Brixworth and District Newsletter

Learn, laugh, live Registered Charity No 1178196 Issue 73 May 2021

Chairman’s Chat

Hello again everyone, A am sure you are all looking forward to some lovely spring weather, with some sunshine, and the promised relaxing of the lock-down restriction in order to once again meet up with family and friends. And maybe, by the summer, certain u3a activities will have resumed, fingers crossed. This month I have chosen this painting to share with you, a local view from the main road leaving Brixworth to Northampton, across the beautiful landscape looking towards Chapel Brampton. On the day, there was a stormy sky, which I have attempted to capture with the clouds gathering, and with lots of different tones and shapes in the sky – always a challenge for any artist. Because of the time of year, the fields are of different colours, which adds a bit more interest. Breaking up the view are the hedgerows and also trees. The prominent detailed foreground of the dry-stone wall and cow parsley (Heracleum) provides a contrast to the main focal point of the white cloud and sun shining on the highlighted field beneath it. This is certainly one of my recent favourite paintings, and I do tend to favour working on a larger canvas, this one being 32 inches x 24 inches. So, I hope you agree with me, that this particular painting is a pretty good statement piece for the beautiful countryside that surrounds our wonderful village. Belinda Welcome to Brian’s Music Corner

Three very different tracks this month, starting with the greatest guitarist of all time, , whom I’ve had the pleasure to meet and whose signed poster hangs on a wall at home. But today you are going to see and hear how good he is on a rare occasion at the , a track taken from his 1996 ‘Venus Isle’. Next from 2010, we have Jeff Beck and Puccini’s ‘None Shall Sleep', and finally an uplifting track from CSNY from their amazing ‘Deja vu’ album. As before, just click on the links and skip the ads. Brian Collett Eric Johnson – Song for Lynette – You Tube Jeff Beck – None Shall Sleep – You Tube Crosby Stills Nash & Young – Carry On – You Tube

Brian today...... and in his days as a musician

You may remember that in a previous edition of this Newsletter I included an item about Market Harborough. After living in Brixworth for 44 years this is my adopted town. So this time I thought you might be interested in ......

Five Facts About Market Harborough

1.The Church of St Dionysius

The church stands proudly on the High Street. Built between 1300 and 1330, part of the spire was destroyed by a storm in 1735 and it was replaced by a shorter one. This impressive spire, which towers some 47 metres above the High Street, is one of the finest examples of its kind in England. On the outside there is a sundial dating back to 1762 and the more modern clock was installed in 1902. The church has ten bells, two of which were added in 1990. It is also one of just a handful of churches in the country that doesn’t have a graveyard. 2

2. Harborough Theatre

This building which can be found near the Church and the Old Grammar School had been used by a priest, later becoming an inn and then used as a garage and a bike shed. In 1962 the Drama Society converted it into a charming and intimate theatre. In normal times six plays are staged each year and I can highly recommend a visit.

3. Oliver Cromwell

In 1645 Oliver Cromwell was in an inn in the town. He wrote a letter to the Speaker of The House of Commons, William Lenthall. From “Haverbrowe” (Harborough) he announced the defeat of King Charles I at The Battle of Naseby.

4. The Three Swans Hotel

The hotel boasts a large and elaborate wrought iron pub sign. The pub was originally called The Swan Inn but by 1790 the name had changed to The Three Swans and the two outer swans were added. The sign is reckoned by many to be one of the best of its kind in England. At a National Exhibition of Pub Signs in 1936 John Betjeman praised it as among one of the most admirable English wrought iron inn signs from the Georgian era.

5. The Stage Coaching Era

In its heyday dozens of coaches passed through the town on the journey between London and Leicester. There was great competition between the many inns for business. There was great consternation when the four roads out of Harborough were turnpiked to pay for road improvements. Travellers were often robbed. A newspaper report from 1775 read, “On Sunday night last, the coach bound for London was ‘stopt’ by a single highwayman. He took from the passengers about £14; told them that necessity obliged him to do that or go to gaol”. Christine 3 Local History

About 35 members of our Local History Group “Zoomed” in to hear Sue McAspurn’s very interesting and well-researched talk on the story of Walter Tull – footballer, soldier, hero. Walter’s grandparents were slaves. His father Daniel joined a ship from Barbados to Folkestone, England, where he settled. Daniel met Alice Palmer, a local girl, and they married and had six children. Sadly, Walter’s parents died when he was still young and he grew up in a children’s home in Bethnal Green, London. It was there that he discovered his sporting abilities and was a talented member of the football team. He was eventually spotted by Tottenham Hotspur and joined them in 1909 before transferring to Northampton Town Football Club and becoming a ‘Cobbler’. Unfortunately his footballing career came to an end with the start of the First World War and he enlisted, eventually being commissioned as an officer leading his men in northern France and the Battle of the Somme where he was shot down. He has no known grave but is remembered on the Arras Memorial.

His fame as a talented footballer and as an admired and popular Army Officer led to other memorials such as the blue plaque on the house in London he lived in for a short while, the splendid memorial at Sixfields Stadium (and the name of the nearby pub)! And his image on the commemorative £5 coin issued to remember the start of WW1 and a postage stamp to commemorate the end.

