Wycliffe Lutterworth u3a
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June 2012

Report on the May meeting

This month’s talk was given by Mr Sirot-Smith who knew much about George Washington and Sulgrave Manor. However, everyone was surprised when he appeared in the full Tudor costume of Laurence Washington, Load of Sulgrave Manor. In 1539, he bought the manor from King Henry VIII for £324-14-10, a fortune in those days. He was born in Wharton in north Lancashire and finally arrived in Northampton as the bailiff of the Marquis of Northumberland. There he made a fortune by trading wool with the help of the Spencers from Althorp Hall. He became mayor of Northampton and did many good social works for the town.

Both his marriages were financially beneficial leading to the purchase of the lease for the Sulgrave estate after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.  George Washington was 7 generations from Laurence Washington.  Colonel John Washington emigrated to the US in 1656 to escape the Cromwell purges, which explains why the name ‘Washington’ in comparatively rare in England. John Washington moved to Virginia where he grew tobacco and made his fortune. Again, like Laurence Washington before him, he married ‘profitably’.  Sulgrave Manor itself was owned by a few families after Laurence Washington and was eventually restored in 1919 and formally given to England and the US people in 1921. The manor has the same status as an embassy which explains why the US and Union flag both fly outside.  Altogether a most interesting and amusing talk that everyone appreciated.

CANASTA 1 & 3

Co-ordinator

June Hartopp

The new members who have joined both groups are a welcome addition.  We continue to have a good standard of play but with great fun!!

 

SCRABBLE

Co-ordinator

June Hartopp

01455 553418

One player had over 300 points in 2 consecutive games—another had over 50 points in one turn. Didn’t we do well? We would welcome new members, especially we’d like to have some new gentlemen in the group

THEATRE AND TRIPS

Co-ordinator

Eddie Hemsley

01455 554564

Garden Party

Arrangements for the planned Garden Party for the 15th July are proceeding well. Please indicate if you would like to attend by entering your details on the form situated near the Notice Board at the Monthly meeting.

Join us for a grand day out to Sulgrave Manor!

At the last meeting considerable interest was shown in the possibility of a visit to Sulgrave Manor and its environs, the former home of the Washington family.  Rose Coltman agreed to explore this matter on our behalf and she has obtained relevant information pertaining to a group visit to the Manor and transport costs.  The visit to the Manor would include a private guided tour of the house (approx. 1 ½ hours), access to the gardens, the estate Church and the local picturesque village, at a cost per person of £7.  In addition, the cost of coach transport would be approx. £9 per head, with pick-up points in Broughton Astley and Lutterworth.  A light lunch of Hearty soup (suitable for vegetarians) served with crusty rolls and tea/coffee is available at £5 per head, provided that it is booked in advance. There are no other refreshments available.  Provisional reservations for the House tour and a 49-seat coach have been made for Thursday the 27th September.  If you would like to attend please complete the form on display at the meeting or alternatively contact one of the following before the 30th June.

Rose Coltman - alan.rose.coltman@talktalk.net tel. 01455 209830

George Robertson – george9high@hotmail.com

Eddie Hemsley – edwardhemsley@btinternet.com tel. 01455 554564

LIVELY DISCUSSION

Co-ordinator

Dot Barnard

01455 208190

May 14th Topic : Was Mrs Thatcher Britain’s greatest post war prime minister, or was she ‘that awful woman’?

The contenders in chronological order for greatest post war PM are: Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Harold Wilson again, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

Recently Nadine Dorries has accused Cameron and Osborne of being two posh boys who don’t know the price of milk. The list above includes five who went to both Eton and Oxford, and a further four who went to Oxford after first attending grammar school or a private school. Churchill attended Harrow and Sandhurst.  There was much discussion of the main policies for which each leader is remembered. A vote was taken and just over half thought that Mrs Thatcher was the best PM since the war. Her strengths being leadership (initially), decisive action over the Falklands and handling Reagan and Gorbachev.  The rest cited Attlee for trying to pick up after the war, Macmillan and Eden. The group felt that Mrs T had got it right by selling council houses and trying to bring in the poll tax, but very wrong in not allowing the building of further council houses for a growing population and finding a way to make the poll tax work - which was seen as much fairer than council tax.  The current paucity of social housing was compounded by lack of action by the Blair government. Care-in-the-community has turned out to be no such thing. There are more beggars and people with mental illness or drug problems on the streets or in jail than in living memory.  Turning the NHS into a ‘market’ was also seen as taking money from patients to insert a management layer so that senior nurses were no longer available on wards.

