December 2011
Scrabble, Canasta 1 and Canasta 3
The players in these groups wish all U3A members a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
1st weds walking group
4TH January 2012 - Walk Organiser Roger Watmore Tel: 01455 552431
Meeting Point and Time: -Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 9.25am to leave at 9.30am
Directions to the Start: Take the road to Kimcote, Walton, Saddington then onto Fleckney. In Fleckney after the Pelican Crossing turn left into Main Street, signed the parish church, to The Golden Shield car park, which is on the left, LE8 8AN.
Route and Distance; Walk of 5½ miles of bridle ways, paths and tow path. Lunch at The Golden Shield, is two courses for £5.50.
November Walk
Was it the weather forecast, was it the Pub or did everybody just decide to come for a walk?
It could have been any of those that brought 35 walkers plus two dogs out that day, but it really didn’t matter. After leaving Lutterworth we met at The Bulls Head at Brinklow, where toilets were made available and food orders taken. The walk left Brinklow via a path through the houses and joining a bridleway leading west toward Birchley Wood. The path passed by the extensive sand and gravel workings the size of which surprised most. Meeting the wood we skirted south keeping the bridleway to join Merton Hall Farm (now an equestrian centre).
From here we passed behind the Coventry Stadium heading back east toward Bretford but joining another bridleway heading north to bring us back to Brinklow in good time, finishing at about 12.30. The weather was kind and a good walk was had by all. As promised we stuck to our 5.4 miles and we managed to retain all 35 walkers without loss! It would appear that the general opinion of the food at the Bull was good, and even the £3.50 ‘Lite Bites’ from the menu were of a decent proportion. However that didn’t stop two of our members launching themselves into an enormous ‘Hot Pot’ full of black pud, belly pork, faggots and goodness knows what else. Needless to say they didn’t quite make it and next time I’ll start them off a couple of miles earlier to work up a bigger appetite!
Peter Betts
Forthcoming Speakers
The main production at Kilworth House for the 2012 summer season will be
“Me and My Girl”
The production run will from the 5th June until 8th July.
The priority booking period for group booking commenced on the 8th November and I have taken out a provisional reservation for tickets for the afternoon performance on Sunday the 10th June (start time 2.30pm).
This will allow those who like to participate in an early summer picnic the opportunity to do so prior to the commencement of the performance.
I have reserved 4 seats on the front row to assist anyone with walking difficulties.
Please let me know a.s.a.p. if you would like to attend this show. The cost per ticket will be around £22.
Over 25 of us attended "The Pirates of Pen" last year and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon out.
November Meeting
This month’s talk was on an unusual subject that would possibly only appeal to twitchers. Tim MacKrill came to tell us all about the successes at Rutland Water with this introduction of breeding pairs of Ospreys, the only fish eating bird of prey. In Shakespeare’s time, ospreys were found throughout the UK but over the subsequent years, their numbers reduced to near extinction levels. When Rutland Water was planned and built in the 1970’s, wild life was always part of the plan.
The plan was to move Osprey chicks from Scotland to Rutland Water and hope they remembered where they took their first flights and grew up before their long winter migration to West Africa. As they only start breeding after three years, they will have 7 migration flights before then. Anglian Water started a satellite tracking project to follow the osprey’s migration paths from England to West Africa. Some flew directly, via Paris and Madrid, whereas one other was blown off course around the Bay of Biscay. One was flying for 64 hours and covered 2500 kilometres.
Over the 1990’s and early 2000’s, several breeding pairs came back to Rutland Water and produced their own chicks. Of course, for twitchers and other members of the public, these magnificent birds have been a popular draw to Rutland Water with over 31,000 visitors in 2011 alone. The early satellite tracking was changed for a more sophisticated GPS unit. When fitted to two Osprey’s, one flew at over 50 mph over the Sahara desert at up to 9000 feet altitude. Another that has been tracked over 13 years has flown over 75,000 but still has not yet found a breeding partner.
This in fact turned out to be one of the most interesting of the recent monthly talks for everyone there and not just twitchers.
