In this issue
1 Front Cover Picture: Margaret Adamson
Sources is published by: The Third Age Trust
19 East Street, Bromley BR1 1QE
Tel: 020 8466 6139 E-mail: [email protected]
Sources is copyright and circulated only to U3A members
Nothing may be reproduced without permission
3 U3A Architecture Groups: Martin Funnell
3 Architecture Workshop: Martha Perriam
4 Making History Lessons: Martin Funnell
In the next issue
5 Art Nouveau Church: Irene Briscoe
The theme of the next issue in Jan 2013 (No 48) will be
5 Five-a-side Football: Alan Bonner
Creative Writing and Storytelling. For Issue No 49 in June
2013 the focus will be on Photography, Imagery & Film.
6 Three Sussex Churches: Jane Reid/Ziller Birch
Contributions are considered for inclusion by an editorial panel.
For No 48 please submit them not later than 30 Nov – via the
national office or direct to the editor at:
Gelt Mill House, Castle Carrock, Brampton CA8 9NQ
You can send them by e-mail to [email protected]
(preferred), on CD or cleanly typed suitable for scanning. Every
effort will be made to acknowledge them. Contributors are
advised to discuss their story with the editor before submission
or request a copy of our writers guidelines.
7 Architecture Appreciation: Sue Keeling
8 Resource Centre News: Susan Radford
9 SLP Update: Jennifer Anning
9 Do As You Would Be Done By: Beth Butler
10 Queen’s Nurses Institute SLP: Susan Cohen
12 Eltham Palace Gardens SLP: Brenda Kidd
How to receive Sources
14 Architecture Group Development: David Feather
ources is published in January, June and September. Back
numbers can be viewed online and printed. Visit the Third
Age Trust website at www.u3a.org.uk. You will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded free.
S
15 Building Our Knowledge: Gill Zeffertt
16 Get Out And Look At It: Graham Brown
Feedback
17 Architecture And Glass: Frances Funnell
f you have any comments on topics in this issue please write
to the editorial panel, c/o U3A National Office or e-mail the
editor at: [email protected] Tel: 01228 670403
Note that the views expressed within are those of the
contributors and not those of the Third Age Trust.
18 Out And About Group: Barrie Haigh
I
he study of Architecture
has quite a professional
academic ring to it. Yet
several of the group leaders
in this issue are not
qualified in this subject.
They say:
‘I haven’t any formal
qualifications – just a love
of, and enthusiasm for,
looking at buildings to learn
more about them.’
‘With no expertise I
started a group and I have
gradually picked up the
bare bones of the subject.’
T
19 Lest We Forget: Peter Welsh
20 Creations From Waste: Hal Brooks
In my view
Of course this is how
U3A works. Group leaders
often learn as much from
their members as the other
way round.
We hope these pages will
encourage people to start
groups after reading how
interesting the subject is
and how a group can be run
without an architecture
expert leading it.
U3A thrives due to people
who take the initiative and
it is most rewarding if you
have never done this before.
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Editor
There could be more
groups formed if someone
would be brave enough to
organise them. Leaders new
to an architecture group
soon discover the exciting
options that are open.
The next issue of Sources
will focus on Creative
Writing and Storytelling.
Please be aware that we are
not looking for fictional
stories or poetry.
2
Sources exists to provide
help and advice: to other
group leaders who are
looking for new ideas to
bolster their groups; and to
U3A members who might
be inspired to start a group
after reading about how
others do it.
Please send your words
and pictures soon. We look
forward to seeing them.
U3A Architecture Groups
A
rchitecture groups are diverse in
character and can touch on
several subjects or concentrate
in detail on any one of them.
The choice of how or what to study is
up to the enthusiasts who take part and
run each group.
There is a common interest in things
which are seen, and things which can be
visited – leading to pleasant meetings
with speakers, slides, DVDs or
PowerPoint and discussion – as well as
pleasant outings.
In 1998, when I was asked to start a
group here in Merton I wanted to find
out how other organisers had done it.
The Third Age Trust gave me some
helpful advice but regretted that there
was no Subject Adviser to help me.
However, if I took on the role I knew I
could get in touch with other groups.
The job was not onerous and I felt I
could help in other ways, so I had a short
briefing from Elizabeth Gibson and took
on this additional task.
I was not allowed to pass on telephone
numbers of group leaders unless they
agreed to it, so my first idea of issuing a
list of Architecture Groups led to the
making of a formal register to enable the
leaders to contact each other at will.
Some Subject Advisers don’t do this
Martha Perriam Weston U3A
ach year the Northern Somerset
Association of U3As holds a day
workshop. In November we are
having one where the aim is to give
members of our ten U3As a taste of
something new or of a subject not
covered in their own U3As.
Architecture Appreciation is one of
the topics.
With no expertise, I started a group
in Weston four years ago inspired by
Wilson Briscoe’s Summer School
course. I have gradually picked up
the bare bones of the subject so I will
start the day off with a gallop through
the history of Western Architecture.
In my group we are lucky enough to
have several members who have
researched and presented illustrated
E
Architecture is a flexible subject. It can
embrace design, history, art, furniture,
archaeology, heritage, planning and politics.
because their groups prefer not to. The
architecture groups are cooperative,
although I am aware that there must be
more groups than the 45 on my register.
I have tried to tackle matters of
common interest including: a register of
speakers; the sharing of slides; package
talks and DVDs; appraisal of videos in
the Resource Centre; and even a modest
design competition for an ideal U3A.
