In November the group welcomed back Karen Gimson who gave a very amusing and interesting talk on 365 Days of Colour in the Garden. She also gave us suggestions for places to visit as well as lots of hints and tips, such as cutting snowdrop bulbs into 6 pieces to get more of them. We were informed that we were the friendliest group in the East Midlands circuit, and she has visited lots of different groups so she would know! What an accolade! We will certainly be having her back to the group in future.
There will be no meetings in December and January, and we are taking names and monies for our February trip to Easton Walled Gardens to see the snowdrops.
Our last walk of 2025 was at West Hallam on an ideal day for walking, after the deluge a few days previously. Our walk leaders Steve and Anne Lawrence had made a few adjustments to avoid a path which had become a stream over the weekend.
Starting from the Newdigate Inn, we followed a circular route taking in many of the walking routes within Shipley Park. Looking across the lake, new housing has taken the place of the American Adventure theme park of the 1980s, probably for the good! The park was looking attractive in autumn colours, and there are several cafes which have appeared, I think, since our group first walked this area some years ago.
Our next walk will be on 19th January – this will be our Nottingham City Centre photo quiz, being organised again by John Saunders and David Jackson.
We always welcome new Medium Walks members – to get in touch, just use the contact email on the Hucknall U3A website. John Tedstone
In early October seventeen Not So Grumpy Old Men visited the Newark Air Museum, probably the most impressive private aviation museum in the UK.
The static display outside includes the iconic Vulcan bomber, the Hastings transport aircraft, crucial to the Berlin airlift and the maritime reconnaissance giant, the Shackleton – shown in the picture. There are two indoor exhibition halls, containing a variety of jet and piston engined airframes, with a special emphasis on RAF training types over the years, used to train fast jet and multi engined pilots, navigators, bomb aimers et al. In addition there are numerous airframes from the US, French, Polish and Swedish air forces.
By special dispensation Grumpies had the opportunity to get in the cockpits of numerous aircraft types, both large and small (I’m talking airframes not Grumpies!)
The museum is open all year and has a plethora of aviation related material, both historical and contemporary. If you haven’t visited, it’s well worth considering making the effort. I’m sure you will not be disappointed.
A number of paintings by the Watercolour group have been put on display at Hucknall Library during November, the paintings show how skilled our artists are in the group.
Thank you to Brenda Wheat of the group who organised the display and to the Library.
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.”
