Newsletter Carlton, Gedling and District Issue 107 April 2021 Chairman’s Message The weather doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing at the moment one day warm then back to the cold, but the restrictions are starting to lift. We have one or two groups making the most of the rule of 6, so why not do the same if possible and meet up outside in the fresh air. The membership renewal is now open and don’t forget if you are renewing then it will only cost you £5 or £3 (Associates) this year, but please follow Sue’s advice when you renew and if possible, renew via Beacon on line. We still need new members for the committee, so why not pop in to a zoom committee meeting and get a feel for what we have to do. If you would like to, let me know, and I will send you the zoom link. Our next zoom General Meeting is 15th April, so please join in if you can and listen to our latest speaker talking about Agatha Christie Take care Richard National u3a Day is Coming - Weds 2nd June This is to celebrate the benefits that come from being a member. All u3a’s around the country are planning their own way of promoting their u3a, and with current restrictions still in place we are setting up a display in the sensory garden on Carlton Hill. We need help on the day and if you are interested, we have a VIP visit arranged, and the hope is that we will get some media interest. If you would like more information about the day please contact me either by email or phone. Roles are standing about, drinking and talking - a usual general meeting activity - we will even throw in a biscuit ! Email: [email protected] Phone: 0775 1354 654 or 0778 742 7200 Lesley Mosley The Newsletter is published by The Carlton, Gedling & District U3A. (Reg. Charity No. 1157211) Views expressed are not necessarily those of the U3A or Editor http://u3asites.org.uk/carlton-gedling/home Page 1 Working with Ghosts Our speaker at the well-attended General Meeting in March was Sarah Slater, an official guide and lecturer at Hampton Court Palace, whose subject was “Working with Ghosts”. Sarah was dressed in the clothes which she usually wears during her ghost tours – a Victorian mourning costume of black “widow’s weeds” which was associated with a death in the household. (She also showed us her Georgian period gown - she obviously enjoys dressing up, like her boss Lucy Worsley). She first gave us a short history of the palace from it’s original building by Cardinal Wolseley, its appropriation as a royal palace by Henry VIII, extensive modification by William & Mary and its more recent use as grace & favour accommodation. Many people have reported ghostly experiences at Hampton Court, some of the apparitions allegedly identifiable from portraits or tomb effigies. Reports come from staff and visitors and many from occupants of the 60- odd grace & favour residences. One such is recorded in the autobiography of Lady Olivia Baden-Powell, where a visiting psychic sees Ann Boleyn at prayer in a small room of the apartment suite. Unfortunately, that location during Anne’s time would have been a buttery or drinks store associated with the dining hall, highly inappropriate for a private chapel. Several stories are told of the Grey Lady who allegedly haunts the SW wing, cloisters and garden on the South side. Sybil Penn was servant to four Tudor monarchs, and wet nurse to Edward VI. She nursed Elizabeth I devotedly through smallpox in 1562. The Queen recovered, but poor Sybil caught the pox and died soon afterwards. Sybil was buried in nearby Hampton church, as befitted her role as loyal family servant. Sybil's tomb was disturbed when the church was renovated in 1829, and shortly after this, stories began to spread of a ‘grey lady’ seen to walk the corridors of the State Apartments and Clock Court at the palace. Sybil is also linked to mysterious spinning wheel noises that were said to come from behind a wall in a grace and favour apartment. Legend has it that when the wall was removed, an old, much used spinning wheel was discovered. It was later in the 1880’s that Princess Frederika of Hanover, then living in the same apartment briefly saw a woman in grey clothing leaning over her baby daughter’s cradle. Later at church she saw the memorial to Sybil Penn and identified her as the same figure. In the 1940’s the granddaughter of the occupants, Lord & Lady Birdwood, claimed to have a face-to- face encounter with the Grey Lady on the stairs. The suite of rooms is now used as offices, and members of staff have twice heard unexplained footsteps and sightings of the Grey Lady. Sarah then told of her own experience of hearing workmen in conversation when no staff could have