“Those who teach

shall also learn and

those who learn

shall also teach”

The University of the

Third Age

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2016 ANNUAL REPORT

Chairman’s Comments

Over the summer I was looking back through some old copies of the Third Age Matters magazines and I found this passage from Barbara Lewis, who was Chairman of the Third Age Trust at the time:

There’s a famous scene in ”The Life of Brian” in which John Cleese asks the question: “What did the Romans ever do for us?” The answer was : “ Well nothing at all…apart from the aqueducts, the straight roads, the clean water, the warm-air heating systems, the sanitation - oh, and the wine of course.”

Well, I wondered: “What did the U3A ever do for me?” And the answer was “Well, nothing at all really… apart from the walks, the talks, the trips, the social events, the learning experiences, the study groups, the concerts, the shows, the music, the new friends I’ve made…..

We are so lucky to be part of such a friendly and vibrant movement that gives us all so many opportunities for learning and for having fun. We know how fortunate we are and our Annual Report gives all our groups the opportunity to share their enjoyment in life and learning with others. Many thanks must be given to our group leaders who work hard for their members and run such a wonderful variety of Interest Groups so successfully.

Elaine Yates Chairman

The monthly general meetings

The monthly meetings held at Kidderminster Town Hall provide an opportunity for members to socialise after

listening to the presentation of an interesting topic provided by a visiting speaker.

During the past year we have learnt about the traditions and the way of life of Fairground Folk from historian, Ned Williams. How there are strong family links associated with particular aspects of fairground life that date back well into the 19th century and beyond.

We have shared in the silence of balloon flights in different parts of the world by a local balloonist, Dr David Bareford.

We have glimpsed a different perspective of the life of those in the “carpet trade” through the verse and songs of local poet laureate, Heather Wastie and have gained a glimpse of the life and times of Sir Edward Elgar, learning something of the way his music was affected by his experiences of life in Worcestershire.

Not many of us would have had much, if any idea about Britain’s First Chinese Island – before Hong Kong, but we were given a fascinating insight into the life and politics of the British Empire by historian, Liam D’Arcy-Brown, when we discovered something about “Chusan”, and the Opium Wars of the 19th century.

Alan Rogers, an ex-policemen from Warwickshire began his talk about “A Policemen’s Lot” by challenging us to indicate if we had ever been “done for speeding”! Quite a significant number of hands were tentatively raised in response to this challenge, (mine included). There was an audible chuckle of collective relief when Alan Rogers also admitted that he too had been “done” – and that on his first day of retirement! From that point, Alan went on to regale us with tales of life as a policeman.

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For me, one of the most gripping and poignant talks we have ever had was the story of Georgie Hale’s experiences being shipwrecked in Antarctica. Georgie told of the horror of seeing her holiday cruise ship slowly slipping away below the water after colliding with an underwater shelf of ice, through her quiet narration of this painful, personal experience. Miraculously, another cruise ship was reasonably close to the area and was able to pick up the stranded crew and holiday makers taking them to Chile where, after a time, they were able to return home to the UK.

Georgie was able to illustrate her talk with newspaper cuttings and pictures that had reported the catastrophe at sea – which somehow made the story come alive.

Ashley Grove is a talented photographer and ornithologist and shared his passion for the studying of birdlife throughout the country – taking us on a pictorial tour from The Shetland Isles to The Scillies giving us an insight into the rich and varied birdlife of the British Isles.

Smuggling has been part of the way of life for many people for as long as there has been travel between different countries and where taxes have been placed on different commodities. Graham Sutherland related the story of smuggling in the Kent and Sussex part of the country, basing his talk, “Brandy for the Parson”, on that famous poem of Rudyard Kipling’s, “A Smuggler’s Song”.

Mike Carter Editor

How it all began

Val Jarrett and Ann Tyler were responsible for setting up The Wyre Forest & District branch of the University of the Third Age –

U3A, in October, 2005. An initial meeting took place at Trinity Methodist Church – neither Val nor Ann knew if anyone would turn up for the first meeting – but a small group met on that occasion, with Liz Struckett being the first member to enrol, and by the end of the first year there were 62 members on roll.

Val and Ann appear in The Kidderminster Shuttle (Oct. 2005) announcing the first meeting of the U3A in this area- (The Kidderminster Shuttle)

The first groups to form were: Rambling, Painting for All, Bridge, Gardening, Hand -bell Ringing, Book Club and Spanish Conversation.

The venue for general meetings moved from Trinity Methodist Church to St Ambrose Church Hall, and then when that venue became too small, to Kidderminster Town Hall.

By 2010, the membership had risen to 250 and then to 483 by the end of 2015 and now we are approaching the 550 mark!

There are now 60 groups offering a wide variety of interests and activities to members – many of the groups and their activities are featured in this report.

For further information about groups and their activities, please visit the U3A website or contact Gill Price, Group Co-ordinator (01562 630123)

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Social Events

This is a new group established this year with the aim of organising Social Events for all of our membership, we therefore welcome any suggestions from members with regard to what sort of event they want to be involved in.

Our first event on the 8th April invited its members and guests to an evening with Birmingham comedian and broadcaster Don Maclean, where Don delivered his talk “50 Years in Show business”

The location was St Ambrose Church Hall, where the evening was supported by 96 people who enjoyed a three course meal, before being thoroughly entertained by Don. After this, there was an opportunity to dance to music from Adrian Wyld. The whole evening was a rip roaring success and Don has certainly not lost his touch when it comes to making his audience cry with laughter.

We are busy planning more events for the months ahead and details as they arise can be found on the web site.

Sue Langley

The 55+ and Retirement Roadshow 2016

Once again on Saturday 11th June our U3A secured a stand at this event in Kidderminster Town Hall, run by the National Care Line (www.thenationalcareline.org), an organisation offering information about care and support for older people. It was well attended with many visitors stopping to ask about what it is we do. Many still have never heard of us.

One lady in particular was overjoyed about what we had to offer because she is being made redundant from her place of work in September and didn’t have a clue what she was going to do with her life. After 15 minutes with us she had a clear idea and went away with a big smile on her face… leaving us saying that she can’t wait until September… a time she had been dreading! There is no doubt, we do offer a great service for our community and all this is down to the many dedicated Group Leaders and committee members and organisers who make it all happen.

