Quiz Night

by Lynda SmeathersSocial CommitteePosted on Comments are Disabled

On Friday evening the 28th February 12 teams contested this prestigious event.

The quiz was a mix of question styles that led to some amicable discussion and interaction between the team members.

It was designed and run by the Quizmaster our Vice Chair Bob McEwen ably assisted by his wife Janice.

The food which preceded the quiz was sausage, mash and peas catered by Barlow’s Butchers.

The winning team took away a prize that promised to be a ‘Caribbean Experience’ (basically tins of pineapple) but most of all the prestige of beating some stiff competition.

We extend our thanks to Bob and Janice to David Barlow and team and to Kim and staff at JGC for their support and warm welcome for another u3a social event.

The u3a 2025 Egg (and Pineapple) heads

Coming Soon – Friday 9th May an afternoon celebration of VE Day – see the poster in this newsletter and on the website for more details.

Social Sub Committee

Science Group

by Lynda SmeathersScience GroupPosted on Comments are Disabled

Our February meeting was led by Ian and Ann Murray who had  completed lots of in depth research into the topic of Black Holes and beyond.

The resulting PowerPoint presentation was outstanding with descriptive diagrams, explanations and linkages that made this complex area of physics more accessible.

Below is my attempt at a summary.

 This is a Black Hole Sagittarius A* (at the centre of our Galaxy) which was discovered in 1974 and photographed in 2017.

‘Black holes, wormholes, and the event horizon are intriguing concepts in theoretical physics, largely explored by brilliant minds like Einstein, Hawking, Susskind, and Maldacena. A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape it, leading to an event horizon—the boundary beyond which nothing can return. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking made significant contributions, famously predicting that black holes can emit radiation, now known as Hawking radiation. Leonard Susskind and Juan Maldacena furthered our understanding of black holes through their work on string theory and the holographic principle, which states that all the information within a volume of space can be described by the information on its boundary.

Wormholes, theoretically predicted by Einstein’s general relativity, are hypothetical tunnels connecting distant parts of the universe, potentially allowing for faster-than-light travel ‘

Our thanks are extended to Ann and Ian for their preparation and presentation.

Next Month: March 21st

I am away on the u3a Melrose trip and Bob McEwen and John Tedstone are kindly leading the session this month which includes a presentation by John on an interesting group called ‘The Lunar Society’

David Rose

Short Walks

by Lynda SmeathersShort WalksPosted on Comments are Disabled

Our 4.1 mile 20th February walk was locally based starting from Titchfield Park.

We progressed via Bulwell Hall along part of the Robin Hood Way (which starts at the Castle and finishes at Edwinstowe) to Mill Lakes and back through Butlers Hill into the park.

A very popular cartoon character game is ‘Where’s Wally’

In our Short Walks photographs we play a similar game called ‘Where’s Kevin’? Can you spot him?

The next walk is on 21st March and details will be confirmed later.

David Rose

Vegetarian Cookery

by Lynda SmeathersVegetarian CookeryPosted on Comments are Disabled

A good number attended February’s meeting when we tasted a different version of cheese scones and a delicious potato and parsnip bake.

Again, a big thank you to those who helped me in the kitchen and with all the serving, clearing and washing up.  It is always appreciated.

Our next meeting is on 24th March when we will again be trying different recipes.

This group is now full and cannot take any new members for now.

Gardening Group

by Lynda SmeathersGardening GroupPosted on Comments are Disabled

Our next meeting is a trip to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on the 3rd March.

We are having our plant swap a month earlier this year, at our April meeting, so if you are starting to plan your growing for this year, or indeed have already started, and you have more than you need, please bring some along to exchange with others.

Patricia Rayner is coming to that meeting on 7th April at the JGC, to talk about Japanese Gardening, she was snowed in when she was due to come in 2024, so we look forward to her talk this year.