NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2014 UPA Colworth Editorial You will have seen that Dave Lewis has been appointed Tesco’s CEO after a lifetime at Unilever. He sounds a hard man. I read that in 1997 when he was director of marketing in Argentina he got wind of P&G’s planned launch in the region of Ariel in competition with Persil. It so happened that Unilever owned a local brand, Ariel del Plata, which made lavatory seats. Although the brand had never advertised in its 30- year history Lewis launched an extravagant marketing campaign which inextricably linked “Ariel” with lavatories and rear-ends in consumers’ minds. P&G put in a complaint but the damage was done – they pulled the launch taking a hit of over $500m. We wish Mr Lewis the best of luck at Tesco, he’ll need it. Now to the newsletter. We include pictures of the pensioners’ supper (an excellent, warm evening – many thanks to Stella and her team) and a report on the Dublin trip – apparently very successful, despite some folks’ fear of the deep blue sea. Also en bateau, the Abingdon-Oxford day out went very well, again blessed by good weather. A big thank you to all the contributors. Please also be aware of the proposal to reschedule the ww1 trip; see the back page. Finally, how about this for a bureaucratic nightmare. From 2015, doctors in the US will be required by Medicare, the insurance programme, to code a patient’s treatment into one of 140,000 categories. (Nine of these are for injuries caused by turkeys: was the patient struck or pecked? once or more often? etc.) Walking Group London away-day (Thanks, Brian.) Sunday June 1st saw 28 members of the UPAC walking group board the train at Bedford station on their annual trip to London. Last year we finished our walk along Regent’s Canal at Canary Wharf and this was to be the starting point for our 2014 outing. We walked the North Bank of the Thames Way towards Greenwich, crossing the river via the Greenwich Footpath Tunnel over to the Cutty Sark where we stopped for lunch. Suitably refreshed we continued on the South Bank towards the O2 Arena, passing London’s historic old wharfs – not now really recognisable due to regeneration and development. After a pause at the O2 for further sustenance we continued to the Emirates Sky Ride – basically a ski-lift with stunning views over the Thames. London transport had decided to “upgrade” the Docklands Light Railway so we were unable to follow our planned route and instead caught the Sky Ride back over the river and the Thames Clipper “cat” to Victoria Embankment. Then it was the good old London bus to St Pancras and home. Doug Wishart UPA Colworth Supper, July 3rd 2014 2 UPA Supper 3 Photos by Simon Wantling The UPA would like to thank Site Leader Stella Peace and everyone involved at Colworth for a most enjoyable evening. The Emerald Isle – Colworth Style After years of Ireland being on our holidaymaker’s wish list, we finally set off with 23 aboard. To reduce the pace and hassle we had a leisurely Sunday ride to Chester where, after a brief downpour, we took advantage of the eateries such as The Brewery Tap, an ancient building retaining a wattle and daub section and serving good beers. Some had time to walk the wall and get a great view of the racecourse, ride on the riverboat, or “do” Chester Cathedral to the sound of the bells and dramatic organ music. The Grosvenor Museum displayed a very good history of Chester and the excavations that only began in the 1920s and lots of Chester silverware. The sun blazed down as we completed our scenic trip on to Caernarfon for an overnight stay in a lovely welcoming hotel. It was a great evening for a sunset stroll around the impressive castle and marina and we felt the holiday was off to a good start. Next morning after a calm Irish Sea crossing to Dun Laoghaire we were soon on our way to the spectacular award-winning gardens at Powerscourt. With the formal beds, herbaceous borders and rose beds in full bloom we were in for a treat that even our “allotmenteers” appreciated. The gardens are set in the grounds of the partly renovated house that we explored while it rained and around the fountained lake was an exquisite Japanese garden. For the garden lovers, the extensive Botanic Gardens Powerscourt Gardens adjacent to the impressive Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin were also stunning – manicured, wonderfully labelled, and without the Kew Gardens flight-path! These alone were a day trip via the open-top bus pass we had for two days. We boarded