On this occasion I was helped on the day by John and Judy Watkins, Jan Burrows, David Oakley, together with Janet Mann, pictured here below gaining the interest of some potential customers.

We do have another similar event coming up where we will be exhibiting at Kidderminster Town Hall on Thursday 22nd September 9:30am - 1:30pm. This is

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being organised by Wyre Forest District Council and is Showcase of Services for Older People

Sue Langley – Publicity Officer

Art Appreciation

Our group has grown from strength to strength this year and our numbers have greatly increased. All members fully participate in our meetings, which are always enjoyable and very informative.

During the past year we have enjoyed several trips. We have visited Wightwick Manor, an Arts and Crafts house with great pre-Raphaelite connections. We thoroughly enjoyed our annual visit to Birmingham Art Gallery in January where we had a superb guided tour round the special Arthur Hughes exhibition entitled “Enchanted Dreams”.

In April we visited Worcester Museum and Art Gallery for a talk about the “Green Earth” art exhibition and we were lucky enough to include a visit to the Hive to see a superb Art exhibition by the students of Worcester University. Some of us were fortunate enough to be able to meet the students who had been involved in the exhibition and to discuss their work with them.

In April we enjoyed a wonderful trip to the Lowry Gallery in Salford Quays - what a fantastic day! We had a brilliant guided talk about Lowry and his works and all of us were amazed by the variety of art work Lowry produced.

Our next visit will be to the Ashmolean Museum and Art Gallery in Oxford and we are all looking forwards to this with great anticipation!

Group Leader Elaine Yates (01562 662010

Book Reading 2

Another lively year in our book reading world, as we continue to discuss an eclectic and thought-provoking range of writing.

We meet on the second Thursday in the month at Willow Court and each meeting begins with a chat, a cuppa and a warm-up brain teaser. Only rarely does the group leader have to resort to ringing her bell to restore some semblance of order. Before we proceed to analyse our specific book for the month, we enthuse about any books we have enjoyed recently and swap them with each other.

In choosing what to read, we have continued with the practice of giving each member the opportunity to nominate a book for discussion. Once again this has led to a rich diversity of choices and wide-ranging, always perceptive, discussions. These insights are vaguely remembered by the group leader who circulates ‘Minutes’ afterwards and uploads the book reviews on to the U3A website.

Inevitably any sharing of views on books, also leads to sharing thoughts on life. As a result our group, like I suspect many others in U3A, has bonded together into a marriage of true minds, mutually supportive in sickness and in health, in laughter and in tears… and the consumption of chocolate biscuits.

Since last summer we have read the following

40 August

Out of Such Darkness (talk)

Robert Ronsson

41 September

The Help Kathryn Stockett

42 October Americanah C Ngozi Adichie

43 November

The Dalai Lama’s Cat

David Michie

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44 December The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher

Hilary Mantel

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45 January The Maid of Buttermere

Melvyn Bragg

46 February Brooklyn Colm Toibin

47 March Longbourn Jo Baker

48 April The Versions of Us

Laura Bennet

49 May A Man Called Ove Frederik Backman

50 June The Miniaturist Jessie Burton

51 July Euphoria Lily King

Currently we have 14 members which, it is felt, is the maximum number for everyone to have an opportunity to contribute, so we are not recruiting for any more at this time.

Group Leader Lynn Forth (01562 67836)

Bridge

We have welcomed some new members this year, one or two who had played in the past and wanted to take up the game again, and two people who had not played bridge before, and are being helped by those with more experience. Come and join us on a Monday afternoon (not 3rd Monday); all welcome!

Group Leader Anne Plant (01299 861550)

Card Making

We are a new group who enjoy making greetings cards. The session is held in my home and so we are a very small group. We have learnt several card making techniques including iris folding, ribbon

weaving, decoupage and different methods of stamping.

Christmas came early to our group, we were making seasonal greetings cards in July! We have had a lot of fun in our group and may we continue to laugh and learn.

Group Leader Jill Taylor (01562 67080)

Craft

Our group is still going strong, with a nucleus of keen crafters. We have had another year having fun making a variety of small projects.

These include novelty bookmarks, strawberry pom-poms, little boxes, a bathroom novelty dog made from a flannel, decoupage, a folded book hedgehog and felt work.

We still have plans for making a fabric and bead necklace and learning needle felting.

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Our latest project is a little hand-made flower garden to decorate the U3A Duck House for the Bewdley festival.

Group Leader Sheila Munden (01562 636333)

Dancing

We continue to meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 2 till 4pm at Shatterford Village Hall and we welcome new members to join us. Dancing is so very uplifting and we have great fun, (as well as brilliant exercise), as we try to master new steps and routines…. And for a few months.. with the welcome help of Jane Gardner, who put together routines for us to do a super River Dance and a Greek style dance, the latter being fast and furious at the end - just right for getting the heart rate going.

We do like Waltzes and Quicksteps too but lack male partners and so the willing men who do join in provide a Taxi Service for the ladies….. but we are not deterred and tackle many dances solo…so if you want to get out and keep fit please come along and join us.

Group Leader Sue Langley (01299 861031)

Discussion

In the last year we had another successful series of monthly meetings. We covered again a wide area of subjects including: the European Referendum, Global Hunger, Privatization versus Nationalization, Social care and Mental Health, Pressures on the NHS, Food production and Climate change. This is just a small precis of our various topics as we also discuss anything we wish and follow up on current news stories over the previous month. No subject is taboo and we all leave feeling a bit happier as we can laugh at ourselves as well!

This group welcomes all new members and a group of 9-12 would be ideal.

Please come along and see how we can have an open and sometimes detailed look at what is an infinite number of subjects.

Group Leader Neil Scott

Film

Our recent season maintained the policy of showing films linked by a common theme. Crossing Borders was a topic of particular contemporary interest, with Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo showing the difficult life of a woman from Philippines moving to work as a maid in Singapore.