Selling off the utilities has simply added to prices and the current cartel of the ‘big six’ proves this. Share ownership rose from 7% to 25% during Mrs T’s tenure. Young people in the City showed greed and were all out for themselves as Thatcher had said that ‘there is no such thing as society’ - meaning every man for himself.  These people were dubbed ‘Children of Thatcher’ in the press. It was also felt that she did nothing for women, even though she had very capable people like Ann Widdicombe in the party. The first two terms went well, but she appeared powercrazy in the third .

June Topic

Which novels do you think should be considered literary classics?

PHOTOGRAPHY

Co-ordinator

Mick Curtis

01455 554504

This month four members took advantage of the glorious weather to visit Shugborough Hall, home of Lord (Patrick) Lichfield the renowned photographer. We set a challenge to all photograph the same building, as well as any other subjects of our own choice. We all look forward to seeing the results of our efforts in June.

BIRD WATCHING

Co-ordinators

Mary & Peter Rolleston

01455 209156

The bird watching group had a lovely warm, sunny day for their May trip to Lyndon Nature Reserve at Rutland Water. The air was filled with the sound of songbirds such as blackcaps, willow warblers and chiffchaffs and we saw two greater spotted woodpeckers at close quarters on the feeders near the centre. The first osprey egg had hatched early that morning, so we were able to observe the parents taking turns to feed the chick - a wonderful sight! We also saw a reed warbler and a reed bunting from one of the hides. Back at the wildlife pond in front of the centre, we saw a grass snake, crested and smooth newts and a tiny pygmy shrew. The location of our next trip on Friday, 29th June will hopefully include a visit to a wildflower meadow. Please contact us if you would like to join the group. New members will be made most welcome.

POETRY

Co-ordinator

Angela &Stuart Rhodes

01455 554553

A beautiful summer day and a group of enthusiasts reciting and discussing poems about the Lake District and its poets provided all the ingredients for a very enjoyable afternoon. Wordsworth (and his daffodils) together with Coleridge predominated although results from surfing the net provided some interesting results and introduced a number of hitherto unknown and indeed anonymous poets.

The Group's next meeting will be on Thursday 27 June when the subject will be "War Poets"

BOOK CHAT

Co-ordinator

Mick Curtis

01455 554504

This month we discussed Maeve Binchy the best selling author.

This author was new to some members whilst others had read all of her novels. Most agreed that some of her later works seemed to have been written "to order" perhaps at the publishers insistence, and were not a very satisfying read.  However the earlier novels were better and very enjoyable. More than one member said they would not seek out her books again but conceded that they were a good holiday read. 

Mick and Sylvie attended the meeting arranged by the library service to swap books between groups, however only two other groups attended and with no list available from non attendees we were unable to come away with hope that the new regime would benefit our members. We were only able to take one title to take to the May meeting, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" by Fannie Flagg , an author we have read before. As a group we have reluctantly decided to abandon the library as a source for group books.  We now have a list of books that group members will source individually.

GERMAN CONVERSATION

Co-ordinator

Sue Hicks

01858 880273

The June meeting at Alan’s house was rescheduled to Tuesday, 12 June, as some people could not make 19 June.  We aimed to talk about das Frühstück and die Musik (CD 13-15, Lonely Planet “Food” and “Going Out”).

Please contact Sue if you want to check the date of the next meeting.

FRENCH CONVERSATION

Co-ordinator

Sue Hicks

01858 880273

24 May 2012

There were only ten of us this time, but although many of the group were away, we enjoyed getting to know each other better. The first activity was a crossword, and then we had various topics to discuss in small groups: Diamond Jubilee, Olympics, My Week and My Garden.

In June or July, we plan to have a short talk from a member of the Lutterworth Twinning Association, including details of a visit to Chambourcy in September and other French-related activities.

Our next meeting is on Thursday, 28 June.

1st WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP

Joint Co-ordinators:

Roger Watmore. Tel: 01455 552431 and

Julian Hargreaves Tel: 01455 557704,

Wycliffe U3A.

4th July 2012

Walk Organiser: Vicki and Bob Davis Tel: 01455 209518

Meeting Point:-Lutterworth Recreation Ground, Coventry Road Car Park.

