Hickling Broad U3A Newsletter June/July 2016

May Meeting: Dressing Marie Lloyd (Queen of Music Halls) Rachel Duffield really entertained us with her presentation about Marie Lloyd. She is a natural entertainer and - as several members said afterwards - she could well be on the professional stage!

As well as telling us about Marie Lloyd’s rise from nothing to super-stardom, Rachel sang a number of her songs and got us all to join in.

We heard all the stories about her husbands and lovers, about the song that got her sacked from the Show that was the precursor of the present day Royal Variety Performance and how she held her own show at the same time in direct opposition to the Royal one, and how she sadly ended her days having lost her stage confidence.

Rachel’s songs and stories were beautifully done, and we hoe that she can be persuaded back in the not too distant future to give us another of her presentations.

Before Rachel got going, the AGM was held. Sadly Teri Ellis wasn’t well and couldn’t make her last meeting as Chairman, so Clive Ward stood in and ran the meeting. Clive first of all thanked (to rousing acclamation) the retiring members of the Committee - Teri and Jane Brooker, the Groups Coordinator. Both had served the Branch since its inception, and both are now looking forward being able to enjoy the meetings without the burden of committee duties.

Once the matter of the Finances was sorted out (we are in good shape financially and therefore the fees won’t be going up this year), it was time to announce the result of the elections. At least, it would have been had there been any elections, but there were exactly the right number of nominations for the posts available, so all candidates were declared elected with immediate effect.

The new members of the Committee are Julie Liggitt and Andy Fletcher. There will be a change of role for Clive Ward (he becomes the new Chairman), for Steve Whitby (he takes over Clive’s previous role as Treasurer) and for Nicky Headey, who is our new Groups Coordinator replacing Jane Brooker.

The Art Group and BLURR - the Photography Group - put on exhibitions of their recent work, and both these were acclaimed by the members.

The Art Group’s work was made up of pieces that they had done since the Group started in January, and the Photography Group’s exhibition was largely made up of pictures from the last six months of monthly challenges.

Next Month at a Glance:

1st June Walking

1st June Bookworms

3rd June Sailing

6th June Art

9th June Let's Discuss It

10th June Main Meeting in the Barn

13th June Wildlife Walk

15th June Pub Lunches

16th June Cycling

17th June Sailing

20th June Art

20th June BLURR Photography Group

21st June Country Dancing

28th June Gourmet Diggers

Next Members’ Meeting: Meeting in The Barn: 10th June at 2.00pm Bees and Beekeeping Peter Arnold will give us a fascinating presentation on bees, their life cycle, anecdotes on the joys of beekeeping and concludes with sampling different types of honey.

There will also be the opportunity to take part in a bee and insects quiz to see what participants have learned.

From the Chairman: Thank you to so many of you for attending our 4th AGM. These can be tedious (but very necessary) affairs and I am pleased that the bait of a saucy music hall queen was successful.

On behalf of the current and past Executives I give a big thank you to Teri Ellis and Jane Brooker, who stood down at this AGM, for all of their hard work in taking this Branch of the U3A from its initiation four years ago, through its infancy and development and into the successful organisation it is today.

The Executive Committee elected by the Members for the next year is as follows:

Officers Chairman - Clive Ward

Vice Chairman - Maggie Prettyman

Secretary - Margaret Baker

Treasurer - Steve Whitby

Committee Membership Secretary - Kathy Cooper

Interest Group Co-Ordinator - Nicky Heady

Member - Julie Liggitt

Member - Andy Fletcher

1st July Sailing

4th July Art

6th July Walking

6th July Bookworms

8th July Main Meeting in the Barn

14th July Let's Discuss It

Next Month at a Glance:

Maggie Prettyman will also continue in her role as Guest Speaker Co-ordinator.

I welcome all members of the new Committee and look forward to a productive and entertaining twelve months. Maggie and her team have already arranged guest speakers to carry our programme well into the year.

Continuing on the theme expressed by Teri Ellis I will encourage efforts in expanding our group interests, particularly by involving those members who currently do not join in, by canvassing their particular interests or hobbies and by the introduction of short term or cyclical groups.

I will also encourage the widening of our membership, not only in Hickling but throughout the surrounding areas not covered by other U3A branches.

Enjoy your Group meetings this month.

Clive Ward

The Retiring Chairman’s Report to the AGM

Welcome everyone to this afternoons meeting and our 2016 AGM. As I am stepping down from the committee this year after 4 years, the final year as Chair, I would like to re-cap not only the last year, but also the previous years as a reminder for those of you who have been part of the journey over that time, and those who have joined recently.