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This was paired with a love story which received enthusiastic praise from many group members, Las Acacias, with a hard bitten lorry driver Reuben falling for his passenger and her baby on the journey across the Peru/Argentina border. This film was in turn paired with another film from Argentina, Wild Tales, a set of 6 films from new director Damian Szifron, described by critics as “subversive” and “delightfully deranged”. We were able to study further the genre of film anthologies with the very British Quartet(1948), a set of 4 films based on stories by Somerset Maugham, suggested by Derek Harrington.

In the autumn we explored the world of Woody Allen, with Play it again Sam(1972) paired with Purple Rose of Cairo(1985). Reactions to his type of humour were mixed, it has to be said!

The earliest film we watched this year was F W Murnau’s Sunrise (1927) which provided the opportunity for us to study the merits of monochrome, some lovely photography, the merits of the silent era and the use of melodrama, which was hugely popular during that period. The season was rounded off as usual with a French teaser in all senses of that word: Swimming Pool directed by Francois Ozon, introduced by Graham Hunt.

Next season will include films on a theme of people in dire financial difficulties, including a rare one from Bulgaria, a comic road movie from New Zealand and a session of award winning short films. Also suggested so far are films by David Lynch and Pedro Almodovar’s Volver.

Group Leader Tony Flynn (01299 401158)

Gardening

Another very enjoyable year of indoor meetings. Subjects included the construction and care of garden pools and water features for even the smallest garden. We saw and handled the most amazing cactii and succulents. We learnt about the Worcestershire National Garden scheme and were told about the vast amount of money that it raises each year for their charities.

Two very popular evenings were supplied by Sue Russell, who is so enthusiastic about her old fashioned roses and seeing Wyre Forest in all its glory through the seasons, an illustrated talk presented by Sylvia Sheldon.

Our practical demonstration on this year’s programme was a return visit by Derek Walker who makes up hanging baskets and patio pots with his own plants which are of the highest quality. He makes it all seem so easy. Members bought up all his baskets, pots and plants and have been thrilled with the results, despite the peculiar summer weather that we have endured.

A visit was made to Barbara’s garden in Hartlebury, which took our breath away. Plants in pots around every corner, many plants were very unusual. The tree lilies were amazing, she even had a banana tree! Everything was just so much taller and abundant than normal.

But it was the homemade cakes and tea that completed the afternoon.

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For our coach trips this year we visited the amazing imaginative Ralph Court Gardens.

Twelve separate gardens, based on foreign countries and scenes from Alice in Wonderland. Devised and planted in the grounds of a Gothic rectory, by a theatrical couple, using water, music, statues and beautiful trees and plants to show off the magical settings.

Our other trip took us to Chepstow where we visited the gardens and hidden grottoes of Dewstow in the morning. Now restored to their former glory, the caverns, rock pools, water features, unusual plants and ornamental areas all form part of a Grade 1 listed garden.

There was a fine display of many coloured dahlias.

In the afternoon we took a short drive to Wyndcliffe Court Sculpture gardens.

Beautiful formal and casual planted beds all full of contemporary sculptures. Imaginative displays of garden sculptures made from bronze, metal, glass, stone by local and well known British artists. The gardens are Grade 2 listed and designed in the Arts and Crafts style.

Group leader Janice Evans. (01562 755660)

Genealogy

The Genealogy group meet on the 1st Thursday of the month at the Gainsborough House Hotel on Bewdley Hill, Kidderminster, in the Gainsborough Suite from 10am – 12 noon

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During the past year we have looked at breaking brick walls in our research. We have also looked at topics such as Newspapers, shops like bakers, coach builders and inns. Other topics have been apprentices, migration and crime and punishment.

We enjoyed a visit to Worcestershire Hive and had an interesting talk about the family history records held at the hive.

Group Leader Beryl Buckley (01562 637185)

Geography

We have almost completed our circumnavigation of the globe. We started looking at the islands of the Indian Ocean, then the 51 countries in Africa (which we all found depressing as they all seemed to have gone through dictatorships, repression, starvation etc.). We then moved on to the islands of the Atlantic Ocean followed by 13 countries in South America, 6 countries in Central America, the 48 contiguous states of the USA plus Alaska and then the 10 provinces (not states) and 2 territories of Canada. We moved on to the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean and then New Zealand the 6 states and 2 territories of Australia and finishing with Antarctica. This left the 43 countries of Asia, the islands of the Mediterranean Sea and the 48 countries of Europe.

We are now going through the counties of the United Kingdom, of which there are quite a lot. When these are finished who knows where we will then go?

Group Leader Dennis Plant (01299 861550)

Geology

Our year began with a bang – a big bang, as we considered the fascinating topic of plate tectonics with contributions from various members.

Outdoor visits to geological places of interest in our region began in March with a visit to The Stiperstones in Shropshire. Weird outcrops of weathered Ordovician quartzite are spread out along a ridge. Returning from this visit we stopped to examine some impressive folding of the rock strata in the area – evidence of the massive geological forces that took place in this part of the world as the tectonic plates of Avalonia and Baltica came together some 450 million years ago.

In April, we set out to consider the geology of the Clee Hills – the journey out to Clee was in beautiful sunshine, but, no sooner had we arrived and were viewing the impressive cliff face of the Incline Quarry, than it began to snow! Having come thus far, we were not going to be deterred by a brief snow flurry – or so we thought! Half an hour or so later, the snow flurries having cleared, we looked down into the depths of Dhu (Black) Stone Quarry, still being worked for its hard, black, Dolerite stone used for road surfacing. Whilst

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there, we noticed a low, dark cloud mass moving rapidly towards us from the Ludlow direction. Within minutes we were engulfed in a driving snow blizzard – fortunately not settling on the ground, but difficult enough to peer through. Discretion prevailed, and we withdrew gracefully from the wild slopes of The Clee – to return to the tranquil sunlit Wyre Forest area – with people, when told about our adventure, looking at us oddly and saying, “Snow? What snow?!”

In June we explored The Wren’s Nest Nature Reserve in Dudley with geologist, Mike Preston. This is a world famous site of geological interest and Mike helped us to ‘map’ the site of the dome of limestone rock that once capped this area.

In July, one of our members, Reg Fisher, led us on a fascinating visit to see the way in which locally produced tufa stone has been used in buildings in the Sapey / Clifton area of the Teme Valley. A large amount of Tufa is to be found in the area of the Teme Valley, particularly at Southstone Rock near Shelsley Beauchamp.

