September's Speaker
As the UK’s largest conservation charity, The Woodland Trust is actively working around the UK to create woodland, restore damaged woodland and protect woodland from ever more threats facing this precious ecosystem.
Discussing the objectives and current activities towards this task is Bruni Frampton, an active volunteer with The Woodland Trust. You will hear about country wide initiatives as well as a newly acquired wood in Devon, Yonder Oak Wood near Exmouth and how it is being managed to create a space that benefits those living around it – both human and animal.
News from the Interest Groups
Theatre, Cinema & Music
Cullompton’s Festival of Culture was held recently and a group of us attended a couple of events? The first was Four Act Plays four short plays from drama to comedy all well-acted and enjoyable by the Next Generation Theatre Company.
The second was Dramaarmarda by the Earth Opera Company. this was different from anything we had seen before, the story of the Spanish Armada told through music and song quite brilliant. We were then treated to a singalong with the Cullompton Singers and everyone went home happy.
5 of us travelled down to Plymouth and after an enjoyable lunch we went to the matinee performance of the Devil Wears Prada. Fabulous scenery and over the top costumes made this a feast for the eyes. A talented cast made dance numbers awesome everything about this musical was fun and entertaining highly recommended.
Members of the Theatre Group were out again when we went to see Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance. It was thrilling to watch and mind blowing at the skill of the performers filled with folk music vocal displays fiddlers and dancers. The stage sized video projection provided an amazing backdrop with a recorded act of three Michael Flatleys. Highly recommended
A couple of us went to see the new musical An Officer and a Gentleman in Torquay. It was an amazing show lots of fabulous songs we could all sing along with. We had a lunch in Pierre’s on the sea front. Anything live is always a treat. Watching an excellent Genesis tribute band and a brilliant look alike singing the great songs of Phil Coll
Genealogy
We continue our work on the various approaches to researching ancestors before the advent of the first modern census in 1841; and in some cases, possibly back to the Doomsday Survey of 1086.
Quilting
Our last meeting, before the summer break, was in July.
As most of the quilts are now finished, the last of our summer sessions was spent doing a 3-hour quilting project. This project was kindly organised and instructed by one of the members. Those of us who made the pot stand/coaster enjoyed it, but it was always going to take us less experienced members a little more than 3 hours!
You can see some of the quilters work at the next U3A monthly meeting/exhibition in September.
Art in Action
We have been busy as usual, we enjoyed the challenge of a still life, Bread in a Basket. See results below plus other paintings that we have produced this month. In August we will be visiting the Tiverton Art Society Art Exhibition. It's all good fun.
Photography
We met at Greta's where we were met with homemade shortbread and coffee. I can recommend this as the way to start any meeting.
Our photographic challenge this month was to take pictures of a 'panoramic countryside'. It was at this point that a few of us discovered that our cameras are quite old and do not have a panoramic function. It comes as quite a shock to discover that you thought your camera was fairly new as you bought it just before the millennium and then realise that was twenty years ago! Our winner this month was Trisha Luxton who captured the countryside we know so well in perfect focus. Well done, Trisha.
Our instant challenge was to photograph different products to "advertise" them. So many of the images are hilarious, but not publishable! Photographers have great imaginations and quite a dark sense of humour. I will just mention that one of the products was a Covid test and leave it to your imagination.
Our next get together is on Monday September 30th at 11:00 at Trishas house.
Image 1 Trishas winning photograph
Image 2 Trisha and award
Image 3 Trisha and Greta advertising a didgeridoo and a handy noise deterrent!
Walkers
Clatworthy Reservoir Thursday 18th July 2024
After worrying about getting there or not, finding the location, and venturing through flooded puddles, fifteen of us set off in warm sunshine to start the counter clockwise walk around the reservoir, therefore keeping the water to our left. One member took the wrong turning to the fishing club area and settled down to do some painting. Having crossed the dam, the first incline led us to the bat hotel and the old Iron Age hill fort, where we had a 'banana break'. Then a very pleasant perambulation around the undulating well-cared-for grassy pathway. It was noted how low the water level was.
An early lunch was taken at a picnic table in dappled sunshine with a lovely view of the water. Various fishermen in boats and on the shore were busy. We saw ducks, cormorants, little grebe, Canada geese, the odd frog, lots of little brown butterflies and at least one bumblebee. We met up with the painter towards the end and were able to admire her handiwork. The 5.1 miles (8 km) passed very pleasantly. The sun and warmth remained throughout this very enjoyable walk.
