royston message from the chair · 2015. 11. 2. · royston u3a news before christmas, we would like...
TRANSCRIPT
Message from the Chair
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 2015
Points of Interest:
Over 280 members to
date and still rising.
Wine Appreciation
Group a huge success.
‘Sister Act’ theatre trip -
U3A tickets SOLD OUT
New interest groups up
& running.
REMEMBER, NO
MONTHLY MEETING
IN DECEMBER
Inside This Issue:
Welcome Message The Gunpowder Plot
1 1
Wimpole Garden Restoration French Conversation Group Christmas All Wrapped Up
2 2 2
Keep Fit Group Wine Appreciation Group
3 3
Walking Group Jazz Appreciation Group Tai Chi Group
4 4 4
Six Month Review Guide to Interest Groups
5 5
Active Interest Groups Dates for Your Diary
6 6
R O Y S T O N
It is so pleasing being told
by our members how much
they are enjoying being part
of the Royston U3A experi-
ence coupled with the satis-
faction that Royston U3A is
continuing to gain momen-
tum. We are delighted to
welcome our newer mem-
bers and so far everyone
appears to be getting
pleasure from the camara-
derie, fun and the oppor-
tunity of learning things they
never thought possible. We
will do our best to try to get
you, our members, to share
the pleasure you get from
your skills and interests with
your fellow members so that
they too might get the same
enjoyment; we would wel-
come any new ideas from
you.
As this will be the last
Royston U3A News before
Christmas, we would like to
thank you all for the support
you have given to me and
my colleagues on the Steer-
ing Committee. Without you
there would be no Royston
U3A.
We have lots of plans for
visits, speakers, excursions
and new interest groups for
the New Year and as soon
as they have been finalised
they will be posted on our
website.
We hope you will join us
for a bit of pre-Christmas
cheer at November’s
monthly meeting.
Jackie Gellert,
Chair, Royston U3A Steering
Committee.
The Gunpowder Plot
Religion, politics, spying
and shoot-outs, treachery
and torture made up the
ingredients of the
Gunpowder Plot - and the
subject of the October
meeting.
Richard Thomas revealed
in fascinating detail how
Guy Fawkes and his 12
fellow conspirators hatched
their plan not only to blow
up King James I and the
Houses of Parliament but
also to kidnap the king’s
daughter Elizabeth and
marry her to a Catholic.
Their spectacular plot to
restore Catholicism fell apart
when news reached the king
and Fawkes was arrested.
The rest of the conspirators
fled but were captured in a
shoot-out in Shropshire and
hauled back to London for
execution.
The effects of the
Gunpowder Plot were long
lasting and far reaching -
over 300 people were
arrested in the aftermath
and it wasn’t until 1829
that Roman Catholics
were allowed to become
MPs.
http://u3asites.org.uk/royston
Richard Thomas.
offered to demonstrate how
to do this - and by the end
of the meeting 22 members
had signed up for it.
Although this ‘one-off’ is
now full Claire has said
that she is prepared to run
a second wrapping session
for a minimum of 10 mem-
bers, if there is a demand.
Members who signed up
for the first session on
December 9 are asked to
The expertise of Wimpole
Hall’s head gardener plus
the help of an enthusiastic
band of volunteers is
transforming the estate to
its former glory.
Philip Whaites, who was
guest speaker at our
September meeting, has
been involved in the
restoration of the garden at
Wimpole Hall for more than
30 years.
The largest country house
in Cambridgeshire,
Wimpole employed 14
gardeners before 1939.
After the war there were
just two left and when the
National Trust took over in
1976 parts of the estate
were completely derelict.
Philip described how over
the years areas like the
walled garden, Dutch garden
and Victorian parterre have
been planted and Wimpole
has a national collection of
50 different types of walnut
trees from China, Japan,
North America and Europe.
All the vegetables grown are
used by the restaurant and
this year has been excep-
tional - including over four
tons of apples.
Up to 30,000 tulips are
about to be planted in the
pleasure grounds and Philip
is asking local groups and
visitors to come along and
help.
“We’ve got 85 volunteers -
75 of them women,” he
said. “They do a wonderful
job and without them we
couldn’t achieve what we
have.”