Group Leader Mike Carter (01562 746913)

Getting to grips with technology

I had the idea for the group after being asked, “how do you do this?”, on many occasions, mainly about modern gadgets. So I emailed the Wyre Forest U3A members asking for interest and was swamped with the response. I had over 40 interested members and was overwhelmed by the amount of interest. Thankfully Tim Yates, Sue Langley & Sandra Phillips were keen to help and so the group was born.

A questionnaire, created by Sue, was sent out and the responses formed the basis of the first 7 meetings. So we started in December 2015 at the Franche Community Church. This was the first time this venue had been used by U3A and is perfect for our group requirements.

The Group seemed to appreciate the venue and our format of using a projector for presentations and instructor-led sessions as well as using the Flat-screen Television in the Coffee lounge. Coffee breaks were essential to rest the groups' grey cells.

The first three sessions covered the Internet & Smart-phone technology, Tablets & iPhones / Pads.

In April, Mike Morris kindly gave a presentation on Digital Photography which

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was well received and very professional. The basics of Windows & Apple computers were covered in the May & June sessions. For the July session I managed to invite a Police sponsored company, Blacklight Intelligence, to give a Cyber Security Awareness Talk. This helped all the members to be mindful of the “dangers” of using the Internet.

I have received very positive feedback from all our members and wish to thank my Team, Tim, Sue & Sandra for their Technical input. We tried to keep the sessions on a low level and were always aware of the groups' spread of abilities. The group members have learned something from each session which was the aim.

I would also like to thank the Refreshment team, Sue Sturman, Brian Wakefield & Pat Ford for keeping the group well refreshed.

We look forward to another series of sessions after a break in August.

Group Leader Steve Miller (01562 68988)

Gospelite Singers

This group began in the Spring when I saw how much Martin’s Ukulele group enjoyed singing and playing “This Little Light of Mine”. Fixing the date for the singing group in the alternate weeks to the Satellites singers I am pleased to say that we have 20 -30 singers to boogie on down in the gospel style aided by the significant talents of John Griffiths, Dermot Wardley, and Dave Corbett.

The aim is to enjoy singing and to add your own harmonies to well-known simple songs. The group want to share their joy of singing by going out to local care homes etc and we hope to arrange this soon.

Another idea is to sing Village style Christmas carols in a pub! The group has even decided on its stage kit which will be black bottoms with a plain, brightly coloured top. We are looking forward to a new year of joyful singing which includes Gospel, Folk, Sea Shanties and some popular songs. New members always welcome – Zimbabwean proverb – “If you can walk you can dance; if you can talk you can sing”. TRY IT! You will be made very welcome.

Group Leader Alison Underwood ((01562 752687)

History

We are a general History group which provides the members with an opportunity to learn more about any aspect and every age. We are a large group and there are plans to start a second group in early 2017. Our meetings with speakers are generally held on the first Monday of the month at Holy Innocents Church Hall off the Stourport Road at 2pm.

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VISITING SPEAKERS We held two meetings on a Military theme this year and these included The Marcher Lords and The Anglo Zulu War with the speaker dressed as a defender of Rorkes’ Drift (the Film Zulu). We also had a talk on the History of Norway and the Flaxmill in Shrewsbury, which helped members prepare for a later visit.

MEMBER LED MEETINGS We have always been keen on members researching and providing talks for other members. This year we had a talk on Arctic Convoys in World War 2, The History of the Worcestershire Regiment throughout the First World War, Aspects of the History of Vienna and a number of shorter talks on many historical themes in November. We also had a talk on George Yourdi and the building of the Elan Valley Dams.

DAY VISITS These included a visit to Goodrich Castle and Ross on Wye, the Flaxmill and Shrewsbury, and in Birmingham, the ‘Back to Back Houses’ and the Saxon Hoard.

RESIDENTIAL VISITS This year was unusual as there were three residential visits between August 2015 and July 2016. The first was a five day visit to Harrogate in September which included a visit to Bosworth Battlefield en- route to Harrogate, and a day visit to York and a number stately homes in Yorkshire. The second Study Tour was an overnight trip to London including a tour of the Houses of Parliament, in March.

Finally in June, we had a five day visit to Lincoln including en-route, a visit to the tomb and Museum of Richard the Third in Leicester. We spent a day in Lincoln visiting the Cathedral and Castle and we also visited RAF Scampton, home of the Dambusters’ Museum and finally Burghley House on the return journey. CHRISTMAS BUFFET LUNCH We ended the 2015 Calendar year at Aggborough - the home of the Harriers - with our now annual lunch attended by ninety people. Group Leader Geoff Bayley (01562 751065)

How to boost your confidence

This new group began in February this year and will run until December. Although we had an idea of the topics we wanted to include, the group which has ten core members, has evolved into great self-help sessions where ladies have the opportunity to talk about things of concern and pick up useful tips from fellow group members.

The sessions are lively; full of fun and laughter and we all take home some new knowledge we can immediately put into practice to help boost our confidence,

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something that often is lacking as one matures in years!

During one of the earlier sessions we covered general deportment and had an interesting half an hour looking at how to get in and out of cars, get up from chairs and ‘how to carry oneself’ to your best advantage. This covered The Alexander Technique and a bit about body language too!

During another session we looked at many aspects of skin care, anti-ageing treatments, as well as care of the feet, hands and teeth, all to disguise the ageing years.

Fellow U3A member, Frances Hubble, brought along brilliant ideas on how to organise our clothes and make a very practical Capsule wardrobe to create many outfits for less cost. Frances also helped us work out what ‘shape’ we were and what style of clothes flattered the various shapes and sizes.

Visiting consultant, Hazel Timmins, showed us how to use colour to our advantage, and still to come….. another U3A member, Elaine Youngjohns, will show us how to select accessorises to make an outfit extra special and eye catching. A beauty consultant will show us how to apply makeup and to conclude, we will be looking at old fashioned etiquette and good manners…………and to finish off the last session we shall have

a special afternoon tea and our own private fashion show to display to fellow members of the group just what we have learned about presenting ourselves to boost our confidence.