These were detailed in my newsletters
but met with limited success.
Regrettably I have never felt able to
organise a national meeting for the
architecture groups. Obviously groups
find their own ways of keeping going
and do not need much help.
My main purpose is helping new
leaders to get started, so I feel that the
occasional phone calls and the Start-Up
leaflet I prepared (on the Trust’s
website) are the most valuable
contributions that I can make to the wellbeing of groups.
I enjoy the chats we have about
starting and also about keeping going
when ideas or key personalities retire.
Martin Funnell
Architecture Subject Adviser
My main frustration is when I think of
the enjoyable groups that could be
formed if only someone would be brave
enough to organise them.
U3A thrives due to people who take
the initiative, see a need and tackle it,
and it is most rewarding if you have
never done this sort of thing before.
Many of my potential leaders are new
to the idea of an architecture group, and
do not immediately realise the exciting
options that are open to them.
Even retired architects rarely seem to
think of the delights of switching their
interests to an exploration of other
aspects of their chosen subject.
My original objective was to spread a
passion for good modern design
amongst my students, but I seem to have
found a new niche as an amateur
architectural historian – quite different,
but just as much fun.
Tel: 020 8946 7739
[email protected]
Architecture Workshop
talks. One will follow on with a talk
about Georgian Bath.
Finally June Jones, the leader of
the Architecture Group from
neighbouring Woodspring U3A, will
show us what Fascist Architecture
was all about.
I hope the day will encourage
attendees to go home and set up
their own groups when they see how
interesting the subject is and how it
can be done without an architect or
architectural historian leading it.
The Woodspring Group meets in
June’s home so can use her DVD
player, pass round books and hold
3
informal discussions.
But Weston’s is a large group
which means hiring a hall and
investing in a digital projector.
Architecture is a subject you can’t
study without using pictures of some
sort. If only I had Wilson Briscoe’s
ability to draw.
In a one-day workshop there won’t
be time to go out and about but I think
visits to places of architectural
interest are the key to success.
We hope to whet appetites at our
November day by talking about some
of the lovely buildings we have seen
around this part of the world.
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Making History Lectures
Martin Funnell
U3A Architecture Adviser
Making a set of DVDs for
Architecture Groups covering the
History of Western Architecture
A
rchitecture Groups operate in
different ways depending on the
interests of their members and
their local resources.
The ideal with architecture is to get
inside it and experience it first hand, but
this is not often practicable and we have
to resort to other methods.
Using a DVD as a teaching aid is still
quite effective. A problem is that there
are a limited number of suitable DVDs
available, and no complete set covering
the History of Architecture exists. I
wanted to tackle this subject with Merton
U3A group.
I tried delivering talks with slides,
PowerPoint and blackboard but found
them too complicated and stressful. It
was a headache dealing with pictures. I
needed to get as much prepared in
advance as possible so I decided to use
my skills as a film maker.
I was not trained as a historian and was
learning the subject as I went along (in
true U3A manner). The first series turned
out to be too close to one of the text
books I was using. This meant that it
could not be used by any groups other
than my own because of copyright.
My solution was first to prepare a
much shorter text of my own. As for the
pictures, I could have tracked down the
photographers in the books, magazines
and Google/Images I used to ask
permission (which they usually seem
happy to give). But this is a tedious job
and I found it more enjoyable and
rewarding to make my own drawings.
This took more than a year and filled our
sitting room with draft sketches.
Development was helped by comments
from my group as I progressed. Getting
pictures can be a problem for all groups
studying the visual arts.
Another local group (Stained Glass)
uses up to 100 photos for each session,
and here again the PowerPoints we so
laboriously assemble cannot be sold to
other groups.
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens
Royal Festival Hall, London
Chartres Cathedral, buttresses
Mesopotamia, ziggurat
Louvre Pyramid
Carrowmore cemetery, Co Sligo
Pazzi Chapel, Florence
My discs are to be offered for loan first
to the Architecture Groups on my
register and thereafter to the Resource
Centre for all groups to use.
Cartoon History of Western
Architecture in eight parts
45 mins each
1 Early, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece
2 Rome, Early Christian
3 Medieval
4 Renaissance
5 Baroque
6 Age of Enlightenment
7 Modern
8 Post-Modern
The DVDs have voiceover and
come with notes for study leaders.
They can be used separately.
4
Tomb of Tutankhamun
St Mary The Virgin
Great Warley Essex
T
his church design is based on a
church in Guildford Surrey and
was consecrated in 1904.
It is one of only three in the Art
Nouveau style churches in this country (a
rather quirky style idea in 1904) and is
said to be the best preserved of those.
The church has been awarded Grade 1
listed status and its lychgate Grade 2
listed status.
The interior was designed by Sir
William Reynolds Stephens in the latest
style and in the purest form of Art
Nouveau and is well worth a visit.
Nikolaus Pevsner states in Essex
Building of England, ‘that there is no
better example’.
Materials used for the interior are a
mixture of various metals, marbles,
and mother of pearl, together with the
walnut furniture.
Five-a-Side Football
Irene Briscoe : Brentwood U3A
There is much evidence all around of
the Art and Craft movement and of the
influence of the pre-Raphaelites.
I first visited this church with
Brentwood U3A East Anglian Studies
Group some years ago.
I now run the Summer Sketching
Group so I arranged another visit last
summer – an ideal challenge for my
group to sketch the intricate mother of
pearl butterflies, poppy leaves and silver
aluminium detail designs which decorate
bands of ‘the tree of life’ in the nave.