Digging for the future at Wimpole Hall
opportunity to practice in a
relaxed environment - any
red faces were due to the
level of animation rather
than embarrassment!
As this was our first session
the topic was ‘A propos de
moi’ - and the group made
swift work of basic introduc-
tions, moving on in no time
to all sorts of weird and
The room was buzzing in
the French Conversation
Group’s first session with
lots of conversation and
laughter, enhanced by the
convivial setting of The
Plough at Shepreth.
Many members had been
working at their French for
several years and were
visibly enjoying the
PAGE 2
wonderful references such
as travelling mice and
rampaging foxes.
We interspersed the serious
work with games to give
people a breather and also
discussed topics for future
sessions. Our next one will
be on ordering food in
restaurants.
ROYSTON U3A NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
‘Up to 30,000
tulips are
about to be
planted in the
pleasure
grounds’
Philip Whaites, Head Gardener,
Wimpole Hall.
Making the French Connection
Elisabeth Goodman-Spain
(left above) leading the French
Conversation Group.
We have organised the
first of what we hope will
be many ‘one-off’ groups.
With Christmas fast
approaching, what could
be better than to spend a
couple of hours learning
how to wrap gifts so that
they have a professional
look about them?
As announced at the
September meeting, Claire
of Beautiful Balloons has
Christmas All Wrapped Up
bring along one or two
unwrapped items for
wrapping with Claire’s
assistance.
There will be a charge of
£5 for wrapping materials,
ribbons etc. and tea and
biscuits will be provided.
The Sweaty Bettys - and Reg
sell-out attracting even
more interest with 23
people attending. As
each bottle of wine
was uncorked and
sampled, Gil talked
about the country of
origin, variety of grape,
regional climate and
vintage.
As a special treat
before the end of the
session, Gil opened
three fine wines, each
with a price tag of
between £150 and
Eighteen thirsty Royston
U3A members attended
the first Wine Appreciation
Group session in Septem-
ber where Gil Riggans of
Corney & Barrow gave an
explanation about the
differences in taste and
colour, quality and value
between white wines from
various countries around
the world.
The second Wine
Appreciation session in
October focused on red
wines and was a total
Enjoying a tipple (or two)
the University of Hertford-
shire and sessions are
structured to cover a wide
range of fitness levels and
abilities.
They are great fun with
more than 20 regular keep
fitters enjoying the oppor-
tunity to improve their
flexibility and general
fitness.
Weekly sessions start at
9:30am so why not come
along and give it a go.
If you head to the Market
Hill Rooms on Tuesday
mornings you’ll find one of
our most enthusiastic and
energetic groups in action.
Squats, stretches and star
jumps are the order of the
day for the Keep Fit group
and sessions are proving
popular with Royston
U3A’s very own Sweaty
Bettys - plus current sole
male keep-fitter Reg.
Class leader Irene Gibson
works with U3A through
ROYSTON U3A NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
£180 per bottle. We all
sampled just a thimble full
but surprise, surprise,
nobody ordered any!
Gil’s future sessions will
be on Rosé and Sparkling
wines after which the
group will move onto
fortified wines then spirits.
By the end of both
sessions, everybody felt
they had learnt a lot and
left a lot merrier than
when they had arrived!
Sole male keep-fitter Reg (front left) with all the ladies.
PAGE 3
‘We sampled
three fine
wines with a
price tag of
between £150
and £180 per
bottle’
The Wine Appreciation Group
getting down to some serious
tasting.
Walking the Wimpole Estate
ROYSTON U3A NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
‘The Estate is
an ideal place
for walkers
and luckily
the rain held
off’
Twenty walkers / strollers
enjoyed a gentle three
mile walk around the
western part of the Wim-
pole Estate led by Jeremy
Burr, a very knowledgea-
ble walk leader.
Wimpole’s parkland and
estate is an ideal place for
walkers. The folly, having
been recently renovated is
now open to the public
and was included in the
walk. The Wimpole Estate
includes wooded paths,
lakes and fields, all with
magnificent views.
PAGE 4
All That Jazz
The weather stayed fine
during the walk so the
group had the benefit of
good views back to the
house and formal gardens.
