Report on the March MeetingThe AGM was chaired very efficiently by Jane in 30mins and the committee were duly elected.(see list on back page) Bob gave a power point demonstration of the accounts, and hard copies were available for those who wanted one.
After the AGM, Nigel gave us a power point demonstration about the groups which was very informative.
GROUP REPORTS
(in alphabetical order)
ART APPRECIATION
Co-ordinator
Ursula.Kanetis 01455.553563 For our March meeting we went to Birmingham to see the Exhibition:”Art From Elsewhere”. The deputy curator gave us a short introduction into key works of international contemporary art, which address important topical issues: conflict, war, oppressive regimes and post-colonial experiences. We worked very hard to find ways of deciphering and feeling the messages, possibly because it was quite difficult to cope with so much negativity. Our discussion over lunch in the beautiful Edwardian Tea Room was very lively, we all had similar opinions. We then went to the Pre-Raphael section of the museum, enjoying those pieces of art to the full. The contrast could not have been bigger.
Next meeting: 10.4.2015 at 13.00 at the Rugby Museum
Wednesday 25th March –Camis Lounge – 19-21 Market Street, Lutterworth. Nine of us enjoyed eating here and we opted for a “Sharing Menu” where items of food keep appearing and appearing and . . .
Is there anyone in Wycliffe Lutterworth U3A interested in forming a “Self Help 5/2 Eating Group”?
Wednesday 22nd April – Barnacles Restaurant on Watling Street (A5 just before Hinckley Island) LE10 3JA Tel No 01455 633220 barnacles-restaurant.co.uk
More a case of “Fine Dining” than Ethnic Dining, they are heavily into fishy dishes – including Oysters and Lobster but they also do Steaks & Grills and an interesting-looking range of Stone Baked Pizzas as well as a Bistro Style Menu with items ranging from Wild Mushroom & Spinach Risotto through Beef Bourguignon, Barnacles Fish Pie, Steak & Ale Pie, Tiger Prawns, Couscous etc to Smoked Chicken, Pancetta & Wild Mushroom Carbonara.
Take your pick!
SUMMERSAULT JAZZ EVENINGS – These are back but only on the Last Friday of each month and a “surcharge” of £5 if you want to sit in the premium space at the front.
Having said that, the next date is Friday 17th April, but I think I might only have one place left out of the 10 I requested. The 5 people who were squeezed in on the 27th February thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Summersault had to cancel the 27th of March because the Jazz Group they wanted wasn’t available. If the next date is Friday 29th May, please let me know if you definitely want your name(s) on the list for that night remembering the minimum £14.99 spend plus the £5 for sitting in the front area.
FRENCH CONVERSATION
Co-ordinator
Sue Hicks
01858 880273
26 March.2015
Because the Methodist Church Porch was not available, Pearl and Tony kindly hosted us again for a film. We watched "Marius" with Daniel Auteuil, based on a play by Marcel Pagnol.
"Marius" takes place in Marseilles' Old Port, at the La Marine Bar, owned by César and his son Marius. Marius' biggest dream is to embark on one of the boats passing by his dad's bar and to set off to a faraway land. Fanny, a young and pretty seafood peddler, has secretly been in love with Marius since her childhood; Marius, although not admitting it, has always loved Fanny. They finally confess their mutual love. One day, a sailor drops by La Marine and offers him a job on an exploratory ship. Sacrificing her love, Fanny convinces Marius to embark on his journey, leaving her behind... There are two more films in the series, which we may see one day.
The next meeting will be on 23 April 2015
GARDEN GROUP
Co-ordinator
Sue Creeden
01455 557888
As the weather was still not yet settled enough to venture outside, the Group had another indoor meeting in March. Tony Curtis, a Master Composter, came to chat to us about how create good compost, what to compost and what not to, and its benefits in the garden. Although a small group this month, everyone felt it very useful and came away with helpful tips.
Our first garden visit of the season will be to Kelmarsh Hall on Tuesday 28th April. We will meet at the Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 1.30 p.m. to share lifts and travel to Kelmarsh, NN6 9LY (I will have maps available), for the guided tour at 2.30 p.m. Refreshments will be available afterwards in the tearoom (extra charge). The cost is £5.50 per person garden entrance and an extra £2.00 for the tour (£7.50 total).