Mr Fuller Clark and the sculptor Henry
Poole designed these extreme decorative
church details together with the stained
glass windows and the mosaics
throughout the interior nave.
Everyone enjoyed the challenge of the
visit and looks forward to going again.
It wasn’t going to be easy and we
were impressed with the initial
response. Our first game was in May
on an indoor pitch at the Burscough
Sports Centre near Ormskirk.
Our Chairman Dorothy Harrison
kicked the first ball and we had
professional advice from ex-Everton
footballer Derek Temple.
We came off the pitch with tired
legs and aching muscles but the spirit
was first class. Derek said we were
‘running too much’ and that we
should let the ball do the work.
There was more interest for the
second game and we fielded two
teams of seven-a-side,
We are taking a ‘mid-season’ break
and will resume fitter and stronger,
numerically at least, in late
September.
Alan Bonner : Aughton & Ormskirk U3A
5
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
A visit by Burgess Hill U3A
Jane Reid and Ziller Birch
he Burgess Hill U3A will
celebrate its 20th year in 2013. As
you would expect there are many
groups with a vast range of subjects.
One of the groups is the History of
Architecture. This is led by Jane Reid, an
accomplished artist and photographer,
who says: ‘This group is not trying to
cover the whole subject from cavedwelling to concrete, but concentrates on
buildings of the last millennium, mostly
in the British Isles’.
We meet in a well-equipped room
hired from the BH Council for Voluntary
Service and discuss an architectural
subject of local as well as national
interest, often using U3A Resource
Centre material.
Members are encouraged to share their
enthusiasm for a particular building
including the history to be found inside
and churches are a good example.
There are a few hundred churches in
Sussex. They are among the oldest
structures in an area and tell so much
about the history of a place and its
former inhabitants. Member Christopher
Hill arranged a visit to three churches
lying below the South Downs.
The Priest in Charge accompanied us
to St Andrew’s Church, Edburton.
Towards the end of the 12th century the
church was rebuilt on the older Saxon
footings and some small parts of the old
stones were reused.
Upper walls and windows are mostly
late 12th or early 13th century. The
tower was added in the 14th century. A
particular feature is the mass-clocks on
the north and south walls.
A mass-clock is a vertical sundial with
several engraved lines around the central
hole. This hole held a metal rod called a
gnomon and its shadow was cast by the
sun passing through the day.
In Saxon and Norman times the massclocks marked the time of the mass and
the bells rang to summon the villagers to
worship. This church has a fine lead font
which has a carved hood, one of only
three lead fonts in Sussex.
In close proximity was the Holy
Trinity Church at Poynings which sits on
high ground in the middle of the village
under the shadow of Devil’s Dyke.
This is a famous Sussex beauty spot
T
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
The group visits St Andrew’s Church at Edburton
which in Victorian times had its own
railway line from Brighton for tourists to
enjoy. It is cruciform in shape and
remains as it was when rebuilt in 1369
with money left for the purpose by
Michael de Poynings.
In the south transept are several wall
ledges, slabs that once held brasses and a
stone coffin with its lid. We could see
what the floor of a medieval church
would have looked like with no seats.
The floor was stone flagged or bare
earth with a few stone coffins and the
elderly rested against the wall ledges.
Our final call was to St John the
Baptist Church at Newtimber. It is
reached by a narrow lane and is almost
hidden from view in the trees. The
entrance is through the west door of the
tower, originally the most common
position for the door but now quite rare.
The nave and chancel are 13th century
in the Early English style but the
Victorian restoration and rebuilding of
the tower have altered the inside features
considerably. There are many wall
memorials to the Buxton family
including Earl Buxton, former Governor
General of the South Africa. The north
chapel was formerly a private family
chapel for the Manor House at
Newtimber Place.
The Group agreed to arrange further
visits during the coming months.
6
St John’s Church at Newtimber
St Andrew’s Church at Edburton
Sue Keeling
Kingswinford and District U3A
I
was Group Leader of the Digital
Photography Group for some years.
Numerous buildings cropped up as
interesting photos so I suggested the idea
of an Architecture Appreciation Group.
This group has been running for three
years with 25 members. We meet once a
month in our Community Centre to
research various topics relating to
architecture including styles, history of
buildings, and architects.
Members select their topics but we
have tried to keep to a theme for six
months at a time. We have no formal
qualifications in the group – just a love
of and enthusiasm for looking at
buildings to know more about them.
The first point of call when starting
was an email to Subject Adviser Martin
Funnell who has been most encouraging.
His newsletter is a welcome and
informative read. Also the U3A Resource
Centre has helped with DVDs on various
topics which fill gaps in the programme
or add to the research done by a member.
We started our study locally in Dudley.
The town has a long history covering
many styles in architecture beginning
with the medieval castle; Victorian
public buildings; Tecton structures in the
Zoo; and an Art Deco cinema.
A fact finding visit was made to the
Black Country Museum near Dudley
Zoo and Castle to look at the life and
buildings in Victorian Britain. A visit was
also made to the Avoncroft Museum of
Buildings near Bromsgrove.
Members chose their favourite
buildings within Dudley town centre and
came back to following meetings with
photos and research to share and discuss.
This seemed to create an enthusiasm to
follow up what they had seen so that
styles of architecture were also
researched looking at references to other
buildings in the area.
For the next six months members
looked at churches using research carried
out on their outings. This gave us an
insight into changes in style in different
areas of Britain and introduced us to
different building methods.
