Our lead photo shows Antony Wood, Windsor u3a member, presenting his views on three historical figures.
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Monthly Speaker Meetings
Gardeners Hall, 213 St Leonard’s Road, Windsor, SL4 3DR
on 2nd Wednesday of each month, 2-00pm to 4-00pm.
Wednesday, 13th November: Just after Halloween, Sarah Slater, Blue Badge Guide based at Hampton Court returns to tell us some ‘Ghostly Tales’, stories of hauntings at Hampton Court Palace.
Wednesday, 11th December: “An Afternoon of Games, Quizzing, Singing and Dancing” See below for more details.
If you attended the October Monthly Speaker Meeting, you would have noticed two new initiatives. We have introduced two new channels of communication. One of these is a rolling projection of slides reminding members of past highlights in the activities of our groups and advertising activities planned for coming months. If any groups have information to share in this way, please contact committee member, Mo Salter at u3agroups@windsoru3a.org.uk
Appointing speakers for our monthly meetings is a time-consuming task and the likely appeal of potential speakers to audiences of our members is gauged by personal recommendations or from a list of recommendations issued by the Thames Valley Network of u3as. Popular speakers need to be booked a year (sometimes two years) in advance. Inevitably, not all speakers appeal to all members! Your committee have decided to monitor audience response to the speakers addressing Monthly Meetings. Please fill in and hand in the report slips given to you at the registration desk, so that we can do this effectively.
Last month, our trial survey indicated that the audience of members attending the meeting very much appreciated the knowledge and humour with which fellow member, Antony Wood presented his views on three historical characters. Thank you, Antony.
Events and Outings
- Tuesday, 26th November: Live Jazz Concert with Gambit Jazz Men at Datchet Village Hall.
- Friday, 29th November: NT Outings group visit to Stourhead House, Gardens and Christmas Lights Trail. Only waiting list places are available.
- Wednesday, 11th December: “An Afternoon of Games, Quizzing, Singing and Dancing”, booking required, £5 pp.
An Afternoon of Games, Quizzing, Singing, Dancing and Refreshment
2-00pm – 4.30pm Wednesday, 11th December 2024
Gardeners’ Hall, St Leonard’s Road, SL4 3DR
£5-00 pp
Numbers are limited for this event. Booking is essential.
Pay by credit card at the November monthly meeting.
After 13th November, you may place a booking
with Jackie Wiggins by email newsletters@windsoru3a.org.uk
and pay by credit/debit card on the door at the event.
Booking is essential. Turning up on the day without a booking is not an option
Interest Group News
Badminton
The badminton group now meets at 2-00pm regularly every Thursday at the Windsor Leisure Centre. We play relaxed games of mixed doubles for an hour rotating players so all get a chance to play and rest. New members will find us to be a friendly welcoming group and all we ask is for players to have the ability to keep a rally going. You do not need to be of a high standard to join us. This means that anyone who has played a racket sport like tennis or squash is likely to pick the game up easily. There is no reason complete beginners cannot start playing as long as they are keen to learn and undertake some structured coaching. If anyone would like to find out more, please contact Philip Ross
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Chess
The Chess Group now meets at 10:30 every Monday (apart from Bank Holidays) at The Bridge Cafe in Datchet. Please contact David Oldcorn if you would like to know more
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Explore London 1
In October Mary led us on a visit to Sunbury Walled Garden. Despite all the recent rain and bad forecast, we enjoyed a dry and at times quite sunny day. The garden was very colourful, and the tapestry gallery was also interesting, displaying beautiful needlework alongside intricate botanical drawings and paintings. We also had the opportunity to visit the grade 2 listed St. Mary’s church which has a stunning interior.
Explore London 2
A group of 15 went on a ‘City Wander’ in October, starting from Liverpool Street station and walking along Bishopsgate to take the lift up to The Lookout, which has panoramic views of the city, 50 stories up – and it is free!
Before making our way onto Cornhill and into St Michael’s church Cornhill, (one of the many very ancient city churches), we stopped for a coffee in the marvellous Leadenhall Market, which is built on the site of the east part of the 2nd century Roman forum. The current elegant structure dates from 1889 and was built by Sir Horace Jones in cast iron and stone. From there we noted the gold Gresham Grasshopper, which is an emblem of the family Crest of the influential Gresham family of merchants and then marvelled at the elegant Royal Exchange and the Bank of England buildings. Heading down Walbrook to Canon Hill station, we passed The Mansion House and 1 Poultry, a very unusual building that looks like a ship.