Apologies for the short notice but I have to confirm numbers on Monday 13th April at the latest and pay in advance, so if you would like to come, please contact me as soon as possible on 01455 557888 or email sueandpeter.creeden@talktalk.net
Tuesday 17th March– Farndon Fields Farm Shop Farndon Road, Market Harborough, LE16 9NP Tel 01858 464838 (Fork right on to Welland Park Road at the bottom of Lubenham Hill and then take next right on to Farndon Road and the Farm Shop is on the right after about half a mile.)
Farndon Fields Farm Shop is in the middle of a major building programme which will greatly enlarge the Restaurant area when it is finished. There were nine of us sitting down again and we were very taken by the way some of the dishes were served in paper “cones” nestling in terracotta plant pots. Their chips are delicious and the helpings generous.
They have reasonably priced fruit and vegetables in the shop and their Butchery Department, Chiller Cabinets and Freezer Section are worth a second and third look.
With the Flood Relief upheavals in the centre of Market Harborough, it is worth going round by Welland Park and Farndon Fields on your way to Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, aldi, lidl . . . ETC
Farndon Fields philosophy is to serve top-quality seasonal food with low food miles, using the large range of quality ingredients sold in The Farm Shop. They aim to source primarily from their own farm, secondly from other local farmers and producers and thirdly from quality suppliers within the UK.
Tuesday 21st April – I will see put out a sheet for “The Stables” at Cotesbach – a cosy place serving food made on the premises.
LIVELY DISCUSSION
Co-ordinator
Dot Barnard
01455 208190
9th March 2015 Are we healthy?
Health is defined as social, physical and mental wellbeing, which we can try to maintain by our state of mind, diet and exercise, providing we don’t have any major medical problems. Everyone is ageing, but this doesn’t necessarily mean ill-health. Our situation is influenced by inherited genes, nurture and the country and time into which we are born. We age because the chromosomes in our DNA begin to change as the ‘cap’ at the end of the shoelace-like chromosome chains shorten. The US edition of TIME magazine carried an article about research in which this effect had been reversed in mice making them ’younger’, although there were problems because cancer cells would also respond. The group was vehemently against this ageing reversal – as one person said ‘is this Botox for brains!’ However, further research may enable some progress in dementia. We talked about becoming a Dementia Friend. Our even bigger concern about the development of this treatment was - what would we do with many more elders who didn’t die at the ‘right time’ and what would be the extra burden on all services, not just the health service?
Poor diet adds to poor health and our fear is that some obese children will die before their parents because of conditions caused or exacerbated by obesity. We talked about the over-use of convenience foods, excessive sugar and fat intake due to ignorance and poor labelling. People were much healthier after the war because intake was lower and food was grown and produced with the only processing being cooking in one’s kitchen. We all commended the Co-op and Sainsbury’s for their traffic light food labelling system. There was support for the return of cookery to the school curriculum and better school meals including free meals for the under 7s. It is noticeable that the Japanese are the longest-lived in the modern world with those on a Mediterranean diet also doing well. Some ex-teachers spoke of the exercise and relaxation which they used in class with young children including country dancing and simple yoga. People walked much more and didn’t have to join a gym to exercise! Concern was also expressed about excessive alcohol consumption and the extra strain on services and long-term health effects. We admire the work of street pastors, but feel their job is made much harder by easy access to alcohol in supermarkets. We are thankful that we live in a country where there is clean water and good sanitation and previous governments introduced the clean air act.
The NHS has set up Patient Public Involvement groups to find out how we view the services available when money must be saved. There will be a booth at Waitrose on 21 March to enable people to have their say. Questionnaires will be available at the March U3A meeting for the same purpose. The group felt that we should take responsibility for our own health by eating and exercising as well as we can and having a positive attitude.
Future Topics
April - Are we too reliant on technology?
May - Does prison work?
(IOther topics to be covered this year are
- The outcome of the election
- Is the climate really changing?
- Is gender stereotyping a problem and what should we do about it?
- Coming out of the EU
- English devolution
We have 2 vacancies if anybody would like to come along.
The theme for March was "Springtime" and on a very cold spring day it felt apt to start with Thomas Hardy's "A Backward Spring" where some flowers push through and others are too timid to face the cold. We also read Roger McGough's "The Fight of the Year" where spring and winter are participants in a boxing match (with spring winning). Most of the poems chosen though gave a much happier and more traditional picture of spring and its flowers and sense of newness and hope - Wordsworth's "Daffodils", of course, D H Lawrence "The Enkindled Spring" with its startling fiery imagery, Christina Rossetti's "A First Spring Day", Browning's "Home Thoughts from Abroad", Houseman's "Loveliest of Trees", Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Spring", John Clare's "The Yellowhammer" and Spike Milligan's joyous "Spring Song", among others. We were also reminded of love with Robert Burns "O Were my Love yon Lilac Fair", an extract from Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost", Yeats "Song of the Wandering Aengus"and Wendy Cope's "April".
