The Phoenix Brecon U3A � Summer 2016

Front Cover: Fabric design by Mair Morris

Water based dye on silk

Can you find the Green Man? Also by Mair. Original in polymer clay

Phoenix motif by Corinne Thomas

Brecon U3A Registered Charity No. 1074288

Secretary; Richard Walker Tel:01874712292

[email protected]

THE PHOENIX Summer 2016

The Annual Magazine of Brecon University of The Third Age

No. 69

Editor: David Mitchell

Editorial Team: Elaine Starling, Trevor Jones, Mike Ingram

1 Contents 3 Editorial David Mitchell 4 A note from the Chairman Elaine Starling 5 Pre-Lecture Coffee or Tea on a Thursday Morning Pat Wilkie 6 Sylvia Hampson – a Tribute Cathy Sims 8 Aberfan – 50 years on Alison jones, Liz Williams, Pat Wilbud, Gill Coles 14 Aberfan – The Geological Background David Mitchell 16 Patagonia 1870 Joan Stanesby 18 A Letter to Rumi Phillip Dey 21 Haiku and more Liz Price 22 Encounters with Alfred Russel Wallace Mervyn Bramley 26 A New Take on an Old Tale Fiona Clai Brown 28 Timeless Moments Richard Walker 31 Isolation Linda M. Dainty 32 A Modern Mixed Up Fairy Tale Jean Ruston 35 This Year’s Cat Winner – ‘Snowdrop’ Terri Thomas

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36 The Cat which Came Back Phillip Dey 37 At Sea Fifty Years Ago Gregory Hinds 40 Water Mike Ingram 42 Eisteddfod John Edwards 45 Telephone Translations Gadfly 46 The Agincourt Wall Hanging Pat Woolford 48 Brecon U3A Travel Desk Valete Ursula Younger & Jenny Hall 49 Special Interest Group Reports in alphabetical order The Special Interest Group (SIG) Leaders 68 Phoenix 2017 – Details for Submission The Editor

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Editorial

Well, another year has flashed by, as they seem to as one becomes older. The gestation period of the Phoenix from May to August has flashed by even faster. From a rather hesitant birth it has now escalated to almost 70 pages. I have not had to wield the axe too much as most contributions have been included, which does make my job less hazardous! I thank all contributors for a remarkably wide variety of material although I must admit that there is a very high proportion of faithful contributors who keep the whole thing going. A total of some 20 contributions (Not including the SIG reports) is not a vast number out of a membership of some 300. However quality is better than quantity and we have plenty of it. Anniversaries keep coming and we have the tragedy of Aberfan to remember and a touching story from the Royal Navy during the cold war. There is wit – particularly a certain Granny laughing at herself; something we all need to do to stay happy and keep a sense of proportion. There is research with a surprising local connection with Alfred Russel Wallace, from whom Darwin gained some limelight. There are reminiscences but also a letter to three generations hence, from one of our oldest and most respected members. In a world that seems to be going mad at the moment and where hardly anyone seems to learn from history, our U3A increasingly represents an island of sanity, mutual respect and learning. We are just so lucky! Unfortunately I do not know how much longer I can continue as editor as the old eyes are a bit tricky but with the determination common to most U3A members, I have taught myself and my computer to converse by dictation and read back – a massive help which underlines the importance of keeping up with technology as we fall to bits. So, shake out your inspiration and contribute to Phoenix 2017 – The deadline is only eight months away. 4 A note from the Chairman As I am writing this, the weather has become very wet and damp. I just hope it is not the end of the warm sunny days we had earlier in June. I have not yet seen the completed magazine. I have been assured by The Editor that the articles selected for publication are of the same high standard that they have been in previous years. Various members are standing down as leaders of Special Interest Groups and this will be the last time that some of them will be writing in this capacity. I am sure that they will continue to support and enthuse us in other ways. The Special Interest Groups Leaders and members are key to a successful U3A. The magazine gives an indication of their breadth and diversity. The Travel Group stalwarts, Ursula Younger and Jenny Hall are retiring after 10 years at the helm to make way for a new team which includes Joan Millard, Mary Wood, Pat and Margaret Blake. Earlier this year, we were very sorry to lose Sue Candy who died after a short illness. Over the last few years, she gave a great deal of her time to Brecon U3A, particularly in matters relating to membership. Her role is being filled by Alison Jones and Agi Yates in whose capable hands, I am sure, we will move forward. It would be remiss of me not to mention the hard work, diligence and creativity of the current editor of the Phoenix, David Mitchell, who has acted in this role for three years. The previous two magazines were a credit to his determination to produce a magazine worthy of our members. I am sure that this magazine will be just the same. I thank, on your behalf, all the contributors to the 2016 edition of The Phoenix.

Elaine Starling

5 Pre-Lecture Coffee or Tea on a Thursday Morning Every Thursday morning there is the opportunity for enjoying coffee or tea before the weekly lecture. It is very reasonably priced and is served in The Bar Area, on the first floor. There is a lift which can take you up and down if need be. In addition to the opportunity to enjoy the refreshments, visiting the ‘coffee stall’ also enables members to:  Meet and chat to other Brecon U3A members;

 Keep in touch with the range of U3A and local community activities by browsing the carousel of noticeboards;

 Find out more about the activities on offer organised by Brecon U3A Travel Desk;

 Enjoy the friendly ‘buzz’ of life that Brecon U3A is all about.

The coffee stall is run by a great group of volunteers; so far in 2016/2017 we have served 1,202 cups of tea or coffee ~ decaffeinated is always available. If you would like to join the duty rota please get in touch with me; it is a good way to get to know other members and is fun! Pat Wilkie Contact: 01874 676425 [email protected]

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Sylvia Hampson – a Tribute

A founding member of Brecon U3A, Sylvia Hampson, died in January at the age of 97. She remained fit and active despite increasing loss of vision and hearing and continued as a regular attender on Thursdays until Autumn 2015 when she went to live in a residential home in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire near her daughter. Her contribution to Brecon U3A was significant and it was felt appropriate to ask friends to contribute a note of appreciation. Cathy Sims, whose mother was Betty Meeres, another founder member, writes:

Sylvia grew up in Bangor, North Wales, where her father, was a distinguished university professor - G.W. Robinson, SRS, CBE – and she graduated in English Literature and French but later, as degrees were rarely awarded to women at that time. She married before World War II, and with her husband Jeff (of the Forestry Commission and later Welsh Water), moved to Brecon in 1977 after a full life and raising six children. They were a very close-knit family, so that the children, although scattered, all came regularly with their families and Brecon offered them continuity of interest and fun. One of Sylvia’s first great friends in Brecon was Betty Meeres with whom Sylvia shared many interests - Bloomsbury-style - especially in literature and the arts including films, theatre productions, reading poetry and opera trips, but also both enjoying the jollity of less intellectual pursuits such as watching Cilla Black on TV! Sylvia threw herself into Brecon life with gusto – joining not only U3A but also WEA, poetry reading groups and the RSPCA, and always with a hands-on creative approach. At the end of a course of

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lectures she would write plays and sketches for us to perform for the end-of-term party, making sure we had suitable costumes which she had cobbled together. On one such occasion she wrote the script for a Cilla “Blind Date” skit, following a WEA course on the Romantic era! She made clothes for adults, babies and for dolls, as well as her own cards, and her birthday parties were always full of musical interludes with her friend Mike Chappell - fun and games - even in her 90s. Sylvia had a flair for writing mischievous verses on the misdeed of politicians – always with impeccable punchlines which had her audience in stitches. It was a sad change for Sylvia when Jeff died in 1988 - his health was undermined as a prisoner of war, having been shot down and captured in 1943. She was touched when posthumously a medal for her husband’s services to the RAF at Bomber Command was awarded and which she accepted on his behalf a few years ago. When her own hearing and eyesight began to fail, she became increasingly frail but she bore these problems with great fortitude and perseverance. At the same time she continued to be kind and caring for those with whom she came into contact and felt their worries too. She had many friends and as she became more housebound there were regular visitors with whom she would converse on many different levels. Her breadth of knowledge, humour and zest for life were with her right into her 90s and she remained a delight to visit. Sylvia is greatly missed by all her family and friends. She contributed to this community with massive energy and there is no doubt at all that her vibrancy and determination right into old age made her a real “one off”!”

Cathy Sims

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Aberfan – 50 years on

This illustration, giving a brief history of Aberfan, is taken from a plinth at the entrance to the village. However, “in 1984, a judge presiding over a libel case ruled that the word Aberfan had passed into the currency of ordinary language and that it requires no explanation” (Iain McLean & Martin Johnes, Aberfan: Government and Disasters (Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press, 2000)).

This article comprises personal recollections of four U3A members; consideration needs to be given to the fact that in the fifty years since 1966 the world has changed enormously and our expectations and day-to-day lives have altered in many ways. 9

Alison Jones

“I was 13 years old and living in Merthyr Vale, the village adjoining Aberfan – it appears to be one settlement, with houses ranging up the steep mountainsides and the pit taking up most of the valley bottom, but the river forms a border between the two. From our garden we had a clear view of the opposite side of the valley, including most of Aberfan. On the morning of 21st October I awoke with a sore throat and, as was customary at that time, stayed home from school and waited for the GP to call on his morning rounds. I lay in bed reading and heard sirens, many, many sirens, from across the valley. The sound haunts me still. I told my mother when she came to check on me but she suggested I had fallen asleep and dreamed of the noises that she could not hear, being busy in the kitchen. However when the doctor called she told him what I had said and as he left he intended going to the call box at the end of the street and phoning the surgery to check whether anything had happened. By the end of the day we would come to know of the event that became known as The Aberfan Disaster. My immediate recollection of the following days is of quiet, silence, but that is impossible because of the numbers of people and the noise of the machinery. I can only explain this impression as being due to the lack of children on the streets and the way that many people “shut down,” speaking in hushed tones. Local men rushed to help in whatever way they could. The roads were busy with traffic, so many people wanting to help but also others just wanting to see what had happened. This was a time when television was relatively new, but the press arrived to show the world the full horror. Villagers soon came to understand the hazards of speaking to journalists. Over time I realised that the two little girls I used to see playing at the end of my street had died; of the two sisters who used to come to Church, one plump and one thin, only the plump one survived. I knew many people of my age who lost younger brothers and sisters, but although there were sensitive times: birthdays, Christmas and of course October, nothing was really mentioned. As time passed I do not remember much fuss being made nor feelings discussed. The children started back to school in another village; teachers were expected to carry

