MARPLE & DISTRICT NEWSLETTER December 2020 Hello again everyone How are you all? Keeping safe, well and occupied? Have you managed to get out and about to enjoy the glorious Autumn colours and the occasional sunny days? A few members have shared their experiences for the newsletter – many thanks to all of them - but the rest of you are very quiet. Don’t be shy. After some tactical negotiations by phone followed by our first Zoom committee meeting, we now have a new committee – see details at end of newsletter - which you might notice looks a lot like the previous one. Dave and Pam have retired gracefully and we thank them again for their sterling work. We welcome Ruth who will be “without portfolio” until she feels she’s settled in and had the chance to find out what we all do before taking up a more formal role. Jacqui has done a great job as Chair for the last three years - how time flies when … - for which we thank her enormously. In the absence of a rush of applicants, and as we can’t function without a Chair, I (Sally) have agreed to take on the role for the time being. The burning question is still “When will we be able to resume U3A group activities and meetings?”. Although there does now appear to be at least a faint light at the end of the tunnel with the prospect of vaccines becoming available, we can’t start making plans yet. U3A National Office have been busy updating guidance on ever-changing permissible activities but with the likelihood of further regional variations in “tier” levels that becomes increasingly difficult. We’ll try to keep up and pass any relevant changes on to group leaders. My experience of my first Zoom meeting, as mentioned above and ably hosted by Jacqui, was surprisingly positive. I had worried that everyone would be talking at once, but we were generally polite and waited for a suitable gap in the conversation before speaking. It’s good to see familiar friendly faces and interesting to observe differences in approach: some sitting a comfortable distance away and others close up (probably dependent on eyesight/glasses). A few groups are running using Zoom and there may be scope for others to do so. As we’ve said before, help is out there from U3A National Office, but more importantly from fellow members. Next year Many thanks to the thirty members who took the trouble to vote, some by post, others by email, at our “virtual” 2020 AGM. As it seems highly unlikely that we’ll be able to have a normal AGM in March 2021, we plan to repeat the format of 2020, but please consider voting this time so that we avoid the inconvenience of an inquorate meeting having to be adjourned and rescheduled. There will be more on this in the February newsletter. Membership renewals will be due on 1st February as usual and we hope most of you will rejoin the U3A “family” despite the ongoing uncertainties. We’ll try to make it as easy as possible for you without the usual coffee morning. Rather than asking everyone to complete a new membership form, the Beacon system should enable us to email members asking if there are any changes to their details. Printed forms would still be sent to non-emailers. Payments could be made by bank transfer, if you use internet banking, or by cheque, and although cash would of course be acceptable it shouldn’t be posted. We’ll try to keep the membership fee to a minimum but it does need to cover payments to the Third Age Trust for membership and Beacon. Further details will appear in the next newsletter, if not before. Members’ messages From Jan and Sheila “Our walking group has temporarily halted due to the current restrictions but as you can see (right) I’m still doing a bit of walking or sitting! Keeps the joints working. I’m down at Chadkirk chapel with my U3A walking friend. Socially distancing of course.” …………………………………………………… Chadkirk’s a great place for fungi too and they’re perfect unmoving subjects for photos. Do we have any fungi enthusiasts who know what this furry-centred specimen is? From Joyce “I don 't get out a lot so it is nice to keep in touch. I joined the U3A early on and ran a wild flower group for a time which was enjoyable (for me at least!). It is good to know the Marple branch is still going well. Please give my regards to anyone who may remember me. Best wishes.” From Colin “I had to isolate for 14 days. I could not leave the house so I had to take my camera out into the garden and photograph any birds I could find!” Speaking of walking, during periods when COVID restrictions bar group outings but allow socially distanced walks in pairs, are there any members of Pam’s walking group (I know one), or others, who would like to meet up with another for company on their perambulations? If so, please give Pam a ring on 07890 862143. Along the path behind the allotments a couple of weeks ago we were surprised to see a cyclist in a high vis jacket waiting to let us pass. He looked amiable so I ventured to suggest that it was unusual to see a cyclist on a designated footpath and even more unusual for one to wait to let walkers pass. He promptly introduced himself as Stockport’s (only) Public Right of Way officer and explained that he has a special dispensation to cycle on footpaths to enable him to get round his patch. We had an interesting chat about misuse of paths, teams of PRoW officers in other areas, poor signage and the progress, or not, of repair work along the riverside path between Chadkirk bridge and Dale Road. Work is scheduled to take place in the not-too-distant future and the path will be closed by full-width fixed barriers for the duration. If you find any problems with paths, stiles or gates while you’re walking, you can report them to Stockport Council via their website To see ourselves … Chris, prompted by a rant in the Oldie magazine written by a 76 year-old lady objecting to traditional stereotyping of grannies, offered these thoughts about the monthly meetings of Marple U3A in the Senior Citizens Hall. “The attendance is usually 95% female. The male contingent is usually retired and fed up with wearing their working clothes of shirt, collar and tie so turn up in open necked shirts and old sweaters, whereas most of the ladies dress for the occasion and have had their hair and nails done and are in full make up even though it is early in the morning. Applaud them!” Ladies comfortably attired in old (?) sweaters, or smartly dressed gentlemen, are equally welcome. It puts me in mind of a saying I picked up many years ago “Be yourself – who else is better qualified?” S. Learning in lockdown If our offline members are feeling a bit left out of the many opportunities to learn online, whether through our own groups’ Zoom sessions, U3A National Office opportunities or from the wider internet, does anyone have any books/CDs which they would be prepared to lend to them? To start the ball rolling, I have a couple of “holiday Greek” CDs and the BBC Talk Greek book and CD which anyone would be welcome to borrow – it’s not an easy language but it’s fun to try. Any other offers? Any requests? A postponed speaker meeting Our very own Neil was due to give the speaker’s talk in September and we hope he’ll be able to go ahead with it in person sometime in 2021. To whet your appetites, here is an introductory extract. If you’d like to see the whole presentation (48 pages including lots of illustrations, so sadly too long to include in the newsletter) please ask and I’ll email you the file. From Moor to Mersey: Coming Down the Goyt The lovely River Goyt is one of the local features which make the Marple area a pleasant place to live …. but sewage, industrial waste and agricultural pollution made it a different river a few decades ago… “New Mills has some interesting buildings and churches, but I was not sorry to get away to follow the River Goyt through the valley to Strines and on to Marple. This should have been a pleasant walk, but it was far from that. The stench from the polluted river was such that at times I was forced to hold a handkerchief to my nose. It was disgusting and from what I was told in the valley it had been worse…” Clifford Rathbone, Goyt Valley Story, ca 1960 “There have been colourful incidents in recent years, with a Red Setter emerging bleached from the river and an even more reckless canoeist developing symptoms of suspected typhoid within days of capsizing….” New Scientist Magazine, 23 September 1982. Fortunately, tighter regulations and the decline of the textile industry have resulted in in a great improvement in the water quality of the lower Goyt. The river is now home to a wide variety of wildlife, although formally the water quality remains “moderate” rather than “good”. Would you dare to take a “wild swim” in it? Further improvements are needed! ORIGINS. The course of the Goyt was shaped by the onrush of meltwaters from the last Ice Age.