This group’s activities can be repeated in 2017 if there is sufficient interest

Group Leader Sue Langley (01299 861031)

Industrial History

After a lively discussion about the content of the forthcoming year’s programme, the theme of our first meeting of the year considered the topic of “Salt and Sugar”. Both commodities were once the source of principle industries in this region. Members shared their memories and experiences of both these resources and how their extraction and processing affected the industrialisation of the Droitwich and Kidderminster areas. The brine baths of Droitwich and the sugar silos of Kidderminster were fondly recalled.

Two visits in March and April might have seemed strange to have been included as topics of industrial historical interest – namely, the leather industry and the trades associated with funerals. A visit to the well managed Walsall Leather Museum showed how important the leather industry had once been to industry up to the mid-20th century; horses played a key role in transportation and therefore relied heavily on the leather industry for the production of harnesses and saddles.

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Saddle making – Walsall Leather Museum

A visit to Newman Brothers’ Coffin Works in Birmingham might seem a macabre choice for a visit, but it was fascinating to learn about the industry that supported, and still supports, the undertaking and funeral services – such as the making of accoutrements for coffins and the making of different types of shrouds.

In June and July we revisited two favourite industrial sites – namely Churchill Forge, near Kidderminster and Daniels Mill near Bridgnorth. Both places are well worth visiting and revisiting, for there is always something new to discover, and both sites have knowledgeable guides able to provide fresh insights into their respective processes.

The process of change is relentless, unsentimental and unforgiving. Once familiar places and processes are soon swept away and forgotten in the path of change – think of the sugar silos in Kidderminster, once prominent landmarks

and indicative of an active industry in the area, now gone for ever. Places like Churchill Forge and Daniels Mill need to be treasured for what they have been, vital parts of our industrial past, and a means towards an understanding of the way we have and are developing.

Group Leader Mike Carter (01562 746913)

L’s Bells

This group is for those who have not rung hand bells before - you do not have to be able to read music, so come and have a go!

Even though several members of the group have been injured (not through ringing I hasten to add), we have managed to keep going and enjoyed tackling new tunes.

We were again invited to play for the Circle of Friends at Bewdley Baptist Church, and we will be visiting them in November to play carols.

Group Leader Anne Plant (01299 861550)

Local and Social History

A new group with a very different format quickly caught the imagination of members.

A subject is decided on according to members’ experiences in life, be it at school, work, through parents or grandparent circumstances. It has progressed very well. Members who have never spoken before publically have found the confidence to do so, as they are relating facts and tales about the life they know.

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Memories and memorabilia are things that keep us going and they are things that stir up emotion and let us realise that others have had the same experiences. To discover that you are related to another member or that you went to the same school or that you worked at the same place brings the past into the future.

For those members who they and their families never threw anything away, this is the group for you! What a wealth of memorabilia and memories you have.

We have brought in collections of wartime memories, household and sewing effects, photographs; heard about what it was like to work in the once booming carpet industry and the effect the closures had on local workers.

Life at Lea Castle hospital over 3 decades was vividly portrayed by members who had worked at this important medical institution.

Another member talked about her training in the medical profession and how different it is for today’s nurses, not always for the better.

We have learnt about the history of Kidderminster and Bewdley and followed the meetings up with town walks where you see the most amazing things when looking - especially above eye level!

A visit to Kidderminster Town Hall, to meet the Mayor and to sit in the Council chamber and Court room was exciting. The town’s history is fascinating and dates back many hundreds of years.

A member presented an illustrated talk about Bewdley’s missionary who for 30 years spread the word about the Society of Friends, such a history for a small town, but as we learnt, it was very wealthy and well connected with important people from the London area.

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Visits have been made to our very informative Museum of Carpet, run by former workers, even the looms are working. The tour stirred up many memories.

The picture shows a pattern setting machine, some of our members had worked side by side at such jobs.

A trip to the Back to Back houses in Birmingham was very revealing showing how the local folk lived and worked at that time. This was followed up by a member’s talk about social housing and homelessness, which unfortunately is still a huge problem in this country.

Probably one of the highlights of our first few months, was a visit to Drakelow Tunnels.

First used for the Rover Works to be able to carry on building machines needed in the second world war effort. Later the tunnels were used by the Ministry of Defence as a Midlands communication

centre and seat of government in the years of the Cold War.

We look forward to hearing more about our members’ memories and linking them to places of interest.

Group leader Janice Evans (01562 755660)

Luncheon Club

The Luncheon Group was started more than 10 years ago by Ann and Roger Evanson. When we volunteered to continue organising lunch meetings for the Group in January of this year, 2016, we were helped by Ann and Roger Evanson, who offered us advice and support. We also had help from Sheila and Rhydwen Foreman in organising the first lunch in February, which was a huge success.

Since then, we have had lunches at 5 different venues, in and around the Wyre Forest area. The membership has also grown to the present 48 members. The Luncheon Group is a very sociable and friendly group. We meet once a month, usually on the third or fourth Thursday. Members get the chance to enjoy each other’s company as they wine and dine in relaxing surroundings.

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All members are involved and included in the Group. They provide a short feedback appraisal after every lunch regarding the venue. Also, members decide the venues they wish to visit during 2017 and beyond.

Do come and join us. You will be very welcome and we will ensure that you are introduced to other members.

Group Leaders. Sylvia & Richard Soh.(01562 748538)

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Craft Group and Geology Group in Shropshire looking at folded rock strata, near The Stiperstones

History Group at Gainsborough Hall and the Walking Group at Shrawley

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Mah Jong

Group Leader Cathryn Plain (01562 741828) Military History

We have continued our practice of each member contributing articles on his or her particular interest. We have also discussed TV programmes, particularly the ones dealing with the Battles of the Somme and Jutland.

Having arrived at July 1813, we are coming to the end of the Peninsular War with just the fighting in the Pyrenees to come.

We have heard about various local VC winners including Guy Gibson and Elizabeth Webber Harris who was given a replica VC after her bravery at the siege of Lucknow, a St Bernard mascot on a Norwegian minesweeper in World War 2 .

We have discussed the Gallipoli Campaign, the Battle of the Atlantic, the development of the Tank, Woodbine Willie and life in the trenches in World War 1. We also had a chance to read telegrams and letters sent to one of our members by his father who was serving in Burma.