St Mary’s Guildhall, Coventry
A journey was made by train to
Coventry Cathedral and St Mary’s
Guildhall, a 14th century building that
survived the Second World War Blitz that
destroyed the original cathedral.
In 2011 members researched different
types of houses. This was because most
liked to visit National Trust and English
Heritage properties and lots of
information was readily available in
property guides.
Local guided visits were arranged and
we were lucky enough to invite a lecturer
to speak on The English House.
In 2011 U3A News published a small
piece on The Globe Theatre in London so
a visit by coach was arranged last
October. The building was fascinating
and the guides walked us around the area
describing old London as it was in
Shakespeare’s time.
Members of the Architecture and
Photography groups were then taken to
the Millennium Bridge followed by a
walk along to Tower Bridge.
This year we researched architects
beginning with Gaudi’s work in
Barcelona which enthralled me on a
recent visit. Other members covered
Pugin, Wren, Mackintosh and Wright.
Our group has been lucky this year
because our meeting venue of
Kingswinford Community Centre has
acquired internet access enabling
members to access sites during meetings.
We have the use of laptops and a
digital projector owned by our U3A. This
was purchased from a lottery grant and
makes viewing much easier – building
detail can be shown more clearly.
7
Witley Court in Worcestershire
The support of our general U3A trips
organiser has allowed us to visit areas by
coach which would have been difficult
for a small group.
During the last three years we have
explored Oxford, Salford, Lacock Abbey,
and Quarry Bank Mill giving ample
scope to look at different styles of
buildings. Also the agreement between
the U3A and English Heritage has given
us free access to local buildings such as
Witley Court and Kenilworth Castle.
Kingswinford U3A Architecture
Appreciation is a small enthusiastic
group. Members arrive at meetings with
heritage trails from local towns which we
later walk; brochures of buildings they
have seen; and ideas for future outings.
Although lacking in qualifications we
enjoy the beauty of buildings and it has
been said the group has encouraged
members to look around them with more
understanding of what they see.
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
This is my first Resource Centre News article
following the retirement of Elizabeth Gibson at
the end of June and I’m aware that Elizabeth will
be a hard act to follow.
Susan Radford
W
e were sorry to see her go and I
know she would like to send her
thanks for the kind messages she
received on and following her retirement.
I have worked with Elizabeth for the last
nine years and have come to know our
regular borrowers during this time. We now
have a new Assistant in the Resource
Centre. Her name is Nicola Gamba, a
qualified librarian who comes to us from a university and public
library background.
It is several years since Sources focused on Architecture and
we have added as many DVDs as we can find in recent years.
We have a five-part series called Architectures: Ambitious
Architectural Creations of the 19th and 20th Centuries and an
eight-part BBC series called Adventures in Architecture by Dan
Cruickshank. Also there is a DVD Great Expectations, a
journey through the history of visionary architecture that looks
at innovative, futuristic, utopian and sometimes bizarre projects
of the 20th century.
We have recently acquired a DVD documentary called
Urbanized, which focuses on the design of cities and features
some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers
and thinkers. It explores a diverse range of urban design
projects in dozens of cities around the world.
Going back in time, we have a DVD Four With Betjeman:
Victorian Architects & Architecture. In the four programmes,
Betjeman discusses the work of Victorian architects including
Charles Barry, Augustus Pugin, William Butterfield, Gilbert
Scott, Alfred Waterhouse and Norman Shaw as well as Sir
Ninian Cooper, William Robinson and Sir Edwin Lutyens.
We also have DVDs covering some individual architects
including Lutyens, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Norman Foster,
Louis Kahn, Frank Gehry and Gaudi.
Other DVDs cover buildings such as National Trust
properties, palaces and churches, including one on Rosslyn
Chapel (made famous in The Da Vinci Code). For a list of our
stock please ask for our free Architecture subject list.
In our History section we have added the series Great
Wonders of the Modern World. We already have The Eiffel
Tower and Tower Bridge and new DVDs include The
Colosseum, The Empire State Building and The Trans-Siberian
Railway. Other additions include 50 Years of BBC Television
News and Digging for Britain, some of Britain’s most exciting
archaeological digs, a 2-DVD set by Dr Alice Roberts.
We have added some foreign language films for our
Languages groups including new German DVDs to replace our
old videos. We also have some new German titles including
Goodbye Lenin! and The Lives of Others.
Because we had a lot of interest in the spoken Latin DVD that
was mentioned in the previous issue of Sources, we have
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
purchased a similar item from the same supplier. It is called
Goddesses, Myths and Mortals and this consists of three short
films in Latin.
In Science we have new Astronomy titles including: Extreme
Universe: Understanding the most profound mysteries of Space
from National Geographic; Fabric of the Cosmos, a 2-part DVD
by Brian Greene; and Through the Wormhole, a 4-parter from
the Discovery Channel.
In Biology we have two DVDs about the working of the
human brain: My Brilliant Brain, unlocking some of the brain’s
biggest mysteries; and Test Your Brain, an insight into the Inner
workings of our brains.
We also have a programme shown on BBC of Terry Pratchett:
Living with Alzheimer’s. The world-renowned author has been
diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and this
programme looks into his uncertain future in a possible world
without words. It follows Terry coming to terms with his
diagnosis, living with his condition and his mission to find a
cure. Terry is adamant that sufferers should not be stigmatised.
Please contact us for further information on any of these titles.
