Newsletter Registered Charity No: 515733 November 2019

Learn, laugh and live. Meet people, learn new skills and have fun.

Monthly Meeting: November 5th 2019

Peter Regan: Charles 2nd, Earl Grey and the Reform Bill

eter Regan spent over 20 years working for the Open P University. Since retirement, he has acted as a WEA tutor and as a Newcastle City Guide, a guide to churches and has spent 10 years working as a guide and gardener in the arboretum at Howick Hall. He lives in Warkworth and has a healthy obsession with trees.

We meet at 2.00pm in the Great Hall for registration and tea/coffee, followed by announcements at 2.15pm and the talk at 2.30pm.

At the AGM on March 3rd, two members of your committee will be finishing their three year term of office so we are looking for new members to fill these vacancies. Might you be interested?

Tynedale U3A Business Secretary I am coming to the end of a very enjoyable three years serving you as Business Secretary on the committee. The role, in brief, involves dealing with correspondence - both postal mail and emails, preparing the agenda for the monthly committee meeting, taking minutes at the committee meeting and then typing up and circulating the minutes by email. All you need to qualify for the position is a knowledge of Word processing, the Internet and good organisational skills.

If you would like any further information you can contact me on 674896, or have a chat at one of the monthly meetings. Sally Pearson, Business Secretary

Tynedale U3A Newsletter Editor I have thoroughly enjoyed producing the monthly newsletter for the last three years but I feel it is time to let someone else have go. The role isn’t overly taxing as long as you are fairly organised and you would be able to put your own mark on the design and layout of the publication. Items for inclusion are usually emailed to the editor so confidence using Information Technology would be useful. I produce the newsletter using Microsoft Publisher, but any desktop publication programme could be used. As well as the digital version on our web site, we also produce some printed copies for those members who are unable to access the Internet.

For more information, you can contact me using the details on page 8 of this newsletter or speak to me at the monthly meeting. Sue Charlton, Newsletter Editor https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 1

Geology Group

In October, the group concluded their season of field trips with a visit to , which entailed an overnight stay; Sue and John Loader and Colin Gallagher having earlier in the year done a considerable amount of research and travelling to plan the visit. Our base at Marshall Meadows Country House Hotel was a good choice, with excellent accommodation and food and easy access to the geology at Pease Bay, St Abbs Head, Eyemouth, and Burnmoor.

15 hardy souls gathered at Pease Bay Devonian Sandstones in Pease Bay on a damp morning and paddled along the beach to view Devonian Sandstone (deposited some 400 million years ago) with evidence of flash flooding and early microbial life in the rock. Then on to St Abbs Head where the group split to undertake one of the several options prepared by the organisers. Depending on the option chosen, there was a wide variety of geology to examine including Andesite, Basalt lava and Tuff, a Dolerite Dyke, Agglomerate, Faults and Greywacke, all The group at St Abbs Head of interest to the group but perhaps hard going for you the reader.

Dinner that evening was a very enjoyable, social affair with conversation occasionally diverting from geology to more mundane matters such as Brexit!

The following morning saw an early start for visits to Eyemouth and Burnmoor (not forgetting lunch at Eyemouth Golf Club) to view more igneous rocks, a volcanic vent and Devonian Sandstone lying Dinner at Marshall Meadows unconformably on volcanic rocks. Finally, in the afternoon, the sun appeared to welcome us back to after a most interesting and Eyemouth worthwhile visit.

Our thanks are due to the organisers for all their considerable efforts and time spent in arranging the visit, also to Steve Rozario who was extremely patient in helping us to identify what we were looking for.

John DeStefano

Another contribution from our successful Limerick and Poetry competition held at last year’s AGM.