10 on with their work as though nothing had happened. A few families moved out of the village; one little boy was sent away to school for two reasons – all his friends had died and someone said his parents knew something was going to happen so kept him home from school that day – someone demented with their own grief. Some families had a sense of relief as the fog that morning had delayed the bus bringing Secondary School pupils to the adjacent school, but that feeling carried its own guilt. During the days, weeks and months that followed, the people of Aberfan dealt with their grief in different ways. There is a saying often used, “they never got over it,” and how could anyone get over this? Life carried on but it was not the same. Counselling was almost unknown at that time, psychologists were viewed with suspicion and even fear, survivor guilt and post-traumatic stress went unrecognised. The people of the world expressed their sympathy by sending money to help but although the intention was good, the initial effect was to add to the distress. There were squabbles over who should receive payments, how the fund should be used, all publicised in the press. Payments were made for damage to houses, loss of belongings, personal injuries and deaths; one of the first to be made was £50 to those families who had suffered bereavement to help with immediate expenses. Children were sent on holidays - children who had probably never travelled more than the 40 miles to the seaside for a day, went without their parents, to Italy, Switzerland and places in Britain. At the inquest, parents shouted out that their children had been buried alive by the National Coal Board, murdered. The ensuing Tribunal heard evidence and arrived at the decision that the disaster should never have happened. Anger often follows grief when a person is bereaved, in this case it was justified: it was known that there was a stream under the tips, concerns had been raised about their stability. Afterwards the people of Aberfan lived in fear, particularly during periods of heavy rain, afraid that the remaining tips would also slide. Following much agitation and demonstration, including the tipping of a bag of slurry at the Welsh Office, it was agreed that the tips should be removed. Again the people were let down by those in power because the NCB invoiced the Disaster Fund for the cost of landscaping. It took almost 30 years for the amount to be repaid, even then it did not include the lost interest. I understand the fiftieth anniversary will be commemorated by a concert to be held in Cardiff at the beginning of October. Many of those 11 who were parents have now themselves died, but the siblings remain. Community spirit is still alive in the village with several clubs and organisations; the Aberfan Education Fund donates to local schools’ projects to improve the education and experience of children from Merthyr Vale and Aberfan. Other scholarships still continue, including one at Aberystwyth University.”

Liz Williams

“I remember the actual day vividly and it was a day that affected me and my beliefs immensely. I had played netball in the school yard at Pantglas School the previous year and been aware of the tips towering above the school and that they were close to the school wall. I could not believe such a thing could happen. I realised much later that my Junior School had actually been built on the British Tip in Merthyr with the Morlais brook running at the bottom. The tip and the school were taken away after the disaster. That morning I was in the art room of Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School. I was sixteen and was looking forward to half term which was starting that lunchtime. The news came through that a school down the valley had fallen down and sixth form boys were going down to dig the children out. It wasn't until I arrived home at lunchtime that I found out the full horror of the situation. I went out as usual with my friends that night. We watched Harold Wilson arrive at Merthyr Police Station, wearing his Gannex Mac, but I went home feeling that something so dreadful had happened that my safe secure world would never appear the same again. I arrived home to find my Dad dressed in his long mac, wearing Wellington boots and a flat cap and holding a shovel. He was watching the events on TV. The call had come for people to go and dig. My dad was 56 and suffered from emphysema - he wouldn't have been much use. Luckily that call was rescinded but the situation had become chaotic and valid rescuers found it impossible to get through as all the roads were blocked with traffic. In the aftermath everybody wanted to do something. Together with friends I spent several evenings after school in Merthyr Town Hall opening endless envelopes stuffed with money - it was all cash as nobody knew who to make a cheque out to. The money came from all over the world. 12

The village became full of Church ministers, bereavement counsellors, the Queen came, an artist painted portraits of the dead children from recent school photographs. The world and his wife descended on Aberfan. I watched the funeral from the mountain opposite Aberfan as I used to ride at a local farm there and we went up the mountain on horseback. It was a calm clear day and a painfully poignant experience. The Aberfan Disaster was not a natural disaster. It was decided by the judge at the Aberfan Tribunal that the disaster was a tale of "bungling ineptitude" and concluded that "the blame for the disaster rests on the National Coal Board." One bereaved father wanted the words "Buried alive by the National Coal Board" on his child's death certificate. The Disaster Fund was not handled well and was used eventually to provide a community centre and swimming pool for the village but the funds ran out quickly especially after the Government of the day took a proportion of the Disaster Fund to remove the remaining coal tips. There was an Aberfan Disaster Fund Committee with bereaved parents represented. By coincidence, I worked at the Aberfan Community Centre in the early seventies until the fund money ran out and then I was made redundant. Those are my main memories of my personal contact with Aberfan but obviously I heard a lot of the stories of heartbreak and bitterness during my year working there, how quickly the village was forgotten and neglected and certainly did not benefit from the vast amount of money donated.”

Pat Wilbud

“I was living in Newport at the time of the disaster, the battery on my radio was fading, I was coping with a baby and a 2 year old and didn’t hear the news until later in the morning. By then I was sitting in the Doctors waiting room. The lady sitting next to me began to talk about the disaster and explained to me what had happened. In the evening my husband and I watched the 9 o clock news on BBC on our TV – a small screen, only one channel and black and white. The reporter was Cliff Mitchelmore, he was standing on part of the coal tip and slurry a little way up from where the rescuers were digging to remove the coal waste and attempting to rescue. We could see the

13 teams of rescuers as he spoke. By the time Cliff Mitchelmore had finished his report it was evident to us that his voice was breaking up and he was near to tears, such was the extent of the disaster. My friend told me that her father, who was a fireman in Newport, was sent to help in the rescue; when he returned home he just sat in his chair staring and saying nothing.”

Gill Coles

“Long before the disaster happened at Aberfan the coal tips above the village looked precarious to me with the cables carrying buckets full of spoil swinging on their ominous way to the top of the tip to pour more on an ever increasing mountain of coal waste. My foremost memory of the Aberfan disaster is of travelling down from Treherbert back to Rhiwbina, north of Cardiff where I then lived, about a week after and looking across from the main road to the hillside where hundreds of floral tributes were laid out in the shape of a cross at the graveyard near where Aberfan school had stood and where you could see the diggers continuing to work at the site. I felt that I was imposing on something so dreadful for the people affected by all this and that I shouldn’t be there at all. There were people sitting on their doorsteps along the streets as they always had and it all seemed very personal. I can remember for a long time afterwards passing where the coal waste from the disaster was being tipped at various sites around the Merthyr area just to get it out of the way. You could see school books, shoes and toys in amongst the black waste which gave a very personal feeling of what had once been the children’s school lives and it made it all the more upsetting. As I understood it as soon as people heard about the disaster they were turning up with their diggers and other expertise to help. The girl I shared an office with at the time was from the Rhondda Valleys and knew one of the men that was working on the clearance of the site from the beginning. He was driving a digger at the site of the school; later he had a mental breakdown from the things that he saw and experienced and couldn’t go on working there. It is all something that I will never forget.”

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A Memorial Concert is being held at the th Millennium Centre Cardiff on 8 October 2016

The Geological Background by David Mitchell

So here is the whole scene; conical tips of waste shale ranged along the top edge of the valley like an awful parody of the Malvern hills. The plateau on which they rest is sandstone and essentially stable in this area but glacial deposits lower down the slope are less so. However, it

15 was not the solid geology that gave way. A glance at the photo above will show that the tip slopes are at their steepest ‘angle of rest’ and the one that gave way was placed over a stream. Hydraulic pressure can build up in such material over many years but it only takes one small internal movement or vibration for a thixotropic transformation to take place, i.e. a rapid conversion into a slurry. In this case some 40,000 cubic metres. The momentum is huge. Some may ask why the tips were up on the mountain. Backfilling waste in the mine would render it totally uneconomic, there was no room on the populated valley floor, so there was only one alternative and nearest the edge was the cheapest. The aftermath is that tip removal and drainage systems are properly regulated and have changed the face of the coalfield; shaft mining has gone and opencast is backfilled – but at a terrible price.

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Patagonia 1870

By Joan Stanesby

The woman was hoeing, she straightened her aching back And looked at the sparse fields, and in the distance a small cloud. She was thin, wiry and sunburnt. She saw the meagre harvest The result of all the hard work, and felt extremely proud.

It had been five years since they came on the SS Mimosa, Sailing from Wales the 8000 miles to the promised land. The charismatic Michael Jones telling them they would be free To worship and keep their native tongue – it would all be grand!

When they arrived, they were met by a fearsome group Of Indians with their scant clothing and painted faces. They were all weary and wondered how to communicate With these strangers who knew nothing of Western ways and graces.

The journey had been gruelling with much sickness and Megan was born. Premature and tiny. It had been a real struggle to get her to live. How to convince these warlike tribes that they came in peace? That they too were persecuted, as they had literally nothing at all to give?

Megan's Mother considered the situation and looked at the leader. She stepped forward and held out her precious one for him to hold He took the bundle tenderly, awkwardly, there was absolute silence, And then a huge smile covered his face. This is a true story, I'm told.

So a bond was formed between them, the Indians Shared their farming knowledge and their food. The Welsh folk were always grateful and appreciative And their friendship grew into something really good.

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Now she looked again at that distant cloud. The menfolk were at market, The farm was totally deserted, only she and Megan left all alone. The cloud was growing ever nearer, larger and noisier - Huge crickets flying towards her, now everything would be gone.

She caught up her five year old daughter playing quietly nearby And ran into the shelter of the house – the small shack so neatly swept. The engulfing tide of locusts fell on the fields and stripped everything bare And she saw all her dreams in shreds. Her faith deserted her and she wept.

SS Mimosa

"The conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham once encountered a well- dressed brunette in the Burlington Arcade. Asking after the woman's sister and what she was now doing, he was told that she was "still the Queen."

18 A LETTER TO RUMI by Phillip Dey Dear Rumi, my Great, Great Nephew, Welcome to the 21st century, an era of great and rapid technical developments. Here is a photograph of you taken three days after you were born on the 10th of April 2015 in London. The photograph was taken by your father in a mobile phone camera and sent to me via the internet to Brecon where I lived. I downloaded the photo, made an A3 size print. The whole process cost less than £1. When I showed the print to my Welsh, English and Indian relatives and friends all of them very much liked the image of the baby. When I was born in Calcutta 93 years ago, in the year 1922, photographs could only be taken by large, heavy plate cameras and only professional photographers could do it at considerable expense. Needless to say there are no baby photos of myself. This is one example of technical development embracing several branches of science and technology. As I write this letter there is news of the experimental plane Solar Impulse flying on its voyage around the world. The plane is flying non- stop day and night powered solely by electricity gathered from the sun’s rays by photo-voltaic cells mounted on the wings. Batteries charged by the cells provide power for flying during night. When you read this letter many planes could be flying powered by solar energy.