New subject lists were produced in August so please ask if you
would like the latest list for your group.
As always may I remind you that our material is provided for
educational use in U3A groups and not for personal use or
entertainment and is only for loan, not for sale.
Susan Radford
Resource Centre Manager
The Third Age Trust
19 East Street, Bromley, Kent BR 1QE
Tel: 020 8315 0199
[email protected]
Open Tues-Thurs 9.30am – 4pm
8
Jennifer Anning
National SLP Coordinator
[email protected]
Update
More than 60 people attended the
workshop session following the presentation
and good ideas for projects emerged from a brain-storming
session. Perhaps this is something that could be done at other
Regional Conferences, either with or without my help.
I am also going to contribute a presentation on SLPs at two
South West Region Autumn Conferences and would be pleased
to accept further invitations next year.
Please let me know if you are involved in an SLP which is
nearing completion and you would like to share it with others
by writing it up for Sources. I am always looking for projects to
feature in this magazine.
The SLP pages on the website are there to help you. We are
intending to make more use of them in the future. For example,
the new SLP Advice leaflet will be available online.
There has been a List of all Projects to Date for some time but
a recent innovation has involved adding links to websites and
PDF files where appropriate. Unfortunately, not many people
have asked the Resource Centre to borrow copies of project
reports so we are hoping that if some of the project outcomes
are available at the click of a mouse, more people will make use
of them.
This is relevant because projects often end with the
production of a book or information on a website.
If you are thinking of setting up an SLP or if you have just
embarked upon one, may I wish you every success and do
remember that if you need some help, either I or your local
Regional Contact are there to be consulted.
SLP Update Autumn 2012
S
LPs are going from strength to strength. There are now
SLP contacts in every region except one. We have an
annual meeting every March and keep in touch during the
year so that we can discuss any SLP issues as they arise.
The prime reason for the existence of these contacts is for
them to be there for U3As in their region who would like to find
out more about setting up a project and how to go about it.
Why not invite your SLP contact to speak at a monthly
meeting so your members can find out about SLPs at first hand?
And of course, if you are thinking of setting up a project they
can help you with suggestions on how to proceed. They are
waiting for you to get in touch!
The SLP Start-up leaflet has been a big success. It was
circulated to all U3As so I hope that everyone who might be
interested has seen one by now. If not, further copies are
available from National Office.
This leaflet introduced SLPs to U3As and to outside bodies
such as museums and galleries but now we have prepared an
Advice Sheet giving more detailed information on how to set up
a project. Once again, this will be circulated to all U3As. If the
Start-up leaflet inspired you, this one will tell you exactly what
to do next.
To publicise SLPs, I was recently invited to give a
presentation at the Scottish U3As Conference in Peebles.
Do as you would be done by
positive so it is not surprising that some U3As take this
medicine into homes and day centres.
Jan Kalaher of Halesworth and District U3A holds an art class
in a day centre and they are hoping that the Gardening group
can involve some of those attending in getting and keeping the
garden in good order.
National Subject Adviser Stella Porter (Arun U3A) finds that
encouraging residents to tell their life stories makes an excellent
start to bringing individuals into a companionable group.
Brecon U3A is planning to hold meetings of its Music
Appreciation and Poetry groups in local homes, providing an
opportunity for the residents to join in. North London U3A has
tried that before with little success, but members are willing to
try again and are organising a pilot scheme in September.
Sometimes the residents prove uninterested and if they
wander in and out it can be disconcerting. However, South West
Herts U3A has achieved peaceful co-existence. 30 of their
larger groups meet in the public lounges of six sheltered
housing premises.
I believe there is a great deal more going on and I hope to hear
about it. Then when strangers say accusingly: ‘You would think
that U3A would do something for all those people in homes’, I
can say firmly: ‘We do!’
After all – we want U3A to be well-established as a support
to residential homes before we need to move into one.
Beth Butler : Chairman of the SCE
T
he Standing Committee for Education (SCE) recently
appealed in the monthly mailing for information about
what U3As are doing to reach into care homes, sheltered
housing or residential homes. The result is impressive.
For groups of the less mobile elderly, entertainment is the
obvious service to provide and is always warmly appreciated.
Singing and music making are the most frequently offered.
Halesworth and District U3A’s Melody Makers, their singing
group, regularly visit three residential homes and a day centre.
Bramhall U3A’s choir sing to the residents of different homes
every month.
There is a home in Telford that has been entertained by the
Singing for Fun group of Wrekin U3A who seem to be the most
enterprising. Their Country Dancing group has performed for
Shifnal’s Live-at-Home scheme and their Poetry Group has also
visited the Telford home.
National Subject Adviser Mike Johnson (Ilkley) has taken
film shows to residential homes and to a hostel for the local
Evergreen walkers.
No one knows better than U3A members that learning is the
best medicine for keeping not-so-young people alert and
9
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Project Leader Dr Susan Cohen
[email protected]
A Shared Learning Project
T
he Queen’s Nursing Institute in
London (QNI) was founded in
1887 to provide nurses and
midwives for ‘the sick poor’.
The story Behind The Badge shared
learning project began at the QNI in
March 2012 with a team of ten
researchers. Some had little or no
experience of undertaking historical
research so this was quite a learning
curve for everyone.
The aim of the project was to collate
and identify the owners of a collection
of some 130 assorted QN badges, and
then where possible, to trace and write a
history of each nurse’s career.
The collection largely comprised
bronze and silver badges with a number
impressed on the reverse, and others
with a name engraved on the back.
