September 2011
Poetry Group (July meeting)
The July topic was children and there was a selection of poems by children, about
children and some written for them. They included The Pied Piper of Hamelin by
Robert Browning, The Lion and Albert by Marriott Edgar and poems from authors
such as Spike Milligan, Hilaire Belloc, John Hegley, Allan Ahlberg and Pam Ayres.
Also included was a very profound and moving poem by 16 year old Lee Botham
written about apartheid when Nelson Mandela was freed at the beginning of 1990s.
Other poems were read too, 3 of which had been written for one of the members
and her brother by their mother in the 1950s.
Lively Discussion group
What makes a celebrity?
We had 2 different dictionary definitions of celebrity one from 2001 and the other
from the 1600s. They were remarkably similar - in the 1600s ‘a person much
spoken about’ and now ‘a famous person’ were the definitions. Everyone felt that
today’s manufactured celebrities who became known to many through publicists and
gossip magazines where ‘air heads and bimbos’. True celebrities are those who
have contributed something to society. Historic examples included Emmeline and
Sylvia Pankhurst, Dr Christian Barnard, Ghandi, Marie Curie, Dr Johnson, Samuel
Pepys, Brunel, Sir Isaac Newton and Alexander the Great. More up-to-date famous
people thought to be celebrities are Elvis, Stirling Moss, David Beckham, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, Sir David Attenborough, Bill Gates, Aung San Suu Kyi, Alice Hawkins
(Leicester suffragette) and Sir Bob Geldof.
Leadership, sporting prowess, artistic and musical skill, worthiness and
achievement were felt to be essential to true celebrity. The present culture
undermines the term and cheapens it. Today’s celebrities are famous for being
famous and don’t seem to have any obvious talent. The group members had been
given extracts from celebrity magazines and found that they didn’t know many of
those featured. Is it immaturity which makes people want to find out what others
are doing? ‘The Only Way is Essex’ and ‘Made in Chelsea’ are TV examples of this
lack of substance. It is very much hoped that this phenomenon which has been
apparent for about a decade will pass. However the industry which has grown up
around it featuring Max Clifford, Simon Cowell and others, and many magazines
make this unlikely since it’s such a lucrative source of income for all concerned. It
remains to be seen whether the phone hacking scandal will have any lasting effect.
We’ve all heard of Corrie and now we know that TOWIE is the ‘Essex’ programme –
so unexpectedly we did learnt something
Scrabble
Another lovely morning with one player missing a 7 letter word which would have
earned her 50 points. If it’s any consolation I’d have missed it too! Where are the
male players that we really need?
Canasta 1
This group has decided that they’d like to try a different Canasta so I have arranged
to play Brazilian Canasta on the third Wednesday in the month 10 am – Noon. The
Wednesday group will be known as Canasta 3 and will start on 19th October. The
Camasta 1 group will continue to play on the 1st Friday 10 am – Noon.
1st WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP
5th October 2011 - Walk Organiser Reg Tattersall
Tel: 01455 209126
Meeting Point and Time: -Lutterworth Recreation Ground car park at 9.25am to
leave at 9.30am.
Directions to the Starting Point: From Lutterworth to Gilmorton, then right at The
Crown, first left and to Peatling Parva. In Peatling turn left and then immediately
right up the hill to The Shires pub which is on the right hand side. Park at the far
end of the car park.
Route and distance: The walk starts at 10:00 am, is approx. 5.7 miles, on a
mixture of field paths, farm lanes, roads and bridle ways and includes a small part
of the Leicestershire Round. The walk goes from the Shires to Bruntingthorpe and
then towards Arnesby, Peatling Magna and returning on a circular route back to The
Shires for lunch, where a wide variety of meals at a range of prices are available.
August Walk
25 members set off from Dadlington and walked through Stoke Golding and on
across open fields offering good views. We returned along the Ashby Canal
towpath. It was a hot day and we were glad to see the Dog and Hedgehog Inn at
the end of our walk where we could quench our thirst. We had a good quality meal
spoiled only by a rather long wait to be served.