The discussions are always lively and of interest.

Group Leader Dennis Plant (01299 861550)

Music Appreciation

Another entertaining year of listening to many and varied genres of music each month in our members’ homes. Many outings were enjoyed too throughout this past year.

Members made a return visit to hear the local West Midlands Light Orchestra perform real "Get you in the mood for Christmas" music. As usual it was held in Stourport Manor Hotel, no long journey, no parking charges, perfect. Favourites like, Irving Berlin's Blue Skies, Cole Porter's, “I get a kick out of you”, Les Pursey's arrangement of “Silent Night” and “White Christmas”, “New York, New York”, and Mel Torme's “The Christmas Song”, all gave variety to the lovely programme.

We made a return visit to the Birmingham Symphony Hall to hear and see the Spectacular Classics Concert featuring the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Choir, the choice of music pieces was just stunning. To name a few: Rossini's “William Tell” Overture, Jenkins's “Benedictus” from the “Armed Man”, Strauss's “Blue Danube Waltz”. Also the Grand March from “Aida”, “O soave fanciulla”, from “La Boheme” and Bizet's “Farandole” from “L'arlesienne”.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, and off to The Artrix in Bromsgrove to join in the very special 40th anniversary presentation of “The Rocky Horror Show”.

Getting there early, we watched the audience arriving in full costume as is

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expected at a performance of this show. Basques, fishnet stockings, suspenders were the order of the day.

For the first time in 20 years, Richard O'Brien appeared on stage as the narrator, of his inspired spoof horror creation. Joined by many special guests, they and the audience sang their way through the timeless classics, “Sweet Transvestite”, “Dammit Janet”, and of course, the largest pelvic thrusting worldwide Time Warp ever to make Rocky history. Once again bringing the amazing Dr Frank N Furter and his spooky servant, Riff Raff to change the lives of the young innocent Brad and Janet.

On a glorious English Summer's day, group members plus members of the Singing groups visited Edward Elgar's House and Museum at Lower Broadheath, Worcester.

The visit was perfect with sunshine, a quintessential English cottage garden in full bloom, beautiful music and lashings of

tea and cake. A seat on the bench by the side of Elgar himself made the day! With the Malvern Hills in the distance, no wonder his music was so beautiful and English. A perfect summer's afternoon! Now time for the Music for Youth Festival held in Birmingham Symphony Hall and Town Hall. It is like enjoying a week’s holiday, just relaxing in lovely surroundings enjoying fantastic music, all produced by the next generation of music lovers. Junior and Senior choirs, Brass and Wind Bands, full orchestras, Jazz, Pop and Rock, ethnic music, there was something for every genre. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, to see the Andre Rieu 2016 Maastricht Concert via satellite at The Artrix in Bromsgrove. You just felt that you were sitting in the medieval town square, in Rieu's home town, right in front of the stage. People from around the world had gathered to hear his beautiful "Waltz Orchestra", the ladies of the orchestra in beautiful ball-gowns against the stage backdrop that changed with every piece of music. Items such as “The Blue Danube”, “My Fair Lady”, and Ravel's “Bolero”, to Puccini's “O Mio Babbino Caro” sung by a stunning soprano star from Brazil. Andre Rieu promises and delivers an unforgettable musical experience full of humour, fun and incredible emotion for all ages.

Group Leader Diana Foster (01562 743581)

Natural History

The year began with an indoor meeting to discuss the programme for the coming year. Our first outdoor meeting was in the form of a walk along the old railway line and through the fields and woods of the

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Wyre Forest. We looked for signs of Spring which were very few at the time as the last cold month had held back the awakening – but an enjoyable walk, nonetheless..

At the April meeting we were to be found in Habberley Valley, bark rubbing. A good way to discover some of the differences between varieties of trees. In May we had our usual annual visit to the Wetlands Trust at Upton Warren to observe the birds from the comfort of the hides. The main interest this year was the presence of Avocets with their chicks, and the good numbers of Lapwings also with their chicks.

The June meeting, a visit to the Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve, was postponed due to awful weather – heavy rain with the possibility of thunder storms.

We visited Pipers Hill Nature Reserve in July, where we concentrated on the identification of insects. Using nets we attempted to catch insects from among the plants, (not very successfully), but fun to do. We discussed the different species we had seen and how they varied, and looked at the nymphs of the dragonfly which we had been able to find previously.

In August, we had a walk in the Wyre Forest practising our observation skills and in September, we visited Wilden Marsh in the company of an expert. In October we visited Westonbirt Arboretum, a visit open to all U3A members. We ended the year in November with a Fungal Foray.

Group Leader Gill Price (01562 630123)

Poetry

This group continues to explore the far reaches of poetry and in the last year has discovered plenty of diverse material in which to delve. It finds itself continually engaged and entertained in so doing.

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A year ago we were fortunate to have a local author, Andrea Miller, to present her chosen poems on a theme of 'The Human Condition'. It was a brilliantly successful session, very informative and stimulating an interest that spilled over into the following month's meeting.

She will be making a very welcome return visit this autumn.

In the new year we took three living poet's work for comparison. We watched the popular and often wryly amusing American poet Billy Collins performing on YouTube with animations illustrating his poetry;

We looked at James Fenton, war Correspondent, who uses traditional forms; and Carol Rumens who also provides a Poem for the Day slot in the Guardian.

In the Spring, we first of all explored European poetry. It seemed that Wislawa Symborska was the group's favourite. Following this we took the theme of 'Beasts' and listened to a radio programme studying Edwin Muir's two poems about horses before reading our individual choices of poems, including work by Heaney, Hughes, Zephaniah, Neruda, Ferlingeti and Fleur Adcock.

This summer we had a session themed 'A Point of View', which included quite serious material and some nostalgia. To follow we have had a session examining figurative language: in particular the use of the metaphor in poetry, a topic to which we may well return.

Some of the group members attended a poetry performance at The Theatre on the Steps, in Bridgnorth - a sneakily sited venue that a few of us were unaware of! It was part of a tour featuring poets: Carol-Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Jackie Kay, Imtiaz Dharker and also, for that night,

only, local poet Liz Lefroy; it was a packed venue and a fully appreciative audience.