There was a small number of special
items, including a number of badges
issued to QNs working in Jamaica, and
an MBE awarded to Ellen Young for
district nursing services on Guernsey
during the Second World War.
Prior to 1961, numbered badges were
recycled many times by the QNI which
resulted in multiple stories emerging
from just one badge.
The main sources of information
were: the Index to the Queen’s Roll, the
Badge Registers, and the Queen’s Roll.
These, along with a vast collection of
other archive material relating to the
QNI, are held on loan at the Wellcome
Library in North London where the
researchers spent long hours searching
through documents and uncovering life
stories. Databases held at the QNI were
also helpful.
More than 200 stories have emerged
from the archives, revealing fascinating
tales of the personal background and
professional life of district nurses from
1887 to the end of the Second World
War and then beyond.
We know from the records when they
were born, the work their fathers did
(no mention of mothers), where they
were educated, what religion they
followed and where and when they
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Presentation of the Gold Medal for 21 years service as a Queen’s Nurse - 1910
trained and worked as regular nurses
and then as Queen’s Nurses.
How a QN got around the district was
important, and while the early Queen’s
Rolls note if the nurse was a cyclist,
later ones are concerned to know if she
is an auto-cyclist or motorist.
The majority of nurses had fairly
uneventful but fulfilling professional
lives. A few, such as Grace Vaughan,
whose Long Service Badge issued in
January 1927 was the only clue, had
illustrious careers.
Her researcher uncovered the story of
a young woman who began general
nursing in 1898 aged 28 and then
qualified as a QN in 1905.
Her career went from strength to
strength, from being appointed as
Superintendent of Westminster District
Nursing Association in 1909, to her
influential involvement with the
Queen’s Benevolent Fund, and then to
her election as a member of the Council
of the Institute in 1920.
10
Grace H Vaughan
cont...
T
wo years later she was appointed
General Nursing Superintendent for
England, and in the same year became
editor of the Queen’s Nurses magazine,
the Institute’s monthly publication.
The obituary following her death on
the 3 October 1944 acknowledged her
role as ‘an active and leading figure in
the Queen’s Institute of Nursing and the
profession of district nursing especially
in the period 1910 to 1935’.
A number of nurses interrupted their
district nursing careers to undertake
military nursing in both world wars
with organisations including the Society
of Friends and Queen Alexandra’s
Imperial Military Nursing Service.
Emily Raven, a member of the
QAIMNS, was mentioned in dispatches
and was awarded four war medals,
including a Royal Red Cross 2nd class
medal, but she only took up a career as
a QN after the war.
At the other end of the spectrum are
comments within the regular reports
about the conduct of the nurses – many
would be unacceptable today.
There was the nurse who ‘does not
avail herself. Not always tactful with
staff’. Another who ‘was methodical
and efficient but lacks force of character
and is not particularly energetic’, while
one was ‘wanting in graciousness’. As
for poor nurse Blundell, her notes
recalled that she was ‘responding well
to treatment for obesity’.
This has been a rewarding experience
and has revealed far more information
than we could have imagined.
Although the project officially ended
in June 2012 there is still some
unfinished business, and a few
members of the group are continuing
with the research.
The results will in due course be
included on the QNI website at:
www.districtnursing150.org.uk
Retired Queen’s Nurses study historic badges
Large Silver Badge
Jamaica Badge
Researchers
Margaret Astley-Cooper Thorpe Bay
Carole Euesden Potters Bar
Brigitte Guillamet Wandsworth
Christine Hay Hounslow
Sheilah Lowe Harrow
Carol Parker St Albans
Jill Rhodes Hillingdon
Debbie Seedburgh North London
Aelwyn Taylor Harrow
Maurice Wakeham Basildon and Billericay
11
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
A Shared Learning Project
with English Heritage
Project Leader Brenda Kidd : Croydon U3A
To identify and catalogue Birds, Insects,
Wild and Naturalised Plants in the gardens
E
ltham Palace is one of the few
important medieval royal palaces in
England to survive with substantial
remains intact.
In the 1930s the wealthy Courtauld family
built a house adjoining the Great Hall which is
one of the finest examples of Art Deco
architecture in England. The gardens are a rare and fine
example of 1930s garden design incorporating elements of the
medieval palace.
The information gathered by the SLP will be useful to Eltham
Palace Head gardener Jane Cordingley, and to Natalie Gomez
and Rachel Hudson of English Heritage. It will provide a basis
for information and education for visitors, families and schools
in various forms including a booklet, a trail, an online resource
and an interactive map. The results have been digitally recorded
as databases, photographs and MP3 sound files.
The project started in mid-April which turned out to be the
wettest April for 100 years, and finished at the end of June
which was the wettest, coldest and dullest on record.
Despite the appalling weather the teams gathered an extensive
amount of information and showed an amazing attention to
detail and accuracy. The quality of the photographs is
superb – recording the dawn chorus at 3.30 am is an example of
the dedication. Each database is different and reflects the
findings and interests of their group. Each group also had an
interesting section called Did You Know. For example:
A single Jay can collect 3,000 acorns in a month.
Migrating Red Admiral Butterflies can travel 250 miles a day
Birds Group - 31 Species: Ann Shilling, Julia Larsson,
Priscilla McPherson, Sally Winter - SE London
e have learned an enormous amount about the bird
species at Eltham Palace and have developed new skills
and honed existing skills in photography and sound recording.