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When I came to England in 1951 commercial air travel was in its infancy. I came from India aboard the P & O steam ship SS Strathmore. When your dad came to England in 2010 it was of course by air. The planes are powered by internal combustion engines using petroleum oil based fuels. Not only the planes, but a very substantial part of modern day life relies on such fuels. Road & rail transport, electric power generation are some examples. Burning of fossil fuels contribute very substantial emissions of carbon dioxide which of course is a major cause of global temperature rise and climate change. I hope when you read this letter solar and other forms of renewable energy will replace the use of most of the fossil fuels, thus reducing carbon emission and reduce the global temperature rise. You are fortunate to be born in Britain. In my experience it is a great country full of opportunities for those wishing to achieve success in one’s chosen profession. British people are inherently courteous, friendly and full of tolerance in most aspects of life including religion. There is no caste system. And there is the National Health Service which removes much of the worry from our day to day living. Your father, who is a great nephew of mine, and myself are both Indians. My late wife was a Welsh girl. Your mother is English and a Londoner. Both your parents are very artistic. At the time of writing this letter your mum is a textile designer and a talented print maker. Your father chose art as his profession specialising in animation and works for the Walt Disney‘s branch in London. A touch of multi-culture appears to have influenced the selection of your name. Your first name Rumi, was chosen by your father. 20

Rumi , who lived in the 13th century, was a Persian poet, a Sufi mystic and an Islamic scholar. His poems greatly influenced Persian literature. His influence embraced many other languages in the Middle East and India including Bengali, which is the mother tongue of both myself and your dad. Your middle name Jonah was selected by your mother. Jonah was a prophet who lived in the 8th century BC and is famous for being swallowed by a whale but by the grace of God came out alive after three days! Your surname Majumder is a Bengali one. With such a mixture of English and Indian cultures I wonder which profession you are going to choose as your career. Fortunately in Britain the choice is vast. Art, science, medicine, engineering, IT, computers and so on. Whatever you choose I am sure you will make a success of it. Unfortunately the world currently is bedevilled by many problems. In spite of all the technical and social advances the population increase seems to be unsustainable. Genocide still carries on in the name of religion. Climate change engineered by global temperature rise is adversely affecting many countries. Perhaps when you read this letter 16 years from now many of the problems would have been resolved. I am asking your parents to keep this letter in a safe place and give it to you on the 10th of April 2031, your 16th birthday.

With lots of love from your Great, Great Uncle,

Phillip Brecon 4th June 2015

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Haiku and more by Liz Price Woodlouse in my house, Why? Is carpet more comfy Than compost? Welcome!

Welcome, woodlouse in my house. It must be a great adventure To leave the pride – Or shoal or flock or school – Under the doormat.

Is your auditory perception Elephantine? Was it to watch tele? All those nature programmes? Or listen to Radio 4? John Humphrys, ‘The Archers’, ‘Desert Island Discs’? Was it to escape the louse-race? And pressures of communal living? Was it your dream to travel one day?

In me you found A kindred spirit and sympathy; But you cannot stay: Your friends miss Your bold ingenuity, And may try To follow where you led. I will take you back to them Before I go to bed, And stop wasting my time.

So it has come to this? Talking to woodlice. I prefer louses. Should I throw away the doormat And let them all in?

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ENCOUNTERS WITH ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE

A personal view on Charles Darwin’s equal by Mervyn Bramley

I first came across Wallace in July 1975 while cooling off in a jungle river on the Indonesian island Sulawesi (Celebes). I’d spent a hot and tiring day as an irrigation specialist surveying possible sites for UK aid-funded agricultural development. Harta, my counterpart, pointed to a chicken-sized bird watching us from some distance and whispered ‘Maleo bird - enormous egg - only here in Sulawesi’. He then explained to me what every Indonesian learns at school that naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace travelled all over the East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1854 to 1862 cataloguing its flora and fauna. This led him to identify ‘Wallace’s Line’ - the boundary between Australian and Asian species, and along which many unique species like the maleo bird are found. Over the next five years, I was fortunate to be able to work with local engineers and wildlife specialists to set up the 1,100 sq mile Dumoga Bone National Park. We established ‘win-win’ objectives of conserving both the unique Sulawesi wildlife and the irrigation supply by protecting its forests from loggers and poachers.

In 1980, when I returned to UK, Wallace was still relatively unknown to the British public and I too remained unaware of all his credentials. Then in 1983, David Attenborough’s ‘World About Us’ team on BBC2 made a documentary on Wallace’s achievements in the East Indies as a self-made explorer and naturalist. ‘The Forgotten Voyage’ fired both public and scientific interest in Wallace. We learnt not only of his pioneeringwork in discovering thousands of new species, but also that his position in science as co-author with Charles Darwin of the 23 theory of evolution by natural selection had been literally written out of history books by the scientific and academic establishment in the 20th century! Thanks to this new interest, the Dumoga Bone National Park was chosen by the Natural History Museum and the Royal Entomological Society in 1984 for an international project to celebrate the Society’s 150th anniversary. (Entomologists study insects!). Wallace, a keen bug collector, was a past president of the Society and ‘Project Wallace’ studied the effects of the agricultural development and conservation on insect communities in and around the National Park. In the years that have followed, Sir David Attenborough has been at the forefront of the campaign to re- establish Wallace in the pantheon of great scientists. In 2013, the centenary Wallace’s death, that task was largely achieved with wide scientific and public recognition, including the unveiling of his statue as a tropical explorer and collector in the grounds of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. With Wallace now admired as the self-educated scientist and intrepid explorer who achieved success against all odds, so more of his life story has been researched and written about. I read a new biography about him in the 1990s and learnt to my surprise that he was born near Usk (Gwent) and had worked as a land surveyor based in Kington (Herefordshire) and then Neath for nine years before setting out on his first overseas expedition as a jobbing naturalist in 1848 at the age of 25. It was in fact through his early years working by day as a surveyor in our South Wales and Marches countryside and studying by night at workmen’s institutes that he developed his interest and knowledge of the natural environment. The very same countryside that I’d so admired as a Swansea boy and persuaded me to become a civil engineer! Most books on Wallace focus on his explorations in Brazil and the East Indies and his subsequent scientific career. Since returning to 24

Wales in 2010, I have researched and visited the Welsh places with which Wallace was associated. His birthplace in Llanbadoc alongside of the River Usk is marked with a plaque, and a new monument was placed in the churchyard in 2013 to commemorate the centenary of his death. In Neath, the impressive Mechanics Institute in Church Place was actually designed by Wallace and his brother, and this too has a plaque. I’m pleased to report that I’ve found significant links with Breconshire! In his 1905 autobiography, Wallace wrote that he worked for Morris Sayce in Kington and was sent to Breconshire in the summer and autumn of 1841 to ‘survey the parishes’ of Trallong and Defynnog. I guessed that this was to survey the new tithe maps associated with reforms to land enclosure and taxation in the 1830s. I was excited to find that the tithe map for Trallong is dated May 1842 and bears the name Messrs Sayce, Kington. So Wallace himself would have surveyed the field boundaries for this map including this delightful detail of the northern gardens at Penpont, where I go each December to get our Christmas tree! It is clear from his autobiography that working and living close to the Beacons environment nurtured Wallace’s development as a naturalist. He describes how he observed the flora and fauna while he was out surveying, and learned how this changed according to altitude and geology. He looked with longing eyes at the double peaks of the Beacons (as he sketched below) from his lodgings at Trallong and first climbed Pen y Fan in autumn 1841. He was warned to take care as fatal falls had recently occurred when young men from Brecon took a holiday picnic to the summit! He repeated the climb in June 1846 to collect beetle specimens, walking from Neath and sleeping the night in a cave near Pontneddfechan. He later wrote that, of all his travels, this was the most uncomfortable night he’d ever spent! 25

So, as I conclude, I trust that Brecon U3A readers who heard my 2015 lecture on ‘Alfred Russel Wallace - Charles Darwin’s equal’ understand why I’ve a particular interest and liking for Wallace. As a member of the Brecknock Society, I’m now determined to see that some permanent and more public recognition exists of Wallace’s links with Breconshire.

………….and in July 2016 Brecon U3A debated the motion that ‘Humanity should fear advances in Artificial Intelligence’ and concluded that it should……………

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A New Take on an Old Tale

A Re-interpretation of 'Little Red Riding Hood'

by Fiona Clai Brown

I had been looking forward to this visit for some time. I'd had the dreaded 'flu and was slowly recovering; doing almost nothing; conserving what little strength the wretched affliction had left me with, and generally lounging about under the apple trees in the dappled sunlight for many a happy, idle hour; when I was suddenly disturbed out of my torpor by a phone call from one of my daughters. She was going to come as promised but rather than wait for half term she was on her way, with her 4 year old daughter, and would be with me before tea time; almost immediately! This impending invasion brought on one of those unexpected bouts of 'adrenalin', in other words I immediately clambered off my garden chaise-longue and chased around getting the place just a little more ordered and inviting than my ailing self had demanded, but I did not have a moment to spruce myself up before there they were at the door! It was lovely to see them, of course. It had been many months since we'd last met and the toddler was now a self-conscious little girl who stared at me aghast! Up till now I had enjoyed the seemingly automatic acceptance and unconditional love that all my sweet grandchildren seemed to give me, even with little effort on my part. I took it for granted, almost, but suddenly I noticed something different; an appraising and even a critical look in her cool grey blue eyes. I tried to say something nice to her and choked into one of those 'fluey coughs’. Her mother reminded her to give me a little basket of flowers and biscuits they had brought and she came up close to me. I thanked her of course and she peered into my face and asked “What is that thing on your cheek Granny? Why have you got a spot on your nose?” Well! I didn't know what to say! I may have muttered something about ‘none of us is perfect’ but I did need my nose the way it was so that I could smell her flowers. Then off she went happily, for the time

27 being while I, that night, peered in the mirror and did not like what I saw. The next day she bounced about in her little pink dress and I stayed in the shadows grappling with a pile of firewood. She came to help me but got in the way and did not like to get her hands dirty or touch the rough pieces of wood and I grew impatient mainly because I always had favoured tomboy girls which she certainly was not and she kept referring to my looks, my face, my hair, my ears my useful country clothes. As the days went by I realised I was feeling quite cross with my sweet pretty little granddaughter and shy within myself. Again I looked at myself in the mirror and for the first time I saw not my own familiar contours but a grey, hairy old hag with jagged teeth and smouldering eyes -I've turned into a wolf I mused- she's turned me into a wolf like the one in the story! I wondered if that could be the true meaning of the story of Little Red Riding Hood? And if that is so- what can be the way to resolve this situation? I spoke then of my discovery and concern to my daughter and she in her wisdom made me see it the other way round. Very tactfully she made me realise that I had been a disappointment to her little girl. She had wanted a Granny who would be prim and proper with lots of tasteful makeup and frilly blouses and jewelry galore; who would be always happy with cheeks as soft as peaches; who would sit her on her lap and feed her smiles and sweets and nursery songs and endless games. Instead she found, let’s just say, someone rather different. Well ‘TOUGH’, I thought. Then, on consideration, I saw that my daughter, like the woodchopper of the old story, had sliced the wicked wolf exterior right through, for very shame, to the friendly, nice Granny who had hidden away. And from that time onwards, no matter how wilful, rudely outspoken, disobedient or clumsy or 'childish' a child she could be I was always going to be a smiley, welcoming proper fun Granny to her for ever after!! What the little girl did to come to terms with her disappointed shock, only time will tell.