There was a more melancholy view of spring in Larkin's "The Trees", but we also read a very moving and uplifting poem about the power of poetry to engage a patient in a psychiatric hospital, in Gillian Clarke's "A Miracle on St David's Day". "Spring in the Bronx" (anonymous) and Anne Stevenson's "Ragwort" were unusual and interesting short poems. We also explored some off topic poems, Gillian Clarke's "Neighbours" which focuses on the 1086 Chernobyl disaster, and how anger can ultimately lead to a sense of hope, Ella Wheeler Wilcox's "Solitude" with the famous lines "Laugh and the world laughs with you..." and D H Lawrence's "The Piano" where he remembers sitting beneath the piano as a child, while his mother played.
A lovely afternoon's reading, here's hoping for some warm springtime weather.
The next meeting will be at 2.00pm on 23rd April and the topic will be "Home and Family".
Sylvie Hitchen
PUB LUNCHES
Co-ordinator
Jill Graham
01455 557117
email grahjill@hotmail.com
Wednesday 4th March 2015
The Greyhound. Market Street Lutterworth.
Because we were a fairly large party we were served in the Dining Room and had a very pleasant lunch with an excellent range of choice on the Menu and with some members enjoying Desserts and Coffee as well as their main courses.
Wednesday 1st April 2015 –The Wharf Inn at Welford NN6 6JQ www.wharfinn.co.uk
About 9 miles away and just over the boundary into Northamptonshire.
The Scrabble session in March was not too well attended with several of the regulars having alternative clashes of interest. Mmmm, not sure what could be more interesting than a game of Scrabble among friends? I mean where else can you hear constant complaints about vowels and digest a Jammie Dodger in the hope of it improving your word power.
Perhaps we need some more players to keep the numbers steady. Our most recent new comer has settled in nicely now and is a regular winner.
REMINDER: The May session of Scrabble will take place at June Hartopp's house on Magnolia Drive - Wednesday 13th May from 10.00 until 12.00. That is the usual time and date, but back to the old venue. This is for one month only, after which normal service will be resumed.
Jenny led us on a walk around Thornton Reservoir which is now more than 150 years old, having being built in 1854 to provide water for Hinckley and Nuneaton. It was a beautiful warm morning, ideal for enjoying the picturesque valley in which the reservoir nestles, surrounded as it is by open farmland and mature woodland. Thornton derives its name from an old reference to the vegetation that grew wild around the village, hence the “Town of Thorns” or Thornton. Severn Trent Water closed the reservoir in 1982, but it was reopened to the public in 1997. The 31 hectare (75 acre) site is now a wonderful place to observe wildlife, including mammals, birds, butterflies and dragonflies. This was a delightful walk and thanks must go to Jenny for organising it.
FRIDAY 17th APRIL
This is a blue badge walk along New Walk, Leicester a pedestrian thoroughfare since 1785. The walk starts at 11.30a.m. at the top of New Walk – the Granville Road end near De Montfort Hall. We will be lunching afterwards at the Belmont Hotel, halfway along New Walk. The cost of the walk/lunch is £13. Many of you have already paid me, those who have not should pay Dot at the next U3A meeting on April 9th. There is some parking at the rear of the Belmont Hotel accessed from De Montfort Street. You can also park at the top of New Walk in the Granville Road car park for £4 all day. Alternatively as several of us intend to do you can travel into Leicester from the Park & Ride at Enderby. However this will make it a longer walk!
Sheila Eggleton
Please give Dot or Sheila your money for the walk and lunch by 10th April at the latest so that we can confirm numbers with the guide and the hotel.
Eddie has booked tickets for the Theatre group to see
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night at Leicester Curve on Thursday the 11th June at 2.30pm. The cost per ticket is £20.
There are some spare tickets so if you would like a see the production or have any queries please contact Eddie. This is open to everyone.
March 2nd 2015
Review of Christopher Luscombe’s production of
‘Love’s Labour’s Won’at the RSC.
The country house set, based on nearby Charlecote Park, establishes continuity with its debatable prequel, Love’s Labour’s Lost, but the transformation of former house party scene to hospital tells of a changed world. The foreshadowing sounds of battle and WW1 uniformed officers about to depart become, in the sequel, the war torn young men returning, to experience the skirmishes of love – as instanced by the “merry war” between Benedick and Beatrice.