We became familiar with the change in bird behaviour as the
season progressed and found which birds were the easiest to
photograph. We also learned more about the conservation
problems facing some of these species.
The list of species we saw was, for the most part,
unsurprising, consisting of the usual garden birds. What did
surprise us is that some of these apparently common species are
on the RSPB’s Red or Amber lists. The main criteria for these is
a significant population decline during the past 25 years. Three
of the species we saw are on the Red list and six are on the
Amber list.
We found that the grounds support a large number of bird
species providing food and nesting sites for our most common
garden birds, but also for species facing environmental threats
to their survival.
Julia Larsson
W
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Eltham Palace and Loggia Terrace
Insects Group - 47 Species
Barbara Patilla, Paul Lister - Hackney
Maggie Coleman - Richmond; Roger Brown - SE London
n Britain there are at least 20,000 species of insects. Many of
them are inconspicuous and hard to identify without
microscopic examination so our team of four people had a big
task to tackle. In addition insects have a complex life cycle and
change form throughout the seasons.
Although cycles vary between insect species, most go
through some sort of process of metamorphosis like the
butterfly (eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult). This means that
most insects are visible only in adult form for a limited period
in the year.
Insects need warm and sunny days to emerge, hatch and
become active in spring and also tend to be more active in the
warmer/sunnier parts of the day, so our group visits to Eltham
Palace focussed around the middle of the day and afternoons.
We discovered to our good fortune that we had the great asset
of complementary skills within our team. Others in the project
group contributed photographs and insect species sightings
which were welcome. Forty seven species were recorded and
identified but this is certain to be a major underestimate of those
within the garden.
Bumblebees are among the earliest insects to emerge in
spring so we could observe several varieties of these. Also we
were lucky enough to see a Median Wasp as well as the
common variety. As the season progressed we saw several types
of butterfly and a number of day-flying moths and as might be
expected, we found ladybirds.
I
12
cont...
he ponds at Eltham Palace provide
an attractive habitat for dragonflies
and damselflies but the rarest find was
the Stag Beetle. Once common, it is now
listed as a globally threatened species. Its
habitat, old trees and dead trunks, are
often removed but it is known to occur in
Greater London.
The task for the Insect Group was not
easy. It presented challenges but also
proved enjoyable. However, we could
record only a small proportion of the
insect life at Eltham Palace in these few
months and there is ample scope for
further research.
Maggie Coleman
T
Wild Flowers and Plants-71 Species
Hazel Thompson - Orpington
Jackie Downey, Jenny le Peuple
Patsy Marshall - SE London
Odette Elliott - Brent
f anybody had been walking around
enjoying the beautiful palace grounds
in late spring, they might have seen a
strange sight. Five of us on were on our
knees, peering at a tiny flower partially
hidden in the long grass. Then everyone
would thumb quickly through wild
flower books strewn on the grass, waving
magnifying glasses accompanied by
puzzled expressions and gesticulating at
pictures in the books. Sometimes, there
would be whoops of delight as we agreed
on the Latin name of a plant.
We identified and photographed the
wild and naturalised plants in Eltham
Palace grounds, concentrating on three
main areas: the Walls, the Bank and the
Meadow. We found flowers from 71
species. They were from 47 Genera
representing 25 plant families. None
were rare or unusual but the variety was
amazing.
The wild flower bank was the first area
we initially concentrated on and
therefore found mainly spring flowering
plants. The ancient palace wall seemed to
have its own ecosystem and supported a
variety of plants.
In the meadow the flowers came in
waves, changing every week or two and
sometimes, as in the case of the Star of
Bethlehem, appearing and disappearing
in a few days. It was here we spotted the
majority of flowers identified.
There were two families that were
abundant: Daisy (14 species identified)
and Pea (9 species). We found the latter
the most fascinating family and it is no
coincidence that these are two of the
Star of Bethlehem
Honeybee
Blue Tit
Lady’s Smock
three (Orchid being the third) most
abundant and successful families
worldwide.
We also found Hawkweeds but they
were difficult to identify precisely
because they hybridize easily giving rise
to thousands of micro-species, which
even botanists find difficult to
distinguish.
This was an exciting and interesting
project and we have been amazed at the
plants we found. We are sure we have
identified only a fraction of the plants
present and would love to continue the
research.
Patsy Marshall
Jay
I
It has been a joy and a privilege to lead
this project and perhaps you will be like
me and find that waiting at a bus stop is
no longer quite so tedious when it can be
used to look around and see the flowers
and insects nearby and find the birds
calling out to you, with a new,
heightened awareness.
Brenda Kidd
Mallards
13
Butterfly
Cuckoobee
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
David Feather
West Wilts U3A
I
started the Architecture Group of
West Wilts U3A in January 2011. I
am not an architect but I am an
engineer with a strong interest in the built
environment.
So how do we approach our group
programme? One thing for sure is that I
wanted to involve as many members as
possible in researching and presenting. I
had the benefit of being part of our
Science and Engineering Group so I had
some sort of a model to follow. I also had
the briefing information from national
subject adviser Martin Funnell.
The first thing to do was set up a
planning team of five so that I don’t have
to organise all our meetings. It also
means I can miss a meeting knowing that
others will cover for me. This works
well. I also mention the Olympian
buzzword Legacy? If anything happens
to me the group will go on.
For our inaugural meeting we asked
each of the group members to put
forward one building they liked and one
they disliked, in the West Wiltshire area.