George Robertson.
Tuesday Walk
Date of walk: Tuesday 20th September 2011.
Walk Organiser: Graham Morgan
Meeting Point: Meet at the Coventry Road car park by the Leisure Centre.
Meeting Time: Meet by 9.25 to leave at 9.30.
Route and distance: About 6 miles of field paths and track.
Directions to the Starting Point: Lutterworth to the A5 northwest and about a mile
after High Cross take the B4114 right to Sharnford. The Countryman pub is in the
village centre on the right and the car park is across the road.
Lunch: Lunch will be at the Countryman.
Return Journey from Lutterworth Mileage: 9 miles
SEPTEMBER JOINT GOLF DAY
URGENT :- CHANGE OF DATE :- PLEASE NOTE ! ! ! !
The next Golf Day will be at Lutterworth Golf Club on Monday 26th September 2011,
NOT 5th SEPTEMBER as previously arranged.
Usual format.
New players welcome including Ladies.At least 1 Lady Golfer would help as 1 other
Lady Golfer wishes to play.
To book your place or for further datails, please contact Peter Moore.
Tel :- 01455 552594 or e-mail :- peter79moore@gmail.com
JOINT GOLF DAY - U3A Lutterworth and Wycliffe
Date :- Friday 4th November 2011.
U3A Golf. End of Season Away Day.
Venue :- Sandwell Park Golf Club
West Bromwich. B71 4JJ.
Magnificent,Top Quality Championship Course.
Bacon roll/coffee/tea upon arrival.
18 Holes Golf
Hot Lunch.(Puddings £2.50 extra)
Prizes :- 1st, 2nd and 3rd and Nearest the Pin.
Total cost :- £34.00p per person all inclusive.
Please invite Guests,they will be most welcome and will thank you.
The full itinerary and application form are now available.For details
Tel :- 01455 552594 or e-mail :- peter79moore@gmail.com
or collect forms at Lutterworth Golf Club on 26th September.
Forms must be completed as Full Payment is required when booking.
Please note I am away from October 1st and return on October 15th.
Bridge
This month we have had two good sessions. In one, a slam was made but not bid,
we seem to still be falling into this trap. At our last session, we had five players so
we all enjoyed the musical chairs, but without the musical accompaniment.
Quiz Group
We had a small but select band of eleven members for our meeting this month.
The question setters were Christine and Dot. As ever the questions stretched our
brains and taught us something new.
Worryingly some of the questions were on the highway code. We were all rather
glad we do not have to do the written exam as they do today to pass the driving
test!
FOURTH WEDNESDAY WALKING GROUP
WEDNESDAY 28th September 2011
Walk Organisers Christine Sidey Tel: 282907 & Paula Erett Tel: 550413
Meeting Point and Time: -Lutterworth Recreation Ground Car Park at 9.25am to
leave at 9.30am
Directions to the Start: -Towards Blaby on A426 to Dunton Bassett crossroads
(traffic lights). Turn left to Broughton Astley and follow road into Broughton. Turn
left at lights on Station Road. Just before church turn left into White Horse (2 for 1)
Car Park. Please park on far side nearest the church. Toilets available. Order lunch,
2 main course meals for price of one.
The walk is approx 6 miles along fields, foot paths, bridleways and some road
walking. There are a few stiles at the beginning of the walk.
August Walk
18 walkers and 4 dogs strode off from the Blue Bell Inn, Stoney Stanton, on a fine
sunny morning for a walk which provided a mixture of residential, industrial and
rural vistas. A break was taken looking over the spectacularly deep workings of
Croft Quarry. Shortly after the break the main group had to wait whilst a small
rearguard group, who had managed to go astray, were rounded up. On the return to
the pub the group enjoyed a pleasant lunch.
