Medium Walks

Our last walk of 2023 took place yesterday, at the Idle Valley Nature Reserve, near Retford. The weather was remarkably good for November, and this was an interesting walk to end the year. Thanks to Steve and Anne Lawrence for organising this walk. The photo shows us near one of the lakes within the reserve, slightly muddy by this stage of the walk. 

Our first walk of 2024 will be a City walk and Photo Quiz in January, with lunch afterwards as an added incentive. 

More details in the New Year. We hope that new members will continue to join us, but in the meantime, if you no longer want to be a member of the Group, just let me know via the website. 

John Tedstone

Ukulele for Fun

 Vivian Ellis, the founder member of the Ukulele group, has stepped down as leader. At our last meeting she was presented with a bouquet as a token of the group’s appreciation for her hard work and commitment over the years.

Thankyou, Vivian, from the group.

Philip

Message from the Chair

Well what a month October was, so much rain, that my dog walking boots have got so wet they are soaked through, stuffed with newspaper drying out. One day after the storms we were walking the dogs, came to a huge puddle, decided to carry on through, and ended up wading halfway up our calves.

If you were fortunate enough not to get wet then, you were lucky.  I pity those that ended up with their homes flooded. There were quite a few places in Hucknall affected, Ogle St., Baker St., and the worst I saw was at the bottom of St Patrick’s Rd., the water so deep, just the tops of cars showing.   Our heart goes out to anyone affected, if you know anyone and can offer any help, then please do if you are able.

Halloween came and went, not sure what your feelings are, they differ so widely, personally I’m not keen, but still ended up carving a pumpkin for my granddaughter.

Trick and treat can be fun for children if managed correctly, but we all know this is not always the case. I suppose I’m being Mr Grumpy.

Our ‘one off’ History talk on Nottingham Castle, was well attended with 70 of us attending. Again, such a clear speaker talking mainly about the refurbishment and the  new set up of the various museum displays and an explanation of the recent problems since Covid. Again a few would have liked to hear more about the actual history of the Castle itself, but still found the talk uplifting and quite a few have said they will be visiting the Castle shortly.

Our Christmas Social on Monday, 4th December, is proving very popular, with only a handful of tickets left.  It will be first come first served at November’s Meeting.

Our preparation for the Eric Coates talk and Media Showcase is well underway for Friday 8th December.   Apologies about the date confusion, but this has now been  finalised, This is instead of our normal monthly meeting and is a free event.

We are still looking for a couple of Committee Members for the next AGM, please don’t be shy, step forward, we cannot function without a committee. If you are unsure, please come and talk to either myself or any committee member.

As always, I look forward to seeing you all at November’s monthly meeting, please try and remember to wear your name badges so that everyone knows who you are, and of course don’t forget to sign out if you leave early.

Melvyn Francis, Chair

Fun with Languages

Our meeting in November went well with a good effort made by many to describe in French the Christmas they enjoyed in the past or the one they anticipate for this year! We then had a great rehearsal for our presentation song on 8th December at the U3A extravaganza afternoon. Thank you Ian for keeping us going with the guitar accompaniment!

We shall reconvene on Thursday 11th January, 2024 at 10.30 am in JGC and we shall start a new course on basic German. £5-00 fees needed please if you did not hand this in in November.

If you want to join the language group, you are most welcome and January will be a good time to start on a new language. Have a happy, peaceful Christmas and new year. Get well soon if you are ill!                                                                   

Ann and Liz x

Long Walk – 7th November 2023

Our latest walk was to Lambley Dumbles, it was an 8.37 miles walk.  A great many thanks to the eleven hardy souls who accompanied me on our latest excursion, following the floods and rain we have had lately it was bound to be muddy and it did not disappoint.  It was more muddy than I’d hoped but less muddy than I feared.  But it was a good turnout; despite the mud it was a fine day and mostly the sun shone.

The Autumn colours were wonderful and it was a nice walk.  Everyone in good humour, we managed to find a dry spot for our coffee break and Picnic tables and benches for our lunch break.

We are a friendly group and walk at an easy pace, there is room in the group, so anyone interested or seeking information should contact me.

Mark