He now knew his habeas corpus There once was an old Latin scholar Was different from a rigor mortis Who got all hot under the collar His own alter ego He knew amo, amas, amat Could say ecce homo Used to go something like that veni, vidi, vici and quo vadis Then he wondered why he should bother

He was determined that nothing should stop him So he joined his own U3A Now he had mastered laborious Latin And soon learned to swing and to sway So he took up Geology Conjugating and declining French, Spanish, Astrology Verbs and nouns all abiding A portfolio of U3A learning With the rules he had crammed yesterday Janet Sole

https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 2

Group News

Thank you

Our thanks to two of our recently “retired” Group Convenors; Gillian and Christine, from the Food group and the Garden Visits group respectively. We greatly appreciate all that they have done to enable these groups to function for our benefit. The Garden Visits group is currently bedding down for the winter but we plan to re-activate it for next spring.

Photography Group

Now approaching its first anniversary, the Photography group meets monthly to review images and exchange information on composition, camera use and digital editing. Recent projects include landscape and abstract photography, monochrome images and close-up work. We welcome both new and experienced photographers. If you are interested in joining our friendly, supportive group, please contact the group co- ordinator: Bill, on 01434 608170 or email [email protected]. The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 2 to 3.30 pm in the Curlew Room at the Northumberland National Park HQ in .

Scots Gaelic

I am delighted to tell you that we have a new group, The Scots Gaelic group. This is a group for beginners of Scots Gaelic. Learning will be via online tuition and group meetings. The group meets alternate Wednesdays, 11.00am - 12.00pm, in Riding Mill. Our thanks to the group Convenor, Penny, for taking up this role. If you are interested in joining this group please get in touch with Penny by email at [email protected] or tel 01434 682939

He who hesitates … … misses an interesting discussion. The Theology group is now firmly established. Just last week their discussion was centred around the question “Is God Green”. You might have missed that discussion but this group is brimming with new ideas and ways of examining our thoughts and attitudes to religion, in the widest sense, and how it fits in our life today. If you are interested in joining this group please talk with Pauline, email: [email protected] tel 01434 605857

The Games People Play

Have you got a reasonable memory, and are you good at observation, tactics, adaptive strategies? Sounds a bit like a CV for a career in politics! But we have a much better idea. Although we have an established Mahjong group with experienced players, we are looking for members who would like to learn to play Mahjong. Mahjong is a tile- based game developed in China in the early 20th century during the Qing dynasty. It’s a game of skill, strategy, calculation and a degree of chance, and probably addictive. It’s commonly played with four players. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining this new group.

Blue Remembered Hills

We have just opened Tynedale U3A’s 60th group: Blue Remembered Hills. This is a group for ex mountaineers, hill walkers and rock climbers etc. They will hold their first meeting on Wednesday 20th November at 7pm in the Heart of England pub, Market Street, Hexham. New members will be very welcome. Our thanks to John for taking up the convenor role. For more information, contact John by email: [email protected] tel 01434 602584. Cont. on page 4 https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 3

Cont. from page 3

Have you a well trained nose?

Have you heard the term “forms legs” or “tears” or “smells like a sweaty saddle or a musty old attic”? Can you identify the fruits, flowers and herbs in your glass? These are wine related questions. There is a lot more to know about wine than it’s just pleasant, or sometimes not so pleasant, liquid in a glass. It’s a fascinating subject and it would be so good to be able to select our wines confidently. So we would like to start our second Wine Appreciation group. You don’t have to have a well trained nose to start, although we do know that one of our members does have and is professionally well qualified in this field so he may help us out. Please do get in touch if you are interested in joining this new group, we would like to get started soon.

Art Appreciation

There is room in Art Appreciation 1 for a few more members. Meetings are on alternate Mondays, 10.30 am - 12.00pm in the Abbey meeting rooms. The group has an interesting programme studying women in art. The programme includes artists from the 14th to 20th century with painters, sculpture, cinema, photography, fashion design e.g Sophonisba Angiussola to Georgia O’Keefe, Rose Bertain to Coco Chanel, Kathryn Bigelow to Yoko Ono. For more information contact Group Convenor Elizabeth, email [email protected] tel 01434 600429

Military History

Do you have any interest in military history? One of our members would like to start up a new group to share interest in this topic. Get in touch with me on the contact details below to find out more.