the bus only yards from our historic hotel just off central O’Connell Street, and the entertaining commentaries on two 90 minute routes taught us much of the story of Dublin and indeed Ireland. Arthur Guinness, who was the Lord Leverhulme of Dublin, established his factory in 1759 on a 64-acre site leased for 9,000 years at £45 per year. At its peak there were 800 employees, each entitled to a free daily meal for life. In 1901 Sir Edward Guinness had the Iveagh Trust Buildings built to help alleviate the homeless problems in Dublin, and included a creche, swimming pool, hostel for single 4 men and many blocks of family apartments. It used to be said that a pregnant woman should have a pint of Guinness per day; Arthur Guinness had 21 children, only ten surviving into adulthood. Phoenix Park, established 350 years ago, was originally for hunting and is still a deer park, contains cricket pitches, Dublin Zoo (famed for the lion mascot in MGM films), and the home of the President of the Republic of Ireland. The main avenue in the park is two and a half miles long and Hyde Park could fit into Phoenix six times. We could lose the walking group in here. Kilmainham Jail was originally built three miles from the centre of Dublin in 1796 and had 60 cells, later increased to 100. During the famine years, 1845-50, when a million people died of starvation, 9000 people per year passed through the jail, many stealing to deliberately get jailed and thereby fed. The jail became famous when, after 800 years of British Rule, the Easter rising of 1916 lead to execution of the leaders and thence to the Irish Civil War. Since 1960 the jail has been restored and an excellent tour describes the history of Ireland and its jailed and executed heroes, leading to the establishment of the Republic in 1949. When you hear the Irish tell of their ancestors and this Sea of Stars sculpture at the Irish National Stud – bitter history, you can understand the unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 great significance of the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 2011. Continued on page 5 Continued from page 4 Outside of Dublin we also visited the Irish National Stud (INS), a great institution started in 1900, where we had a superb tour from another knowledgeable and passionate guide. En route the fields and yards we learned that a promising stallion such as Big Bad Bob would have a stud fee of €6,000 and this is his first year of runners from the INS. Invincible Spirit, on the other hand, has proven offspring and commands a fee of €70,000. He is expected to cover a mare every four hours over a 4-month mating season. It’s just a day job – I think he gets the night off. We then had a scenic tour of the Wicklow Mountains in beautiful weather and finished the day with a wonderful Irish evening including a music and dance show. The Irish story would not be complete without a visit to Croke Park, the stadium for Gaelic football and hurling, with Irish brush dancing a pitch nearly twice the size of Wembley. Players run 6.5 to 7 miles in a 70 minute match and being amateurs they then go back to work! The stands hold 82,300 (only Barcelona and Wembley are bigger) and are a sell out for finals days in September. Our superb guide told us the history of the recently rebuilt facility, and we toured the huge dressing rooms, player’s bar with its Waterford crystal chandelier and corporate boxes. Every village in Ireland has either a hurling or football team (or both) and all the team emblems are displayed at the main entrance. One in six people are a member of a team in some capacity. This is real sporting passion. 5 Croke Park stadium tour The company was great, the visits wonderful, the hotel ideally placed and the weather warm with only a few showers. What more could we ask for? All too soon we were on the way home, another crossing like a millpond (and a little story for another edition), and a trouble free journey with our great driver, Dave. Cham Willey Temple Bar by night (the tourist drinking zone) Oxford boat trip Fifty two of us set out somewhat later than planned for our day out in Oxford. Apparently our driver, Young Phil, didn't know Bedford very well so was late arriving for the first pickup. As a result, Derek, our tour guide, decided to abandon our comfort stop and we headed straight to Abingdon in order to be in good time for the boat at 11:15am. We needn't have worried though because the boat, "Lady Ethel", was running late out of Oxford due to Lady Ethel busy locks and dredging work.