At the next meeting Jackie Bird gave a talk on St Andrew’s Hospital. The history started with a brief talk about the land it was built on, how its name evolved from the local lunatic asylum to St Andrews Hospital and the way in which the gentry of Northamptonshire raised money for the hospital. The talk ended with a resume of some of its more famous patients including the poet John Clare. It raised some interesting memories from the 30 strong group of seeing the bomb damage to the grounds in their childhood and some stories of working there and the changes made in later years. 4 Chris Rowe John Nicholson’s Pop Quiz

Complete the names of these groups from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

1. Danny and the ______2. ______and the Hurricanes 3. Tommy Steel and the______4. ______and his Paramount Jazz Band 5. B. Bumble and the______6. ______and the Roulettes 7. Billy K Kramer and the______8. Jimi______9. Unit______10. ______and the Vandellas 11. Simon Dupree and the______12. ______and the Ram Jam Band 13. 1910______Company 14. Emerson,______and______15. Harold______and the Blue______16. ______and the Wailers 17. Crosby,______,______and______18. Credence______19. ______Rollers 20. Electric______Orchestra

You will find the answers on page 8

Monthly Meetings via Zoom

We are so pleased that so many of you are joining us on our Zoom meetings on the first Wednesday of each month. If you haven’t signed up yet Tim Smith can add you to his list and send you the link. He can be contacted by clicking the pigeon icon on our website.

Wednesday 5th May Dark Light and The Flannan Island Mystery Fools Gold – Carol and Steve Robson, tell a tale from the Outer Hebrides. The show will feature a mixture of songs and stories supported by some wonderful visuals.

Wednesday 2nd June Sex, Secrets, Scandal & Gossip Following her popular talk on the ghosts of Hampton Court Palace we have asked Sarah Slater to return. She tells us about all the naughty bits of history you would probably not have learnt about at school!

5 Science & Technology

Each meeting starts with the latest Science & Technology items from the news.

Bird Migration

At the March ‘Zoom’ meeting Colin Rowe gave a presentation on bird migration. The main topic was how birds migrate using innate and learned techniques and the amazing feat of a Swallow flying to South Africa and back between the months of September and April. The world record is an Arctic Tern whose annual migratory trip can be as high as 40,000 miles. Birds such as Starlings navigate by using the sun and experiments which have been carried out were explained to prove this. Other birds such as Mallards find their way at night by using the constellations. Planetariums have been used to change the star patterns at a given time which shows that birds have inbuilt clocks. One of the most remarkable revelations was the processes that the Black Necked Grebe goes through reforming its body before migration – increasing the size of the digestive organs and reducing the size of their pectoral flight muscles, then about 3 weeks before departure they shrink their digestive organs, reduce the size of their leg muscles, restore the pectoral flight muscles and increase the pumping capacity of their hearts. Overall their body mass will have increased by 50% due to the storage of fat required for sustained flight.

3-D Printers

At the April Zoom meeting Jill Onley gave an enlightening presentation on 3-D print technology. We know a lot more about these now, having been talked through the early development of the different types and what can be made with them. ie. many items from human body parts to something as large as a house. The basis of the process is forcing a medium such as resin, or even metal through a nozzle and building up the item layer by layer. The nozzle is mounted above a form plate and can move in three axes controlled by a computer programme containing the digital instructions derived from a computer-aided design drawing, which plots thousands of coordinates moving the print nozzle accordingly. Home printers are now available starting at about £200. 6 Colin Rowe Creative Writing

A sometimes hilarious meeting was held via Zoom on Friday 19th March when 5 members of the Creative Writing Group read out their latest pieces of homework which had been set by Sue McAspurn. The task was to imagine “The Day in the Life of a Bird” – what it got up to and how it feels to be that bird. Of course, our first task was to decide what sort of bird we would be.

One was a lazy young swallow who didn’t want to leave his cosy nest with his long- suffering parents continuing to feed him, but once he saw all the other swallows starting to gather for the big migration, he decided to join the flock.

A very talkative parrot was interviewed (with interesting voices!) telling us about how his friends came from South America and how he was partial to the odd chocolate biscuit wafer.

A caring male white tailed eagle told us how he was busy fishing to feed his young family which he was very proud of, and how loyally he and his mate got together every year to raise a new brood.

A young blue-footed booby on the Galapagos Islands found a young female to try to impress with offerings of flying fish, shiny pebbles and some cool dance moves. But she wasn’t sufficiently interested and went off with an older booby who presented her with a shiny shell.

Finally, a cheeky seagull described his day – feeding his voracious appetite. Waiting for titbits, stealing and the occasional crust or chip, annoying people, pecking dogs on the nose and frightening children was all in this gull’s day.

This meeting of the group was the first after the sad passing of Lynn Aitken, our group leader. The group will continue under the new leadership of Jackie Bird, so if you would like to join us and find out what the latest creative writing task is, please get in touch with her. Chris Rowe

We still have new members joining our u3a and we extend a very warm welcome to Jennifer Imison. We look forward to meeting when our face to face activities restart. 7 Would you like to read some of the books reviewed by Book Club 1?