Disappointing Result

I am disappointed that we didn’t have any interest in last month’s members’ suggestions for new groups. Like the bookmakers, our books are always open so there is still time to register your interest in groups for Fluent German Speaking, Cinema and Re-Wilding and Green Issues.

Annual Group Returns - the picture so far

We now have 35 completed annual returns from our 60 active groups. The 35 returns show:

 423 group members (some may be a member of more than 1 group)  largest group has 27 members  smallest group has 4 members

If your group hasn’t sent in its annual return it would be helpful if you could send it to me as soon as you are able; a list on an email or any other format will do

For more information about any of the above group activities, please get in touch with Margaret Earl, Group Liaison Secretary, [email protected] tel 01434 689123

https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 4

Events - 2019

The last event of 2019 is the Theatre Royal trip on the Tuesday 5th November to see Ten Times Table. 17 members are going on a coach that picks up from Hexham and .

Events - 2020

Trinity House

There has been a request for a trip to Trinity House Newcastle and I am now canvassing interest for a trip in March. It will cost £6 per person and I need a group of 10 or more. The tour will last between 1½ and 2 hours. It does include steps which may present some difficulties to our less mobile members. Once I have ten people, I will begin making enquiries of possible dates.

Theatre Trips

Provisional bookings have been made for two theatre visits. If you do not have your name down and would like to go, please contact Wendy.

Scottish Ballet’s The Snow Queen Wednesday 12th February 7.30 Running time: 1hr 45 minutes £48.50

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap Thursday 11th June 7.30 Running time: 2hr 30 minutes £42.50

A coach will be arranged, and the seats will be in the stalls.

Other plans for 2020 are being shaped and will include a trip to Ushaw College, a city guide walk, and a tour round Bywell Hall.

We will hold a Garden Party on Tuesday 4th August at Corbridge Cricket Ground

For any information about the above events or ideas for future events please contact Wendy Dale, Events Secretary 01434 606215 or email [email protected]

New Members’ Gathering - Final reminder!

If you are new to Tynedale U3A, please join us at Trinity Methodist Church Hall (large room) in Hexham on Thursday 7th November from 11.00 till 12.00 to find out more about Tynedale U3A. We are supporting Tynedale Hospice at Home’s Coffee Morning. https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 5

Quiz Night

Prudhoe Walking group team Sole Survivors

Nine quiz teams gathered to do battle in the Masonic Hall in Hexham on 10th October. The rounds were varied including food and drink, music introductions, sport and a fiendish “Dingbats” round (cryptic drawings of familiar phrases). The pie and peas supper was a welcome break to stop our heads exploding and drinks were available from the bar.

The scores were in and it was a tie for first place between Tynedale’s “The Hexham Tans” and Prudhoe’s “Sole Survivors”. A tie-break question was delivered and Prudhoe were crowned victors - congratulations to them. There were prizes for the winners and also for the teams placed second and third.

A thoroughly fun and enjoyable evening was had by all and thanks must go to Barrie for the excellent organisation and to behind the scenes help from Gill and Barbara. Sue Charlton

Create and Craft Group

The group meets every fortnight and we undertake a variety of individual projects as well as having taster workshops to try out different crafts. Christine recently showed us how to make little dishes out of pine needles. Yes, you read that right, pine needles, although not the little ones that drop all over the floor after Christmas, but ones about 4 inches long from Scots Pine trees.

The needles need to be boiled to clean and soften them and keep them pliable. By gradually feeding them through a short piece of plastic tubing and curling them round into a spiral, they can be sewn together using strong thread. A flat design would be ideal to use as a coaster or table mat or by raising the edges a handy dish could be fashioned which could even be varnished.

It was quite fiddly and you had to stop the needles from drying out whilst working with them, but we had great fun and its always good to take on new challenges. Thanks to Christine for leading such an unusual workshop.

Sue Charlton https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 6

Visit to the Guildhall

On 15th October, 17 of us met at the Quayside for a tour of this magnificent building, probably one of Newcastle's best kept secrets and seldom open to the public.