In the main plot the “something”, the allegations made by Don Juan against Hero prove to be ‘nothing’, whilst in the sub-plot the “nothing”, the fabrications made in both gulling scenes, prove to be “something” – the realization of Beatrice’s and Benedick’s mutual love. Undoubtedly, Edmund Bennett’s and Michelle Terry’s performances as the cynical Benedick and Beatrice outshine those of Claudio and Hero – they usurp the role of stars, not content with their scripted roles as planets revolving around the more romantic couple.
Michelle Terry’s Beatrice demonstrates the strength of character required of the female who challenges not only military bravado, but patriarchal control over marriage. Her demand that Benedick “Kill Claudio” is sincere, informed by her hatred of masculine solidarity that can destroy a woman’s reputation: chastity is another meaning of “nothing” as Marlowe’s poem ‘Hero and Leander’ reveals and there is certainly “much ado” about this issue.
In his performance as Benedick, Edward Bennett gives us the gravitas that such moments as his switch in allegiance to Beatrice requires, but there is also the visual, almost slapstick, comedy he provides in the gulling scene, appearing from behind the arras and Christmas tree to register his shock. His elevated, ecstatic face finally haloed in light, consistent with his enlightened emotional state.
Benevolent deception is matched by malevolent deception and Sam Alexander plays the malcontent, scheming Don John in an understated, menacing manner, his crutch a visual token of his impaired morality, as a “plain-dealing villain”. His performance is grotesquely credible in the wedding scene in which he confronts Hero with her supposed duplicity, claiming language itself would be violated in speaking of her gross misconduct: “There is not chastity enough in language, / Without offence to utter them”.
Indeed, language itself plays an important theme, used as bait to ensnare for good and bad, often with a discrepancy between thought, motive and words – a trait captured in the ludicrous malapropisms of Nick Haverson’s Dogberry. Haverson offers a fresh interpretation as the bike-riding PC with such self-importance that he develops an apoplectic tick in his most tested moments.
The play ends with an acknowledgement of the contradictions that are part of human nature: just as the seemingly ineffectual “shallow fools” of the Watch have exposed the evil that those wiser failed to detect, so too the much changed Benedick concedes that “man is a giddy thing”.
Overall, Luscombe’s production is commendable: it may not match the quality of its supposed prequel, but the experiment to pair the two plays offers us in the words of Guy Unsworth, assistant director, “two sides of the coin” in keeping with Shakespeare’s “antithetical thought process”. Mandy Cutler.
1st WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUPCo-ordinators
Roger Watmore 01455 552431
Julian Hargreaves 01455 557704
Date of Walk: - 6th May 2015.
Walk Organisers: - Peter & Irene Moore. Tel: - 01455 552594
NOTE EARLIER TIME. A little further than normal, as we’re on the look out for Bluebells.
Return driving distance approx. 34 Miles.
Meeting Point and Time: Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 9.10am to leave at 9.15am.
Start Point: The Plough, Burroughs Road, Ratby. Post Code LE6 0XZ. Leave at 10.00am. Toilets available.
Directions to Start - M1 North exit at Junc. 21A, leave at 1st exit, follow signs for Kirby Muxloe. At the Island approaching Kirby Muxloe SO into Ratby Lane, into Ratby. Burroughs Road on the left before the School and next to the Sports Ground. The Plough is 200 yds. up on the RH side. Park at top of car park.
Route and Distance:- Starting from the The Plough at 10.00 am, we head West via Ratby Burroughs past the Holy Well and Bury Camp Hill Fort, through Woods and past Forest Hill Golf Course towards Thornton and return via pleasant heathland and Martinshaw Wood. Look out for *Bluebells*. 5.75 mile walk. Good choice of Food on the *Light Bites Menu* from £4.95p. Order prior to walk.
March Walk
35 walkers and 1 dog left The Bull's Head at Arthingworth in a bracing gale and set off along the footpath to join the Brampton Valley Way. At the picnic area at Kelmarsh Station the sun came out for our coffee break and we sang Happy Birthday to one of our intrepid travellers. After negotiating the darkness of Kelmarsh Tunnel, we found an extremely boggy field and fortunately only managed to lose one person to a mud bath. We walked back to Arthingworth along a quiet lane where we were joined by 4 others who had arrived late. The pub provided an excellent multi-course lunch for so many people.