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

This was a modern, dark, gritty read, where the author wove many challenging subjects: coercive control, consent, rape, abuse, suicide into the plot. Many found the story line compelling with many twists and turns – a great psychological thriller. The plot line and the characters also created a strong reaction in the group, particularly to the protagonist. Her ability to block out the consequences of her self-destructive behaviour made her difficult to like and yet the author did manage to engender some sympathy for her situation. This was a thought provoking read.

My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay

Lemn Sissay is an English poet, author and broadcaster. This childhood memoir is a powerful, moving read and many of the group felt a scandalous indictment of the care system. Placed in care as a small baby and given an English name, Norman; he was given a long-term foster placement which abruptly broke down when he was twelve, he then went into children’s homes and other styles of residential care. All of these appeared to hold the premise that children were seen as problems that needed managing/controlling. Any behaviour that did not conform would be seen as evidence of the initial premise. Heartbreaking. As a young adult Lemn requested and eventually received his case notes from social services. His narrative is interspersed with documents and reports contained in these notes. This provides interesting insights into his story and the dominant attitudes of the time that so blighted his time in care. These notes also revealed tragic information about his birth mother, she in fact tried and failed to get him returned to her care. What is truly remarkable is how resilient he managed to be. Despite the repeated messages of abandonment and worthlessness that dominated his teenage years he forged such a successful life. The book also contains beautiful examples of his poetry, at times angry and poignant but also uplifting.

Forthcoming titles: 4th May: At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier 1st June The Secret River by Kate Grenville 6th July Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple Chris Laukaitis Quiz Answers 1. Danny & The Juniors 11. Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. 2. Johnny & The Hurricanes 12. Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band 3. Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 13. 1910 Fruitgum Company 4. Mr Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band 14. Emerson, Lake & Palmer 5. B. Bumble & The Stingers 15. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes 6. Adam Faith & The Roulettes 16. Bob Marley & The Wailers 7. Billy J. Kramer & TheDakotas 17. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 8. Jimi Hendrix Experience 18. Creedence Clearwater Revival 9. Unit 4 + 2 19. Bay City Rollers 10. Martha & The Vandellas 20. Electric Light Orchestra

8 Badminton Group

The Group in September 2011 and in March 2019

Nine members of the Badminton Group joined a Zoom meeting on Monday 15th March. Everyone appeared to be in fine fettle and looking forward to the possibility of an easing of Lockdown over the next couple of weeks.

We had a ‘Show and Tell’ session when members showed and talked about what they’d been doing to keep themselves busy and amused over the past couple of months. These ranged from:- Beautiful bright yellow paper daffodils made for the Marie Curie Day of Remembrance on Tuesday 23rd March. An amazing ‘Paint by Numbers’ canvas depicting a street scene in Paris. Knitted poppies for the 100th anniversary of the Poppy Appeal. The poppies will be added to three trailing nets that will be displayed around Brixworth. A little towelling bag to hold ice packs that are kept in the badminton kit in case of injuries. And a Chicken and Leek pie (we didn’t see it as it was in the freezer but it sounded delicious).

Our next Zoom meeting is scheduled for Monday 19th April at 2pm when it is hoped we can start making plans for a small group activity in the open air. Maybe a game of rounders, a picnic or flying a kite. Eileen Truby

Your Newsletter

This is your newsletter so if you have any ideas for items please send them in. Maybe you have a recipe, joke or celebration that you could share with our members. Perhaps you could get out with your camera or phone now that lockdown is easing and send in a photograph. Or perhaps you could send in an article similar to the one on pages 2 and 3, ‘Five Facts about My Village’. There are so many villages as well as Brixworth represented by our members so I am sure there are some interesting facts or stories to tell. Just a few sentences and maybe a photo would be fine. If you wish to contribute and don’t already have my email address details of how to get in touch are on the next page. Christine 9 Web Page News

If you’ve been on our website recently, you will have probably noticed that changes have been made to the site. The most noticeable is the Pigeon Icon, which is on the majority of the pages.

Why is it there? It is a secure email messenger which has been added to protect the privacy of our group leaders and committee members. We call it “Pigeon Post”. To send an email message to the person responsible for a particular page, just click on the pigeon icon, fill in a simple form and send a message. The message will then arrive in the recipient’s email inbox. You will receive confirmation that the message has been sent. So, for example, if you go to the Newsletters Page and send a message, it will arrive in the inbox of the Newsletter Editor. She will then contact you by normal email. If you have a general enquiry or if you don’t know who to send a message to, then go to the Members Page and click on “The Pigeon” and send a message. It will then be forwarded to the appropriate committee member or group leader. John Nicholson, Webmaster

Cartoon Corner

10 From the Archive – The Garden Group

July 2018 Summer 2018

Summer 2018 May 2020 Summer 2018

September 2019 September 2019 September 2019

2020 May 2020

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