The Autumn season begins at 2pm on 16th September at Central Methodist Church. Ann Featherstone is our speaker this month to tell us all about “Mashed Potato Sandwiches, Bottle Top Tinsel: Rose Bruckner’s Postwar World of Home Baking”. This will be a time for some of us to remember many items including clothes and groceries being on ‘coupons’. As History Group members know I have been working on 2027 meetings and visits and hope to have flyers ready for members at this meeting.
October is the month for us to visit Newark Air Museum so Kathy and Sue will be taking your names and money £23 at the September u3a meeting at John Godber.
Looking forward to seeing members again, bye for now,
Forty-three intrepid members of Hucknall U3A, including 39 from Hucknall and four from Ashfield and Mapperley, set off on Wednesday for our Scottish adventure — and, thankfully, nobody was left behind!
Our first stop was the stunning Georgian market town of Richmond, where some of us enjoyed a picnic lunch by the waterfall before continuing on to the beautiful town of Melrose, which was to be our home for the next few days.
Thursday brought our first excursions, taking us to see the magnificent Kelpies. These enormous horse-head sculptures certainly gave us something to admire — and provided plenty of opportunities for photographs.
We then headed to the impressive Falkirk Wheel, a remarkable feat of engineering. Some of us understood how it worked; the rest of us were happy just to watch it go round!
Friday was our big day in Edinburgh. There was plenty to see and do, with members exploring the city’s many attractions and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. But the main event was still to come — the world-famous Edinburgh Tattoo.
And what a spectacular evening it was! The music, dancing, military precision and sheer atmosphere made it an unforgettable experience.
Saturday was designated a day of rest, although clearly someone forgot to tell some of our members! Many took the opportunity to enjoy a lovely walk along the River Tweed into Melrose, taking in the magnificent ruins of Melrose Abbey and visiting the Roman Museum.
We had hoped to visit the National Trust gardens, but unfortunately they were closed because of a wedding. However, we weren’t completely disappointed. We were lucky enough to see the wedding party, including the beautiful bride being piped into the gardens by a piper dressed in full Highland regalia. Now that’s how to make an entrance!
All too soon, Sunday arrived and it was time to say goodbye to Melrose and head for home. We stopped briefly at the Metro Centre in Gateshead, before making another important photographic stop — this time at the Angel of the North. At such a towering structure, we naturally had to get the cameras out!
Eventually, we arrived safely back home, tired but happy, and with plenty of memories to share. A huge thank you goes to our lovely driver, Leyton, who kept us safely on the road throughout the trip.
It was a fantastic few days filled with friendship, laughter, sightseeing, music and plenty of Scottish scenery. The Edinburgh Tattoo was certainly the highlight, but the whole trip was a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable break. And, as always with U3A trips, the best part was good company, good fun and lots of stories to bring home!
Our August walk was a 6.2 miler in the Peak District. Starting from the mediaeval village of Over Haddon (famous for fasting damsels and home to the inspiration for James Bonds’ M), we descended to the hamlet of Alport, where the rivers Lathkill and Bradford meet.
Once the hub of lead mining, Alport was an ancient trading route and, according to a wall plaque, has a particular dislike for vagabonds, so we moved onto Youlgreave, where, the Main Street has a 19th century water cistern; Thimble Hall (the smallest detached house in the World, where a family of 8 lived) and a converted Co-op building that houses the Youth Hostel, where one of our male walkers once slept in Ladies Underwear (the name of the gents dormitory, not what you were thinking!)
Fortunately, the weather was overcast, a welcome change from the recent heatwave and having descended once more to the River Bradford, we took a coffee break before embarking on the ascent back to Over Haddon. With lunch at the highest part of the walk and then losing altitude again, we had an exhilarating final 20 minutes uphill to the car park. It’s called the Peak District for a reason!
It’s that time again to let group members know what is happening.
I know some of you will be disappointed that we have no meeting in August but I am using the time ‘off’ productively. Hopefully by the time of our meeting in September I will have a flyer for you full of details of our speakers for meetings and visits organised for next year 2027. It does take quite a time to get all the information together.
The next indoor meeting at Central Methodist is on 16th September at 2pm. Ann Featherstone one of our favourite speakers is coming to tell us about “Mashed Potato Sandwiches, Bottle Top Tinsel; Rose Bruckners Postwar World of Home Baking.” We still had rationing at the time and I can’t help but think how well our mums and grandmas did to put on such tasty meals.
Kathy and Sue will be taking names and money at the meeting in September for the visit to Newark Air Museum.
