat, and maybe a mince pie or two

Our next meeting is Friday 20th December at 11.00 at Tesco, Roneo Corner

Yoga

We have been ‘growing’ in numbers gradually, and have a steady

group of 8 members now, and all finding a lot out about ourselves….

knees that creak - ankles that don’t always do what we think they

should - and shoulders that ache more than we thought.

So it’s lovely when we find ways of doing what we thought we

couldn’t - and feeling good about ourselves

for what we CAN do instead of what we

cannot.

Thank you all for coming along - allowing

me to take you through some strange

movements at times, and then saying how

much better you feel at the end of the

sessions.

What other things can we say that about?

Here’s wishing you all a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS - and I look

forward to seeing you all again on our first session in 2020:

JANUARY 14TH - 1.15 PM AT EASTBROOK COMMUNITY CENTRE

Best wishes, Jill

Skip Atkins

Our 2019 speakers programme finished on a lighter note with a visit from the musician, Skip Atkins.

He entertained us with songs from the 50s to modern day, from the Flying Pickets to George Ezra, something to suit everyone. There was even a few numbers that the braver (or dafter) members could get up and dance to. Music then mince pies afterwards. What more can we wish for to end the year?

Skip also related how he’d met our treasurer, Jan, through his volunteer work at St. Francis Hospice.

He told of the good work and support he and his family received during his wife’s illness and how

he’s gone on to raise money for them ever since.

Charity speakers usually only receive a donation from us (not a set fee as other speakers). With

his fee and the generosity of our members, Skip managed to raise £120. He sends his thanks to all those who donated.

Our 2020 programme is now in the process of being organised. I try to cover a range of topics from history, personal well being, charity work and humorous speakers while keeping to a budget.

If members have any suggestions, please contact me and I will look into their suggestions.

Trudi

Theatre

We are going to a Carol Concert with the Fairkyte

Singers in December, but have not arranged anything

yet for the New Year. We will let members of the

group know what the possibilities are in the New Year.

Tricia

Book Club

John Le Carre is the pseudonym of David Cornwell, a man who worked for the British Intelligence Service. His literary works are known for involving the reader in tales of thrilling espionage with spies and all sorts of twists and turns. However his earlier books were actually based on crime.

The Book Club read “Call For The Dead” for its November title. This was the debut novel which introduced us to George Smiley, the main character of subsequent books. Beginning its life with a suspected suicide of a student who had a communist past, the investigation is

soon closed by the intelligence officers leading it. But our George was not convinced. He could not accept the findings. Suicide? And so begins the pursuit of the truth.

The group discussed the whys and wherefores, the ups and downs and behaviours of all the characters. What if? Why did? When did? How was?

And so another Book Club meeting came to a close.

Do come and join us.

Melody

OUR NEXT MONTHLY MEETING IS

MONDAY 20th JANUARY

DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR OWN MUG!

Quiz Answers

1. Six types of birds: Partridge, Turtle Doves, French Hens, Calling

Birds, Geese, and Swans

2. William the Conqueror

3. A type of mulled wine

4. Spanish

5. C S Lewis – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

How well did you do?

Eating Out Group

It’s a busy time of the year for the Eating Out Group!

Our Christmas meal is at the Windmill Pub,

Upminster Bridge at 1pm on Friday 13th

December. This is fully booked so sorry we

cannot accept any more requests.

Our New Year Lunch at Romford Greyhound Stadium is on

Thursday 2 January 2020. All our members are booked into the

Paddock Restaurant. Please try and be

at the Race Track by 1230 so that we

can all be seated together. So far we

have 27 members going to this event

but we have still have 2 seats to spare

- are you interested? It’s a good day

out, entrance to the track plus a three course lunch for £15.00.

Come and enjoy a meal, a drink and a flutter and hope that the

greyhounds haven’t eaten too much over Christmas!

All of the Disabled Parking has been arranged. If this applied to you

you’ll be hearing from me soon with the details.

Marion

Cinema Group

A few of our members went to see the film A Good Liar - an excellent

film. Now come on members - what would you like to see in the

New Year? Please send me your suggestions.

Marion