It hardly seems possible that it is only four years since the original Steering Committee came together to attempt to start a branch of the U3A in Hickling.

Celia Cooper was our Chairman; Ann Louise Kinmonth – Vice Chair, Kathy Cooper – Secretary; Jenny Templar - Treasurer; Jane Brooker – Interest Group Co-ordinator; Maggie Prettyman - Speakers Co-ordinator; Teri Ellis (myself) - Membership Secretary; the remaining committee posts were filled by Ursula Jackson, Hilary Beynon, and Ian Baxter-Pownell.

We have shuffled our roles around a bit over time.

Jane has also decided to retire from the committee this year, after 4 years as our Interest Group Co-ordinator. Ann-Louise and Hilary have taken on other commitments within the HBU3A. Ian had to step down due to ill health, and sadly Ursula, one of the most supportive of our original number, is no longer with us. She would have been pleased how well we have all done in the last four years.

Our membership numbers grow steadily, largely, I suspect because you enjoy the U3A, spread the word, and bring along your friends and neighbours.

With 15 Interest Groups to choose from, members of HBU3A are able if they wish to keep themselves quite busy during the month.

Our Group Leaders have, as in past years, excelled in the support and commitment they have given.

Interest Groups and shared learning are essential to the U3A so we will always encourage and support any new Interest Groups. There is no reason why a Group cannot be formed for a limited time span, e.g. if you have mastered social media and technology you might be willing to share that knowledge, and facilitate some sessions with less confident members. (Maybe limiting sessions to some over the winter months!?)

To conclude I must give a heartfelt thanks to all the current committee members for their consistent commitment and work over the past year in support of all of us ( and especially of me as chair).

Thank you for being willing to stand again for a committee role, and a warm welcome to the members willing to fill the vacancies left by Jane and I.

I know that the HBU3A will go from strength to strength!

Teri Ellis

Interest Groups For information about all our Interest Groups, contact Nicky Headey (01692 670762 or email nickyheadey@outlook.com)

A word from Jane Brooker (retiring Interest Group Co-ordinator):

As most of you are aware I have stepped down from my Group Co-ordinator position. I would like to thank all the Group Leaders for the great work they do within the U3A and for making my job so easy.

NIcky Headey is the new Group Co-ordinator and I am sure you will give her lots of support as you did for me.

Interest Group Meetings

Some of the members the Art Group with pictures that will be in the AGM Exhibition.

The mini exhibition presented by the Art Group at the AGM last month proved to be a great success and the group received lots of praise and lovely comments on their work. We just need to organise something to follow it!

The group meets at the Methodist Hall in Hickling every other Monday 2 - 4pm. Please Note: If a bank holiday falls on one of the Mondays, the group will meet on the next designated date (please see the Month at a Glance in this Newsletter). Give me a call if you would like more information.

Art Every other Monday (2.00pm-4.00pm) in the Methodist Hall

Backgammon is taking a summer recess we will recommence late September.

This month the Group met at How Hill to photograph the Secret Garden. A grey day with not too much light to work with, but this didn’t deter the Hickling Snappers, who shot several hundred photos between them! We look forward seeing the results at a future meeting.

Next month we are back in the regular meeting place on Monday 20th June. The subjects for the “Bring and Brag” session will be “Celebration” and “Woodlands”, but before that we are having another outing (on 15th June) with a special trip on the Hickling Broad Nature Reserve boat.

In April the group read 'Beside the Sea' by Veronique Olmi. Although quite harrowing in places, it created one of our best discussions to date! We all said we guessed the outcome quite early on in the book. It's quite a short book for us at just over 100 pages, but powerfully written.

For May we are reading 'The Homecoming of Samuel Lake' by Jenny Wingfield. Set in Arkansas in the 1950s, this is a delightful book with the main character reminescent of Scout Finch (To Kill a Mocking Bird) and I'm looking forward to discussing this one!

If you like to read and would like the challenge of reading what someone else has chosen then please give me a call.

Our group met in April to enjoy more fun and confusion getting our heads round the steps we should know so well by now! We would love to have you join us, its a great way to get some gentle mental and physical exercise together. Our next session is Tuesday 21st June at 2pm at Hickling Barn - do come along and join in - no experience necessary.

Backgammon1st and 3rd Fridays at the Pleasure Boat Inn (2.00pm-4.00pm)

BLURR – The Camera Group3rd Monday each month at The Pleasure Boat Inn (2.30-4.30pm)

'Bookworms' Reading Group1st Wednesday each month (pm)

Country Dancing3rd Tuesday each month (pm):

For our May ride, we all left Hickling on a nice sunny day and cycled to How Hill. On the way back we stopped at Catfield Crown for tea . This trip was only 14 miles and we will go further next time.