The walk ended with a
well deserved light lunch
at the Estate’s restaurant
where the weary strollers
were revived.
Royston U3A Strollers
at the Wimpole Folly.
A small group of jazz
enthusiasts joined
Royston U3A member Ken
Riches at the Conserva-
tive Club. Over many
years Ken has accumu-
lated a vast collection of
jazz 78 rpm vinyl record-
ings and CDs.
At the group’s first get-
together Ken played a
number of recordings to
establish what members
wanted to hear at future
meetings. These ranged
from New Orleans jazz
including ‘Tiger Rag’ rec-
orded in 1920 by the origi-
nal Dixie Land Jazz Band
and recordings by artists
such as Jelly Roll Morton’s
Red Hot Peppers and
Louis Armstrong and his
Hot Seven and many more
including a 1937 recording
by the Benny Goodman
Band featuring Gene
Kruppa on drums.
Dr Chris Goodwin, a jazz
‘Letting It All
Hang Out’
loving Conservative Club
committee member, who
only intended to stay for a
short time to welcome the
group to the club,
stayed for the whole
session as he enjoyed
it so much.
An added bonus was
that as it was ‘happy
hour’ at the Conserva-
tive Club, everyone was
able to get half price
drinks.
Future Jazz Appreciation
sessions will be based on
what the members want
to hear.
Tai Chi - Live Well
Royston U3A Tai Chi
group got off to a very
good start at the group’s
first session of an eight
week mini course for
beginners at the Market
Hill Rooms.
Tai Chi is intended to help
seniors to reduce stress,
improve balance and
general mobility.
A further eight week
course is planned for early
next year.
If you are interested in join-
ing the Tai Chi group please
contact Reg Hounsell:
PAGE 5
ROYSTON U3A NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
What we’ve accomplished in six months Start-Up Meeting -
We thought that only 50 to
60 people might turn up but
amazingly more than 130
people arrived on the day
for the meeting which sent
a strong signal that Royston
wanted its own U3A.
The audience was asked
for volunteers to set up a
steering committee to
establish and run the new
Royston U3A. Several very
enthusiastic people put
themselves forward.
At the Inaugural Monthly
Meeting in May, once
again, numbers exceeded
all expectations. Our first
guest speaker was John
Kelly, former Governor
General of the Turks &
Caicos Islands who gave a
talk on his life as a diplomat
in ‘paradise’.
We received a £250
cheque as a welcome gift
from Buntingford U3A.
At our next monthly
meeting in June, our guest
speaker was Gil Riggans
from wine merchants,
Corney & Barrow. At that
meeting we were told by
the Town Hall that we
were exceeding the
permitted numbers set by
the Fire Regulations and
would need to turn people
away at the door. This
was something we never
wanted to happen again!
A new venue for future
monthly meetings had to
be found in Royston that
could accommodate more
than the Royston Town
Hall could hold - not an
easy task - where would
be suitable?
We hastily looked into
several venues that could
accommodate up to 200
or more members. Thank-
fully the Royston Parish
Church welcomed us with
open arms - masses of
space, warm and easily
accessible for everyone.
Our third guest speaker in
July was Jenny Oxley,
Curator of Royston
Museum & Art Gallery.
At the August monthly
meeting our guest
speaker was Royston
U3A member Annette
Guttridge, who gave a talk
about the changing role of
women over the last 100
years.
Then in September our
fifth guest speaker was
Philip Whaites, Head
Gardener at Wimpole Hall
who told us about the
amazing work they do
with the help of volunteers
to restore Wimpole’s
gardens to their former
glory.
At our late October
monthly meeting our sixth
guest speaker was
Richard Thomas who
gave a timely talk on the
Gunpowder Plot.
And that brings us up to
date… our membership
number currently stands
at 280+ from a starting
point of zero in May. Lots
of interest and activity
groups are up and run-
ning and with time many
more will start so long as
members come forward to
be group leaders.
There have been two
extremely successful
outings; the first to the
National Trust’s Oxburgh
Easy Guide to Active Interest Groups
Hall in Swaffham, where
unfortunately it rained most
of the day. Also we had a
group visit to the Cambridge
Arts Theatre to ‘King
Charles III’. A big thank you
to both Annette Guttridge
and Deirdre Smith respec-
tively for organising both
events.