We made our way to Laurence Pountney Hill to view the two remaining merchants’ houses, which date back to 1703. These are considered to be the finest examples of these left in the City and are close to our lunch stop at The Olde Wine Shades. The Shades was a popular name for drinking dens in the 18th century, not for their shady clientele! We crossed Upper Thames Street to head down to the river, passing Fishmongers Hall, highly decorated of course with fish. We all admired from a distance The Monument in Pudding Lane, but decided the walk up all those stone steps would be too much! After heading towards Tower Bridge and The Tower of London, we turned up hill to make our way into All Hallows by the Tower. This is the oldest church in the City and in the crypt, you can appreciate a Roman floor by the entrance, marvel at the Saxon arch and appreciate the font cover, crafted from lime wood. The guide there told us about the sword rests, which are unique to City of London churches.
Finally, we walked up Mincing Lane (the name has nothing to do with mince or pies but relates to myncheus – nuns – of Saint Helen’s Bishopsgate) to view Minster Court, a blend of gothic and art deco, which is nicknamed Dracula’s Castle. It is also where, in the film 101 Dalmatians, Cruella Deville resided.
Our last stop was in St Olave’s Church, where Samuel Pepys is buried. A wooden church stood here in the 11th century and was replaced by a stone building in the 13th century. The current church was built in 1450, but the 13th century crypt remains. The building was restored in the 1950s after Blitz damage.
We were lucky with the weather – a dry day – we covered quite a distance! Our wander was packed full of history, at every turn. Maggie Reeve
See more photos here.
Flower Arranging
Here are our very varied flower arrangements based on a wire hoop which members achieved at our first workshop in September and the Pumpkin Heads we made in October. We are a small group and our expertise and experience are very varied. We welcome members of all levels to our group and workshops. The next meeting will be on January 23rd at The Café Studio at All Saints’ Church, Dedworth SL4 4JW. More details will be issued in the December newsletter.
Please contact Mo Salter with any questions.
Logged in members can see contact details.
Gardening 1
The Gardening group will meet for a pre-Christmas Cream Tea at 2-00pm at Oaktree Nursery, Bracknell Road, Warfield, RG42 6LH. The cost is yet to be confirmed. Please confirm if you intend joining the group as the café requires our numbers.
Logged in members can see contact details.
Jazz at The Hope
Please come and meet us at The Hope pub in Alma Road on Friday, 8th November between 10-30am and 12-30pm. Louden will present a programme of jazz music for us to enjoy. This venue provides a congenial jazz club atmosphere, ideal for sitting back and listening to good music with fellow u3a members, with a drink in your hand – tea, coffee, wine and beer are all available at the bar.
Please contact Pauline Thompson with any queries.
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Local History – A Royal Christmas
Our last meeting of the year is on Monday, 25th November at 2-30pm in Windsor Methodist Church and will get us into the festive mood with mince pies and other Christmas goodies. We are especially delighted to welcome Siobhan Clarke, who is a guide/lecturer for the Historic Royal Palaces based at Hampton Court, as well as a published author. Her talk explores Christmas over the centuries and how the royals have shaped our own celebrations.
Jane Standley
Music Appreciation
David Oldcorn writes:
Ballet Appreciation – having decided on what ballet to show in October, I changed my mind when I read of the sad death at the age of 29 of Michaela DePrince; so much talent lost. Michaela had played the lead in a modern – or even futuristic – version of Coppelia. This was not a staged production but filmed in a studio with delightful sets. An added attraction was that the celebrated dancers Irek Mukhamedov and Darcy Bussell, despite their having retired, both appeared. Those who attended enjoyed this very different ballet, and hopefully will do so on 11th November (the second Monday, not the first in the month as usual) when the programme, starting at 2-00 pm, will include The Lovers’ Garden, starring Roberto Bolle and other well-known dancers, with music by Mozart.
Show Music and Classical Music – Normally these groups would meet on the third Monday and fourth Thursday, but I cannot host them in November. However, there is no problem with the usual days in December and Ballet will be on the first Monday in December as usual, when newcomers will be welcome.
David Oldcorn
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National Trust Outings
At the beginning of October, Pat and David Oldcorn led a coach party to Polesdon Lacey NT. It was a wet and wonderful visit. Heavy rain was falling when we arrived and many of the group took shelter in the café. A few brave souls roamed the gardens and took shelter under various arbours of trees and shrubs. Eventually, the sun came out and dried up the rain, enabling us to enjoy the gardens more comfortably.
Parts of the garden were newly planted and others were under reconstruction. Our general opinion is that the gardens, especially the rose garden, kitchen garden and wider estate would be worth visiting again in the Summer.
The house is small, and our party was split into two groups. Both guides were enthusiastic about the property and very knowledgeable about its history. There has been a house at Polesdon Lacey since 1336 and it has undergone many extensions and much redevelopment. The most recent private owner was Margaret Greville, a popular and influential society hostess who remodelled it considerably and used it to entertain royalty, politicians and celebrities at lavish weekend house parties. She notably invited the then future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother to spend the first part of their 1923 honeymoon at Polesdon Lacey. The drawing room was certainly lavishly decorated.