Group Leader Beryl Greenwood (01562 631820)

Quizzing for fun

Where would we be without our monthly dose of fun and laughter? Yes we are talking about Quizzing for Fun sessions. The laughter is infectious, the friendship wonderful and importantly the brain power is increasing. Our group scores are certainly on the up.

In fact it is quite worrying that now we do not get many of our previous howlers!

We raised over £136 by having a charity quiz for the Macmillan Coffee Morning charity in September.

Our first Christmas lunch was enjoyed by all, sharing food and winning raffle and quiz prizes.

Some of our quiz afternoons have been themed this year, with refreshments matching the quiz theme. We couldn’t let the EU referendum or the Football European Cup go by without seeing who had taken an interest in the news.

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We are now adding to the quiz question repertoire by having music and picture questions, also members are asking their own questions. This all adds to the variety and enjoyment of the afternoons.

Our numbers have remained steady with at least one new member each month.

On a sad but very funny note, a few of our members are now queueing up at the doctors to check that their organs are in the correct bodily places. Enough said!

Group leader Janice Evans. 01562 755660

Satellite Singers

We are now a mature(?) group, and consequently there is little new to report. Some members have left and others have joined, leaving us with a slightly larger, but still manageable size.

Our harmonica player now also plays ukulele with us, and we have a member who plays snare drum with brushes – sticks would be too noisy.

We ran a competition where the person with the highest attendance over the year won the prize of picking the songs for next session. At least, I think it was a prize.

As always, we really enjoy these singing sessions together.

Group Leader Derek Granger (01562 753986)

Science & Technology in Society (SATIS)

The SATIS Group continues to meet on the morning of the fourth Monday of each month.

We use a range of different formats to broach topics as wide as food and dietary issues, medical dilemmas, the effects of mobile phone culture on modern youth, and the importance, or otherwise of getting a good night’s sleep.

We have been fortunate to have had four extended presentations by people with directly relevant experience. The nature of the work of a Research Scientist, and the design, construction and installation of buildings for use in Antarctic research and exploration were both given by group members. We also had two visiting speakers, Mr. John Smith, a Medical Scientist gave an excellent talk on his two visits to Sierra Leone to help in the fight against the ebola virus. Professor Emeritus Trevor Ponman who has recently retired from Birmingham University gave an illustrated talk about Astronomy and the various research programmes which he was involved with during his career.

We try very hard, and generally manage, not to take ourselves too seriously, and our Christmas Social included some highly competitive attempts to build the tallest possible tower using just sheets of A4 paper and nuts and bolts, whilst our Summer Social included the surprisingly impressive launch of compressed air rockets. Both ‘socials’ also included some fairly impressive food and drink too!!

We’re a friendly bunch and always on the lookout for new members, so why not come along and try us out? Our next meeting will be on Monday October 24th, and we will be moving to our new venue at the Wribbenhall Community Hall in Bewdley.

See you there!

Group Leader Barry Walmsley (01299 250569)

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Seize the Day

Seize the Day offers a supportive environment, primarily for people who live alone. We aim to provide fun and friendship alongside educational and social activities.

Seize the Day - a Member’s Perspective: I went to my first Seize the Day meeting 18 months ago as a very nervous singleton of a certain age - but was immediately welcomed into a group of people who know how to enjoy themselves!

You do not need to have any special talents or even an interest in any one particular area to join this group, as the monthly meetings are very varied and hugely interesting - as well as being informative and fun to attend. Whether it is visiting a local vineyard, a hands-on

session making nosegays or a member-led bowling trip, there is usually something for everyone to enjoy, and all the meetings are accompanied by animated conversation and a lot of laughter.

What a wonderful way to make new friends and actually learn new skills in the process - finally I have a social life!

Seize the Day Welcomes New Members.

Group Leader Valerie Jarrett (01562 66905)

Singing for Pleasure

We have had quite a busy year.

In December we sang at the "Sing-along" evening at St. Ambrose Church, and entertained residents at Brook Court Nursing Home during Christmas week.

Then we were invited to return to the Evergreens Group in Bewdley and will be singing there again at their Christmas Party. We also sang for residents of Heronswood Park Nursing Home.

In April, Ursula Steiger, who is the U3A Summer School tutor, and belongs to Canterbury U3A, drove up to Worcestershire in horrendous conditions to conduct a workshop which was also attended by non-U3A members, and some ladies from Wolverhampton and

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Stourbridge branches. As usual, she presented a good variety of songs - and we all had a most enjoyable day.

Come and join us if you like to sing, or just to listen. We have quite a lot of new material, some in unison and others in two or three parts – hopefully, something to suit everyone!

Looking forward to seeing (and hearing) you.

Group Leader Anne Plant (01299 861550)

Spanish Conversation

The Spanish Language group has met weekly throughout the 'out of holiday' months and has covered topics as far ranging as the European Referendum, planning a trip to New Zealand, and experiences of Liverpool. We were fortunate in having a Spanish speaker join us for a few months, an au pair working for a Kidderminster family. I believe both sides benefited from the experience. We are hoping to start the group again in the late Autumn.

Group Leader Geo Meadows (01562 700727) Storytelling We are a small, but very enthusiastic group who really enjoy the oral storytelling tradition. We have been running since 2011 and tremendously enjoy both listening to and telling stories. As well as our monthly meetings, we have been invited to tell stories at Bishop’s Wood Centre for Education when they have held special events, such as, “Into the Woods”, which was based on traditional children’s fairy tales. In May we

took part in their Bluebell Walks and some of us told stories in leafy glens in the woods, a truly magical experience! We have also enjoyed visits to listen to professional story tellers, “The Forbidden Door”, with the Devils Violin Company was a particular favourite. Some members have also visited the Storytelling Café in Kings Heath and the “Stories from the Edge” group in Bridgnorth, where we had the opportunity to tell some of our stories as well as listen to those from other people. Group Leader Elaine Yates (01562 66201) Strictly4Fun Keep Fit

Group Leader Jane Gardner (01562 743585) Table Tennis This group has now grown since last year to 29 registered members but is still open for anyone to join. We had increased our ability over the year and with 2 successful competitions not only do we exercise our bodies but the laughter at each table is

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testament to how much we enjoy the 2 hour sessions. Our new season starts on 8th September at the Kidderminster Harriers Social Club and details of how you can join are on the website. Group Leader Neil Scott The Science of Life (SOL) The first SOL group began in January 2013 and continues to be of interest to those people who like to delve into topics related to us - the human being. The whole aim of the sessions is to get to know ourselves a little better and to discover just how we can make our lives, and those of others we share it with, happier, healthier and more fulfilling and more contented. Since beginning, studying the learning curve of discovering what topics interest people the most, a two-year programme has now been devised which can be seen on the web site. A new ‘beginners group’ will start on Friday 27th January 2017 to be held at Willow Court, Franche, from 2 till 4pm. The SOL group which began in January 2015 will cease in December this year, and the group which started in January 2016 will run until December 2017.