Lesley and Mike
4th WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUPCo-ordinators
Sue & Peter Creeden
01455 557888
Wednesday 22 April 2015
Walk Organisers:- Gill and Roger Watmore Tel: 01455 552431
BRING YOUR BUS PASS (IF YOU HAVE ONE)
Meeting Point and Time:- Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 9.10 am to leave at 9.15am.
Start Point and Time:- Abbey Park Car Park, Leicester to leave at 10:00am
Directions to the Start:- Take the M1 north to Junction 21. Follow the Ring Road A563 North. Turn right on the B5327 (Ansty Lane) to City Centre. At the traffic lights at major junction turn left (The Blackbird Pub on right)). Follow this road round to the right, then straight on at the crossroad lights onto Abbey Park Road. Entrance to the park is on the right in 100 yds. Either go through park gates and park in the car park or park on the road outside Abbey Park. Toilets are available in the park.
Route and Distance:-. A linear walk of approx. 6 miles, with no styles along the river Soar, through Watermead Country Park, stroking the Wooley Mammal on the way. Join the canal and on to the Hope & Anchor Pub at Syston.
Lunch arrangements:- Lunch available at the Hope and Anchor (good choice of food) or take a picnic to have by the canal which runs next to the pub.
Bus back to Abbey Park.
March 2015 Walk Report
Irene and Peter More lead a large group of 39 walkers on an easy, almost mudless, walk from Willey. It was a bright sunny morning but deceptive with a chilly breeze catching you now and again. We went in a large loop that took in Willey Fields Farm and then across the mid 18th century landscape park at Newnam Paddox. We stopped for a break close to the main house garden which was full of daffodils and the very splendid old wrought iron entrance gate. We then approached Willy from behind the church taking sight of a bridge over the old railway cutting. Thank you Irene and Peter for an enjoyable walk. However, the walk did leave me with a conundrum. When is a stile not a stile?
Peter Creeden
TUESDAY WALKING GROUPCo-ordinator
Gordon Jones (Lutterworth U3A)
01455 556192
Date of Walk: Tuesday 21st April 2015 Coordinator: Gordon Jones. Tel. 01455 556192 Walk Organizers: Reg Tattersall, 01455 209126 Meeting Point: Coventry Road Recreation Ground Car Park. Meeting Time: 09.20, leave at 09.25.
Start Point: The Dovecote at Narborough, postcode LE19 2GN.
Route and distance: Starting from the The Dovecote in Narborough at 10:00 am the walk (of approx 6 miles) uses a mixture of disused railway and paths across meadows and a few arable fields. The walk goes from The Dovecote towards Enderby and then continues into Thurlaston before returning through the edge of Huncote and back to The Dovecote for lunch.
Lunch: There is a lunchtime specials menu available with most meals at £6 or you will be able to choose (more expensive) alternatives from their normal meal menu. We will pre-order our food before starting the walk.
Directions to the Starting Point: From Lutterworth go to the A5 and head towards Hinckley. Turn right at Smockington Hollow. Follow the B4114 through Sharnford and on towards Leicester. The Dovecote is right on the edge of Narborough on the main road on the left. The car park entrance is immediately after 'Simply Bathrooms'. Park at the far end of the car park.
Return Mileage from Lutterworth: 28 Miles.
JOINT GOLF GROUP (with Lutterworth U3A)
Co-ordinator (Lutterworth U3A)
Peter Moore
01455 552594
PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE. Due to a clash of dates with the *Walking Group Week-end away*
Next Joint Golf Day - Organiser :- Peter Moore Tel:- 01455 552594 email:- peter79moore@gmail.com
The next Golf Day will be at Lutterworth Golf Club on Thursday 23rd April 2015. competing for the Hartopp Trophy and Prizes, inc Ladies Prize.
Meet at 12.00 Hrs, for 1.00pm Tee off, in the Golf Club Bar. Coffee and Bacon Roll included on arrival.
To confirm your attendance or for full itinerary, including Meal choices, please contact Peter Moore, by Sunday 11thApril 2015
Cost each approx. £30.00 To include Coffee and Bacon Roll, Green Fee, Prizes and Dinner. (Dependent upon numbers)
Don't forget to invite your Wives/Partners/Husbands for 2 course Dinner at 6.30pm in the Golf Club Restaurant. Cost £11.00p. per person. Coffee and Mints included. Jackets and Ties *not required*
Seasons Forthcoming Golf Days.
Hinckley- Thursday June 11th 2015.
Ullesthorpe- Thursday July 30th 2015
Whetstone- Thursday September 17th 2015,
Away Day- Leamington and County G.C. Friday 9th October 2015.