CAM, DURSLEY & DISTRICT A

N t th i th Cl b H h i t tl t hi h t t f ti

Bulletin December 2019

Bulletins are published a few days after each General Meeting - these are normally held at 10.30am on the third Thursday of each month at Dursley Methodist Church. Please try to ensure that anyone not on e-mail is made aware of the contents of this bulletin.

Your Committee: Alan Keith Chair Richard Barlow Treasurer Sue Gibson Secretary Pam Davis Groups Co-ordinator Nigel Dodd Assistant Treasurer Myrtle Moreton -Cox Welfare & Bulletin Carol Green Speaker Secretary Luke Wilson Membership Secretary Linda Bettridge Assistant Groups Co -ordinator

Membership: [email protected] - Chair: [email protected] Website: https://u3asites.org.uk/cam-dursley - Beacon: [email protected] Bulletin: [email protected]

We Wish You A Very Happy Christmas

& A Healthy New Year ``

Christmas Mental Challenge December 2019

After leading most of the way throughout the Quiz, Wotton Wonder Women finished up by winning by just one point – a total of 63 with the Arty Party a very close second with 62 points! The excellent mulled wine and mince pies were once again provided by Mary Ewens and her team of helpers. Our Quiz master, Jane Ball, once again provided a variety of questions. The Recorder Group, led by Elspeth Cann, kept us entertained with Christmas Carols before the Quiz commenced. Very many thanks to everyone who contributed to the setting up and helped in any way with the running of this annual event.

Winners - Wotton Wonder Women with their prizes

The Recorder Group Team Mary and her Helpers

Next Month’s Meeting– Thursday 16th January

Don’t forget this date which will be your chance to join in the celebration of our 5th Anniversary – there will be lots of cakes, coffee, teas etc. Jane Parker, our original Chair, will cut the Birthday cake. The venue will, as usual be Dursley Methodist Church at 10.30.

`` Wine Appreciation Groups – Joint Christmas Meeting

On a dark, wet and windy night, eight of the Wotton Winos clutched their passports in hand and gathered at the bus stop, waiting for the taxi to take us over the hill to Uley. The Cam and Dursley WAG (not WAGs!) had invited us to a Christmas get together to sample their idea of a wine appreciation group. We were a little apprehensive it must be said. Did they sip and spit? Did they serve any refreshments? Would we be huddled together in a cold kitchen? Would they serve paint stripper wine in plastic glasses? NO! YES! NO! NO!

We had a brilliant evening and were welcomed with open arms, as well as bottles. The buffet refreshments were superb and very plentiful and the wine was an interesting mix. We were welcomed with a glass of Prosecco while our host Norrie explained how the evening would run. We then moved on to a Medoc and were encouraged to help ourselves to the buffet before moving on into the main body of the house which was adorned beautifully with Christmas decorations.

We sampled three whites and three reds, following which we were shown to another table which was groaning with desserts and cheeses together with some delightful liqueurs and egg nogs.

We were told to mingle so it wouldn't be Dursley v. Wotton in the chatting and drinking competition sort of way, so we did as we were told and tried each and every chair in the two rooms. However, we inevitably ended up standing in the kitchen in true party style – a sure sign of a good evening. We all agreed it was a good outing and must be repeated next December. Thank you Cam & Dursley group and Norrie in particular for entertaining us so well. Claire Haines