August 15th Walk to Culmstock Beacon
We met at 10.30am in Culmstock for the steady climb up to the Beacon for its beautiful views followed by a picnic beside the Culm on our return to the village.
Quizzers
This month’s quiz was prepared by Liz and Gail who provided 6 excellent rounds for the four participating teams, including The Olympics, Duets; during which we were played a short burst of a song and had to name the two singers, Travel & Geography, World of Art, Fictional Towns/Places and a round that required the teams to identify ten Contronyms from a selection of clues (for those like me who had not come across this term before this is a word with opposite meanings, for example - to cover something with fine particles or to make something clean the Contronym would be ‘Dust’) A very entertaining morning, with the theme for team names of the Olympics, it was the Good Sports in first place closely followed by Medals Galore, Circle of Gold and Decathlon.
Information, Technology & Computer Group
MODERN TECHNOLOGY – BEWILDERING, CONFUSING OR JUST FRUSTRATING
Are you confident in your use of the latest technology?
D o you know when to use your left or right mouse buttons?
Can you create folders, organise your photos and drag and drop files?
Does it fill you with dread and confusion?
Do you know how to store files in the ‘cloud’?
Can you make phone calls or video calls on your phone – for free?
O r would you just like to know how to do things better?
Do you know how to use ‘shortcuts?
Does your desktop have lots of unnecessary icons?
If you answered “YES” or “MAYBE” to any of the above questions, you are not alone.
In fact, you are probably in the majority.
Many people feel the same about the constantly changing world of today’s technology. Regrettably, it is becoming more and more part of daily life. How many times do we hear ‘apply online’ or ‘check-out the details on our webpage’ or even ‘only available online’.
--- FEAR NOT! ---
From Wednesday 18 September to Wednesday 4 December, the ITCG will run a ‘Back to Basics’ course to help you overcome some of these challenges. The aim will be to help you feel more at home with computers and smart phones, know how to get the best out of them and feel safe when using them.
Petanque
Our active members continue to gather weekly, in the relaxing environs of the Walronds House gardens, where much fun and social interaction is enjoyed, whilst continuing to hone our accuracy and boule control skills. We have been pleased to welcome some new players, visitors from the Tiverton u3a, in recent weeks.
Strollers 2
Eight of us enjoyed a walk along the Tiverton canal and through fields before returning to The Globe in Sampford Peverell for coffee.
Behind The Scenes - Dingles Fairground Museum visit.
A group of enthusiastic U3A members set off for a day out in July. The weather remained fine as we arrived at Roadford Lake for refreshments before boarding the coach again to complete our journey to Dingles Fairground Museum.
None of us knew what to expect, many of us were taken by surprise by the long-forgotten memories hidden deep inside of the fairs we had visited in our youth. The opportunity to jump on rides such as the Waltzer, Dodgems &, Ghost Train proved too much to resist, as there were no ques to navigate. The slot machines were also an irresistible draw to many of us, none of us made a fortune or lost one either!
Before we left a volunteer arranged for the organ to play for us. The imposing skilfully carved, meticulously painted machine played a melody used in the past to drown out the noises of the fairground engines. This provided a fitting end to the day as on the final note of the organ, we all boarded the coach for a leisurely drive home. Many memories of the past were shared amongst us and new memories made. Ken Wood joined us on the trip, his memories of the 'Onion Fair' make interesting reading he has kindly agreed to share with us all.
Extract from “The Autobiography of a Street Kid from Aston in Birmingham”
Ken Wood 1938 onwards
THE Pat Collins Onion Fair 1947 to 1954
When you were a kid brought up in Aston in the Forties, entertainment was almost non-existent.
We had ‘the flicks’ once a week; there were various radio programmes to be listened to, we would all huddle together in the dark in front of the fire with its flickering red, yellow and blue flames listening to The Man in Black and Dick Barton Special Agent, and that was it, so in reality there wasn’t much outside entertainment, as there is today.
But once a year every autumn the Onion Fair came to Brum and not only to Brum but to Aston, the district where I lived.
Back then, Aston covered a very large area so that you could walk miles and still be in the same district, and getting to the Onion Fair from Wainwright Street was a good walk when you were a little nipper. It was at least a couple of miles from our house. As you came down Park Lane and into Church Road you could hear the roar and noise of the fair as you walked down the hill, and the lights would be reflected back off the clouds overhead. Going onto the fairground proper, your nose would be assailed by the many smells that a fair has. You could smell the candyfloss, the roast spuds, the red-hot chestnuts, the onions, and the smell of diesel exhausts and hiss of steam engines would be all around you as you walked around this Disney World of its day.
