U3a Tewkesbury and District
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u3a Tewkesbury and District TUTA News No. 159 November December 2020 January 2021 Meetings and Speakers Zoom Meetings and AGM Currently via Zoom Members will be sent an email 9th November, the week before the proposed Paul Robbins ‘Great British Eccentrics’ Zoom meetings. This will contain the time and date of the meeting plus the 14th December, AGM link to be clicked on. Members may have to join the meeting Steve Rowley, ‘The History of with a password which is also Mumming Plays in Gloucestershire’ sent with the link. (after AGM) The AGM booklet will be posted/uploaded to the website/ emailed with this edition of Please look at the U3A website for TUTA news. up-to-date information on monthly meetings and speakers. In addition members will receive a companion booklet The committee will endeavour to keep in which outlines how to vote by touch via email. post. It includes forms that can be cut out or downloaded. If you do not have email please phone the committee or your group leader with If you can, please join the queries. TUTA News will be posted to AGM by Zoom and vote at you. the meeting. The meeting has to be quorate. Front cover photo taken at Westonbirt Arboretum Our monthly meetings are now free. (£1.00 charge for non-members) They are held on the second Monday of each month, at the Baptist Chapel, Station Road, Tewkesbury. Tea and coffee, also free, available from 10am for a meeting start of 10.30 Currently online Further information about talks can be found on the TU3A website. 2 Contents Page 3 Contents Page 4 Notes from the Chair Page 5 From the Editor Page 6 TUTA News Editor Vacancy Page 7 Insurance, Membership Secretary Page 8 September Zoom Meeting Page 9 Third Age Trust AGM Page 10, 11 Everest the Easy Way Page 12, 13 I Can’t Stay Long Page 14 I think, I think, I smell a stink…. Page 15 u3a radio Page 16, 17 Groups List Page 18, 19 Lockdown Lookdown Page 20,21,22 Treasure Discovered During Lockdown Page 23 Keep Smiling Page 24 Discovering Britain Page 25 White Leaved Oak revisited Page 26 27 Family History Page 28 29 Anne Trott Page 30, 31 Walking group Page 32 The Committee Deadline for contributions to the next magazine - 7th January 3 Notes from the Chair As I write, my daughter, who lives in Lancashire, has been put in a new ‘lockdown’, so her visit to Tewkesbury has had to be cancelled! Life is currently very unpredictable on many levels, lots of us are struggling to get back to a ‘bit of normal’, which is somewhat different from the old reality. So, I am really grateful to all Group Leaders, who are working hard to keep up some form of contact with members, putting in place all necessary measures to reopen groups, where possible. Members of your committee also deserve gratitude from us all, everyone has learned about new technology (well new to most of us!) and the attendance at our first Zoom Monthly Meeting was amazing with at least 60 members on computers, tablets and smart phones. Please support our Zoom AGM on 14th December. Given all this activity, I was surprised on two recent occasions, to have the Tewkesbury u3a described as ‘apathetic’ in relation to committee membership! So surprised that I checked its meaning; Showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm or concern I am very sure that the majority of u3a members are not indifferent to the fate of the committee. However, in 2021, there will be a new Treasurer, new Membership Secretary, no Chairman or Vice Chair and at least two other committee members would be useful to the committee. As quite a few members can state, this situation is not for the want of trying! I do hope that members will realise the importance of the committee in the functioning of our u3a. On a personal note, I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement over the last five years. Fran Valentine 4 From the Editor I want to thank all contributors to this edition for taking the time to write and send in articles. I think we have an interesting read and hope you enjoy it. I shall be editing the next edition in January for publishing in February and would love to have some uplifting items for the new year so please get creative over, what may be, a relatively quiet Christmas. As we approach the end of the year it is startling to look back at how our lives have changed. I commented to one of my children that it would be nice to wipe out 2020, but he pointed out that I am to be a grandmother in 2021 and that would not have been possible if we lost the year. In fact many good things have happened and we should all look towards a better future for ourselves, our family and friends. I am heartened to see that a few groups within Tewkesbury u3a are meeting and others stay in touch. It is also great to see that the committee are meeting regularly via Zoom and are planning for the future with a re-launch at the appropriate time. The committee, and all members, are grateful to Ian Barber for his offer to take over as Chair. He will require a Vice Chair to take over when he is unavailable so PLEASE offer to help him out. We are also looking for someone to become our Group Liason Committee Member, an interesting but not onerous role. I am planning to leave the committee, and the role of Editor in March next year but I will be very happy to help my replacement settle in. This year the committee will be losing three very valuable members, namely our Chair, Fran Valentine, Treasurer, Terry Clynes and Membership Secretary Calvyn Price. They have all worked hard to update Tewkesbury u3a and have supported its development. They have made real progress and have all managed to retain their sense of humour through difficult times. The committee will miss them. If you are interested in local walks please read the Walking Group article as it explains how to obtain a copy of a booklet produced by the members. Mary Mulrenan 5 TUTA News Editor -Vacancy from March 2021 After more than four years involvement in editing the TUTA News I feel the time is right to hand on the reins to someone new. The newsletter is produced 4 times a year, in February, May, August and November and involves approximately 2 weeks work each time. For ease of communication the Editor is expected to sit on the u3a committee which meets every two months. I produce it using Microsoft Publisher software, but other software could be used. Submission of contributions is by email and the completed newsletter is sent to a local printer, also by email. The local printer takes responsibility for posting the newsletter to members. A laptop is provided by the u3a. It is preloaded with the necessary software and an email address. This job would lend itself to job sharing. It requires good organisation and attention to detail. A job description is available on the u3a website and I am more than willing to discuss the role with anyone who may be interested. I did not have prior experience of editing so a willingness to learn and competent computer skills are all that is needed. For further information email [email protected] Mary Mulrenan 6 Insurance A few months ago I wrote an article about the insurance cover provided by the u3a for its members. The committee would like to stress that this insurance would only be effective whilst members are taking part in group activities which are officially sanctioned by the u3a. During the COVID restrictions, therefore, any members who engage in group activities outside of the u3a COVID guidelines may find that they do not have insurance cover. This applies in particular to the hire of premises where Public Liability insurance may be required. If in doubt, please consult your usual Group Leader or the Groups Liaison Officer. Terry Clynes Treasurer Now it’s October I will be planning to put up a marquee in my garden with flashing lights and funky music. Will this be the winter of my disco tent? In the meantime ..... With the continuing situation the committee feel the best course of action is to extend everyone's membership until end of March 2021, at which point we will review the situation again. You will continue to receive our newsletter and any other communications. If, however, you do not wish to be contacted by us and let your membership lapse then please email me at [email protected] To get the latest news from us and notifications of Zoom meetings etc. it is important we have a current email address for you. If you are not getting our occasional emails from us (and who wouldn’t want to) then after checking your junk folders please drop an email to me at [email protected] and I will check and amend our records if needed. Stay well & stay safe Calvyn Membership Secretary 7 ‘Our own Bill Shakespeare, Bathurst and the Band of Tewkesbury Boat Builders ’. A neglected history. This talk launched the first of our new monthly u3a meetings. It was given by John Dixon for members to see on Zoom, on Monday 14th September. “ Tewkesbury should be proud of this photograph (albeit taken in Evesham) of the fleet built by Bathurst in Tewkesbury.