In this edition:
Notices
TRIP TO THE NETHERLANDS 9 – 13 May 2024
Bognor u3a is organizing a trip to the Netherlands and Iain Palot, the organizer, has asked whether we have any members who would be interested in going.
You can see the details on the Bognor u3a website, together with Iain’s email address here: Current Affairs (Bognorregisu3a.co.uk)
Anyone for skiing?
There’s no age limit to enjoying a week of fresh air, exercise and good food in the mountains!
A few of us are thinking of booking a ski trip in the spring of 2024 and wondered if any other u3a members would like to join us. Initially this is just to gauge interest and will be followed by a meeting to discuss possibilities.
So if you love the thrill of gliding down snow-covered hills again, please contact Barry Easton using THIS LINK. No commitment at all.
Upcoming Events
Coffee Morning – Tuesday, 7th November, 10am-12noon
Always on the First Tuesday of each month, so please mark your calendars!
Our Coffee Mornings are held in the Bar at the MINERVA THEATRE building, opposite the Chichester Festival Theatre. You can chat with our groups team and learn about current and new offerings, meet old friends and make new ones!
Quiz Night – 14th November, 2023 starting at 7:00pm at the White Swan, Bosham
The White Swan is on the A259 at the Bosham roundabout and there is plenty of parking. The 700 bus from Chichester stops just across the road. Although the 700 back to Chichester stops running before 9.30pm, one of the members will no doubt be happy to give you a lift home.
The cost of dinner is £14.50, not including dessert.
The food choices for the November Quiz are:
Steak and Ale Pie with Mashed Potatoes and Peas
Seafood Gratin with Seasonal Vegetables.
Vegetable Moussaka with Garlic Bread.
The Seafood Gratin and Vegetable Moussaka can be Gluten Free.
Booking opens on Friday 4th November. Payment is required, please, within 48 hours of booking in order to avoid any confusion on the night.
Booking is done here on the website. This payment is non-refundable so if you are unable to attend, please find a replacement.
Monthly Meeting at the Assembly Rooms on North Street – 16th November at 2pm
Our speaker will be Colin Tebbutt. He will recount anecdotes of a Royal Protection Officer.
Colin Tebbutt is our speaker for November 16th. Having been a Royal Marine, he joined the police in 1969 and began a long career as a Royal Protection Officer. He was first a Special Escort for the Royal Family and foreign visitors and he later became a Protection Officer for Princess Alexandra and Princess Anne, amongst several other members of the Royal Family.
He then became a civilian protection officer for Princess Diana and following her death, he was a Personal Protection Advisor for the Duchess of York for a period of 18 years.
In recognition of his outstanding service, he was awarded an MVO – Member of the Victorian Order, by the Queen. Colin will talk about his long career, which will include interesting anecdotal stories. He will answer questions at the end.
Tea and coffee will be served in the Crush Bar at the rear of the Assembly Room from 1:15 to 1:45pm and the meeting starts at 2pm. We are grateful to the team of volunteers who serve the refreshments.
Groups Notices
Beginners Basic Bridge Course (BBB24)
This is a final chance for anyone wishing to learn the Basic Bridge on this short course after Christmas. The course is seriously short of applicants and its viability may depend on those who take this last opportunity to enrol.
The course is designed for real beginners even with no experience. After just ten short weeks you should be able to play proper basic bridge with any of our casual and friendly groups.
This course is structured in a logical sequence so candidates are expected to commit to attending, ideally, every lesson. Students will be accepted in order of application and in multiples of four to create the playing tables essential for practice. True beginners will be preferred to any with previous experience although anyone wishing to refresh their initial learning need not be deterred from applying.
By meeting twice each week there is less time to forget previous lessons and a good result can be achieved in just three months. Morning sessions are chosen as these are by far the best times for teaching and learning and avoid any travel problems associated with the early dusk in the winter. This format has been used successfully on four previous occasions, once even on-line during the lockdown.
