Reading Group

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This month we discussed which were our favourite books we read when we were young and these included anything by Enid Blyton, Louisa M. Alcott, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Steven-son, amongst others.

Our set book was “Those Who Are Loved” by Victoria Hislop, which had mixed reviews. Most of us have read her other books and in the main really enjoyed them. A favourite was The Thread which also includes political division in families. Those Who Are Loved covers the time from the 1930s – The political changes. The story follows a family through this time, the division, the brutality, the fear of various political regimes including the Nazi invasion. Two of the family left home to fight for Greek freedom from oppression, which follows are harrowing stories. We thought much of the first half was a list of misery and ill treatment. It is more a book to inform, not enjoy.

Our set book for this month is “Com-monwealth” by Ann Pratchett which we will review in the next newsletter.
Just for fun, what was the strangest book you were ever given or ever read? Please contact Sandra, the group leader, using the form below:-

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    National Trust Group

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    When Sue and myself offered to take over the group after Sue Spolton decided to leave the position, little did we know that a year later we would still not have been on any visits!!
    We do not want to dwell on the negatives from the past months but rather look forward to hopefully better times in 2021.

    I am sure most members will have received email updates from the National Trust and be aware of the present limited access which is available to their properties. You will probably be aware that Belton House are running their Light Show but with very limited pre-booked places available. Although not a National Trust property, Wollaton Hall are operating a similar display. Although while writing this piece it looks like Ashfield is going to go into Tier 3 so limiting travel and visits even further.

    When we do see some progress with Covid-19 and we get permission from the U3A, and Government rules allow, we will be visiting Fountain’s Abbey and then we have four more visits, one each to Yorkshire and Derbyshire and two to Warwickshire all planned.

    We hope everyone in the group is staying safe and healthy.

    Sue and Barrie Saunders,

    Monthly Meetings via Zoom

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    Monthly Meeting via Zoom October 14th, 2020
    This month the ‘guest’ speaker was a double act. Terry Hill and myself were the presenters talking about trekking in the Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) which is a region of north eastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. This is the home of the Sherpa people. We have both completed this trek up to a height of 5500m where oxygen is reduced to 50% of that at sea level. We were younger then.

    NOVEMBER 11th, 2020 – Monthly Zoom Meeting 2.00 pm to approx 3.00pm
    Many people who travel around giving talks to U3A groups have made the transition and are offering zoom presentations. We have booked our first one for this meeting:

    A Nice Cup of Tea- a Potted History of Tea
    The British answer to any problem or crisis is often a cup of tea! If you have had a shock or an upset someone will make you a nice cup of tea. But how did the British love affair with tea start? It is a fascinating tale of adventure, taxes, criminality, temperance, rationing and a morale booster in World War I and II. You’ll also find out how a hungry Duchess with a taste for a ‘cuppa’ established the ritual of afternoon tea.

    Talk length – 42 minutes. Presenter: Sandy Leong who is an international, professional speaker, and published author.

    Science 2 – October Zoom Meeting

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    This month Christine Vincent introduced us to the life of African American Charles Richard Drew who was a surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. This allowed medics to save thousands of lives of the Allied forces. Thank you Christine.

    My presentation was about energy and energy changes, for instance, chemical energy is converted to kinetic energy when a firework explodes and our chemical energy from food is converted to heat and kinetic energy when we move about.

    The law of conservation of energy is a physical law that states energy cannot be created or destroyed but may be changed from one form to another.

    We were joined via Zoom by two guests Chris and Ann, from Port Macquarie in Australia, which is about 390 km north of Sydney. Chris is a native of Hucknall and his sister Cynthia is a Hucknall u3a member. Chris had sent me a short video which demonstrates energy changes made as part of a school science task by his grandson James who is 14. I was given consent to show it so thank you James. It demonstrates how the energy of an object can be transferred to another with the process doing some useful work at the end. Basically an intricate domino effect involving a moving car, falling books, weights and an electrical lamp.

    Before we finished we heard about how Australia had been dealing with Covid-19.

    Next (Zoom) Meeting: Friday November 20th, 10am to 11am.
    John Tedstone will be talking about another aspect of energy and I will be posing the question ‘What is Rocket Science’?

    David Rose

    Short Walk Group

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    Fourteen members took part in our walk this month. The route was researched and led by Greg Umney who was well prepared with his anti viral spray gun and jumbo sized bottle of hand sanitiser.

    The walk was an undulating 4 miles from Blidworth on footpaths heading towards Ravenshead from where we turned into the woods down to Friar Tuck’s Well before making a loop back to our starting point. The route included lots of kissing gates which received a liberal dose of spray from Greg’s gun before we went through them. En route we also met a large number of friendly horses who made a bee line for Roy Brown who was generously offering to feed them mints.

    November
    Now the bad news: the whole of Nottinghamshire is now in Tier 3. Unfortunately the limitations this imposes mean, that for now, the walks are suspended. We have future walks planned and they will restart as soon as we can.