The next dates for cycling are 16th June and 21st July

Cycling3rd Thursday each month (am)

Garden Croquet4th Wednesday each month, May to October, weather permitting, 2.00pm

Gourmet Diggers4th Tuesday each month (2.00-4.00pm)

Our Gourmet Diggers’ outing to How Hill was enjoyable: the Secret Garden was a mass of vibrant colour: the rhododendrons were breathtaking.

Some of the plants identified and named correctly (Jane must have digested the Gardener’s World magazine before our trip). Well done. Pity the weather was a tad on the coooooool side,but we soon warmed up at the coffee shop in Ludham, where the owners made us most welcome.

So all in all a very good afternoon. Ludham has some of their private gardens open this summer, and well worth a visit. All money raised goes to charity, so any one can go along and enjoy beautiful gardens. The local press should have the information/dates etc.

Our next meeting will be held on the 28th June at Friars Dyke from 2-4pm. Enjoy the summer floral displays and keep on planting.

At our last meeting on May 12th we discussed the looming pensions crisis and how we thought it would affect future generations.

Kathy had done some excellent research about the different types of pensions available but we all agreed that this whole area is a minefield & that younger generations on lower wages probably find it inappropriate to their needs. They are suffering from a perfect storm of high house prices, threats of unemployment, low wages & relatively low returns on investments.

We discussed the possibility of including pension information in the school curriculum ( although this was thought to be impracticable) & using alternative investments instead of pensions but these do not include any tax incentives at the moment.

We concluded by discussing whether younger generations would be attracted by investing in wine as at least they could drink whatever turned out to be least profitable.

Our next meeting is on June 9th when we will be discussing:

How is the mental health of children & young adults being affected by social media

We meet on the second Thursday of the month & future subjects for discussion include :

France & the French

Euthanasia

Devolution of East Anglia

Come & join us for a friendly & lively discussion.

Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Society

MIKADO Friday 2nd Sept 7:30p.m.

'Let’s Discuss It’2nd Thursday each month (pm)

OutingsNo regular day

PIRATES OF PENZANCE Saturday 3rd Sept 2:30p.m.

Ticket price £26:50

ROCKY HORROR SHOW Friday 16th Sept 5:30p.m.

Ticket price £22:50

FULL MONTY Wednesday 12th October 2.30p.m.

Ticket price £26:50

CHICAGO Wed 2nd Nov 2:30p.m.

Ticket price £29:50

COMMITMENTS Wednesday 30th November 2:30p.m.

Ticket price £35:50

I am planning another Norwich Ghost walk for early November the “MAN IN BLACK” will do a private group tour minimum fourteen people. Price £7:00.

Watch out for the booking boards at future U3A meetings.

If you have any ideas for future trips and outings please let me know.

The Horse and Groom in Rollesby - 18th May

A large group of us - 21 in all - took over the smaller of the eating areas at the Horse and Groom for our pub lunch in May. As always we were a lively chatty group, and luckily there were no other guests sharing the space with us who might be disturbed!

The restaurant is situated on the A149 in Rollesby and has ample parking to the rear. There is also a motel attached. The food offered is Thai, Chinese with some English dishes. The décor is distinctly Thai, having a small restaurant at the front with bar and a larger eating area at the back.

Although we were a large group, we did not have to pre-order. However, the meals were quickly served. Some of us went for the complete three courses, while others with smaller appetites had the smaller Thai specials. All of us seemed to enjoy their choice of meal, and the service was good, as was reflected in our scores ranging between 85 and 90%.

Pub Lunches3rd Wednesday each month

Our next lunch will be at 12.15pm on Wednesday 15 June at “The Castle” in Caister. Please let me know if would like to join us (with your menu choices) by Friday 10 June either by email, phone or at the Members’ meeting on that day.

Hope to see you there.

Eight of our members set out onto the waters at The Nancy Oldfield Trust, Neatishead on the 20th May.

We glided along the waterway in the electrically motored Bass boat towards The Ark on Barton Broad where a variety of sailing boats are moored. The day was beautiful with more than enough wind to ensure a good sail! We enjoyed the scenery and peacefulness of our environment. We spotted the usual coots and a heron flying overhead eventually settling quite still, like a statue, in a pretty garden.

As we reached Barton Broad a couple of swans were pointed out swimming along together. Behind them, paddling furiously, to keep up with Mum and Dad, were about ten cygnets. But we observed one little cygnet proudly sitting on Mum’s back between her wings, hitching a ride!

