Are you a keen puzzler? Do you usually have one on the go? If there is enough interest I will organise an inaugural meeting for a Jigsaw Puzzlers Group on Friday 27th February at Central Methodist Church at 10.30am. If you are interested come and put your name down in the refreshment room at the next main John Godber meeting on the 18th February.
There are spaces available for non-science group members to join us on this visit.
The venue is the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, which is the UK’s largest independent medical museum, offering immersive galleries that trace the evolution of healthcare from Victorian street life to modern medical breakthroughs.
A real highlight is “Disease Street”, a smelly, grimy depiction of what life used to be like in the slums of Leeds
Visitors can explore reconstructed historical settings, watch 19th‑century surgical demonstrations, and engage with interactive exhibits designed to inspire curiosity about medicine and public health.
Located beside St James’s University Hospital, the museum reopened in 2021 after major refurbishment and continues to host talks, workshops, and community events.
Cost and Itinerary
Travel by Vallances coach
Pick up: Ogle Street at 9.00am Return to Hucknall by approx. 5.00pm
Options
There are 3 options
A. Coach travel and an independent visit to Leeds: £15.00
B. Coach travel and museum entry £24.00
C. Coach travel, museum entry and a group talk entitled
‘Bloody Barbers and Splattered Surgeons’ £30.00
Please contact me if you are interested specifying which option A, B or C
On Wednesday 17th December we are showing ‘A Christmas Story’ feature film and an exciting addition from the ‘Kept Woman’ film studio directed by Christine and David Vincent.
I feel lucky to have received an invitation to the preview, joining other distinguished critics. You may recognise some well-known local character actors in this film.
It is a story of a retiree Bob who longing for some excitement keeps disappearing from home. Not dramatically — just quietly. A coat missing from the rack. His phone left charging. No note. He’d return hours later with no explanation.
Concerned, his wife Maureen hired a private detective named Vince — a man with a dodgy moustache and a trench coat that hadn’t seen soap since the Millenium.
Vince takes the job with relish. “Retirees don’t just vanish, love. They drift. And I’m good at catching drifters.”
After a week of surveillance, Vince and his partner returned with a grainy photo and a single word scribbled on a napkin: Hucknallu3a
Curious and slightly baffled they followed him one morning. He walked past a chip shop and the marketplace before entering a building called the John Godber Centre.
Inside, they found a room full of retirees — Bob was grinning like a schoolboy.
“Hucknall u3a,” he explained, “is the University of the Third Age. It’s where we go to keep learning. To stay curious. To not fade away.”
I recently asked all our Group Leaders whether they had any vacancies in their group and the good news is that over half of them have a few vacancies at the moment.
If you are interested in joining one of them, then please contact the Group Leader themselves.
You can do this through the Website or by emailing them on the address at the end of the Newsletter.