With the above in mind, the current proposal is to hold the course at Donnington Parish Hall for two sessions per week on Monday (10-12) and Wednesday (10-12) for ten weeks. This would probably start on 22 January 2024 and run until 5 April 2024.
To cover the cost of hiring the Hall there will be an advanced charge of £56.25 each based on 8 students (or less for 12.). Four new applicants, who can be available on the above dates, are required to make up the minimum 8 students.
Members will not be committed in any way by their initial application and will receive full details by email.
Please apply through the Groups Team by following THIS LINK .
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CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS FOR BEGINNERS
We are thinking of running an 8 week course that will teach the rudiments of solving cryptic crosswords to complete beginners. It will run on Wednesdays, from 17th January to 6th March from 10:00 to 12:00. It will give you the skills you need to tackle basic cryptic crosswords and enable you to join the Crosswording for Fun Group, which also runs on Wednesday mornings.
The venue will be chosen to accommodate the number in the group and a charge will be made to cover room hire and photocopying. You should aim to commit to the full course, if at all possible. If you are interested in joining the course, please contact us via THIS LINK.
BEGINNERS’ FRENCH
A new member with many years’ experience in teaching French in schools and Higher Education has very kindly volunteered to run a Beginners’ French Group. This is designed for those with no knowledge of the language and who would like to learn in a fairly structured way.
If you are interested please come to the Coffee Morning on Tuesday 7 th November at 10.00 to meet the leader and help decide on the way it might operate. If you cannot manage that date, please contact us via THIS LINK to register your interest and we can then ensure you are included in any subsequent communications.
Family History Group
Are you interested in starting to explore your family history?
We are hoping to repeat our successful course for beginners, starting in early February. It will run in Chichester, for 6-8 sessions, on the first Monday of the month. You will need to attend the majority of sessions to get the maximum benefit.
It will be led by a u3a member with 25 years of experience of FH research. The presentations and discussions are designed for those who are starting to research their FH and would like some guidance on how to do this in a structured manner. Support documentation will be available. Examples and topics will mainly be England based.
There are a limited number of spaces available. If you are interested please come to a break-out meeting at 10:00 at the the Coffee Morning on 7th Nov at the Minerva, or contact us via THIS LINK.
Proposed Flower Arranging Group
We all enjoy the pleasure that flowers bring both indoors and outdoors, informally, and at celebrations. Have you ever wished that you could arrange them in a more imaginative and professional way? If so, you may be interested in sharing ideas with like-minded people at a new group, using video demonstrations for inspiration, and looking at how beautiful displays can be created at little cost using a few blooms and foliage and greenery from gardens and the countryside. For more information please contact us via THIS LINK and we will add your address to the group’s email list.
Proposed Sewing Group
Are you interested in sewing?
Would you like to make a patchwork quilt, recycle some preloved textiles, add some decorative motifs to an existing garment or just have some company while you sew? If you have answered “yes” to any of the above, then our new group “Thread” is for you.
Please come to the Coffee Morning on 7th November at 10.00 and join in the discussion at a breakout meeting. If you cannot manage that date, please contact us via THIS LINK and we will ensure that your name is on the list of interested parties.
Groups News
Climate Change Group: Renewable Energy in the Home
Talk at the next meeting of the Climate Change Group (CCG) – 14.00. hrs, 6th Dec., Friends Quaker House, Priory Rd., Chichester
Renewable Energy in the Home about my experiences with a heat pump, solar panels and battery.
And Renewable energy scenarios for the Chichester Area” by Tom Broughton.
The drop in the price of renewable energy and efficiency is such that it now costs the same to destroy the climate or save it.”Tom Broughton is a director of Solesco a community energy company and has many years experience in the installation of both home and industrial solar energy projects in the region.
Jan Davis is a retired engineer and has worked 30 years in Norway on Oil and gas industry projects.