Lively Discussion November 14th 2011
Should drugs be legalized?
Some facts given to the group included drug related crime accounts for a half to a third of crime in Leicestershire; an addict needs to raise £15,000 - £30,000 per annum to feed the habit; the Drug Intervention programme in Leicester says that for every £1 invested in rehabilitation £9.50 is saved on other services; drug addiction costs the UK tax payer £850,000 per addict in policing, health etc.; the US has spent £40 billion trying to limit supply and this has not worked.
Most of the group felt that legalization, although not a perfect answer, is preferable to the existing situation because crime and violence would be reduced, drop-in centres or designated chemists or surgeries would mean that drug paraphernalia on the streets would lessen, addicts could ask for help and may become clean, purer drugs would be used and the cartels wouldn’t make money leading to fewer people trafficked and less prostitution. Producers in Afghanistan, South America etc. are paid very little anyway so there would be the possibility of extending Fair Trade to these areas. Prohibition in the US and illegality here has proved that bans don’t work. Lives would be saved and police and health workers could focus where they are most needed.
There was some discussion about addictive personalities and Amy Winehouse and Clarissa Dickson Wright were mentioned. One person was against legalization because it was felt to be unachievable. Politicians are more concerned with re-election and do not have the courage to tackle this consistently.
Now We are Six
We try to meet every week from 2pm to 4pm, breaking briefly for tea , cake or
biscuits. The group is relaxed and friendly with a wide range of talents, which each member is encouraged to develop in her own style. Although we are not always satisfied with our efforts, we learn from our mistakes as everyone is invited to comment critically on shared work and celebrate achievement.
To extend our knowledge two of us are travelling with the Lutterworth U3A
to an exhibition of Lowry’s work at Nottingham University on January 26th
and will also be enjoying a village outing from Leire, to Denbigh Pottery for a craft session and tour of the factory.
We should like to express our sincere thanks for the lovely Art Reference books, donated by John Hughes, following the sad loss of his wife, who also enjoyed watercolour painting. They will be stored at 8, St. Margaret’s Drive, but are already in full use, having been borrowed for perusal at home and extended practice.
Starting to learn a new craft, skill or language can be exciting but sometimes daunting. The joy of watercolour painting is its accessibility, reasonable cost at the outset for materials and ease of clearing away. Simple techniques can be mastered within each session, but regular practice is the key to progress. Each of us needs to find our métier- from landscape to still life studies to portraiture. Above all, whether working from photos, or from life studies, we all have to take time to look.-That’s all it takes.
Tuesday Walking Group
Date of walk: Tuesday 20th December 2011.
Walk Organiser: Gordon Jones, 01455 556192
Meeting Point: Meet at the Coventry Road recreation ground Car Park.
Meeting Time: Meet by 9.40 to leave at 9.45.
Route and distance: Starting from the Navigation Inn at Kilby Bridge, about 4 miles of footpath, bridle track and canal towpath all pretty easy going.
Directions to the Starting Point: Lutterworth to Gilmorton, Bruntingthorpe and across to the A5199. Turn north on the A5199 and go to Kilby Bridge. Park at the Navigation Inn or on the roadside by the bridge
Lunch: At the Navigation Inn. The lunch is a pre-booked and pre-paid Christmas lunch, if you have not booked and wish to have the lunch contact the walk leader for a menu and booking form. If anyone is eating but not walking, be at the pub for 1.00pm.
Return Journey from Lutterworth Mileage: 18
Bridge Group
The Wycliffe U3A bridge group has now been going to two years. We’ve now reverted back to the original meeting place with several regular players. Just as we have “the Four Seasons”, so the bridge groups has “the five C’s”.
Cake There is a rumour that some just come along for the cake rather than the cards ! ! !
Contract We play, at present, contract rubber bridge.
Chair One chair seems to be jinxed with poor hands. Perhaps the move will change this.
Competitive Not really.
Convivial Most definitely.
