Hoylake, West Kirby & District
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Hoylake, West Kirby & District Registered Charity number 1164889 www.u3asites.org.uk/hoylakeOctober 2020 Just a few words from the Chair It will be great to log on to our Zoom meetings knowing that many of you will also be viewing it at home. Obviously not as good as our real monthly meetings, especially with me having to get my own tea and biscuits, but virtual talks allow Jules to select from some very good speakers from all parts of the country that have been recommended by other U3As. Nevertheless, we are all hoping that our ‘real’ U3A meetings won’t be too far in the future. The present local lock-down is hard on us all, but especially difficult for those living alone. We are trying as best we can to make contact with those members to let them know that they are not forgotten. Mike Waring and I are still available to assist anyone who is struggling with Zoom, or any aspect of their computer or tablet. Those of you who receive Third Age Matters magazine will have been pleased to see our very own member, and ex-Chairman Victoria Doran being featured. (Victoria’s latest report from Morocco is on page 3 of this Newsletter) Victoria was approached by email by National Office and asked if she would agree to a Zoom interview. It certainly made very good reading for all U3As. If you would like an online copy of the article about Victoria’s in T.A.M. please contact me or Marjorie. Graham. Our Zoom Talks Our very first Zoom talk is to be held on Thursday. The meeting will start at 2.30 but you are invited to join at 2.15. The talk will take us on a virtual tour of London’s most acclaimed Museums and Galleries. You should by now have received the online link to this talk by email. Alternatively, you can use the same link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86575679135 On Thursday 5th February Jenny Mallin will give a talk entitled ‘A Grandmothers Legacy’. Jenny is a published author; she won ‘Best in World Cookbook’ in 2017. The 170 years old recipe book is a large leather-bound book which was started off by her great, great, great grandmother in 1844. Recipes were handed down and the book has been treasured. The talk centers on the recipes, their history and how they have evolved through each generation. As before, we will send an invitation out to you nearer the time. We will also add this information to our website. If you don’t already have Zoom downloaded, here’s a link explaining how easy it is to do so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh50kVaIdAY&feature=youtu.be 1 Page In January of this year, the Committee hosted a very enjoyable coffee morning at the Grange for all the members who had joined us in 2019. Many members admired the views from the large window and were curious about the building itself. We asked John Slope, who is Treasurer of the Grange Member’s Club, and also one of our members, to help us out with some information about the building and the Club, and he has kindly sent the following: ‘The Grange’ Hoylake I have been involved with The Grange, 24 Meols Drive, also known as the Conservative Club for more years than I care to remember. During that time, I have picked up little snippets of the house’s history, which I have found fascinating. The house was built in 1892 for the Pegram family, who, I understand, were in shipping. It consisted of the main house and a huge rose garden with a driveway leading from Meols Drive up to the main entrance. The driveway then forked left to the large stable block used for the numerous horses and carriages owned by the family. This is now the professional shop for the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. There was at one time a lady who looked after Club at lunch times, Irene, who was born at The Grange and whose Father was Coachman and Gardener for the Pegram family. Irene was a fount of information. The interior of the house has changed over the years to suit the Club, however there are still some old pieces left. Many people have commented on the doors leading from the Snooker Lounge, which are curved and veneered, as is the wood panelling in the TV room. During the First World War the sister ship to the Titanic, the Britannic, was stripped out and turned into a Troop or Hospital ship. Some of her wood fittings ended up at the Grange. She was sunk in the Mediterranean, but part of her still exists at the Club. We have, we think a ghost. Graham Thwaite’s late wife, Jean, always insisted that she saw a ghostly figure on the landing outside the upstairs Snooker room. This used to be the elderly Mrs Pegram’s bedroom, where the old lady died. In her later bed-ridden years she used to bang on the floor with her walking stick if she needed attention. It is said that occasionally those knocks can be heard still. When I spent a few weeks in the flat upstairs, I had a Labrador and as he walked past the room you could see him cringe and he wouldn’t go in. The Conservative Club took over the Grange in the 1950’s, moving from the Quadrant when the house was bequeathed to the Club after the last member of the family passed away. It has evolved over the years from a political club, to become a purely Social Club, with a broad church of members. You don’t have to be a Conservative party member to join. Nor does joining the Club mean you have joined the Conservative Party. For a yearly fee of £25 there are three snooker tables, a snooker league, Sunday lunches, weekly quizzes, a fine selection behind the bar at competitive prices and one of the best views on the Wirral. We are available for functions to non-members as well as members. We have had our ups and downs over the years especially under current conditions, but the Club, totally run by a team of dedicated, unpaid volunteers, is looking to a brighter future. Fingers crossed! We are always happy to welcome new members and glad that the U3A have been able to make use of the Club. John Slope 2 Page Despatches from Morocco – Number 6 The schools in Morocco re-opened on 7 September for the first time since March. All the children and their parents returned to Rabat on the first Sunday in September, leaving just 5 of us in Amsa, average age over 60. The ‘gardener’, Lahcsen, stays here as well, but has his own ‘apartment’ and is just given his meals on a tray. He actually lives a 2 hour walk away in the hills up the valley, and every Thursday he leaves about lunchtime, and then returns Saturday morning. In Muslim countries, the weekend is Friday and Saturday. If he is lucky, he may get a lift part way, but there is no public transport (and he can’t afford a taxi), and his home is probably at about 1000 ft above sea level. He is in his early 60s, with a deformed spine, but the first time I saw him he was about 12 ft up in a fig tree picking the fruit (no ladder), so he is fit enough.Lahcsen will have been disappointed that an exciting event happened late on a Thursday evening, as his answer to any issue with an animal is ‘kill it’. He rarely gets his way, as often the problem is minor and either time solves it, or some minor medicine works. Jamel (pictured above with Victoria and his wife Assia) went onto the balcony by his bedroom about 10.30 pm and heard a hissing sound. He thought someone must have left a hose running, so he went down to investigate. Minouche, the year old tabby tomcat, was crouched in the driveway looking at something. Then Jamel spotted the snake against the wall. It was a poisonous one. Presumably because of Minouche, it never moved at all for at least 30 minutes. As a city dweller, he was terrified and had no idea what to do, so he woke Najib up. He is also city born and bred, but he has lived here since he retired a few years ago, so he is more confident. He knew it needed dealing with, but also had no idea what to do, so he rang Saffia, a friend of his mother and the nearest neighbour, who immediately sent round her 12 year old grandson, Ilyas and his mother Anisa. All the houses of the better off here are surrounded by high walls and very secure gates and this one is no exception. They also have land outside the compound, where crops are grown. This is the first time in 40 years that a poisonous snake has been seen on the property, though there are non-venomous ones among the crops. Had the snake been found out in the open on the hillside, it would have been left alone. However, no-one had the equipment to safely capture it alive and move it outside the compound, so the only option was to kill it. It probably slithered in under the front gate. I watched from the balcony overlooking the driveway. Najib was crouching well back holding a large lamp whilst Anisa held the snake down firmly with a long handled garden rake.