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Timeless Moments by Richard Walker

T.S.Eliot said that “History is a series of timeless moments”, and to visit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, you need to spend quite a few timeless moments on the A40 contemplating the slowly emerging ring-road, complete with road works and a small army of men in hard hats talking on mobile phones. I’m sure it wasn’t like that in 1908 when the present Ashmolean was founded, but I am equally sure that the predecessor of the doorman at the Randolph Hotel was stood in the same position, gazing at this remarkable institution, which actually contains about five and a half thousand years-worth of timeless moments. On the day we visited, he was stood outside the hotel (which was festooned in scaffolding), beneath an advertisement for a new cocktail bar, which apparently Oxford desperately needs. His top hat stood out against the safety helmets of a small army of construction workers toiling to turn the new cocktail bar from a dream into a reality. I always feel a little guilty on entering most museums, because I can’t help regarding them as vast depositaries of loot taken from other people during a period when much of the world’s surface was coloured red. On the other hand I try and reason that if it wasn’t for the wealth of people like Elias Ashmole, who started the collection, we would all be poorer, and so it was on the 29th July 2015, I joined the 800,000 to one million people who visit this remarkable treasure house each year. This enormous footfall is truly international, and very young, which I took as a sign of hope that the exhibition of the progress (or otherwise) of our collective humanity will continue to inform and educate the generations that follow us, as it educated generations since 1677 when Elias Ashmole bequeathed his collection to the University of Oxford. Our programme for the day consisted of three sessions on “Impressionist Painters” (well their drawings!), Japanese “Netsuke” and the history of writing. Our hosts and tutors were generous with their welcome in the “Headley Theatre”, and after a cup of coffee we were

29 led to our first session, which in my case was “Impressionist Painters.” Now I have to confess to knowing little about art, except I know what I like, but in the space of about 50 minutes I saw original drawings from this group of French painters who studied their craft around Le Havre at the latter end of the nineteenth century. As well as men, we also saw some work by a woman, who I think was Marie Bracquemond. I had a problem with my memory, and there was only one pencil for all of us to take notes, and I didn’t get it! I do recall that the painting we were shown was a delightful watercolour of a coach in front of some woods on a beautiful summer’s day. I can relate to the Impressionist; apparently they liked the summer, but suffered from SAD in the winter. It was Clive Bell (he of Bloomsbury fame) who made the work of these artists popular, and today their work sells for millions. I rather like thinking about them as men who cared about what they did and used their human skills to produce beautiful art. It also speaks of the march of history, that for the most part they lived in poverty; Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1908) couldn’t even afford the price of a stamp to write to his son, even allowing for the relatively enormous price of postage in the Edwardian period. And so to lunch. If you are Japanese and wear a Kimono, you will not be properly dressed without a “netsuke.” Japanese men have never been allowed to saunter around with their hands in their pockets, mainly because there are no pockets in a Kimono, so you needed a “man bag” to carry your loose change, bits of string, and the many other things, common to all male cultures which make their way into men’s pockets. Thus was born the netsuke, which started out by being functional, but developed into a fashion accessory. The Ashmolean has hundreds, most of which have been given to the museum, by collectors long dead. We were shown many examples of these objects, most of which were delicately and beautifully carved. They included the “Hare with Amber Eyes”, signs of the Zodiac, theatre masks, ink-wells, compasses and seals. Most of them date from the nineteenth century, and like the art we saw before lunch, they became repositories of wealth, to be exhibited in homes – a forerunner of what John Maynard Keynes dubbed “Conspicuous Consumption.” 30

I felt thankful for my western roots, surmising that had I been born in nineteenth century Japan, I would have spent half my life asking Judith, “Have you seen my netsuke darling?” And finally to the history of writing. The story began in 3500 BCE with cuneiform script on tablets of clay. Lots of lists and records from these early years were just lists and records of what you owned, or in the case of King Khaskhem of Egypt, of how many people you had killed – 47,209 seeing as you asked! The museum also has a copy of the earliest epic poem “Gilgamesh” written in Sumerian Clay. My favourite was an exhibit of a Roman lead water pipe, bearing the inscription that it was laid by some municipal official of the day. Why would they do that? Why go to all the trouble of recording your name on a water pipe? I have a theory that people do all sorts of things to be remembered; life was short then, so why devote precious moments to write a complicated message on a pipe that delivered water (and lead poisoning!)? Our churches are full of memorials to people who evidently did not want to be forgotten; people who no doubt considered themselves humble and modest, but to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, secretly thought they “had a great deal to be humble about!” At 16.30, it was time to contemplate another series of timeless moments, this time going west. As we walked to our coach I noticed that the men in the hard hats were gone from the Randolph Hotel; only the man in the top-hat remained giving hope to the people of Oxford that their new Cocktail Bar was now one day closer. In just under four hours we added a few more miles to the quarter of a million clocked up by our coach since 2011. Presumably the people who had travelled those miles, had like us, done it for pleasure, and had done what we all do, which is to add a few more memories to the history we claim for ourselves. Collections like the Ashmolean enable us to look in on the lives of those who contributed to our shared story; most have passed beyond human memory, but I must register my thanks to Elias Ashmole for those timeless moments on the 29th July 2015. 350 years down the time line of history, my thanks to Elaine who organised it, the driver of the coach, and four tutors who brought their scholarship and love of learning to bear on subjects for which they had a great passion, even when they had repeated it three times that day; truly the mark of a professional.

31

Isolation

by Linda M. Dainty

Standing forlorn, Watching children run around. Nose pressed up against the gate, Not allowed to play today, He might contaminate.

Standing forlorn, He watches children play, He just wants to join their games, Have some fun today Joining in their football match, Causing havoc and dismay.

Standing forlorn, Nose pressed against the bars He want to play and run around Join in all their games, Please let me in his eyes implore As we sadly turn away “Sorry lad, we're not allowed Dogs might contaminate their play”. 32

A Modern Mixed Up Fairy Tale by Jean Ruston

Once upon a time, well quite recently really, there were three brothers who had a smallholding in a very remote valley in a very remote part of North Wales. The brothers' surname was Gruffe, which was thought to be of German origin, though nobody was quite sure about that. Anyway, they were Tiny, the youngest, Joe, the middle one and big handsome 'Billy the Kid' Gruffe, who had in his time made a mark, often literally, as an amateur boxer. They scraped by with a few livestock, including a little red hen who escaped being eaten as she worked hard and laid loads of eggs, though most of these she hid, having done the 33 hard work and thus being entitled to keep them. There was a fat lazy pig whom nobody had the heart to turn into bacon and an equally lazy cat, who did nothing most of the time except sit around with a big grin on his large ginger face. He had somehow made his way from the North of England, which the locals said explained everything. Finally there was a poor old black and white cow who had to live on what was almost a bare patch of land, but more of her later. Her only companion was a small brown dog who rushed about and barked at things that mostly weren't there. Life was hard but on the whole OK for the three brothers, except that they had a neighbour who had lived in the valley, on the opposite side of the little river, probably even longer than the Gruffes had been there. Their name was Trollis and the origins were even more shady that the Gruffes. They were short, dark and of a simply ferocious temper. Nobody was quite sure what they did on their small patch of land, but rumours abounded of hoards of illicit stuff buried there, maybe even gold. Anyway they seemed to spend most of their time grovelling in their field, the kindlier ones in the small community saying they probably grew turnips. Luckily they mostly kept themselves to themselves, the only problem being, and it was a major one, that the Gruffes had a patch of land adjoining the Trollis's and the only access to this was over a small wooden bridge. The Trollises were adamant, to the point of unreasonable fury, that it was their bridge and that was that. They built barricades, firstly of straw bales. The Gruffes said they had a right of way from time immemorial, which naturally cut no ice whatsoever with the Trollises. So the poor cow stood lowing miserably over her fence, longing to get at the lush green grass going to waste over the bridge. The affair scratched and lumbered its way through various channels without any progress whatsoever and so inevitably the Planning Officer was eventually called in to see what was what. The Gruffes did not take to him. His name was Mr. Wolfson. He was very tall, very thin, with long legs and a very long face with big sticking out teeth which showed nastily when he grinned, which he did too often and which the Gruffes thought inappropriate. He looked hungry all the time, too. To start with at the planning meeting nobody got anywhere much, especially when the scary Trollises turned up in force complete with their Grandmother, who it was rumoured had some sort of family connection to Mr. Wolfson. That caused much indignation with 34 the Gruffes but still got them nowhere. But Mr. Wolfson got himself backed into a corner and huffed and puffed and did finally say the straw barricades had to come down. So they came down, and were immediately replaced with a palisade of sharp sticks. So back to Mr. Wolfson they all went and he huffed and puffed even harder when shown new indisputable evidence of the Gruffes' long standing right of way. So down came the sticks and of course straightaway up went the bricks. This was a triumph. You could get rid of straw and sticks, but bricks were another matter. A wall of them. No amount of hot air was going to get rid of those. But by now Mr. Wolfson was beginning to find himself unpopular in the community and was given to stalking about looking hungrier than ever. People took sides. Threats were bandied about and naughty words uttered. And eventually the whole thing landed up in front of the Full Planning Committee. This community strife, which was threatening to get well out of hand, was all too much for the Full Planning Committee, which now had a new Chairperson in the form of a very pretty young lady, petite and dark and beautifully dressed, usually in a becoming shade of red. She rode about on a lovely little grey horse, and the community to a man fell in love with their 'Little Red Riding Hood' as they poetically called her. She listened to the Gruffes, and handsome Billy the Kid winked at her several times and Mr. Wolfson glowered and chomped and continued to huff and puff in an unattractive manner. It was no match really. The Chairperson delivered her verdict, the Committee adoringly and gratefully agreed with her, the bricks came down by the simple expedient of Billy the Kid's muscles and large pick axe and the Gruffes' right of of way was established once and for all. The poor old black and white cow was led one evening to the nice lush field over the bridge and was seen bucking and kicking and jumping for joy, over the moon at her change of fortune, and the little dog barked and laughed to see such fun. The Trollis's found another patch of land to grovel in and Mr. Wolfson got transferred and disappeared as if in a puff of smoke. So it all ended happily ever after.