GERMAN CONVERSATION
15 November 2011.
This meeting had to be cancelled as most people were unable to come.
The next meeting will be in mid December.
French Conversation
24 November 2011
This time we watched the film “Manon des Sources.” Again this was set in beautiful Provence and was a moving mixture of comedy, tragedy, love and revenge, much enjoyed by the group.
The next meeting will be on 26 January when there will be a variety of activities, including a very short play.
Pub Lunches
We have recently been trying out one or two new places and as fat as I know diners have been satisfied. Particularly jovial was the Wednesday lunch at Shearsby Bath where everyone seemed relaxed and the conversation and laughter flowed.
Our next lunches are on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th January. We are making a second visit to the Chequers Country Inn, having had good food and service the last time we were there.
Poetry Group November 24th 2011
Some people had difficulty in finding poems for clothing and apparel. Nevertheless there was a very interesting cross section of poets and even a music hall song – Alice Blue Gown – remembered word for word by a member who had been evacuated to Manchester during the war. The contributions by Pam Ayres were ‘Wonderbra’ and ‘Thank You and Goodnight all you Winklepickers’. Other humorous poems included ‘What Teachers Wear in Bed’ by Brian Moses, ‘Dress Sense’ by David Kitchen; ‘Sartorial Solecism’ by R. E. C. Stringer and Jenny Joseph’s ‘Warning’ – ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple…’
The more serious poems were ‘The Song of the Shirt’ by Thomas Hood (1798 – 1845); ‘Seamstress at St Leon’ by Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales; ‘Myfanwy’ by John Betjeman; ‘Stitch in Time’ by Owen Sheers; ‘Ode to Posh Reed’ by Richard Baldwin (of Kibworth); ‘The Poetry of the Dress’ and Upon Julia’s Clothes’ by Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674); and ‘Coat’ by Vicki Fever – featuring the loss of a loved one.
Unusually we had ‘Old Coat’ written by a member that very morning, and another member brought a poem by five dementia residents:
A Poem About Clothes
Eva couldn’t at one time wear shoes
Her feet would swell ….what could she do?
She cannot wear a woollen sweater.
She wears cotton instead…that’s even better.
Ann likes to wear shirts that are red.
‘I won’t wear black’ she said, shaking her head.
Mary likes to wear a white sweater
And wearing blue is even better.
Rosie doesn’t like to wear scratchy clothes.
It causes itching on skin and nose.
Thelma likes wearing a plain old dress.
A bright and pretty dress…oh yes!
Also the next meeting will be on January 26th 2012 at Sylvia Wilson’s house - 1 Manor Farm Close, Broughton Astley near Thomas Estley School.
Quiz Group
We had 12 members for our November meeting which saw us answering questions set by Barbara and Angela. We all enjoyed stretching our brains a little, or a lot, according to how hard the questions were.
We will not be meeting in December and so our next meeting will be on 23rd Jan 2012.
A seasonal snippet - A variation on the Three Wise Men
The ThreeWise Women would have asked for directions
arrived on time
helped deliver the baby
cleaned the stable
made a casserole
brought useful gifts
and there would have been Peace on Earth!
Bird Watching
In November eight members of the group travelled to the North Norfolk coast for a two night stay. We visited the R.S.B. reserves at Titchwell and Snettisham and also Brancaster Staithe and Holme.
The weather was sunny and dry, although the wind was a bit strong at times. We saw lots of birds, including curlews, ruffs, dunlins, merganser and even skylarks on the shore. A huge flock of golden plovers was a stunning sight as they circled and landed on the beach and we saw flocks of shelducks and geese. There had also been flocks of snowbuntings at both reserves, but we were not lucky enough to catch sight of them whilst we were there. However, we did see more than forty different birds during our stay. We had an enjoyable trip to nearby Burnham Market on the last day - a very pretty village with an abundance of unusual shops. Our next outing will be on Friday, 30th December - location to be arranged.
Book Chat.
