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 2 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 3 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] 6 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 7 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.