Time:9.25am to leave at 9.30 am.

Directions to the start: Leave Lutterworth on the A4304 to Husbands Bosworth. Turn right at the traffic lights onto the A5199 to Welford. The Wharf Inn is on the right just before you enter the village. Parking behind the Pub, and commence walk at 10.00am.

Route and Distance: This walk is just over 6 miles with only a few stiles. It includes villages, canal towpath, field edges and a short stretch beside a main road. Also a village community project including a community orchard and wildlife project. A varied menu is available at the pub and can be booked prior to walking.

May Walk:

Fortunately it did stop raining for a few hours while we walked, but some of the route still had to be changed to drier ground to avoid the mud and water. A canoe might have been useful! 19 walkers set off from The White Hart at South Kilworth, past Stanford Reservoir, Downtown Hill and through the bluebells of Hemplow Hill, which were looking good. We stopped for a break near the top, with a good view partially obscured by cloud. The walk was 6.6 miles, and was followed by a delicious lunch at The White Hart, when the sun finally made a brief appearance.

Sue and Jon Hicks

4th WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP

Co-ordinators:

Sue & Peter Creeden

01455 557888

WEDNESDAY 27 June 2012

Walk Organisers: Sue and Peter Creeden Tel: 01455 557888

Meeting Point and Time

Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 9:20am to depart at 9:30am. The start of the walk is from The Coach & Horses, Lubenham at 10:00am.

Directions to the start:

Take the A4304 to Lubenham. The Coach and Horses is on the right. The car park is at the rear of the pub.

Route and Distance:-

The walk is approx 5.5 miles. We head off towards Foxton Locks and then along the canal to Bridge No 57 where we change direction to eventually pass through Marston Trussel and then back to Lubenham.  There are quite a few stiles early on and it could be a bit muddy in places if there has been recent wet weather.

Lunch:

The Coach and Horses, Lubenham. They do a £4.95 single course and a £6.45 two course menu meal deal

May 2012 Walk

The walk organiser was unable to lead the walk due to back problems that occurred 48 hours earlier. He waved off 25 walkers and a dog, with comments like it is easy, just follow the map. From Burbage we went to Aston Flamville and on to Sapcote for a coffee stop, where our walk organiser greeted us relaxing in his own arm-chair!. Later, one of the walker’s said, ‘I have never seen a walk organiser lead from a car and have his own arm-chair’. On our way back we all had a ride on a train around David & Liz White’s garden. Many thanks to David and Liz for such a lovely surprise finish to the walk. 

Roger Watmore, walk leader for the day.

TUESDAY WALKING GROUP

Co-ordinator:

Gordon Jones (Lutterworth U3A)

01455 556192

Date of walk: Tuesday 19th June 2012.

Walk Organiser: Brian Thorp, 01455 209584

Meeting Point: Meet at the Coventry Road recreation ground Car Park.

Meeting Time: Meet by 9.25 to leave at 930.

Route and distance: From the Red Lion Inn at Sapcote, a 5+ mile round through Fosse Meadows using field paths and tracks.

Directions to the Starting Point: From Lutterworth go to the A5 island at Magna Park and turn toward Hinckley on the A5. In Smockington Hollow turn right for Sharnford (B4114). Drive through Sharnford and take the first turn left to Sapcote (Sharnford Road). At the end of Sharnford Road in Sapcote turn left then second left into Church Street, the Red Lion is in this street.

Lunch: At the Red Lion, preorder before setting out.

Return Journey from Lutterworth Mileage: 20 miles

JOINT GOLF GROUP (with Lutterworth U3A)

Co-ordinator (Lutterworth U3A)

Peter Moore

01455 552594

PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE

JOINT GOLF DAY

Lutterworth and Wycliffe U3A:

Next Golf Day;: Hinckley Golf Club on

THURSDAY 28th JUNE 2012

Meet: 12.15 hrs at half way cabin.

All other details as per notice in May Magazine.

New players Gents or Ladies most welcome.

Should you require further info please contact Peter.

And Finally, some more church magazine ‘Bloopers’

for your amusement

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.'

The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'

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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.

Bring your husbands.

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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.

Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.

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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

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Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

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Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir.

They need all the help they can get.

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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church.

So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

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A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?'

Come early and listen to our choir practice.

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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Report on the March Meeting

 

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