Our guide, John North, took us to the upper floor (passing a statue of Charles 1 dressed in a Roman tunic looking like a body builder???) where he shared his deep knowledge of the history and the many changes of use the building has undergone since the 13th century (it once incorporated a fish market). The building was greatly enlarged in the 17th century and became the centre of trade and finance for all the specialities of Newcastle (coal, steel, fish etc.) and the Guilds which used to be so influential.

We spent time in the Mayors Parlour with its magnificent plastered ceiling and painted scenes of old Newcastle around its panelled walls and then into the Freemen’s Hall with coats of arms and even more interesting panelling and carving. The ancient Court Room, at one end of the Merchants Hall, fascinated us all and we took full advantage of locking a member of our group into the dock where a self-appointed judge much enjoyed sentencing him to death!

We all hugely appreciated our excellent guide who shared so much history of Newcastle with us and Wendy for making it possible. David Roberts

True Confession

In 1953 or ‘54, aged six or seven, I took part in a 100-yard race for boys under eight years. It was my good -hearted Uncle James’s idea. The race was being held in the far side of our large rural parish in Ireland. I was not keen because I had never seen a competitive race and I was very shy. We lived on my grandfather’s small hill farm. Although I liked running, when not laid low by asthma, the only races I’d run were some of those spur-of-the-moment spurts that youngsters, especially boys, love. The national school I attended sometimes had informal races – from the schoolhouse down to the boundary wall and back to the schoolhouse - but sports was not part of the schedule because we were country kids who were always active doing farm or other tasks or walking to and from the village to attend school or church.

Before the race, James urged me to run as fast as I could and not to look around at the others competing. There were 10 or 12 of us running. I was in the first four from the start partly because I was taller than the others, although younger, and because James was shouting from the sidelines. To stop him ‘shaming’ me, I put a spurt on and gradually passed the others. There was no finishing post - we had been told to head towards a group of people sitting on the grass. I was two or three yards in the lead when suddenly two men jumped up from the group and held up a rope in front of me. I had no idea what I was expected to do so I turned tail, ran back down the field and joined the laggards. I came in last. Seán Mac Nialluis

Editor’s Note - If any other individual U3A members would like to share any stories or anecdotes, we are always looking for contributions for the newsletter. https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 7

Your Committee 2019/20 Programme at a Glance

Chairman Dec 3rd Fiona Forsythe and Phillip Clark: Tyne Alistair Sinclair - 394158 Valley Community Rail Partnership [email protected] Jan 6th (Mon) Joyce Quin: Angels of the North Business Secretary Sally Pearson - 674896 Feb 4th Great North Air Ambulance (speaker [email protected] tbc)

Treasurer March 3rd AGM David Pattinson- 01661842903 [email protected] April 7th Prof Michael Bentley (Durham Uni):

Climate Change Membership Secretary

Barbara Herring - 07851085476 See the Events section of the web site for full details of [email protected] all meetings, speakers, outings and much more. Events Secretary and Vice Chair Wendy Dale - 606215 We meet at 2.00pm in the Great Hall at Hexham Abbey [email protected] for registration and tea/coffee, followed by announcements at 2.15pm and the talk at 2.30pm. Programme Secretary Barrie Mellars - 07831255520 [email protected] Membership News Group Liaison Secretary Margaret Earl - 689123 We have four new members to welcome this month. [email protected] They are: Jennifer Baker, Jean Charlton, Elaine Perry and Anne Venables. Newsletter Editor Sue Charlton - 684475 [email protected]

Joint Website Manager and Publicity Officer Kevin Stephens - 01661 843347 [email protected]

Beacon Administrator Our current Membership stands at 453 (including 8 John Sandiford - 602262 associate members) [email protected]

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday 3rd December 2019

Please send contributions for the December Newsletter to the editor at:

[email protected] by Thursday, 21st November.

https://u3asites.org.uk/tynedale 8