Learn Laugh Live LEA VALLEY U3A HISTORY OF OUR INTEREST GROUPS 1992 – 2017 GROUPS ARE THE LIFE BLOOD OF OUR U3A, WITHOUT THEM THERE WOULDN’T BE ONE! SO, ON BEHALF OF ALL THE MEMBERS OF LEA VALLEY U3A THANK YOU TO ALL OUR GROUP LEADERS WRITTEN BY OUR GROUP LEADERS, FOR OUR MEMBERS COMPILED BY BARBARA CORDINA, CHAIRMAN ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES – LEADER CHRIS MURPHY & KATE GORMAN The group was started in 1996/97 and at that time consisted of three lady members and one gentleman. Today there are 29 members. Among today’s members are Thelma Lobb, a founding member, and two past Group Leaders, Pru Pearman and Audrey Stanley. Originally meetings were held at the Lowewood Museum and are now held at St. Augustine's Parish Centre in Broxbourne. Meetings usually consist of a speaker and recent talks have covered subjects as diverse as restoring antique furniture, porcelain manufacturers in London, The Wallace Collection and how to collect Goss china. We try to arrange an annual outing and most recently visited The London Silver Vaults where we enjoyed a talk from one of the shop owners. We meet on the 4th Tuesday of each month, new members are very welcome and full contact details are in the Newsletter. AWAYDAYS – LEADER ROSE LOVELIDGE BOOK STALL – LEADER JOAN UNDERWOOD The Book Stall has been a feature of LV for many years, started I think, by Bob Newton. I took over its organisation about 10 years ago, but its success has been largely due to the willing team of volunteers who have supported the venture, raising a considerable amount of money which has been used to provide refreshments and equipment for the LV. Nothing is wasted. I regularly cull the books and those which have been on the stall for about 10 weeks go to the Oxfam Book Shop. BRIDGE – BEGINNERS & IMPROVERS – LEADER ANN ABERCROMBIE Nobody quite knows when the bridge group was started but Pat Blakemore was the instigator and they first played at Mayhem Theatre Arts where they had to take all their own equipment including the tables every week. Everything had to be carried up the stairs and then cleared away and brought down again and put back into cars. Finding the Hoddesdon Methodist Church Hall was great as we have our own storage cupboard. We meet on a weekly basis. The group is thriving although we do not have quite as many members as there were. BUSY FINGERS – LEADERS BARBARA CORDINA & ELAINE PENROSE This group was initially set up in November 2011 by Barbara Cordina, Joy Carroll and Carol French. The concept was to collect in unwanted craft materials from our members and pass them on to other members who would make items with those materials which would be sold for charity. This proved very successful and a total of nearly £1,000 was raised over about two years. Subsequently, it was decided to split the group into two sections, one continuing to make craft items for sale to raise funds for charity and one to venture into making public works of art with their skills. Carol French took over the craft items and formed a relationship with Teens Unite in Hoddesdon, naming her group Craft Unite. Elaine Penrose led the works of art section and we have since produced many varied artworks for the local community. The largest of these is the decoration of the trees in part of Hoddesdon High Street, for the Christmas period, which is very popular with local residents and highlights the work which U3A members are able to produce. CARPET BOWLS – LEADER JIM ALBON I set the group up three years ago and we play short mat at Rosehill Bowls Club in the clubhouse on a Tuesday morning from 10am to 12pm from October to mid-April. As we only have one mat for playing on we can only accommodate a maximum of 10 players and currently we have a full compliment. It may be that come the start of the new season next October, if anyone drops out we will have a vacancy or two, so I am always happy to put any prospective players on a waiting list. CHINESE BRUSH PAINTING GROUP 1 – LEADER SYBIL HAMMOND The CBP group first met on February 19th 2001. Members of the Mahjong group had realised my enthusiasm for China and Arts and asked if I were willing to teach CBP. Having consulted my tutor I set up the group and over the years we have practised and developed our skills painting in the traditional style. Most of our painting is of flower and bird, fish, animals, landscape and some still life using a wide variety of special paper, brushes, ink, ink stones and oriental paints. Following a number of enquiries from people who