The subjects we cover are vast and during one session we delved into the merits of ‘psychometric testing’, where, for fun as ‘homework’, we answered some ‘set questions’ on our ideas about ourselves, all in an attempt to try to understand our unique character and our temperament. Each ‘result’ fitted each person into a ‘category’. The outcome was fascinating as we discovered what a diverse group of people we are, and the test was so uncannily accurate. Many of those who took part made some interesting revelations about themselves which they could not disagree with, and individuals who came out in the same ‘category’ could see just how alike one another they were. Another fun interactive session was all about body language and how we convey so much more than we realise by what out body positions and gestures are conveying. This was all with the aim of understanding what others are unwittingly ‘saying’ to us, understanding the subtle signals, and acting accordingly. The hand shake demonstrations were particularly fun, as was looking at the ways in which we stand, sit and position our arms and hands. But then the various emotions we convey on our faces tell the on-lookers even more about what we are thinking, as conveyed by Paul Ekman who is a professor of psychology in California. According to him we are capable of understanding 250,000 facial expressions. Fascinating stuff! These were just two of the many topics in which the two groups have been involved, so if the out-of-the-ordinary interests you and you have an enquiring open mind… why not join the new group in January? Group Leader Sue Langley (01299 861031)

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Ukulele We now have over forty ukulele players in two groups meeting at the Baptist Hall and Willow Court on alternate Wednesday mornings. The original group meeting at the Baptist Hall will usually be fifteen/sixteen plus members strong, now with a file of over ninety songs spanning over a century. We enjoy doing a few performances each year in the local area. If you think we can help entertain a local group you know then do get in touch.

The Willow Court group has now been together for 18 months, no longer beginners, the room seems to fill up at every session and like the first group, is good fun and has started to give a few performances this year. Only by word of mouth and none of it from my lips!! I found I had a number of members asking if there was a chance of learning to play. I eventually relented and added an hour at the start of the session for these new ones and in no time at all, through phone and email contact, I seem to have TEN new members turning up all keen to learn. I try to be mean by making them learn chords and strumming patterns, but it’s no use -- they keep coming back and hardly miss a session !!!! Performance-wise, we started the autumn with a transport theme at the SVR Engine House as part of the U3A 10 Year

Anniversary party, which we all enjoyed. The beginning of December found us entertaining Franche WI with songs which included a few seasonal numbers. We joined in the entertainment at St Ambrose which we have done before and have also been invited to play for the Friends of the Museum of Carpet at their Christmas “do”, many joining in as we always encourage people to do. 2016 began with playing at a special birthday party and not to be out done, the Willow Court group joined with the Satellite singing group at a meeting in February. One of my bright ideas came to fruition in late March when I organised the bringing together of NINE different U3A Ukulele groups for a West Midland U3A ‘bash’. Groups played a song in turn which was then interspersed with all ninety players playing together. Great Fun !!

April heard us entertaining a community group in Stourport, and in May both groups played at a tea party held for the Queen’s birthday attended by over sixty people. In June we had our first open air performance at Springfield Park and all went well. It all goes to show it’s never too late to learn. Ukulele Groups’ Leader Martin Delahay (01562 755834)

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Walking for Fitness This group is now firmly established with a core of 15 regular walkers tackling from 5 to 9 miles at a good but not fast pace. The 3rd Tuesday was leaning towards being the most popular day of the month, so we no longer run the same walk on the 2nd Thursday. The last twelve months has seen many of the members leading their favourite walks for us, taking us to areas around Rock, Mamble, Worfield, Kinver to see the snowdrops, Shrawley for the fantastic bluebells (see below), Ombersley and Chaddesley. We are now all thinking about the next twelve months programme and more favourite walks to discover.

In line with last year, we have, on most occasions, been blessed with good weather for our rambles, although some were a touch muddy under foot. However all walks now have a reward at the end, as a post-walking lunch is usually enjoyed at a welcome pub by those who have the time and wish to stay on for a chat. We are a lively crowd and welcome any new members who wish to join us, all with the aim of keeping fit and healthy.

Group Leader Sue Langley (01299 861031) What a Performance What a Performance was started in October 2015 by Dave Corbett, for people who like to express their talents in music, song ,dance or verse in front of other group members, either solo or together.

Perfection in performing is not necessary just a desire to create happiness and have fun. Come along and give it a go, you won’t regret it. The group is now under the direction of John Watkins. Group Leader John Watkins (01562 67276)

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Pictures of the 10th Anniversary

Celebrations at The Engine House, Highley

Photographs by Mike Morris

Top: Lunchtime

Mid left: Sue Langley who played a key role in

organising the event.

Mid right: The Ukelel Band leads the community

singing

Bottom: The Special Train

Top: Lunchtime

Mid left: Sue Langley who played a key role

in organising the event

Mid right: The Ukulele Band leading

community singing

Bottom: The U3A chartered train for the

event

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Cover photographs by Mike Carter

Top: Weaver’s Wharf, Kidderminster

Middle: The Tontine, Stourport-on-Severn canal basin

Bottom: Bewdley, Severn Side South

Compiled and edited by Mike Carter (2016)

Printed by Veldonn Printers Ltd., 46 Clensmore Street, Kidderminster, DY10 2JS

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Wyre Forest & District U3A banner made by the Craft Group