35 This Year’s Cat Winner ‘Snowdrop’

Oil Pastel by Terri Thomas

The theme of the cat really started by accident in 2014 on the basis of the idea that ‘If you want to sell a painting – put a cat in it.’ Thus a cat was considered to be a necessary insertion for the success of this magazine. Hence the invitation for the ‘Best Cat’ and here it is for 2016. Not only that but we have a great cat story as well from Philip Dey . [Editor]

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The Cat which Came Back

By Phillip Dey

It was in the year 1934. I was 12 years old and my big brother was 18. We lived in the City of Benares in an old house with a large walled courtyard. A banyan tree grew in the courtyard with its trunk almost touching the wall. A yellow largish tabby cat resided in the back garden. It had the habit of walking on top of the wall, jump on to a large branch of the banyan tree and go to sleep. It was his territory. All of a sudden one day the cat started to meow loudly night and day almost without stopping. Our mother, who was brought up in the local folklore, said the cat’s cry was a bad omen, somebody in our extended family, who lived in Calcutta, must be ill. Five days passed, the cat’s cry continued. Then a letter arrived from Calcutta bearing the tragic news that the 35 year old husband of a female cousin passed away after suffering from typhoid. We were devastated. And strangely the cat stopped crying. Brother decided to prevent any distress to mother in the future due to similar events. The cat should be removed from the back garden to a distant location, from where it would not find its way back to the house. Of course we had no knowledge of animal behaviour I was commissioned to catch the cat. It was easier said than done. After a large number of unsuccessful attempts, one day I found the cat asleep on the banyan tree branch. I crept silently towards it and when about 3ft from it threw a net over the beast and caught it. Brother transferred the cat in a bag such that the cat will breathe in it without difficulty but would not be able to see outside. We took the cat to a bank on the river Ganges named the ‘Sixty four steps’, hired a boat and crossed the river diagonally and landed just below the Maharaja of Benares’ Palace Gardens. It was about twenty miles from our house. We released the cat at a suitable spot, it ran away from us and disappeared. Brother and I congratulated ourselves on a job well done. 3 days later we found the cat back and asleep on its perch in the banyan tree. 37

At Sea Fifty Years Ago By Gregory Hinds In August 1966, just ten days after our wedding, I went off to sea for five weeks, as one does. I was Navigating Officer of HMS Aeneas, one of the last British submarines to carry a four inch gun. We were a happy boat under a very experienced and pleasant captain called ‘Bosun’ Grieg (anglicised to Greg) who was distantly related to the Norwegian composer. His favourite saying was ‘fat and ‘appy’. By coincidence our first destination was Norway for three weeks of exercises with the Norwegian Navy and other forces. For this we had embarked a team from the Royal Marine’s Special Boat Squadron. They did amazing things like swimming out through the escape tower when we were dived one night, getting ashore, shinning up a 300 foot cliff to knock out a defended radar station before returning to the boat, still dived, still in the dark. We all enjoyed the hospitality of the Norwegian Navy and the Norwegian people. But in between exercises we had time to marvel at the great beauty of the Norwegian fjords. One quiet Sunday morning the Captain, a widower, wondered if we could get into the rock strewn bay where he had spent his honeymoon in the village. It was interesting navigation in a boat with an 18ft draught but we scraped through safely and he was very pleased. Later that sunny morning we were trundling along on the surface on our silent electric motors when we found even more beauty - a very naked young lady sunbathing on a slab of rock. There was quite a battle for the binoculars. The lookouts were wondrously diligent after that.

38

Our next stop was a flag showing visit to Helsinki. As we entered the Baltic the reality of the Cold War, never far from our thoughts, was brought home by a Russian destroyer which came along with their crew at Action Stations and their guns trained on us. Their message was clear, ‘the Baltic is ours’. Sadly Putin has started the same dangerous games again. As we passed up the coast of the three Baltic States that night we saw the sinister search lights continuously sweeping the sea to deter people from escaping by boat to Sweden. After a pleasant visit to Helsinki we headed for Lubeck, the beautiful historic city in north Germany a few miles up the River Trave. The East German border was half a mile away on our port side as we entered the river. The infamous 20 foot high fence, the Iron Curtain, which ran for 800 miles across Europe, came right out into the sea for several hundred yards. The previous week two British soldiers thought they would swim round the end of it for a laugh. They were lucky not to be hit by the hail of bullets fired in their direction. We were rather concerned about the visit because during the previous week a small German submarine, the ‘Hai’, had been lost in the North Sea with 19 of its 20 man crew. However we were made to feel very welcome. We were then taken to the local Check Point Charlie where the East German guards pointed their guns at us. We were also entertained to lunch on the sunny terrace of a lakeside restaurant, just 100 yards from the minefield which marked the actual border, beyond which was the fence. The very visible sentries in their watchtowers amused themselves by sighting us along their rifles as we enjoyed our excellent meal. The night before we sailed a woman came up the gangway and thrust a bunch of flowers into the hands of our sentry. In fairly good English she asked him to scatter them on the North Sea for her son who had perished in the Hai. She was gone before our man could say anything.

XX111 Type German Submarine ‘Hai’

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Two days later, having passed through the Kiel Canal, we stopped in the North Sea on a clear calm day. I was on watch on the bridge as all 65 men came up on the casing below me. They formed up around the gun and the Captain read from the naval service for burial at sea. The youngest member of the crew then scattered the flowers downwind, petal by petal. This was followed by the gunner firing a salute with a .303 rifle. Finally we all joined in a full throated but very reverent rendering of the great naval hymn, ‘For Those in Peril on the Sea’. Very quietly, conscious perhaps that it might easily have been us, the crew went below and the hatch clanged shut. The Captain came up on the bridge. He ordered the big diesel engines to be started and we slowly turned and headed for home. I have always hoped that the mother received the message that we had carried out her heartfelt request. That was my last couple of days in Aeneas. My next posting was navigating HMS Resolution, the first of the British Polaris submarines - which was a very different world.

40 Water by Mike Ingram

I didn’t live in a house with hot and cold running water until I was twenty-three. In the house where I was born we had a cold tap at the kitchen sink where the whole family washed; hot water came from a kettle. In one corner of the sink we had a copper. A copper was a large metal tub for boiling water. It was set into a brick frame, about three foot high with a small fireplace below. Each Monday morning at about six o’clock Mom would begin the wash day which would last until at least six o’clock in the evening. We were privileged; in the yard behind our house there were fourteen back to back houses where the families had to share a brew house; a brew house is what you may know as a communal wash house. A building with several large sinks and a copper water heater. Of course, I have no memory, but I assume as a baby I was washed in the kitchen sink and then, later, in the small tin bath, also used on wash day. Where my memory becomes clearer, the whole family would take it in turns to use the large tin bath that hung outside in the yard on the wall. My parents, and three sisters would take it in turn on Friday night in the kitchen which was out of bounds for the rest of us during that time; a problem as we had to go through the kitchen to reach the outside lavatory in the yard. At the time, my brother was away in the army at war. For me the bath would be put in the living room in front of the black lead grate; the Victorian fire range. 41

How and where the bath water was heated at that time I am not sure; I assume in the copper. Eventually, the copper was replaced by a gas boiler. Not a gas boiler as we now know, but an enamelled metal rectangular water container that stood on the floor with gas taps below to heat the water. Like the copper, it was filled with water by hand. Around spring my mother used the boiler to cook the puddings for the following Christmas. At some time in the late 1950s we had an Ascot over the sink water heater. This provided hot water for washing in the sink but not sufficient for a bath which still needed the gas boiler. By then I bathed in the kitchen and my sisters and brother were away married. Also by this time my mother had a washing machine which was not much different from the water boiler except that it had an electric paddle at the bottom inside and an electric mangle attached at the top which once caused me to call an ambulance for my mother when she caught her arm in it. In 1963 my father died and a year later we moved to the outskirts of the city to a post-war council estate. Here we not only had hot and cold running water but we had a bathroom. This was wonderful for my mother but as for me, as a student, I shortly moved into a rented house near the centre of the city; I was back to an Ascot water heater and a bath that was built into the kitchen and covered by a remov eable work surface.

42 Eisteddfod by John Edwards

In 2016 the National Eisteddfod of Wales was held in Abergavenny, from July 29 until August 6. Last year it was held in Meifod, North Powys, and the event was very successful indeed. 2018 will see the Urdd National Eisteddfod coming to the Royal Welsh Showground at Llanelwedd. This is the children's and Young People's Eisteddfod, lasting a full week, and many local organising committees have already been formed and are busy at work. Therefore the people of this area will have plenty of opportunities to visit these two huge events, and sample Welsh culture at its best. 2015 also saw the reopening of Cardigan Castle, the site of the very first recorded Eisteddfod, after an expensive period of rebuilding and refurbishment. 2017 will see the centenary of possibly the most talked about of all the National Eisteddfodau, which was Birkenhead Eisteddfod. There was great sorrow and grief when it was announced from the stage that the winning bard, Hedd Wyn, had been killed six weeks previously in the third Battle of Ypres, and the eisteddfod chair was draped in black.