been present. Unexplained burials had been found near the site, and she believes these could have been the victims of a construction accident during Queen Mary’s rushed remodelling of the palace. One other famous historical figure said to haunt the palace is Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII. On being arrested and accused of adultery, she escaped from her guards and ran screaming out to the king for mercy. He had already left the palace in secret, and no mercy was forthcoming. Since then there have been regular reports of residents in that area of the palace being woken by screams, and reports of visitors feeling faint and dogs being nervous in that part of the gallery. In 2000 a scientific examination of the area did report some geomagnetic anomalies at the site! The area is now decorated with wall hangings and the occurrence of women feeling faint has dramatically reduced The first ghost walk at the palace was held on Halloween 2002, and this has evolved into the very popular regular ghost tours. Sarah then opened the meeting to questions and encouraged the audience to relate any unexplained encounters. We thanked her for a very interesting and unusual talk. Nick Clark Page 2 Notices * MEMBERSHIP MATTERS * You will know from the recent membership email and last month’s newsletter, that your membership expires on 31st May and we begin the renewal process from 6th April onwards; many thanks to those who have already forwarded cheques. Renewal subscription for current members this pandemic year is only £5 for Full Membership (£3 for Associate Membership) in appreciation of your loyalty. The fee for new applications and lapsed members (i.e. those who did not renew last year) is still a very reasonable £10 (£6.50 Associates) as before. Please do renew online by following the instructions on the membership page of our website. Payment is via our Paypal account; you need no personal Paypal account and there is no additional cost. You can renew together if you share an address on our database, but please pay separately if you are both tax payers and wish to donate Gift Aid. If online payment is definitely not possible, please forward a cheque to me, made payable to Carlton & Gedling U3A. Confirmation of renewal is normally by email, but I will text an acknowledgement if you have no email address and you have provided a mobile phone number. Please also let me know if there are any changes or additions to your personal details (including Gift Aid status) in order that I can keep the database up-to-date. Any problems, please contact me and I will do my best to help. I would, however, be grateful for your patience due to the volume of renewals to process at this time and some additional personal responsibilities which now allow me less free time. Thanks and best wishes to all; we look forward to getting back to our lovely meetings eventually. In the meantime, enjoy Zooming with fellow group members, if you can! Susan Morley Membership Secretary 42 Redland Grove Carlton, Nottingham NG4 3EU Tel: 07960 461942 Don’t Miss April Zoom General Meeting 10:30am on Thursday 15th April Our speaker this month is Steve Dimmer who will be examining the work and life of Agatha Christie, from the emergence of Miss Marple until she became the indisputable 'Queen of Crime'. Along the way we'll be looking at the real life mystery involving the novelists actual disappearance and perhaps try to solve this intriguing puzzle. The Newsletter is published by The Carlton, Gedling & District U3A. (Reg. Charity No. 1157211) Views expressed are not necessarily those of the U3A or Editor Page 3 Group Reports The Good Old Days? The Grouchy Girls were Grouchy Girls remembering things that now sound outdated, sparked by a crossword solution ‘flea circus’. Who under 60 would have had a clue, let alone the solution? So cast your mind back and decide whether these are missed;- T.V. test card and kittens, blue packets of salt in your crisps, Vim, telephone boxes where we tried to ‘press button B and get your money back’, drip-dry shirts, brushed nylon sheets and scratchy blankets, underskirts, liberty bodices, Greenshield stamps, Betterware, carbolic soap, Reckits blue bags, shiny toilet paper, money back on bottles, paper, the ‘rag and bone’ man, the man who came round to sharpen knives, codliver oil and NHS orange juice and stamp collecting. Will the next generations be nostalgic about coins, cheques, OS maps? Do you worry that a child you know may be being bullied, perhaps online? What advice could you give? If you need to approach the school, do it in a ‘working together’ manner, even if you think staff haven’t dealt with the problem.