Hickling Broad U3A Newsletter: August/September 2015

Last Month’s meeting: Arthur Barrett’s topic was a light-hearted look at “The Railway”. His interesting presentation was a truly eclectic mix since as well as sharing his love and knowledge of well-known trains and train journeys we were treated to a range of old and popular songs and music on the railway theme.

Video clips from film, television series and documentaries all helped to delight the audience - excerpts from “Dad’s Army”, “The Railway Children”, “Brief Encounter”, “Oh Mr Porter” and John Betjeman going by train from Kings Lynn to Hunstanton were just a few of those shown.

Arthur concluded with questions and comments from members. The next month at a glance (with contact details for Group organisers): 5th August Walking Roy Smith 6th August Cycling Roy Smith 7th August Sailing Celia Cooper 10th August Wildlife Walk Hilary Beynon 14th August Monthly Meeting in the Barn 17th August BLURR Camera Duncan Morris Group Liz Smith 18th August Country Dancing Maggie Prettyman 19th August Pub Lunches Margaret Baker 21st August Sailing Celia Cooper 25th August Gourmet Diggers Brenda Ward Kathy Cooper Jane Brooker 26th August Croquet Teri Ellis 2nd September Walking Roy Smith 2nd September Bookworms Kathy Cooper 3rd September Cycling Roy Smith 4th September Sailing Celia Cooper 11th Monthly Meeting September in the Barn

Further information about all these meetings/events will be found further on in this newsletter. This Month’s Meeting – 14th August at 2.00pm in The Barn The Phoenix Bird of Prey Rescue Centre are giving us a talk about their rehabilitation work to help injured birds of prey. They will also bring owls and other bird of prey along with them. Please feel free to bring your camera if you fancy getting a photo or two of the birds. We are told that they are used to flash photography Chairman’s Notes

Having just read the draft of this newsletter, before adding my own contribution, I can only be impressed by the enthusiasm of our Interest Groups. It is good to know things are buzzing at HBU3A. I would like to thank our Business Secretary, Margaret Baker for taking the time to attend the Norfolk Network meeting at Dereham on our behalf. Even if she felt the Network has a way to go before it is fully functional.

There were areas discussed recently which may be of interest to general membership. The Committee and VOH would like a portable PA system to meet our current needs, and with the help and advice of Martin Johns we hope to get this sorted quite soon. Kathy and Clive have done some extra training to manage our website, so hopefully there will soon be more information available. Jane will contact Group Leaders regarding inserts.

Maggie and the ‘Speakers‘ subcommittee have excelled in putting together a varied selection of speakers for our Monthly Meetings, thanks to all of you. We now have a programme till May 2016.

Kathy has suggested some of us may be interested in an Art Group, with ‘Daubing Together’ as a group name – sounds good to me. Jane will give an announcement at the August Monthly Meeting.

Although she organised the trip, Nicky was unable visit the Sainsbury Centre on 24th July. Those of us who were able to go, found the exhibition varied and thought provoking. I think we found Francis Bacon’s work interesting, however, it's the two Rembrandt portraits I will re- member.

Teri Ellis, Chairman

Interest Groups For further information on all our groups, please ring Jane Brooker

Interest Group Meetings: Backgammon – no meetings now until after the sailing season For further information contact Nicky. BLURR – The Camera Group – 3rd Monday each month (pm) For more information contact - Group Leader Liz Smith or Admin/Treasurer Duncan Morris BLURR continues with its busy schedule and has recently completed photographic updates for the Nancy Oldfield Trust. This will hopefully be an ongoing commitment to work with them.

The Christmas calendar is at the planning stage and the next couple of meetings will see the selection process and final choices completed.

Martin has continued with his helpful presentations at the meetings and has now finished the technical stuff for a while and a move on to ‘composition' will follow next month. This has been a very useful feature for our group.

Enthusiasm remains high and if you have an interest in joining our group please contact Duncan, Liz ,or just turn up on the third Monday of the month at 2.30pm in the Pleasure Boat Public House.

'Bookworms' Reading Group – 1st Wednesday each month (pm) For more information, contact Kathy Cooper At present, Bookworms are reading 'Dissolution' by C J Sansom, a novel about the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

There is no meeting in August but we will resume again in September when we will be discussing 'Dissoluton' and taking 'The Crossing Places' by Elly Griffiths to read for September.