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The first eisteddfod was held in Cardigan castle in 1176 and the person responsible for organising the event was Yr Arglw Rhyd, (The Lord Rhys), who was the ruler of South West Wales. He was one of the most successful and powerful of the Welsh princes. Incidentally his grandfather, Rhys ap Tewdwr, was killed near Brecon in 1093. The Eisteddfod was held at Christmas time, and consisted of two kinds of contest, one for bards and the other for musicians. Chairs were awarded to the winners of each category, and a tradition of awarding the chair to the eisteddfod’s chief poet continues to this day. The ‘Chairing Ceremony’ is one of the highlights of the Eisteddfod week. That first Eisteddfod was proclaimed a year in advance and that is also a tradition that has to this day. So the Abergavenny Eisteddfod was proclaimed last summer. The title ‘Eisteddfod’ was officially established at the Carmarthen Eisteddfod in 1451, and means a sitting or gathering of people. The title ‘The National Eisteddfod of Wales’ was adopted in 1862 - 1861, and it was decided that the Eisteddfod would last for a week. Nowadays that week is always the first week in August. Since those early days the National Eisteddfod has gone from strength to strength, and it caters for all aspects of Welsh cultural life. After the National Eisteddfod and the Urdd National Eisteddfod, we have the regional Eisteddfodau, which tend to last for three days, usually over the weekend. The Paris Eisteddfod and the Anglesey Eisteddfod are possibly the best known of these. Then last, but certainly not least, we have the traditional town or village eisteddfodau. With the decline in the changing nature of Roma populations many of these have by now ceased to be but only certainly not lost, and many of these small eisteddfodau are still thriving. In this area, Cwmdu, Hoel Senni, Trallong and Upper Chapel still have very successful eisteddfodau. An interesting development was the establishment of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1947, soon after the end of the Second World War. Its emphasis is on national cultures in all their diversity and on international cooperation. It really has a truly international flavour. 44

In 1868 it was decided to invite the National Eisteddfod to Brecon. There was great enthusiasm in the town and surrounding area but then came disappointment when it was announced that the eisteddfod would not be coming here after all. The Eisteddfod Council had run out of money and indeed they did not have enough in their coffers to pay out the previous year's prize money! So the eisteddfod was postponed and although many people hoped that it would be invited in the following year, 1870, it didn't happen. Brecon had to wait until 1889 before the eisteddfod came to town. The proclamation was held a year in advance on Tuesday, July 10, 1888 and a procession marched through the town led by a band. They arrived in front of the Castle Hotel where the Gorsedd Circle, consisting of 12 huge stones had been set up. Due to the expense involved the ‘Stones’ of the Gorsedd Circle these days are made of glass fibre so that they can be transported easily and used year after year. The important Welsh literary figures of the day were present at the proclamation. It turned out to be a splendid and colourful event. In 1889 the Eisteddfod Pavilion was built on the land of Cerrig Cochion, on the site where Brecon Girls Grammar School was built. The highlight of the week was undoubtedly the appearance of Madam Adelina Patti, the famous opera singer, who lived in her castle at Craig y Nos in the Swansea Valley, and the eisteddfod became known as ‘Madam Patti’s Eisteddfod’. Choral singing was at the height of its popularity at the time, particularly in the mining valleys, and at the Brecon Eisteddfod choirs from the Rhondda valleys came first and second in the male voice competition and in the main choral competition. The Brecon Eisteddfod was a resounding success but unfortunately that was the last Eisteddfod in Brecon. But this year Abergavenny will at least have been within reach of all of us.

45 Telephone Translations by Gadfly

‘Your call is important to us’ ‘We do not give a damn about you or your call’

‘A new government initiative……’ An oxymoron.

‘Hello, is that Mr Gadfly? I am calling from Microsoft about your computer’ ‘I am a crook who hopes you are a fool’

‘We are experiencing a large number of calls at the moment’ ‘We are grossly understaffed and most us have gone home’

‘Please hold’ ‘I don’t have a clue and will have to go and ask someone’

‘Thank you for your patience’ ‘You must have nothing better to do than phone idiots like us’

‘This call may be recorded for training purposes’ Only if you lose your temper at our incompetence and start swearing.

‘I am conducting a survey…’ ‘I am trying to sell you double glazing or a timeshare’

Hello, is that Mr Smith? This is your bank security, could you please confirm that you have just made a transaction for seven thousand pounds in the Glasgow area? It is really is your bank, you didn’t, and your credit card has been cloned.

46

The Agincourt Wall Hanging

A meeting was convened in 2013 by the Dean of Brecon Cathedral to discuss and plan for the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, which would fall in the summer of 2015. As part of the celebrations it was suggested that a travelling exhibition be mounted for the duration of the event and also a piece of artwork be created for the Cathedral as a permanent tribute to the Welsh contingent in the army of King Henry V. The Brecon U3A Contemporary Craft group was approached in early summer 2014 for the artwork contribution. We accepted the brief and decided to produce a wall hanging. Research began and immediately it became evident that accurate details of armour, battledress and trappings had become somewhat distorted by myth and legend over time, so much historical material was lost. We planned a contemporary work but it was going to be difficult, as traditional images from artists of the time was so familiar and distracting. However, we did need to acknowledge those records and we chose eventually to be guided by these original illustrations and carvings, yet use our modern materials and techniques and simplify the content. As research progressed the design sketches took shape, and assorted fabrics, threads and adhesives were purchased along with a vast quantity of linen for the background. Members of the group chose from the sketches and developed and worked on their own panels, each one developing her own individual style; the overall colour scheme of faded reds, blues and golds holding the work together as one whole. The end result, embroidered and appliqué, 4’ x 6’, is not without a little humour. Henry’s tough longbowman and two well-dressed, effete French crossbowmen fight over the Crown, while a delicate, ornate and rather vulnerable looking Henry is supported by his three Welsh front row hard men, Watkin Lloyd, Davy Gam, and Roger Vaughan. The work has taken nine months to complete and is sponsored by Brecon U3A.

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My sincere thanks to the group for their enthusiasm and dedication to the project and its successful birth. They are: Joy Hudson, Lorraine Malham, Mair Morris, Eifiona Roberts, Corinne Thomas, Hugh Thomas, and Sheila Williams. My thanks also go to Brian Davies for his information on history and illustrations, and to his wife Marcel, for contributing some fine Irish linen for special details; to my friend and calligrapher Joy Lovelock for designing the authentic ‘Batarde’ lettering. Also to all U3A members who have given valuable support.

Pat Woolford

Contemporary Craft group leader 2015 d

Editor’s Note: The wall hanging has since been on tour in South East Wales with the ‘Agincourt 600’ commemoration and then it was exhibited at the Royal Armouries in Leeds where it enjoyed a fantastic reception. To date it is home in Brecon awaiting a location where it can be enjoyed and appreciated as a notable memory to the Welsh contingent of that great battle.

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Brecon U3A Travel Desk Valete

As you all know Ursula and myself are finally officially stepping down from running the Travel Desk at the next AGM in October 2016. We have covered a lot of ground over the last twelve or thirteen years in the different day trips organised, and the two successful overnight visits last year. We have tried to please all, taken on board some of your ideas, and hope that we have succeeded. We finish our tenure with the visit to the National Trust property of Llanerchaeron in Ceredigion in July, and then to the Ashmolean in August. Ursula and I thank you all for your support, kind word (in the main!) after an outing, and hope that you will welcome the new team, as we do, who already have four proposed, and interesting, outings commencing at the end of July with the boat trip on The Balmoral.

Ursula Younger and Jenny Hall

Editor’s Note: Please also see the Travel Desk entry from Patrick Blake, one of our new travel reps, in the Special Interest Group reports. MV Balmoral

Built by Thornycroft in 1949 to operate the Southampton – Cowes ferry route. Now preserved as sister ship to the PS Waverley

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Special Interest Group Reports, 2015/16

Archaeology

Archaeology has been looking at Castles. Over the years we have considered a wide range of topics from pre-history through to the present day. We have been fortunate as a group on occasions to acquire the services of some knowledgeable speakers and experts. Visits to various sites are sporadically arranged. For instance, last term we visited Caerphilly Castle, Treago, Builth and Huntington. Archaeology attempts to cover all aspects of a subject from understanding techniques used to analyse a site and its finds, social history, landscape, geology and written resources This coming term, we have arranged a combined Geology, and Archaeology afternoon which will be led by John Davies who has completed a study of the stones used to build Churches throughout Wales. All are welcome as are ideas on how to develop this interest further.

Elaine Starling

Architecture and Landscape We held three well-attended and enjoyable talks each term during the past year. Three were specifically on landscape - the landscape architect Capability Brown, the new book on Breconshire from the air, and Fiona Brown’s mother’s paintings from a journey through North Africa. While the other six focused on architecture, what we so often enjoy about looking at buildings is not simply their aesthetic or functional design, but their setting in the local landscape. That’s why we particularly enjoyed the talks on ‘Betjeman’s Favourite Churches’ and ‘The Terraced House’. As Sir John Betjeman

50 said ‘Architecture is not simply about physical buildings, but also their setting and atmosphere’. We always aim for talks that are well illustrated and subjects that promote interesting discussion, particularly which members can relate to from experience. More next term! Mervyn Bramley

Art Appreciation In the Autumn we looked at Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699 – 1779) and his successors; then Wassily Kandinsky (1866 – 1944), the early pioneer of twentieth century abstract painting. Finally, two short talks; one by John Waterhouse on water colour painting, followed by a brief introduction to the development of digital art. In the Spring term we looked at three late nineteenth century friends: the painters, Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) and Édouard Manet (1832 – 1883) and the writer Émile Zola (1840 – 1902). This coincided with the Literature group’s discussion of Zola’s Thérèse Raquin. The next talk was on the development of Cubism and the term ended with a talk on the Post-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat (1859 - 1891). In the final term this year we looked at artists and the camera, concentrating on the nineteenth century and its impact and use by artists. The two other talks were, one on British landscape painters and a talk on Vorticism, an early twentieth century movement inspired by French Cubism and Italian Futurism. I would like to thank members for their support and suggestions. All are welcome to attend and to make suggestions for topics to cover.

Mike Ingram

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Art Group

A sprightly nonagenarian paints exquisite water colour flowers on little cards for birthdays; a love of Picasso inspires one to emulate his style and encourage others to have a go; one with a great love for Scotland paints beautiful scenes of various locations, many from photos taken on holiday; another member has an eye for unusual shapes which she translates into a pattern picture with subtle colours; another sketcher and a water colourist composes pictures of figures, scenes and still life. Acrylic is the medium favoured by another to paint pictures from photos or magazine excerpts whilst the vibrant colours of Africa in water colour or acrylic are captured by an ex-pat. One person has had several commissions to paint a particular picture for a friend (no pressure there then!). We may not exhibit in the Tate or National Gallery, but we execute our art with enthusiasm, the support of our colleagues and varying degrees of success. After a short chat together on arrival we settle down to our various styles with different media and silence reigns whilst we concentrate on trying to achieve on paper (or canvas) what we have in mind. Tuesday mornings in Llandew Village Hall at 10am for 2 hours is where we can be found. Due to a drop in numbers we need some new recruits if we are to continue, so we urge you budding artists to come along and ‘have a go’.

