National Trust

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Visit to Canons Ashby
Our May visit took the group into Northamptonshire and the Canons Ashby Estate which was enjoyed by many members for the first time. We set off in beautiful sunshine on what was to become the hottest day of the year and which added to the enjoyment of the day while the sun continued to shine.

A journey of an hour and a half saw us arrive at 11.00 am to enjoy the day. After booking in at the reception area and a short chat about the venue from a member of the National Trust, the group eagerly started their day.

Over the day members toured the House, explored the grounds with its three different walks, enjoyed a look around the church and sat out at the lovely cafe. Many members particularly liked their look around the extensive tiered gardens which were a major part of the grounds.
A nice feature was a video tour of the House which enabled one of our party to sit comfortably and enjoy a virtual tour of the House thereby avoiding the staircases.

Everyone was back on the coach in good time to depart for home at 4.00pm and with traffic relatively light on the M1 the members going on to a certain football match had plenty of time to reach the ground before kick off.!!

Packwood House Visit – Monday, 13th June, 2022
Our next visit is to Packwood House in Warwickshire on the above date. We will be leaving Hucknall Market at the usual time of 9.30am. There are a few places available which you can book by emailing me at nationaltrust@hucknallu3a.org.uk

Our trip in July is to the rather special venue of Waddesdon Manor, owned by the Rothschild Family. This visit will take place on Wednesday, 20th July, leaving at 8.30am to allow for the extra journey time. Bookings can be made from June 20th onwards. The cost is £14 per person for the coach fare.

Barrie Saunders

Science

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May 2022
The recent meeting of our Science Group covered a wide range of topics. Firstly, we looked at Energy in the UK, which has recently become very topical and discussed widely, because of the conflict in Ukraine, which threatens the security of our energy supplies, and also the whole of Western Europe.

In particular, we looked at proposals for generating energy from water power, and the possibilities for a barrage on the River Severn, which was first proposed over 100 years ago.

Members of the group then heard from each other about notable ‘Women in Science’, which they had researched since the last meeting. Two of these women were: Rosalind Franklin, who was instrumental in the early research work on DNA in the early 1950s, and Rachel Carson, who campaigned in the USA against the use of the insecticide DDT. What was notable about these women was that they were largely unrecognized in their time, reflecting attitudes in the 1940s and 1950s.

Finally, we heard about how the importance of Maths gets overlooked, illustrated by the best-selling book ‘Humble Pi – When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World’. Maths is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean. Some thought-provoking topics.

Our next meeting will be on Friday, 17th June, 2022.

We have a guest speaker Mick Leivers from CAST who are based in Newstead Village. Mick will be talking about the background to the development of Newstead and Annesley Country Park and their work with vulnerable children who they engage in various land based skills and activities.

After the break there is an opportunity for group members who have still to talk about their woman scientist to give their presentation.

Not So Grumpy Old Men

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In May, the Not So Grumpy Old Men visited the Great British Car Journey.

This hidden gem of an attraction, in the old wireworks at Ambergate, chronicles the history of the British car industry, with 120 vehicles on display. Audio visual tablets guided us from Austin and Morris through the troubled British Leyland years to McLaren.

Worn out by all that reminiscing, the group retired to the on-site Pit Stop Café for lunch.

Mid-length Walking group

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Welbeck Estate and Belph
Twenty-one walkers assembled at the meeting point; several went off to avail themselves of the facilities, worryingly by 10 o’clock they had not returned; it was a long walk!

All present, introductions and formalities complete, we set off, heading north to pick up the Robin Hood Way east, (our route for the first three miles). The path skirts the Welbeck Abbey/House, which in the main is masked by greenery; we were given snippets of information about the eccentric 5th Duke of Portland and a brief history of the abbey/house. Open fields and oak/beech woodland are the main features of the area but what can go unnoticed, along a straight section, is a raised ridge running parallel to the path. A submerged gas lit tunnel, wide enough for two carriages to pass one another, begins at the house and emerges after 1.5 miles, above ground, through a set of doors at the South Lodge.

Continuing east along Drinking Pit Lane we arrived at the Busaco Ridge, a fine example of a ‘Holloway’ carved through Nottinghamshire sandstone. Returning to South Lodge for a coffee stop there were reminders of how Hucknall had benefitted from contributions made by the 6th Duke.

Refreshed, the walk continued NW along Broad Lane before turning west towards the hamlet of Belph. After a lunch stop, we continued south, returning to the start. A very pleasant walk. 6.8 miles for most, 7+ miles for some! Many retired to the Greendale Oak in Cuckney, others were tempted by the garden centre.

Our thanks go to Dave Kay and Ian Raynor for leading the walk.

Fun with Languages

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Last meeting we had brain ache with some grammar on nouns, gender and agreements of singular and plural. Also a peep into pronouns. However, despite the grammar, enjoyment was had in the role-play groups as we practised asking directions and finding places in a town.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, 9th June, 2022 at John Godber Centre, Byron Suite, at 10.30 till 12 noon. We shall be highlighting food and eating out. And to follow up on this we hope to have a drinks and nibbles session which will be hosted this time by Liz. This may go on a bit longer than 12 noon. Further details in due course.

As always, if new members wish to come and join us you are welcome.

Ann Murray & Liz Attenborough