Sue and Peter Creeden
Our August outing was a most interesting one. On a beautiful sunny morning we
met up with experts from Stanford Ringing Group at Stanford reservoir. What
followed was both fascinating and informative as small birds caught in nets that
morning were ringed by Mick and John who have such a wealth of knowledge that
they are able to determine the age, sex and other interesting information from
their anatomy. We were all invited to handle the birds before letting them fly back
into the wild and once we were shown the correct way to hold a bird, it was a
thrilling experience to take part in this, especially as we handled quite a few
different birds, including whitethroats, a lesser whitethroat, and warblers. We shall
definitely be arranging another session with the ringing group in the near future.
Our September outing will be on Friday, when we hope to visit Whisby Nature Park
Members of the Bird Watching Group at their visit to Stanford
Reservoir where they helped with ringing birds
A picture of a White throat being ringed
French
This month Christine kindly provided us with several sets of quiz questions and word
searches. These proved to be instructive and entertaining and we all learned some
new words and expressions.
The next meeting is on 22 September when we plan to watch ”Jean de Florette” –
another film by Marcel Pagnol – at Pearl and Tony’s house.
Book Chat
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield was a novel read with enthusiasm by some of
the group, whilst others felt it was too long and lacked continuity. It was said to be
based on Laura Bush, her early life and her elevation to First Lady as the wife of
President George W Bush.It was written from the standpoint of Alice who marries
Charlie Blackwell who ends up being elected President of the USA. It was difficult to
know what was real and what was fiction. So was it recent history or just a very
long disjointed novel? Whatever it was one sentence stuck in my mind, this was a
thought expressed by Alice (Laura ?) whilst travelling in a motorcade passing
pedestrians in the street. " All I did was marry him. You are the ones who gave him
the power" I wonder if all First Ladies think that?
Photography
The next meeting will be September 23rd when our subject will be Flowers.
Card/Board Games
Owing to the majority of our group going away on holiday during September, we
have cancelled all sessions until Monday October 3rd when we will meet at Cynthia’s
house.
August Monthly Meeting
Pub Lunches
October pub lunches are on 4th and 5th at Ullesthorpe Court – a new venue for us to
explore. 12 for 12.30
Poetry Group
Angela is out of hospital, but Stuart feels that they’re not ready to host the group in
September, so the next meeting at 2.30pm on 22nd September will be at Dot’s
house, 3 Mount View, Dunton Bassett (opposite the school). The topic is places.
Poetry Group August 25th 2011
Our subject was animals and it was surprising how many poets have written about
them. Humorous poems by John Betjeman and Pam Ayres and others were much
enjoyed. ‘The Mongrel’ by Roger McGough, one of the Liverpool poets usually
associated with amusing poetry, was uncharacteristically sad. Poems from childhood
and teaching experience were heard with nostalgia. Several group members have a
copy of ‘Best-Loved Poems’ Edited by Neil Philip and, as with other topics, this
book proved very useful. ‘Swallows’ by Owen Sheers, a poet new to the group, was
enjoyed by all. Owen Sheers presented A Poet’s Guide to Britain on BBC4 on Bank
Holiday Monday.
Monthly report
For the August Wycliffe U3A monthly meeting, Steven George told us about his
flying career. It all started when he was 17 and progressed from there to flying
with the RAF all around the world including a helicopter rescue training exercise in
Holyhead harbour. What Steven thought was rain was in fact the sea itself as he
was too close to the surface. From there, he flew in Aden, the East German border
and Northern Ireland where he had a specific request from none other than Margaret
Thatcher to fly Willie Whitelaw. From there to an instructor at Cranwell before
leaving the RAF to become a commercial pilot, again flying all over the world as you
can well imagine. I addition to flying commercial planes, Steven also volunteered
to do some exciting flying in Zaire among the cannibal tribal areas.
All together, an interesting and amusing recollection.
Pause for thought…. Inner Peace
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your trouble,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take the criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without alcohol,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs….
Then you are probably the family dog!!