Our read this month generated universal approval. With one reader expressing the thought that she had fallen in love with two of the characters. The whimsical title "The Guernsey literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer may lead you believe this was going to be a light weight novel. However it turned out to be an erudite, laugh out loud funny and in places very moving. Set in 1946 and told in the form of letters mainly to and from the central character, Juliet Aston, a successful writer, who becomes involved with a group of people who lived through the wartime German occupation.
Our next meeting we will be discussing "To Kill a Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee and "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. Following that our group will be attempting to present their thoughts on a book of their own choice either a revisited favourite or something they have never read before and have always promised themselves 'I must read that'
Photography
With all the activity surrounding Christmas etc. we were unable to meet in November, nor will we be able to meet in December. So our next meeting will be January 27th.
FOURTH WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP
FOURTH WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP
Co-ordinators:
Sue and Peter Creeden: Tel: 01455 557888
WEDNESDAY 28 December 2011
Walk Organisers
Sue and Peter Creeden: Tel: 01455 557888
Meeting Point and Time:
Lutterworth Recreation Ground Car Park at 9.20am to leave at 9.30am.
Directions to the Start
Take the road towards Market Harborough (A4304) to The Tavern Inn at Walcote. Parking in the car park is limited so some of us will have to use Brook Street around the corner. Please note that the pub will not be opening up to allow us to use the toilets before we set off.
The Walk
The walk, along paths, lanes and across fields, is approximately 6.5 miles. Setting off from Walcote we will pass through Misterton, then Kimcote and return back along Poultney Lane. (NB: There are quite a lot of fields that have livestock)
October Walk
A small group of 18 took advantage of another reasonable and not too cold autumn day to set off from Saddington for a walk that skirted Fleckney, Kibworth and Smeeton Westerby with a slight detour at the end to look across Saddington Reservoir from the bank side.
Would it be possible to also include a paragraph as follows:
"Sue and Peter are looking for volunteers to organise walks next year. We have promises for March and July. If anyone would like to organise a walk any other month please can you contact them"
The players in these groups wish all U3A members a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
1st weds walking group
4TH January 2012 - Walk Organiser Roger Watmore Tel: 01455 552431
Meeting Point and Time: -Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 9.25am to leave at 9.30am
Directions to the Start: Take the road to Kimcote, Walton, Saddington then onto Fleckney. In Fleckney after the Pelican Crossing turn left into Main Street, signed the parish church, to The Golden Shield car park, which is on the left, LE8 8AN.
Route and Distance; Walk of 5½ miles of bridle ways, paths and tow path. Lunch at The Golden Shield, is two courses for £5.50.
November Walk
Was it the weather forecast, was it the Pub or did everybody just decide to come for a walk?
It could have been any of those that brought 35 walkers plus two dogs out that day, but it really didn’t matter. After leaving Lutterworth we met at The Bulls Head at Brinklow, where toilets were made available and food orders taken. The walk left Brinklow via a path through the houses and joining a bridleway leading west toward Birchley Wood. The path passed by the extensive sand and gravel workings the size of which surprised most. Meeting the wood we skirted south keeping the bridleway to join Merton Hall Farm (now an equestrian centre).
From here we passed behind the Coventry Stadium heading back east toward Bretford but joining another bridleway heading north to bring us back to Brinklow in good time, finishing at about 12.30. The weather was kind and a good walk was had by all. As promised we stuck to our 5.4 miles and we managed to retain all 35 walkers without loss! It would appear that the general opinion of the food at the Bull was good, and even the £3.50 ‘Lite Bites’ from the menu were of a decent proportion. However that didn’t stop two of our members launching themselves into an enormous ‘Hot Pot’ full of black pud, belly pork, faggots and goodness knows what else. Needless to say they didn’t quite make it and next time I’ll start them off a couple of miles earlier to work up a bigger appetite!
Peter Betts
Forthcoming Speakers
- Jan. Paul Kerryson, Artistic Director and Hannah Hallam, Development Officer - "The Curve, Theatre"
- Feb. Trevor Parr, "An Apothecary Calls --1600s!"
- March Tony Noble, " A Royal Yacht Experience".