Please contact me if you would be interested in joining us. Bookworms meet up on the first Wednesday each month from 2:30pm - 4:30pm in the summer and 2:00pm - 4:00pm during the darker, winter months.

Country Dancing – 3rd Tuesday each month (pm) For more information, contact Maggie Prettyman

Cycling Group – 1st Thursday each month (am) For further information contact Roy Smith Last month we met up at the Methodist Church in Hickling and cycled through country lanes to the Butchers Arms in East Ruston where we had lunch. We returned to Hickling via Weavers Way total milage about 14 miles .

Next ride 3rd August and then 1st October Garden Croquet - 4th Wednesday each month, May to October, weather permitting For more information, contact Teri Ellis Gourmet Diggers – 4th Tuesday each month (pm) Your contacts for the Gourmet Diggers are Brenda Ward, Kathy Cooper or Jane Brooker

Well a superb turn out,16 in total. We went through the August garden to do list and discussed what produce we had harvested so far and it looked as though some of us were really eating very well and healthily. Produce picked included salads - tomatoes cucumbers, etc. veg – peas, beans, spinach, onions, potatoes. Lots of other veg was mentioned but not ready for harvesting just yet. Our Sweet Pea competition was won by Steve as his flowers were the most fragrant and looked outstanding. Well done, Steve.

As far as the Gourmet side goes what can I say!!! Both Kathy and Helena treated all of us to an English Picnic with a twist. Just see Martin’s photo to see the great calibre of food these two ladies provided.

Now you can see why our GOURMET DIGGERS is so popular and anybody who LOVES FOOD, GREAT FRIENDLY COMPANY AND POTTERING IN THE GARDEN joins our group.

Our next meeting will be on Aug 25 at Friars Dyke the theme will be IRISH, provided by Lauraine and Terri.

September will be Indian with Audrey and Brenda, October French with Jane and Margaret.

Looking forward to every meeting with GREAT GOURMET delights to savour. See you all and any one else who would like a taste of what our GREAT group has to offer. Best wishes to all our members and a big welcome to any new U3A members who would like to join us.

Best wishes to all Brenda. …

'Let’s Discuss It' – 2nd Thursday each month (pm) No Meeting in August

For further information and venue address please contact Mike Flett The theme for the Let’s Discuss It group for July was “What Makes us Happy? – The Chem- istry of the Brain”. It was Margaret’s turn to research the topic and to give a short presentation to the group. Fortunately, all brains were in gear and so a lively discussion followed. I think we all came away feeling happy, or if not, we knew how to make ourselves so!!

There is no meeting in August, but we resume in September when Kathy will be leading the group.

Outings – no regular day For more information, contact Nicky Headey In order for me to book tickets for the theatre trips, I need the money in advance:

Sheringham Little Theatre Ticket price £17:00 Saturday 5th September 7:30 p.m.

Theatre Royal Norwich Ticket Price £16:00 Thursday November 12th 2.30,p.m.

For further details contact Nicky on

Pub Lunches Group – 3rd Wednesday each month For more information, contact Margaret Baker We had a fantastic response for our lunch in July with 17 of us arriving at Smallsticks, Cart Gap. The cafe is quite close to the sea so ideal if you would like to take a walk before or after lunch or coffee. It seems best to check beforehand if you want to visit as the café is closed out-of-season and not open every day in season. They prefer pre-ordering if there is a large party.

It was thoughtful that we were put altogether on one large table, but it was rather cold out in the marquee on the day we went. Members of staff were very pleasant and accommodating. Smallsticks has no licence for selling alcohol (rather disappointing) but you can take your own!!

Our scoring system showed that quality and choice of food were good as was value for money; service was very good but ambiance only average - probably because of the cold out in the marquee!

We are a very friendly and chatty group who enjoy finding different places to eat, and the company of others. Our next lunch is planned for 12.15pm on Wednesday 19 August at The Fisherman’s Return in Winterton. If you would like to join us let me know if you are coming, , or catch me at the Members Meeting on Friday 14 August.

Thank you.

Margaret Baker

Sailing – 1st and 3rd Friday each month (am) For more information, contact Celia Cooper If you would like to join us: we sail on 3rd of July, 127th July and 4th August.