Just to remind you, there
will be no monthly meeting
in December and this is the
last issue of Royston U3A
News before the year end.
So thank you for your
support and contribution to
the successful first six
months of Royston U3A.
Royston U3A Steering
Committee wish you a
Merry Christmas and
Best Wishes for the
New Year. Hope to see
you all again in the Parish
Church at 2:00pm on
26th January 2016.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
MORNING Fitness Book Club 3 Walking: Medium Book Club 2
Singing for Fun Walking: Strollers
AFTERNOON French Conversation Book Club 1 Wine Appreciation Gardening
Mixed Craft/Pottery Bridge for Beginners Golf
Tai Chi Mixed Craft
Theatre Trips
EVENING Jazz Appreciation
For frequency and contact details about all active interest groups please see the chart on the
next page or check out our website for more information http://u3asites.org.uk/royston
Active Interest Groups
ROYSTON U3A NEWS NOVEMBER 2015
Dates For Your Diary
November
Tuesday 24th 2:00pm
Royston Parish Church
Adrian Jacobs
will give a talk on
‘MUSIC AT
CHRISTMAS’
January
Tuesday 26th 2:00pm
Royston Parish Church
Peter Jackson, Scotsdales,
will give a talk on
‘THE GARDEN IN
WINTER’
Get it in the News If you’re involved in a group why not publicise it in Royston U3A News? Send in a short report of your latest meeting or outing - photos welcomed too - to Pam Dajda at [email protected] or phone 01763 246234
February
Tuesday 23rd 2:00pm
Royston Parish Church
David Wherrell
will give a talk on
‘A HISTORY OF
RECORDED MUSIC’
Chair Jackie Gellert [email protected] Vice Chair & Groups Co-ordinator Reg Hounsell [email protected] Treasurer Kathy Hounsell [email protected] Secretary Deirdre Smith [email protected] Membership Secretary Marion Martin [email protected] Minutes Secretary Sylvia Fuller [email protected]
Publicity Pam Dajda [email protected]
Royston U3A News Ralph Gellert [email protected]
Committee Member George Karger Assistant Groups Co-ordinator Hilary Wallis
Royston U3A Steering Committee
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
GROUP NAME DAY FREQUENCY GROUP LEADER CONTACT DETAILS
Book Club 1 Tues pm Monthly Deirdre Smith [email protected]
Book Club 2 Fri am Monthly Janet Burton [email protected]
Book Club 3 Wed am Monthly Elizabeth (Lee) Towers [email protected]
Bridge for Beginners & Improvers Tues pm Monthly Mike Thrower [email protected]
Fitness Tues am Weekly Reg Hounsell [email protected]
French Conversation Mon pm Fortnightly Elisabeth Goodman-Spain [email protected]
Gardening Thurs pm Monthly Val Fairbanks [email protected]
Golf Thurs pm Weekly Ralph Gellert [email protected]
Jazz Appreciation Wed eve Monthly Reg Hounsell [email protected]
Mixed Craft Thurs pm Monthly Maureen Strugnell [email protected]
Mixed Craft / Pottery Mon pm Fortnightly Rosie Cowsley [email protected]
Singing for Fun Wed am Monthly Susan John [email protected]
Tai Chi Mon pm Weekly Reg Hounsell [email protected]
Theatre Trips Thurs pm Occasional Deirdre Smith [email protected]
Walking: Medium Thurs am Fortnightly Chas Avis [email protected]
Walking: Strollers Thurs am Fortnightly Jeremy Burr / John Bishop [email protected]
Wine Appreciation Wed pm Monthly Jackie Gellert [email protected]
Don’t forget to check out our website for more information http://u3asites.org.uk/royston
Royston U3A is always happy to consider requests for new groups. If you have an interest that you would like to share with
others let us know by contacting Reg Hounsell, Groups Co-ordinator at [email protected]
R O Y S T O N
We’d like to
hear from you!
Royston U3A has now been
running since May. We’d
welcome your feedback on
how we are doing.
Send your emails
to Pam Dajda at