Kath Crane

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Bookshelf

For the last ten years it has been my pleasure to lead the Bookshelf SIG. Inevitably my taste in books has influenced the selection of titles chosen. It is time, therefore, for a new approach and in this case it is Jean Hosie who has agreed to implement the change. I am very much looking forward to being refreshed by her choice as, I am sure, is everyone else who attends the Bookshelf sessions. I am also sure that as in the past, there will be a degree of dissension which in turn leads to stimulating discussion. Vivat Bookshelf! Kate Bosset

Bridge Club We are back where we started – in Theatre Brycheiniog. I can’t remember how long ago that was but we were 12 newcomers and Val Bell worked hard with all of us to bring Bridge into our hearts and it really can get you hooked. Some of us have progressed to Brecon Bridge Club and play on a Tuesday evening. That certainly is a challenge but we try! It is a continuation of learning and you think that it will never sink in – but it does eventually. We have a number of very new members and meet at 1.15 on a Thursday lunch time in the Bar Area. There is always someone who can explain where you have gone wrong or may have done better. We are open to all, so do think of joining us, it is very informal! Gill Roberts

53 Classical Literature (Autumn Term only) Next term following David Morgan’s “Journey through Homer”, we have invited him to return to lead two sessions in November on “Virgil’s Aeneid”. We will need interested participants to sign up early in the Autumn Term. Elaine Starling

Contemporary creative crafts In the autumn term of 2015 two groups completed a course on the use of POLYMER CLAY, experimenting with new techniques and equipment. Group members created small sculptures, low relief plaques, tiles and pictures. This plastic clay comes in a wide range of basic colours, so careful mixing and blending plays an important part in the process and as the clay is fired at a low temperature during the stages, the method is delicate and slow. The Green Man We made a late start in the spring of 2016 to avoid disruption of bad weather. Again two groups embarked on an introduction to PAINTING ON SILK using water-based dyes, resists and fabric paints. Working on fine white silk stretched onto lightweight frames, the colours are applied with brushes, fine nozzled tubes and palette knives. The dyes are heat set with a domestic iron before washing. The craft is complicated and it takes time to master the method but the results are rich and colourful and even the trial pieces can be used for patchwork application, the larger works making it up as scarves or cushion covers.

Group leader, Pat Woolford

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Creative Writing

There has been some discussion recently amongst members of this group as to whether it should be advertised as “Writing”. We attempt to cover a wide area of genres and anybody is welcome to attend. Generally we meet three times a term. The format is simple. All of us have a story to tell and this group offers one the opportunity to do just that in the presence of friends.

Elaine Starling

Family History Report This is my last Family History Report. After 9 nine years I have decided to “retire” as leader. A lot has changed in the “Family History World” since Keith, my husband, and I started researching our respective family histories well over 20 years ago. We had to go to the General Records Office in London where we were able to look at the huge Birth, Marriage and Death Registers. The handwriting in many cases was the original from 1837. It was wonderful to see the beautiful clear handwriting. Today you can sit at home and search the Internet. Although I would post a warning that there have been many mistakes in transcription. Keith has been unable to find some ancestral family members who he knows were in the original records or earlier on the internet. In my case I cannot find my grandfather’s WW1 medal records although I know where they were when they first appeared on the Internet as I have a printed copy from when they first appeared.

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Researching your Family History can be frustrating, but when you achieve good results it is very rewarding. There is so much on the Internet today and specialist web sites are particularly interesting. They are also thought provoking when the way of life of our ancestors are highlighted in comparison with society today. We are currently waiting the publication of the WW1 Book relating to the fallen of Brecon which the Group has researched as well as the setting up of the Web site.

Pat Wilbud Family History will continue this term with the new leader, Mike Ingram.

The Film Club

The Film Club started in the summer of 2015. Any member and their friends can attend the films which are shown during the winter months at 2 pm on a varying Wednesday afternoon once a month at the Coliseum Cinema in Brecon. In order for the performance to take place, we have to have a minimum of 30 members. If we have less, then the showing will either be cancelled or the members attending will have to make up the difference in the price which at the present time is £10 a ticket which is payable direct to The Cinema. This last year, we have seen performances of Shakespeare and various Art Films covering subjects from Goya and Monet to Matisse and Renoir. The autumn 2016 programme is not yet available. Please check the website and weekly notices at U3A.

Elaine Starling and Jean Hosie. 56 Gardening Special Interest Group The Gardening Group continues to thrive; the aim is to provide a programme for gardening enthusiasts or those who simply find pleasure in wandering around other people’s gardens. Our activities include:  Occasional talks on a Thursday afternoon in The Studio.

 Visits to gardens and parks throughout the year; in 2016/2017 there will be a balanced programme of day and afternoon visits.

 Opportunities to attend plant fairs and horticultural shows;

 A plant sale, organised by members of the group to fund visiting speakers for our talks or guided walks in gardens visited for the benefit of all members of Brecon U3A;

 In 2016/2017 we will continue to link up with other Brecon U3A Special Interest Groups whenever there is an opportunity to integrate. This might include the Architecture & Landscape, Wildlife, Art, or even Archaeology Groups;

 Brecon U3A members can also opt to be included in the Gardening SIG email messages to communicate programme information and opportunities to share ideas and tips on all aspects of gardening; ideas for visits or activities are always welcome!

We may link up with other U3A SIGs for visits if travelling further afield. When out and about there is usually time to enjoy a lunch or afternoon tea an essential part of a garden visit! Pat Wilkie 01874 676425 [email protected] 57

Geology Over the past year I have concentrated my presentations on the regional geology of the British Isles, covering such classic areas as the Lake District, the Mendips and the Jurassic Coast. The Geology SIG will however finish at Christmas as over ten years is about enough for the moment, but I might just think of something new. Many thanks to all who have supported my efforts. Please remember that the South Wales U3A Geology and Geologists association field meetings continue and the details remain on our web site. David Mitchell

Literature.

Great literature, it is said, contains something of the soul of a nation, but what makes literature great is largely a matter of taste and opinion. The set texts for “A” Level English Literature this year are either Jane Eyre, or David Copperfield, both novels of the nineteenth century which have been in print continuously since publication. The problem with having to study a text is that you only read the one book, and you are tied in to the demands of the examiner, rather than actually enjoying the book, and forming a personal opinion about both the author and the story. At U3A, we aim to read two books each term, and spend an hour discussing what they meant to us. Over the past year we have read Middlemarch, and interestingly Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot”. Middlemarch has a central character, Dorothea, based on George Eliot’s friend Octavia Hill, the housing reformer, and founder of social work. Dostoyevsky was a little more ambitious; his central character was Prince Myishkin, who was based on Jesus Christ! Both these characters stride through their own contemporary society, revealing the corruption

58 in current thinking – useless and pretentious scholarship in Middlemarch, and the shallowness of a celebrity and consumer culture in “The Idiot.” Both these novels remind us of the problems and issues that have faced every generation, but also, through the powerful characters that they create (often taken from the author’s own experience) remind us of what it is to be human.

Richard Walker

Mah Jong The Mah Jong group is a fairly laid back gathering of U3A members. Some of us have played before and others have learned during the last year since the SIG was formed. Because so many of us are still learning, we play to our current skills but there are plans to increase the intensity of play and maybe achieve a more professional level. We never know how many are able to attend but what we do know is that towards the end of the game a kettle is put on to boil and we relax into the atmosphere of a jolly tea party. The venue is constant (17 Belle Vue Gardens, 01874 625745) but the cake is supplied on a rota basis so everyone is involved. All in all it is a non-demanding exercise and thoroughly enjoyable.

Kate Bosset

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Movable feast The movable feast continues to enjoy Sunday lunches every month or so at various local venues, to enjoy good company and mostly good food, if I am well advised. This year we had our big adventure when 20 of us went by coach to Cardiff on a remarkably wet 29th of November to visit the Clink Restaurant. The food is prepared and served by prisoners under the auspices of a rehabilitation charity. We had an excellent meal and enjoyed the company of those serving us. We understand why it is regarded as one of the best places to eat in Cardiff. However, we mostly stay nearer home and may be visiting your favourite place if you tell me about it - but we may try another adventure! We are always pleased to welcome new faces and old friends, so please think about joining us. Lunches are announced at our Thursday meetings with plenty of advance notice.

Eric Hollister

Playreading

We have really enjoyed Playreading this year – courtesy of the Drama Master at Christ College who has kindly loaned us playscripts. Sadly he is moving to a new appointment in Sussex but has already prepared an introduction to his successor for next year. In the Autumn we read short plays by Sue Townsend leading us into new realms of social drama, followed by Alan Ayckbourne’s “Our Day Out” – a television play centred on a coach trip to Caernarvon by a party of under-privileged and “excluded” 14-year olds from Liverpool(!) and we ended the year with 12 of us reading Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. Our Drama Studies are nothing if not stretching! The talents of the group are amazing; their sight-reading and immediate role play constantly delight me. Do please come and join us.

Jean Hosie 60 Philosophy

Philosophy is mixture of two small Greek words – philo (love) and sophis (wisdom), and was famously pursued by the Greeks, as they sought to answer the eternal question “how should I live my life?” The Greeks lived with many contradictions, depending on slavery, and excluding women from playing any part in public life; their insistence on the importance of the soul does not really accord with our largely secular society, and yet the central question remains “how should I live my life?” Plato and Socrates have their successors in philosophers like Michael Sandel, who strides the air waves of the world as a “Global Philosopher” (as opposed to Socrates who simply claimed the market square in Athens) to debate with anyone the pressing problems of the day. Questions of war and peace, justice, the moral limits of markets, organ donation, the nature of law, religious freedom, the nature of government; you name it, philosophers are debating it. Huge advances in technology will alter the world beyond all recognition, and 2045 (I will be 100!) is thought to be the year of the singularity when artificial intelligence will have overtaken us – the inventors, and we are already starting to debate how this will change our ideas of what it is to be a person. Personally I don’t think there has ever been a more interesting time to be alive, but we don’t want to be left behind, we need to understand the implications for us and our children, and I think philosophy helps us to do that. Come and join us.

Richard Walker

61 Poetry

This term the themes we have followed were Inspirations, The Natural World, a combined session with the Wildlife Group, and Mythology. We have welcomed to our group a new member who has produced some very moving and wonderful poetry, which I hope you will be able to read in a future copy of The Phoenix. Other members have also written their own poems, and this is such a delightful and most unexpected thing to happen. If you enjoy poetry but are unable to find just the right poem on the day, you are very welcome to come along and listen! Next term if everyone is happy to continue with finding poems to suit a particular subject the themes will be Journeys, Poems by any Poet Laureate, preferably within the last 40 years, and Memories.