There were lots of rides to have a go on if you had the dough, from The Waltzers, The Dodgems, The Ghost Train, The big wheel, The Caterpillar and loads of others to suit all ages. For us kids, whose only mode of transport had been the tram, the bus or a four-wheeled Kart or a sit up and beg bike, the Dodgems were a must. You rode these electric driven vehicles at your own risk, because although there were arrows pointing which way round you had to go, there was many a young Astonite who wanted to go his way, thus causing mayhem to oncoming traffic. These incidents were quickly jumped on, as were the cars by the tough-looking fair hands, the words “steer it the right way or off you get” generally being enough to put the lads back on track. Ten minutes on this blue-sparked, teeth-rattling, burnt rubber-smelling, body-shaking car was sufficient enough for most kids, and you went away wobbly-legged but feeling great.
The Big Wheel was another must. You got into the open seats no seat belts then and were then transported to the top of the wheel as it slowly filled up. When you got to the top, you had a view of all the fairground and the surrounding area, and the smoke and steam and wonderful smells would be rising up to meet you and you could see all of the rides and shows thereabouts. If there were girls in the seat with you, we would rock it backwards and forwards making them scream their heads off.
The coconut shy was a real challenge. You had to have a go to see if you could knock the seemingly concrete-filled coconuts off their stands. You were given three wooden balls to try to achieve the impossible, but it didn’t seem to matter how hard you hit these things, they never budged an inch. If you did ever knock one off its stand it became a real prize.
And talking about prizes, you could win anything down the fair, as long as it was a goldfish or a plaster of Paris ornament. The goldfish could last ages, even if you only fed it bits of bread. Mind, it must have been a boring time for it just going around in circles. The plaster of Paris ornaments were great for chalking out hopscotch games. Rifles with bent “sights”, concrete coconuts, and Hoopla rings that never seemed big enough to go over the prizes, blunt darts that wouldn’t stick to the cards. Test your strength with the hammer, hitting a lever that was supposed to send a block of steel, up a tower with a bell at the top. All I can say is if you could ring that bell you must have been Superman in disguise.
The classic Wall of Death was another not to be missed show. You went in there half in the hopes that the rider would fall (how was it possible to stay stuck to a wall?) but it never seemed to happen, and if you got too engrossed and put your hand into the riding area there was a danger of your fingers being flattened by the manic rider.
Avoid the Waltzers if you had a belly full of candyfloss, roast spuds, and fizzy drinks, because these gravity-defying rides would be sent round at a head dizzying rate and they were spun even faster by the fairground attendants – so watch out for flying vomit!
The Caterpillar was another good ride, it went round at high speed up and down some slopes and during the ride a cover would come over, as a teenager this was great if you were on with a girl, there was screams and shouts and when the cover lifted you always had a big naughty grin on your face.
But the highlight of the night for me would be the Ghost Train. This train would be made to look like an old Western engine from America. You would all get into it trying to look brave and when all the seats were taken the train took off through the swing doors painted like a skull, or a devil’s mouth.
Suddenly from the light of the fairground you would be plunged into what seemed like absolute darkness, the black being so thick you could almost feel it; the wails of fear that arose at this moment would have filled the Devil with delight. Unspeakable things would touch you in the dark, faces would appear inches away from yours, skeleton hands would try to grab you, bats would try to get into your hair, and sadistic fair hands hidden in the dark would grab your arms or legs or touch your face as you went hysterically screaming past.
Then just as quick as it started, you would be out into the bright lights again trying to look tough. But it was a different matter if you were caught with your face buried in your coat or you were under the seat. Was there ever a better ride? It was great when you were a teenager going in with the girls, particularly when they were panicking and grabbed hold of you
Then home in the dark with ears that still rang to the loud music, eyes that stung with the smoke and nostrils filled with the smells of candyfloss and spuds. Poor, tired, but at that moment in time the happiest kids in the world.
History
In June we braved an afternoon of heavy rain for a Red Coat Tour entitled Churches, cemeteries and catacomb. As usual our guide was excellent and we learnt many new facts about Exeter's past. The highlight was the visit to the catacomb.
In July we visited Al La Ronde a fascinating and unusual National Trust property near Exmouth and in August we were hosted by Halberton History Group for an introductory talk on Halberton in earlier centuries followed by a walk around the village taking in the many historical sites.
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