Both Tom and Jan are passionate about influencing the progress to reduce emissions to allow our grandchildren to thrive on our planet.
Practical Science Group
It has been an exciting autumn for us in the field of chemistry . Our first session looked at the importance of long chains of identical molecules known as polymers.
In the natural world plants make glucose units through photosynthesis which are then linked together to form cellulose which make up the bulk of natural fibre in plants and trees alternatively storage compounds can be made up usually in the form of starches that are found in cereals ,potatoes and flour. Even our genetic material is a polymer made up of amino acid in our DNA. In contrast our society relies on synthetic polymers to make up the fabric of our society . These building blocks are usually derived from oil products that make our modern plastics.
We had great fun attempting to make our own version of nylon by floating sebacoyl chloride in hexane on a layer aqueous diaminohexane. Star chemist Fiona Jackman drew out a seemingly endless thread of nylon from the beaker. (see picture )We look forward to seeing a croched scarf made out of nylon this Christmas.
In October the group took on the challenge of assaying aspirin by titration in the chemistry laboratories of Chichester college under the watchful eye of Gill Yates the Chemistry teacher. The experiment was devised by Margaret Russell for the Open university chemistry course .
In December the group will be looking at the history and uses of nitrocellulose whilst munching their mince pies and sipping mulled wine
National u3a & Regional Events
National u3a
Here are the Third Age Trust zoom talks currently listed for the next month or so:
Tuesday, 31st October at 15:30 (monthly) – Laughter Yoga with Maggie
Wednesday, 1st November at 10:00 – Mindfulness & Meditation (weekly)
Tuesday, 7th November at 10:00 – Into the mind of van Gogh Pt 3
Wednesday, 8th November at 10:00 (monthly) – Judith’s Laughter Yoga
Thursday, 9th November at 14:00 – Sir Thomas Lipton (Cabin Boy to Tea Tycoon)
Friday, 10th November at 10:00 – Curious History of Labyrinths and Mazes
Monday, 13th November at 10:00 – Exploring World Faiths – Interfaith
Tuesday, 14th November at 10:00 – Mathematical Games – Winning Strategies
Wednesday, 15th November at 14:00 – Family History
Thursday, 16th November at 10:00 – Mindfulness & Meditation (monthly)
Thursday, 16th November at 14:00 – Online Resources for Mathematics
Tuesday 28th November at 15:30 – Laughter Yoga with Maggie
Wednesday, 29th November at 10:00 – Staying Safe Online (repeat)
Tuesday, 5th December at 10:00 – Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners (first of 6 sessions at irregular intervals ending in January) N.B. Booking closes Friday, 17th November.
Local Events
Tuesday Talks at the WSRO
Unusually, there are two talks this November:
Tuesday,14th November at 19:00 West Sussex Unwrapped Live: the rise of Crawley New Town. Online only (Zoom) free.
Tuesday, 28th November at 19:00 Chichester in Colour, 1973. Attend in person for £8, or £5 via Zoom.
There are Wednesday Coffee Time Workshops for those interested in Family History.
Oxfam Talks 23/24
These talks take place at the Oxfam shop, 36, East Street, Chichester, and are arranged by Chichester University. They all run 17:30 -18:00 on a Wednesday evening, usually the first Wednesday in the month, but not the first one., They cost £5 (tickets can be bought in the shop – in advance, I assume). starting 8th November. The talks so far announced (below) are on literary topics.
Wednesday, 8th November: Exploring John Donne
Wednesday, 6th December: Dickens at Christmas
Wednesday,7th February: Revisiting Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’
Wednesday, 6th March: Writers of Exile: Kafka, Murdoch, Nabokov
Wednesday, 3rd April: Poetry Reading
Wednesday, 1st May: Finding Stories in Things: A Creative Writing Workshop.
Wednesday, 5th June: What are the Five Best Books in this Shop?
Wednesday, 3rd July: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
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