Joan Stanesby

Science As we come to the end of another academic year it is interesting to reflect on the topics we have heard presentations on since last September. It seems this year there has been somewhat of a bias on matters related to the environment– a personal bias I freely admit! I hope there has been sufficient variety however to maintain the interest of the group. In October Dr Mervyn Bramley presented ‘Protecting and managing our environment - How does science help?’ This was a thought provoking look at current environmental issues. 62

In November there were two short presentations: ‘Trees of the World in my Life’ by Neville Danby and ‘Plants and pH’ by Pat Wilkie. Later in the month Geoff Briggs set us the challenge of getting to grips with ‘The EPR Paradox’. Thankfully Geoff was ably (if not always willingly!) assisted by Max (his pet cat) so even those of us tested intellectually by the paradox were thoroughly entertained! In January we started the New Year with a look into the past. Angela Briggs presented ‘Now you’re talking!’ The story of communications from Stone Age to Space Age’. As ever Angela’s research provided the basis for a fascinating talk. The February ‘meeting’ was held off site – and took the form of an excellent guided tour of Penderyn Distillery. A small but intrepid group of Brecon U3A members – true scientists - dutifully carried out the requisite taste tests. In March Phillip Dey looked at the potential of current and developing means of ‘Energy Storage’. Philip is another regular presenter to the group, and as ever, his presentation was most informative about his chosen topic. In the summer term we had two more very interesting sessions, ‘Llangattock Green Valleys’ by Andrew Fryer in April and ‘Land Management in the Brecon Beacons and Mid Wales’ by Joe Dagget, the National Trust Countryside Manager for this area in May. I stood down as SIG leader at the end of the summer term. Colin and Pam Greengrass have kindly agreed to ‘hold the fort’ for the Autumn term until a permanent new group leader comes forward.

Margaret Lloyd

63 Scrabble

Seven or eight members take advantage of the Green Room three or four times a term to indulge in this frustrating game which brings out the competitive streak in everyone who enjoys playing with words. The competition is very low key and relaxed and not I think, likely to intimidate anyone new to the game! We could easily accommodate another table or two and would welcome new players. Jean Hosie

Strollers During this term most of our walks were in dry weather but underfoot it was very muddy, which meant that most of our strolls were on hard surfaces. We again, by majority vote, went to the Clarence for our Christmas dinner which was delicious. Our thanks to Kate, Roger and the Staff. Our February walk (when it was ‘brollies up’) ended at Carriad Cupcake Cafe for a scrumptious afternoon tea where we were very well looked after by Michelle. The October stroll was that Bailey at Bailyhelig Road and then lunch at Bishop’s Meadow. November walk was arranged by Pat Wilbud where we strolled around Llanginydr lunching at the red Lion. For January we walked part of the Brecon canal and ate at the The Bank, Brecon. We used our bus passes for our March stroll travelling to Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil and eating out at the Premiere Inn. My grateful thanks to Pat Wilbud who is now the stroller SIGs leader and to everyone who helped me in any way.

Pam Hussin

The strolls this summer term have been as varied as the weather but enjoyable just the same. Our thanks to Pam for doing a good job, I have a lot to live up to. Notices of future strolls will be in the bar where you may sign up before each Thursday lecture.

Pat Wilbud 64 Strollers Plus Strollers Plus is a variable group of people enjoying monthly walks of around 2 hours covering about 5 miles mostly along footpaths and bridleways; the pace is gentle with time to chat and enjoy the scenery and finish with lunch. During the Autumn Term, walkers visited Llangorse, Talgarth and Bronllys and the canal at Groesffordd. After a break for bad weather, a circumnavigation of Usk Reservoir was followed by walks at Talybont Reservoir and around Hay-on-Wye. In May, Strollers Plus visit Caer Beris with the Gardening and Wildlife SIGs and then walks along the Usk and canal were planned for the summer months. Kath Hopkins

Theology Over the last year we have studied two books – “Unapologetic” by Francis Spufford, and “Inventing the Universe” by Alister McGrath. The first deals with matters of faith from the viewpoint of emotional intelligence. The author is a journalist and the title is taken from the word “Apologetics”, which is the study of the Christian faith. Spufford’s thesis is that we are meant to look beyond ourselves to discern a creator, and to be guided by Him or Her. Religion is not a denial of mortality, but an affirmation that to paraphrase the word of Jesus, “we can have life, and life in all its fullness”. He seeks to enable people who have no Christian faith to understand what goes on in the minds of those who do. He also takes on the atheist arguments against religion, by pointing to the virtual impossibility of living the Gospel out to the letter; always loving your enemies, turning the other cheek, giving away your cloak etc. All we can hope to do is strive to do our best, acknowledge those instances when we fail, and start again. Alister McGrath is a Chemist who examines the scientific method. Science is based on a theory, which is tested, and then holds until something else takes its place. In physics for example, the steady state theory, that the universe has always been there and always will be has been displaced by the idea of an expanding universe, which was created some 13.82 Billion years ago. His thesis is that science and 65 religion enrich one another, and lead us to a better understanding of life. He looks at origins, burdens of proof, the meaning of life, the existence of God, and is seen by many people to be a fresh look at the complex, but fascinating relationship between science and faith. For me, the most fascinating question is “why is there something, rather than nothing?” Answers on a postcard please.

Richard Walker

Travel Desk

Since the early part of this year the travel desk has seen several members join the active group who arrange outings throughout the year. Whilst support has been offered by long standing members - Sheila Williams, Jenny Hall & Ursula Younger - several new members have joined the team including Joan Millard, Mary Wood and Margaret & Patrick Blake. We follow the same format of arranging visits that will interest our members and have a full list of dates displayed at the Travel Desk every week for you to choose from. On Saturday 15th October we attend the Brangwyn Hall for the Swansea Music Festival (Tchaikovsky music). Weds 16th November Llandaff Cathedral and the Royal Mint at Llantrisant. Saturday 10th December a Visit to see Kiss Me Kate at the Millennium Centre Cardiff.

Full details on the above are displayed at the Travel Desk.

We are now planning visits for early 2017 and we would welcome any suggestions that you may have that you feel would interest our members Please speak to any group member at our Travel Desk. If you have any comments (good or bad) about the visits you have been on please do not hesitate to let us have your views so that these can be taken into account when arranging future days out or tours.

Patrick Blake 66 Travellers’ Tales

This informal small group meets a couple of times each term with no planned programme, but gives members an opportunity to share their experiences of holidays, or of living and working abroad, or to recall and reminisce over family events, sometimes many years ago. Rather than rely on holiday snaps and film, we avoid technology - it is a conversational get-together and members prove to be wonderfully talented at painting word pictures and sometimes bring mementoes and souvenirs of interesting times and places. Each session has been successful in spreading interest of visits world-wide and over decades. Jean Hosie

Wildlife – A New SIG What is it I wonder that motivates people to volunteer to set up new special interest groups? Is it perhaps a missionary zeal to convert others to the one true faith of your own special interest? Or have your friends and family finally snapped and refused point blank to join you on more jaunts to yet another pencil museum, or whatever is your particular obsession, so you have to try and persuade unsuspecting U3A members to accompany you instead? Or perhaps its simpler than that, and members of the committee have just backed you into a corner, twisted your arm behind your back, and gently suggested that they feel Brecon U3A is in need of some new SIGs. My own motivation was entirely selfish. My enjoyment of walking had led onto an appreciation of our wonderful native wildlife, right across the board, from wild flowers, trees, fungi, butterflies, moths, birds, bees and mammals to all sorts of weird and wonderful insects. Setting up a wildlife special interest group would provide me with the perfect opportunity to learn from wildlife experts and fellow enthusiasts at first hand, through having the excuse of asking them to speak to us. Another benefit would be organising group nature rambles and trips to sites of wildlife interest I wanted to visit!

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Having taken over the task of looking after Brecon U3A’s archives, I was aware that there had been an environmental studies and birdwatching group running in the past, although there were no records of its specific activities. I thought this might well mean there would be interest in a new wildlife group, though I thought I should make it clear when sounding people out that my definition of wildlife was limited to natural history. Anyone hoping that I might organise all night raves and wild parties was going to be in for a disappointment. I also thought it would be useful to do a bit of background research to find out what other U3As did in this area. I was surprised to learn how few of them had special interest groups related to wildlife. Out of 56 Welsh U3As, only 16 had groups related to wildlife, and nearly half of these were specifically birdwatching groups. A few were linked with other subjects, such as “Science and natural history”, “Gardening and wildlife” and “Walking with wild plants”. I thought one group in particular “Fun with flowers” sounded intriguing – what sort of fun were they were having exactly? The mind boggled. It transpired this was a flower arranging class! The linked groups however gave me pause for thought. I had intended to offer a mixture of talks, site visits and nature rambles but joint activities with other special interest groups were clearly another possibility. Hopefully the various walking groups would be interested in a few nature rambles, while the gardening group might enjoy some joint visits to gardens managed with wildlife in mind, but it seemed to me that there were all sorts of other crossover interests with lots of our groups. The poetry, art appreciation and literature groups might perhaps be interested in a session looking at how wildlife is portrayed in these different art forms, while investigating the geology of an area will of course shed light on the flora and fauna to be found there. The possibilities are endless. You never know, “Fun with flowers” could become a regular feature of the Humour group.

Gill Evans

68 THE EDITOR NOW WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR NEXT ISSUE IN SEPTEMBER 2017

We aim to produce a lively and diverse magazine of both factual and fictional prose, poetry, graphic art, cartoons and general pearls of wisdom that will be a credit to Brecon U3A. TO ENABLE THE EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF THIS THE EDITOR REQUESTS THAT THE GUIDELINES BELOW ARE FOLLOWED: A maximum of 800 words per prose article including illustrations and a maximum of 150 words for SIG reports. Articles to be submitted as far as possible in Microsoft Word by email to David Mitchell at [email protected] All submissions will be initially accepted by the editor and copies kept on record in unedited form until after publication. Publication will be on merit and balance and decided by the Editorial Panel after the 30th May 2017 which is the final deadline Proof corrections will be at the discretion of the editor. Articles requiring major editing will be returned for the author’s approval before publication.

Editorial Team: Elaine Starling, Mike Ingram, Trevor Jones, David Mitchell

Brecon U3A – Committee 2016

Chairman: Elaine Starling Vice Chairmen: Trevor Jones Sheila Williams

Treasurer: Geoff Briggs Secretary: Richard Walker

Co-opted Membership Alison Jones Secretaries: Agi Yates

Webmaster: Kathy Hopkins Travel Co-ordinator: Ursula Younger Magazine Editor: David Mitchell

Committee Members: Suzette Mitchell Derek Crane Mike Ingram

Archivist: Gill Evans.

Website: www.breconu3a.org