! Sailing Yeomans

I said eight members. Well, three were unable to join us and we had two visitors just trying sailing out to see if they liked it! One of our newcomers had sailing experience so joined the Yeoman group, his wife joined the Bass Boat crew. Those of the group undertaking the RYA course set to rigging up the Yeomans under the watchful eyes of the Instructor and set out onto the Broad. Daffy and Stephen, both experienced sailors, rigged their boat and were soon out on their own across the water… to be seen occasionally having a wonderful sail…so much so they didn’t bother to join the rest of us for coffee break on The Ark!!

The Bass sailed out with three sails up and a crew just enjoying a sail. The wind was good and we had an excellent sail down the Broad, tacking our way back up. Even the Bass Boat was heeling well but safely! Most exhilarating! Our newcomer was pleased to have a turn helming with guidance from Jeremy, one of our Instructors.

Sailing1st and 3rd Friday each month (am), May to October

At the far end of Barton we observed a couple of swans having a right set-to!! A spectacular show of ‘flap’!

At the end of our session even our prospective members said they’d had a wonderful time….I think they’ll be returning!

If you would like to join us we sail every 1st and 3rd Friday of each month, May through to the end of October. Please contact Celia Cooper the Wednesday before we sail : 01692 598667,( please leave a message with your phone number if you haven’t been with us before) or email: celiafcooper@btinternet.com.

During May Ann Louise recorded the reminiscences of John Tallowin who, therefore, became our 13th “Voice”. Given that the group now have a sizeable collection of recordings much of our May meeting was given over to discussing what needs to be done to make this collection more public.

Since the meeting Martin has created a very professional looking embryonic website which will ultimately contain recordings, relevant photos and written transcripts of the interviews. Further work remains, and is ongoing, before we are in a position to publicly launch the website. Other ongoing tasks include the collecting of relevant old photos and creating written transcripts of all 13 interviews, six having been completed so far. We have also registered VoH as a shared learning project with the national U3A and are looking into submitting an article to either Third Age Matters or the Sources magazine.

We also discussed the possibility of acquiring better recording and transcription facilities and how we could develop and also find somebody to host our website. We agreed that we should cost these items and prepare a budgeted “wish list”.

Another area of pressing need is to find someone with the necessary skills and enthusiasm to catalogue and control our rapidly increasing catalogue of audio and written computer files and photographs. If anyone feels able to help with this we would love to hear from you, please contact Teri Ellis.

The group does not have a set meeting date (meetings are arranged at a suitable time for the members) but meetings take place approximately once a month with each of the members collecting information between meetings, each working at their own pace.

The intention is ultimately to make all information available to any interested parties via the Norfolk Records Office, a bespoke website and talks similar to the two already given to HBU3A.

Our May walk started at Butchers Arms pub in East Ruston. We walked about 5 miles through woods and along Dilham Canal, seeing swans nesting and other wildlife.

Lunch was at the Butchers Arms - and very nice too! Thank you to Margaret who led this walk .

Voices of HicklingMeetings as required

Walking1st Wednesday each month

The next walks will be on June 1st (meet at 10.00am at Acle Sports Centre for a 5 mile walk} and July 6th.

Please bring along your membership card with an emergency number on the back.

The day of our visit to How Hill was sunny and warm, with wall-to-wall birdsong, a good few butterflies, brightly coloured damselflies and a mass of bluebells, smelling as lovely as they looked.

For our next walk will explore the Burlingham Woodland Trail, with its mixed plantings of trees and open areas. Meet at St Andrew’s Church at 2.00pm

Derek George presents the story of the Caister Lifeboat, its triumphs and its tragedies and unbelievable courage of the 'Men who never turn back’.

Useful/interesting websites: This month’s website is called justpark.com and was sent in by David Hyams.

He writes:

“Fiona and I are away for a week in September and are flying out of Norwich airport. I had been looking at the parking options at the airport and was searching for the best deal available. I stumbled across the justpark.com website and, once registered, it allows one to park on the drives of nearby private properties at rates substantially below what one would otherwise be paying. The website shows feedback from previous users so you can identify if there are any potential issues. I have secured a week's parking, on a 3-car drive, for just £25 and just a 5 minutes or so walk to the airport terminal.

I have already had an email from the property owner which was nice and friendly.” If you know of or have a favourite/useful website that you would like to share, please drop an email to martinjohns100@gmail.com

Wildlife Walks2nd Monday each month, 2.00pm

Next Month’s Meeting in The Barn - 8th July at 2.00pmCaister Lifeboat