wanted to learn CBP I set up a second group in June 2013. Both groups meet once a month, usually for a couple of hours of painting and relaxation. CHINESE BRUSH PAINTING GROUP 2 – LEADER JOAN NEWMAN Our group was started by me in 2010 and has a membership of six, including myself. We meet twice a month, when possible, at my house and although the membership has changed over the years, two people have been with me since the start. CRAFT WORKSHOPS – MADE IN HERTS STUDIOS LEADERS - BARBARA CORDINA & ANNE NORTHCOTT This group was initially set up in November 2013 in conjunction with Art Shed in Ware. The aim was to give our members the opportunity to learn some different crafts, ie pottery, glass fusion, glass painting, enamelling, jewellery, mosaics, and lots more. This has proved very successful with our ladies and we have currently 20+ who attend when they can and who benefit from reduced prices for our U3A members. In 2016 we moved to Hertford. We are always amazed at how good our work looks when it is finished! CRAFT UNITE – LEADER CAROL FRENCH In May 2015 I set up this group as an offshoot of the Busy Fingers Craft Group in which I had been involved. Teens Unite, a Cancer Charity, offered us a room to use for free. We have had about 15 members for quite a while but now we are down to 10 regulars. We are a very friendly, happy group doing a variety of crafts and are always open to new members. Over the last three years we have volunteered for a local charity and have raised nearly £3000 for them. We also sell cards and small craft items on our table at monthly meetings, all proceeds going to Lea Valley U3A. CRAFTING FOR CHARITY – LEADER HELEN WETHERFIELD The group was set up February 2016. We meet monthly 2-4 pm in Broxbourne Parish Centre on a Friday with a “teen”. Cost is £2 to cover hall hire and refreshments. No formal membership. Most U3A members and friends make a myriad of items for charities and donate them via the main meeting or via the monthly meeting or personal contact (0208 502 0091). All knitted and sewn items will find a home with a charity, locally or through http://www.lovinghands.org.uk/ of which Helen Wetherfield, group leader is an active member. The crafted items are so varied, all beautifully made, taken directly to receiving charities and really appreciated. Approximately one month’s crafting will fill a large suitcase. Thank you to all the Lea Valley U3A crafters. CREATIVE WRITING – LEADER ELIZABETH BROWN The first meeting of the Creative Writing Group was in 2014. We are, at present, a small group of six people who enjoy writing and we meet once a month in each other’s homes. At our meetings we decide on different topics to write about and present at the next meeting although we can choose something completely different if the fancy takes us. Our offerings can be poetry or prose, according to the preferences of the writer. Consequently, our writings are very varied, which makes for very amusing and interesting meetings. If you would like to know more, and perhaps attend one of our meetings, do get in touch with me, Elizabeth Brown 01992 893431. CRIBBAGE – LEADER RAY DAWNEY Cribbage Group was formed in July 2016 by Ann Abercrombie. Ray Dawney took over on August 16th when Ann had to have a knee op. There are about 14 members and we normally have between 6 to 14 people turn up every 1st and 3rd Mondays in the month. We start at 10-45am and end at 12-45pm in the rear hall at Broxbourne Parish Church. If interested contact Ray Dawney on 01992 893837. CROQUET – LEADER PETER WORTH Richard Lorimer set the group up in 2001 and Jean Kurcza became the first group leader. In 2002 Bob Larson took over from Jean, Keith Wilson then succeeded Bob and led the group until 2007. Don Wratten took over in 2007 until 2012 when our current leader Peter Worth took on the group. There are currently 25 active members. EATING YOUR WAY ROUND THE WORLD – LEADER PAM BENTON This group was started by Joan Underwood about 5 or 6 years ago, Pam Benton taking over 2 years ago. Each month we choose a different restaurant to sample a variety of worldwide cuisines. These have included Thai, Indian, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Moroccan, we even took a trip to Boulogne to get an authentic French meal! EXPLORING LONDON 1 – LEADER JOHN AMBRIDGE Exploring London Group 1 was first established in 1992 and its first visit was on 7th April that year to Greenwich. This was followed by visits to Highgate Cemetery, Hampstead and the Thames Barrier in the three succeeding months.