We were lucky to be visiting Polesdon Lacey during an art exhibition celebrating the work of Luke Adam Hawker, a nature artist and author who has recently published an illustrated book called, ‘The Last Tree’. Copies of his illustrations are displayed alongside Margaret Greville’s collection of artworks which reflects the fashion of the early 20th century and includes a large number of Faberge objects. The exhibition leads visitors on a walk through an installation encouraging them to appreciate the e beauty of nature through ink line drawings, prints, illustrations on the pages of Hawker’s book which takes readers on an imaginative journey to a world without trees.
We all enjoyed the visit and look forward to returning next year in one of the months of late Spring or early Summer. Thanks go to Pat and David for organising this outing. Jackie Wiggins.
Singing For Fun
Our next meeting is in Gardeners’ Hall on Tuesday, 12th November at 1-30pm. As we only have one more session before Christmas, we will sing a few Christmas songs towards the end of the session just to get us started. There are so many I know you have enjoyed singing in the past! Thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm. It makes this group a joy to run!
Adele McNally
Stargazers
On 18th November, I will give a presentation on the Moon; its phases, eclipses and key features, along with tips on how to view it and photograph it.
Our December meeting happily coincides with the peak of the Geminid meteor shower so I am wondering whether an outdoor, meteor spotting session would be appreciated. The real peak of the meteor shower will be on the Saturday evening/Sunday morning before our scheduled meeting, so you might like to pencil in the Saturday through to Monday evenings and choose the one with the clearest sky nearer the time?
The Royal Museums Greenwich website has this to say about the Geminid meteor shower: “The meteors of the Geminid meteor shower are very bright, moderately fast, and are unusual in being multi-coloured – mainly white, some yellow and a few green, red and blue. These colours are partly caused by the presence of traces of metals like sodium and calcium, the same effect that is used to make fireworks colourful.”
Martyn Lloyd
Please contact Martyn Lloyd if you would like to join the Stargazers or know more about the group’s activities.
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Tea and Jazz
For Tuesday, 26th November, by popular demand, we have once again booked Gambit Jazzmen. This is one of today’s top traditional jazz bands. The band plays regularly in jazz clubs and festivals all over the country. Band members have previously played in other leading bands, including those led by Monty Sunshine, Ken Colyer and Dick Charlesworth.
Members from any u3a group are welcome. There is no need to book – just turn up on the day. Performances start at 2-00pm. We charge £10.00 cash pp to cover the cost of hall hire, musicians and refreshments.
Peter Cheeseman
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There is some parking outside Datchet Village Hall (SL3 9HR) and when this is full, there is a public car park a short distance back towards Datchet village centre that is also available.
Thinking Inside the Box > Having Fun with Puzzles
This group is changing its name to Having Fun with Puzzles and will meet on the 2nd Monday of each month at 2-30pm in The Bells of Ouzeley, The Harvester on the Straight Road, Old Windsor. The group would welcome more members to join them for a bit of thinking and a lot of laughs.
Convenor contact details are visible if you log-in.
Jane McGrath
Ukulele
We were invited to the Welsh Society this month to sing and play. Because of holidays and illness there were only six of us, but it turned out to be a lovely occasion. Five lovely ladies joined us from ‘Singing with Ukes’ to help us. They sang very well and really looked part of the group. Anne and Laurie actually helped with the introductions. The audience were very welcoming and sang along with most of the numbers and the refreshments in the interval were delicious……..Homemade Welsh cakes among them. And we were given the chance to choose from what was left over on the raffle table! We were having such a good time that in the end we ran out of time and didn’t get round to Oh Boy!, our encore. Instead, the audience treated us to a rendition of ‘We’ll Keep a Welcome in the Hillsides’ which was very moving. After that we sang ‘We’ll Meet Again.’ A return visit has been requested, but we will have to be busy and learn some new songs!
Adele McNally
u3a Amblers
In early October, a small group of u3a Amblers enjoyed the sunshine while taking exercise around Taplow Riverside Park, Ray Mill Island and Boulters Lock. This was a reversal of the circular route we took in March, which had high river levels after the winter rains. Perhaps indicating the somewhat random summer we have experienced, comparing photos from then to now, shows the levels on 3rd October were within 3 cm of those on 14th March. Of course, this time we saw leaves on the trees, some beginning to turn to gorgeous autumnal colours.
On Thursday, 7th November, we will amble alongside the river at Runnymede, why not join us?