The main production at Kilworth House for the 2012 summer season will be
“Me and My Girl”
The production run will from the 5th June until 8th July.
The priority booking period for group booking commenced on the 8th November and I have taken out a provisional reservation for tickets for the afternoon performance on Sunday the 10th June (start time 2.30pm).
This will allow those who like to participate in an early summer picnic the opportunity to do so prior to the commencement of the performance.
I have reserved 4 seats on the front row to assist anyone with walking difficulties.
Please let me know a.s.a.p. if you would like to attend this show. The cost per ticket will be around £22.
Over 25 of us attended "The Pirates of Pen" last year and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon out.
November Meeting
This month’s talk was on an unusual subject that would possibly only appeal to twitchers. Tim MacKrill came to tell us all about the successes at Rutland Water with this introduction of breeding pairs of Ospreys, the only fish eating bird of prey. In Shakespeare’s time, ospreys were found throughout the UK but over the subsequent years, their numbers reduced to near extinction levels. When Rutland Water was planned and built in the 1970’s, wild life was always part of the plan.
The plan was to move Osprey chicks from Scotland to Rutland Water and hope they remembered where they took their first flights and grew up before their long winter migration to West Africa. As they only start breeding after three years, they will have 7 migration flights before then. Anglian Water started a satellite tracking project to follow the osprey’s migration paths from England to West Africa. Some flew directly, via Paris and Madrid, whereas one other was blown off course around the Bay of Biscay. One was flying for 64 hours and covered 2500 kilometres.
Over the 1990’s and early 2000’s, several breeding pairs came back to Rutland Water and produced their own chicks. Of course, for twitchers and other members of the public, these magnificent birds have been a popular draw to Rutland Water with over 31,000 visitors in 2011 alone. The early satellite tracking was changed for a more sophisticated GPS unit. When fitted to two Osprey’s, one flew at over 50 mph over the Sahara desert at up to 9000 feet altitude. Another that has been tracked over 13 years has flown over 75,000 but still has not yet found a breeding partner.
This in fact turned out to be one of the most interesting of the recent monthly talks for everyone there and not just twitchers.
Lively Discussion November 14th 2011
Should drugs be legalized?
Some facts given to the group included drug related crime accounts for a half to a third of crime in Leicestershire; an addict needs to raise £15,000 - £30,000 per annum to feed the habit; the Drug Intervention programme in Leicester says that for every £1 invested in rehabilitation £9.50 is saved on other services; drug addiction costs the UK tax payer £850,000 per addict in policing, health etc.; the US has spent £40 billion trying to limit supply and this has not worked.
Most of the group felt that legalization, although not a perfect answer, is preferable to the existing situation because crime and violence would be reduced, drop-in centres or designated chemists or surgeries would mean that drug paraphernalia on the streets would lessen, addicts could ask for help and may become clean, purer drugs would be used and the cartels wouldn’t make money leading to fewer people trafficked and less prostitution. Producers in Afghanistan, South America etc. are paid very little anyway so there would be the possibility of extending Fair Trade to these areas. Prohibition in the US and illegality here has proved that bans don’t work. Lives would be saved and police and health workers could focus where they are most needed.
There was some discussion about addictive personalities and Amy Winehouse and Clarissa Dickson Wright were mentioned. One person was against legalization because it was felt to be unachievable. Politicians are more concerned with re-election and do not have the courage to tackle this consistently.
Now We are Six
We try to meet every week from 2pm to 4pm, breaking briefly for tea , cake or
biscuits. The group is relaxed and friendly with a wide range of talents, which each member is encouraged to develop in her own style. Although we are not always satisfied with our efforts, we learn from our mistakes as everyone is invited to comment critically on shared work and celebrate achievement.
To extend our knowledge two of us are travelling with the Lutterworth U3A
to an exhibition of Lowry’s work at Nottingham University on January 26th
and will also be enjoying a village outing from Leire, to Denbigh Pottery for a craft session and tour of the factory.