We meet outside Hickling Chapel at 9:30 to share lifts (there is limited parking at The Nancy Oldfield). We sail from 10:00 – 12:30 plus! All equipment is provided. Cost £10 payable each session. Please contact Celia Cooper on the Wednesday prior to sailing by phone Voices of Hickling For more information contact Teri Ellis Remembering Ursula “holding on to the past” July 2015 At the Voices of Hickling project meeting on June 30th we visited “the dipping place” courtesy of John and Viv Tallowin. It was midsummer and we talked of Ursula as we meandered along and wondered why she had been so keen to collect the voices of the people she knew in her late summer days. We naturally turned to Hilary, and we wanted to share her memories with you. What first inspired Ursula may have been hearing an interview with Billy Nudd on Radio Norfolk. Ursula was an only child. She and her mother were both devoted to her father; a vicar devoted to his flock. The little family moved often; Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, Litchfield, St Albans, Bishops Stortford. Ursula found some stability by attending a church school; the Eothen school at Caterham, but had a sense that “she didn’t know where she was from”. When Ursula came to Hickling she found the roots that she had lacked. She was able to pursue her love of the Natural world; regularly taking wildlife walks and serving on the Council of the Wildlife Trust for almost a decade and playing an active part on the Trust’s Local Groups Committee She visited the Greyhound pub in the evenings and found companionship and pleasure; enjoying the local voices and sad as one by one they began to fade away. She wanted to “ hold on to the past”; hearing that interview on radio gave her an idea of one way this could be done. In her own past, Ursula trained as a nurse in London at the Westminster (pic 1950) and then as a midwife in Edinburgh, returning to London ,St Thomas`s and to a love affair that led to engagement to a young doctor. He was, keen to secure her (and who would not?) before he spent a year away in S Africa, only to leave her for someone he met out there. If she was not to marry a doctor Ursula determined to become one, and supported by her father, embarked on that course. Tragedy struck; her father died suddenly the night before her exams and Ursula was unable to complete her studies and had to return to nursing to make a living. Nursing was not the only string to her bow however; building on an entrée to the film industry from student nurse days, Ursula embarked on an alternative career as film- star stand-in and stuntwoman. It is no surprise that she was asked to stand in for Sophia Loren in the Millionairess when you see them side-by-side. Ursula spoke of Sophia Loren with admiration and affection and recounted how Sophia taught her to make perfect Italian pasta in her stage caravan. At the other end of the glamour-action pole Ursula was a stunt driver in from Russia with Love when she apparently nearly got blown up for real! When I first met Ursula she was as sharp and inquisitive as ever with a great appreciation of people; when we set up the University of the Third Age in Hickling, we were keen to have a voice for the older members and Ursula was the natural choice; she joined the founding committee, and agreed to set up the project group to record “Voices of Hickling” as long as someone else would “do the legwork” Despite her legs, Ursula was still out and about until close to her final illness; travelling with her friend Hilary last summer to the Appleby Horse Fair; a fitting last adventure for someone who loved the countryside and wildlife so much. We miss her.

Walking Group – 1st Wednesday each month (am) For further information contact Roy Smith Meet up at the Methodist Church car park at 9:45am.

Due to holiday and recovering from surgery 4 of us met up at Hickling and drove to Stokesby. We walked a circular route through woods and along the broads.

We lunched at Stokesby. The weather was kind to us, we even had to have an umbrella as we ate our lunch.

Our next walk is 5th August and the next one is 2nd September all welcome .

Wildlife Walks – 2nd Monday each month (pm) For further information contact Hilary Beynon The day was cool, overcast and there was a hint of drizzle in the air as we set out for our walk at Winterton Dunes last month. Not surprisingly, butterflies were not showing themselves and there were very few birds – though we were treated to the sound of skylarks throughout the walk. What there was, in profusion, were wild flowers. On a dull day, the dunes sparkled with the golds and yellows of the various hawkweeds, lady’s bedstraw, cinquefoil ands silverweed, the pinks of centaury and rosebay willowherb and the deep blue of devil’s scabious. The next walk is on Monday 10th August at NWT’s Ranworth Nature Reserve. Meet at 2.00pm at Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s car park in the village.

Next Main Meeting – 11th September at 2.00pm in The Barn