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Windsor Area Walks
Our walks are usually approximately 4.5miles – 5 miles.
Friday, 22nd November: Meet at 10-15am in the free car park at Eton Wick, SL4 6LT. The walk of about 4.5 miles will be based around Boveney Brook and the Jubilee River and will be led by Roy. There is a possible coffee stop at the Palmers Arms in Dorney. Please confirm your attendance with Roy.
Logged in members can see contact details.
There will be no walks over the Christmas and New Year period.
Coffee Mornings
Come And Meet Each Other
Coffee mornings run from 10-30am to 12-00pm, why not drop in between those times?
All members are welcome to attend any and all of coffee mornings.
Central Windsor
Cinnamon Café in Windsor Central Station
These are held on the first Tuesday of each month, organised by Linda Saunders.
Next on Tuesday, 5th November.
Logged in members can see Linda’s e-mail address and number.
Old Windsor
The Bells of Ouzeley, Straight Road, Old Windsor, SL4 2SH
These are held on the first Wednesday of each month, organised by Jo Wattis.
Next on Wednesday, 6th November.
Logged in members can see Jo’s e-mail address and number.
West Windsor
The Running Man Café, All Saints’ Church, Dedworth.
These are held on the third Wednesday of each month, in the newly refurbished café, hosted by Jackie Wiggins and Angela West.
Next on Wednesday, 20th November.
Logged in members can see Jackie’s e-mail address.
Sunningdale
The Restaurant, Hilliers Garden Centre, off A30 between Sunningdale and Bagshot, GU20 6LQ
These are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month, organised by Ollie.
Next on Tuesday, 26th November.
Logged in members can see Ollie’s e-mail address.
Datchet
The Bridge Ecumenical Café, The Village Green, Datchet, SL3 9JH
These are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month, hosted by Jackie Wiggins and other lovely people in Datchet.
Next on Wednesday, 27th November.
Logged in members can see Jackie’s e-mail address.
These coffee mornings are for all members, not just new members, but new members are welcome.
Although in specific neighbourhoods, all members are welcome to attend any and all of the coffee mornings.
They are a good way to meet members who are not in the same Interest Groups as you.
If you arrive and find the ‘u3a table’ is fully occupied, PLEASE make yourself known before settling elsewhere on your own or in a splinter group. Depending on the venue, it may well be possible to enlarge the circle, or take over/join on another table.
U3A Online
Thames Valley Network Diary Dates
All events are on Zoom unless otherwise stated.
NB You must book a few days in advance of the date(s) shown below and often a small cost is involved.
View TVN home page and scroll down to list of events with TicketSource booking buttons.
Flyers with more information are available there too.
Further events are always being planned, keep an eye on their diary via link above.
National u3a offerings
The national u3a runs many projects, initiatives and competitions – available for all members.
See their Latest News page for national events and opportunities.
Use their Podcasts Playlist (on YouTube) to listen to something interesting (with subtitles).
Interest Groups Online (IGOs)
Interest Groups Online (IGO) is an online community of learners. Those who subscribe to IGO can participate in our online interest groups and also access the u3a national learning.
IGO Help and Information
u3a Friends
Read the Newsletter in your browser.
u3a Friends Extra
A new range of benefits, offers and services exclusively for members of our u3a Friends community. The benefits include discounts for shopping, travel, insurance and more – and we hope really to add to your u3a experience.
Access the Friends Extra website here.
Credits and Contributions
Thank you to all who have contributed to this month’s newsletter.
We welcome contributions from any member, not just convenors, so if you have enjoyed a u3a organised event, why not share that (and show appreciation to the organisers) by writing a short report, ideally with some photos, please send to newsletters@windoru3a.org.uk
The copy date for our next Newsletter is 15th December 2024
Readers may notify an error or omission via e-mail or logged in members can use the Comments area below to convey their thoughts on this particular edition.
This Newsletter was compiled by Jackie Wiggins, then adapted for web publication by Dave Humphries. This web version allows us to hide certain data from all but logged in members, plus occasionally make minor updates after release, typically to correct errors and omissions notified promptly.
Committee Contact Details
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| Committee Members’ Contact Details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chairman: | Peter Todd | chairman@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Vice Chair: | Martin Pritchett | vicechair@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Secretary: | Carol Crago | secretary@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Treasurer: | David Treder | treasurer@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Data Administrator: | Derek Gadd | dataadmin@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Groups’ Coordinator: | Mo Salter | u3agroups@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Website Administrator: | Dave Humphries | webeditor@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Membership Secretary: | Kate Fagence | membership@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Newsletter Editor: | Jackie Wiggins | newsletters@windsoru3a.org.uk |
| Speaker Organiser: | Joanna Wattis | speakers@windsoru3a.org.uk |