We should like to express our sincere thanks for the lovely Art Reference books, donated by John Hughes, following the sad loss of his wife, who also enjoyed watercolour painting. They will be stored at 8, St. Margaret’s Drive, but are already in full use, having been borrowed for perusal at home and extended practice.
Starting to learn a new craft, skill or language can be exciting but sometimes daunting. The joy of watercolour painting is its accessibility, reasonable cost at the outset for materials and ease of clearing away. Simple techniques can be mastered within each session, but regular practice is the key to progress. Each of us needs to find our métier- from landscape to still life studies to portraiture. Above all, whether working from photos, or from life studies, we all have to take time to look.-That’s all it takes.
Tuesday Walking Group
Date of walk: Tuesday 20th December 2011.
Walk Organiser: Gordon Jones, 01455 556192
Meeting Point: Meet at the Coventry Road recreation ground Car Park.
Meeting Time: Meet by 9.40 to leave at 9.45.
Route and distance: Starting from the Navigation Inn at Kilby Bridge, about 4 miles of footpath, bridle track and canal towpath all pretty easy going.
Directions to the Starting Point: Lutterworth to Gilmorton, Bruntingthorpe and across to the A5199. Turn north on the A5199 and go to Kilby Bridge. Park at the Navigation Inn or on the roadside by the bridge
Lunch: At the Navigation Inn. The lunch is a pre-booked and pre-paid Christmas lunch, if you have not booked and wish to have the lunch contact the walk leader for a menu and booking form. If anyone is eating but not walking, be at the pub for 1.00pm.
Return Journey from Lutterworth Mileage: 18
Bridge Group
The Wycliffe U3A bridge group has now been going to two years. We’ve now reverted back to the original meeting place with several regular players. Just as we have “the Four Seasons”, so the bridge groups has “the five C’s”.
Cake There is a rumour that some just come along for the cake rather than the cards ! ! !
Contract We play, at present, contract rubber bridge.
Chair One chair seems to be jinxed with poor hands. Perhaps the move will change this.
Competitive Not really.
Convivial Most definitely.
GERMAN CONVERSATION
15 November 2011.
This meeting had to be cancelled as most people were unable to come.
The next meeting will be in mid December.
French Conversation
24 November 2011
This time we watched the film “Manon des Sources.” Again this was set in beautiful Provence and was a moving mixture of comedy, tragedy, love and revenge, much enjoyed by the group.
The next meeting will be on 26 January when there will be a variety of activities, including a very short play.
Pub Lunches
We have recently been trying out one or two new places and as fat as I know diners have been satisfied. Particularly jovial was the Wednesday lunch at Shearsby Bath where everyone seemed relaxed and the conversation and laughter flowed.
Our next lunches are on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th January. We are making a second visit to the Chequers Country Inn, having had good food and service the last time we were there.
Poetry Group November 24th 2011
Some people had difficulty in finding poems for clothing and apparel. Nevertheless there was a very interesting cross section of poets and even a music hall song – Alice Blue Gown – remembered word for word by a member who had been evacuated to Manchester during the war. The contributions by Pam Ayres were ‘Wonderbra’ and ‘Thank You and Goodnight all you Winklepickers’. Other humorous poems included ‘What Teachers Wear in Bed’ by Brian Moses, ‘Dress Sense’ by David Kitchen; ‘Sartorial Solecism’ by R. E. C. Stringer and Jenny Joseph’s ‘Warning’ – ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple…’
The more serious poems were ‘The Song of the Shirt’ by Thomas Hood (1798 – 1845); ‘Seamstress at St Leon’ by Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales; ‘Myfanwy’ by John Betjeman; ‘Stitch in Time’ by Owen Sheers; ‘Ode to Posh Reed’ by Richard Baldwin (of Kibworth); ‘The Poetry of the Dress’ and Upon Julia’s Clothes’ by Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674); and ‘Coat’ by Vicki Fever – featuring the loss of a loved one.
