Our meeting is on Friday 18th November, 2022 10am to 11.45am in the Portland Room at the John Godber Centre.
Our theme and presentations are ‘Animal’ based:
Bob McEwen: An aspect of animal design
Terry Hill: Human evolution, the future of mankind and how it may develop.
David Rose: To consider some reasons for animal extinction.
An image of an extinct Sabre Tooth Tiger
David Rose
Travelling by tram and bus, making full use of our free bus passes, on Wednesday 13th October,ten of the Real Ale Group ventured down to the Trent Cricket Ground to attend CAMRA’s (Campaign for Real Ale) Robin Hood Real Ale and Cider Festival.
There were almost 800 different beers on offer, one of them 28% alcohol content, we had a third of a pint and shared it between most of us, just a sip to say that we had tried it – not particularly pleasant.
However, a very pleasant afternoon/early evening was had by all sampling, in thirds of a pint, the many varied beers on offer. The idea was to try many different beers rather than just drinking lots of it.
Making our way home, some of us stopped off at Wetherspoon’s Pilgrim’s Oak in Hucknall for a very tasty curry. Once again, a very enjoyable day, with pleasant company, thanks to all.
Have you ever wondered how products in your online shopping cart get from Amazon to you? Well, in October, the Not So Grumpy Old Men visited the Amazon Fulfilment Centre at Doncaster to find out.
The Doncaster facility is one of over 50 Fulfilment Centres across Europe and is over 1m square feet of technologically advanced storage space where the barcode is king. From receipt to stowage, picking, packing, labelling, shipping and delivery, everything, is driven by those thick and thin lines. The application of the final despatch labels in the SLAM machine is a joy to behold.
In a Q&A session we learned what happens to the returns and where to buy cheap Amazon products (but it’s our secret!).
On leaving with our goodie bags we made a short trip for our lunch stop before the return home.
Our new group has proved to be a huge success!
Most of the group are beginners and we quickly realised that it will take a few sessions to learn the basics. The good news is that we have a brilliant volunteer teacher and four further u3a volunteer helpers. They are all very patient!
We meet at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, in the Byron Bar (downstairs) at the John Godber Centre.
You can contact Sue Tedstone on bridge@hucknallu3a.org.uk
October’s walk was led by Chris West and Mandy James and took place in the beautiful surroundings of Hardwick Hall Estate on a perfect, bright and sunny autumnal morning.
Twenty of us met up at the Miller’s Pond National Trust car park and set off around the pond followed by a steady ascent through woods and up grassland before following a flat and gravelled drive to one of England’s tiniest villages, Ault Hucknall, (not a hamlet, despite its tiny size, due to its Saxon church which was the worship place of Bess of Hardwick herself!) We then picked up a footpath crossing two fields followed by another leading to the pretty village of Rowthorne, where we stopped at the start of the Rowthorne Trail for our coffee break.
After continuing along the tree lined trail for half a mile or so, we turned off to take the path through woods and fields to Norwood, on the edge of the Hardwick Estate. Re-entering the estate, we walked through Lady Spencer’s Wood (where the ladies of the Hall would take their exercise) up to the Stable Yard where we stopped for lunch, making the most of the tables, benches and ‘facilities’, not always a feature on our walks- luxury! We admired the exterior of the Hall (currently undergoing repair work), the impressive home of the formidable Bess of Hardwick, the second most powerful woman in England in Tudor times, after Queen Elizabeth I, largely due to her outliving four, increasingly wealthy husbands, and hanging onto her inheritances….
The last leg of the walk involved a gradual descent across a grassy hillside down to the ponds and car park, followed by a well-earned drink, for some, at the Hardwick Inn.