Travel Group On Thursday 12th December, Brian Wetton, with input from Christine, once again delighted members of the Travel Group with his excellent photography and detailed account of another of their varied holidays. This time we took a trip to Tilos, a little known island in the Dodecanese group – the same group as Rhodes. Due to the location a couple of members from the fairly recently formed Greek Group accepted our invitation to join us for this meeting and partook of refreshments which included mince pies as well as the usual coffee, tea and biscuits. Although this very small island – some 9 miles in length - belongs to Greece it is located closer to Turkey than to its mother country. As usual, the Wetton’s explored much of it on foot but did use the one bus on Tilos to reach the Monastery at the far end of island. The photography displayed included the ferry boats, which provided access to the island, buildings – including their hotel, the monastery and a very small chapel -the very small private beach, a very small supermarket and the extensive views from their window. Surprisingly, given that it is so little known, Gill Lyons had also been to Tilos and was able to add information as to how the island had changed since she visited it. Our next meeting, on Thursday 9th January, will be an open meeting to allow members to bring along brochures with suggestions regarding holidays they would like to share with other members of the group. One such holiday for discussion will be a Lochs & Glens coach holiday to Scotland. If anyone would like to join or visit our Group they would be most welcome. We meet in one of the small rooms at the rear of the Methodist Church at 10.30 on the second Thursday of the month – please arrive by 10.15 to make sure of a cup of tea or coffee before we start. Myrtle Moreton-Cox Natural History Group - Wildlife of Costa Rica Twelve members attended the meeting of the Natural History Group on Thursday 12th December. This meeting was originally intended to be a Christmas Quiz but due to Mike Robinson's recent illness this was not possible. Alan filled in with a lecture on the wildlife of Costa Rica and Panama, looking at the birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates of these Central American countries. The wildlife discussed included: 3 toed- sloths, toucans, hummingbirds, frogs, snakes and spiders. The meeting was followed by Christmas fare including mince pies and mulled wine. There was a discussion on the way forward for the Natural History Group. Alan Keith `` Science & Engineering Talk 6th February 10.30 am - all welcome.

John Morton will use his career (including National Service when he got his RAF "Wings") to link together interesting or amusing trips and experiences, e.g. sleeping next to a cosh boy for the first fortnight of his National Service (always wear my watch in bed ever since!). He had a one-off trip to Ascension Island, which has no alternate, as Dakar (nearest usable airport) is 1560 miles away, also one to Hawaii where they landed with about 25 minutes fuel left. He had a possible pressurisation failure in the middle of the Indian Ocean half- way from Mauritius to Bombay. Operated two years with aircraft painted up as Syrian Arab Airlines, just after the Yom Kippur war, based in Damascus. He will also explain how North Atlantic traffic is organised (quite a bit of it passing over Dursley). Please bring £1 to cover room hire. Graham Ellis

Latest News On Bloodhound

Those members who visited Bloodhound on one of the Science & Engineering Group visits may be interested to know that, following the recent tests on Hakskeenpan, a dry lakebed in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa, the Bloodhound LSR car is currently in a shipping container, heading back to the UK by sea. When it arrives in early January, it’ll be returned to the workshop in the heart of SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College, Gloucestershire, where it’ll be reassembled into desert spec configuration.

During the test, the Bloodhound LSR car, driven by , reached a maximum speed of 628 mph / 1,010 km/h from a standing start in 50 seconds. Going fast was not, however, the primary aim. The 12 run profiles were designed to develop the team, hone operational processes, deliver crucial data, and prepare the car for the record attempt within the next 18 months. Having successfully completed the crucial high speed testing phase of the programme, during which it notched eye-watering speeds of 628 mph / 1,010 km/h, which, unofficially places the Bloodhound as the sixth fastest car of all time, the Bloodhound team is in a celebratory mood.

In order to set a new world land speed record, the Bloodhound LSR team needs to fit a rocket on the car. Norwegian aerospace expert Nammo is developing a monopropellant rocket as part of the European Space Agency R&D programme, which will be the perfect fit for the Bloodhound LSR car, slotting easily into the vacant tunnel beneath the EJ200 . The new rocket will use concentrated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) which, when passed through a catalyst, decomposes into H2O and oxygen, whilst generating the several tonnes of thrust needed to blast Bloodhound LSR into the record books.

YOUR PERSONAL DATA - It is important that your details are correct and up to date If there have been any changes, or if you wish to ensure that your details are correct, you can access your personal details by clicking here MemberLink or through the ‘Membership’ page of our website: You will need to enter your membership number, your real forename and postcode with a space in the middle e.g. GL11 7ZZ. You will receive a confirmatory email. If you encounter any difficulties in using this facility, please get in touch via email to Membership Secretary so your database entries can be checked. Many thanks. * * *

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