Unusually we had ‘Old Coat’ written by a member that very morning, and another member brought a poem by five dementia residents:
A Poem About Clothes
Eva couldn’t at one time wear shoes
Her feet would swell ….what could she do?
She cannot wear a woollen sweater.
She wears cotton instead…that’s even better.
Ann likes to wear shirts that are red.
‘I won’t wear black’ she said, shaking her head.
Mary likes to wear a white sweater
And wearing blue is even better.
Rosie doesn’t like to wear scratchy clothes.
It causes itching on skin and nose.
Thelma likes wearing a plain old dress.
A bright and pretty dress…oh yes!
Also the next meeting will be on January 26th 2012 at Sylvia Wilson’s house - 1 Manor Farm Close, Broughton Astley near Thomas Estley School.
Quiz Group
We had 12 members for our November meeting which saw us answering questions set by Barbara and Angela. We all enjoyed stretching our brains a little, or a lot, according to how hard the questions were.
We will not be meeting in December and so our next meeting will be on 23rd Jan 2012.
A seasonal snippet - A variation on the Three Wise Men
The ThreeWise Women would have asked for directions
arrived on time
helped deliver the baby
cleaned the stable
made a casserole
brought useful gifts
and there would have been Peace on Earth!
Bird Watching
In November eight members of the group travelled to the North Norfolk coast for a two night stay. We visited the R.S.B. reserves at Titchwell and Snettisham and also Brancaster Staithe and Holme.
The weather was sunny and dry, although the wind was a bit strong at times. We saw lots of birds, including curlews, ruffs, dunlins, merganser and even skylarks on the shore. A huge flock of golden plovers was a stunning sight as they circled and landed on the beach and we saw flocks of shelducks and geese. There had also been flocks of snowbuntings at both reserves, but we were not lucky enough to catch sight of them whilst we were there. However, we did see more than forty different birds during our stay. We had an enjoyable trip to nearby Burnham Market on the last day - a very pretty village with an abundance of unusual shops. Our next outing will be on Friday, 30th December - location to be arranged.
Book Chat.
Our read this month generated universal approval. With one reader expressing the thought that she had fallen in love with two of the characters. The whimsical title "The Guernsey literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer may lead you believe this was going to be a light weight novel. However it turned out to be an erudite, laugh out loud funny and in places very moving. Set in 1946 and told in the form of letters mainly to and from the central character, Juliet Aston, a successful writer, who becomes involved with a group of people who lived through the wartime German occupation.
Our next meeting we will be discussing "To Kill a Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee and "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. Following that our group will be attempting to present their thoughts on a book of their own choice either a revisited favourite or something they have never read before and have always promised themselves 'I must read that'
Photography
With all the activity surrounding Christmas etc. we were unable to meet in November, nor will we be able to meet in December. So our next meeting will be January 27th.
FOURTH WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP
FOURTH WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP
Co-ordinators:
Sue and Peter Creeden: Tel: 01455 557888
WEDNESDAY 28 December 2011
Walk Organisers
Sue and Peter Creeden: Tel: 01455 557888
Meeting Point and Time:
Lutterworth Recreation Ground Car Park at 9.20am to leave at 9.30am.
Directions to the Start
Take the road towards Market Harborough (A4304) to The Tavern Inn at Walcote. Parking in the car park is limited so some of us will have to use Brook Street around the corner. Please note that the pub will not be opening up to allow us to use the toilets before we set off.
The Walk
The walk, along paths, lanes and across fields, is approximately 6.5 miles. Setting off from Walcote we will pass through Misterton, then Kimcote and return back along Poultney Lane. (NB: There are quite a lot of fields that have livestock)
October Walk
A small group of 18 took advantage of another reasonable and not too cold autumn day to set off from Saddington for a walk that skirted Fleckney, Kibworth and Smeeton Westerby with a slight detour at the end to look across Saddington Reservoir from the bank side.
Would it be possible to also include a paragraph as follows:
"Sue and Peter are looking for volunteers to organise walks next year. We have promises for March and July. If anyone would like to organise a walk any other month please can you contact them"