This enabled as many as possible to
participate and break the ice. Each one’s
involvement is only a minute or two so
not too daunting. It turned out to be an
enjoyable occasion so we repeated the
exercise with buildings outside our area.
This proved so popular we had to have
two meetings to cover the subjects.
None of our two dozen members is an
architect but this does not seem to be
important. We are just interested in
buildings and other structures.
We try to have a programme of two
summer visits as well as indoor
presentations for the remainder of the
year. These latter mostly involve digital
projector usage and we are lucky that
WWU3A has three of these. Some of our
members who haven’t used PowerPoint
before are learning it to present their
research which is a plus for us.
West Wilts is next to Bath and a visit
there in 2011 seemed to be a good idea.
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Bradford on Avon architect Martin Valentin talks in front of the Saxon Church
So who would guide us in this event?
The obvious choice was one of the Bath
U3A groups and they did us proud, with
two of them showing us around. They
were brilliant and we could not thank
them enough. Most of our group visit
Bath often but we saw alleyways and
buildings we had never seen before.
Our other visit was around Trowbridge
which is our central town. The Chairman
of the Trowbridge Civic Society took us
around Pevsner’s Palaces. A link with the
local Civic Society seems a good idea for
any architecture group.
This year we visited the Lady Margaret
Hungerford’s Almshouses in the lovely
town of Corsham. One of our members is
a guide there and she showed us around
this 17th century jewel.
Our other visit was to another lovely
local town Bradford on Avon, where we
explored architectural style from Saxon
times to the present, more or less in one
street. We even uncovered a Roman
stone block in a garden wall. (In this we
were guided by a local architectural
historian to whom we paid a small fee.)
So we now have a solid foundation and
pattern for the future. What new
initiatives can we take? Well, West Wilts
U3A has a good website but it is not
simple to update group pages.
14
Member Gillian Payne is a guide
at Corsham Almshouses
We are therefore going to explore the
use of the free Wordpress facility to start
an Architectural Group offshoot that will
be accessed from and linked to the main
site. This would be something I can
manage – another challenge for me.
I am collecting photographs of all
types of buildings on my travels in the
hope that I can contribute my collection
to a central one at some future date.
Other Architecture Group leaders might
consider doing this too.
Gilly Zeffertt :
Portsmouth U3A
S
o many buildings
of the 20th century can trace their
look to two opposite movements,
the Arts & Crafts and Modernism.
So we felt it would be a revealing
project to explore these two areas and
discover their relevance and influence.
Perhaps it would explain why our streets
are filled with half-baked copies!
Arts & Crafts buildings were inspired
by the everyday skills used by craftsmen
for centuries and incorporated features
such as timber-framing, decorative
brickwork and flint, tile-hanging and
plastering.
Lutyens, Webb and Voysey are some of
the great names who designed inventive
houses using these techniques. So
popular was this look that by the 20s and
30s, every other new-built house had
grafted on an example of the vernacular
and what resulted?
Suburbia and Metroland. As we walk
our residential streets we see this all
around us: artificial beams, pebbledash
and leaded windows stuck on to little
semi-detached boxes. I grew up in one. It
was cosy and welcoming but not the
original vision of William Morris.
Luckily we have Steep, a village
nearby which has a dozen or more
examples of the genuine article. These
houses were built for a small community
of Arts & Crafts adherents centred
around the timbered library at Bedales
School designed by Ernest Gimson.
We had a helpful guide in a Dr Jeffery
who was making a DVD of this rich vein
of the movement, and we watched this
later in the year to refresh our memories
of the details we had seen.
We discovered one of the few Lutyens
houses available to view: New Place near
Wickham built entirely of specially
designed bricks; and two churches in
Portsmouth: St Mary’s with its glorious
hammerbeam roof; and St Agatha’s with
its rare painted and mosaic interior.
To help us make the connection
between the Arts & Crafts and the
vernacular styles we had a fascinating
illustrated talk by a local restoration
expert Deane Clark.
He showed us how to pick out the
details and constructions borrowed by
Building Our Knowledge
Looking at great buildings, you can be inspired, uplifted, overawed even, but for most of us, what we see around us is more
mundane, leaving us unimpressed, underwhelmed even.
Visiting New Place, an Edwin Lutyens house near Wickham, Hants
the Movement, and later, pirated by
building developers.
By contrast, Modernism wanted to
sweep away this detail to have clean
lines, steel, glass and concrete to reflect
the new technical age.
Once again, when ideas are taken up
by second rate architects and designers,
the purity of line and proportion gets lost
and mass production cheapens the
original theories. Britain became strewn
with examples of concrete ineptitude.
Portsmouth’s destruction in the last
war produced a lot of hastily flung-up
buildings of dubious quality.
We were taken on a talk-and-walk tour
of the inner city by one of our local
planning officers who pinpointed a
number of buildings of interest. Several
in the group felt that the walk opened
their eyes to buildings which had been
unnoticed day by day.
The German Bauhaus was the creative
engine for modern design in the 20s and
30s. We used research and DVDs to look
into this time which, under its founder
Walter Gropius, produced what was the
punk revolution of the pre-war era.
At the other end of the spectrum we
delved into the extraordinary life and
work of the American Frank Lloyd
Wright who progresses from the
vernacular and emerged into Modernism,
15
producing the house Falling Water and
the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
A small splinter group from the class
has made forays to explore London,
staying in student accommodation. This
was started by member Sheila Hildreth,
an erstwhile resident of Hackney, who so
loves the landmarks of her area that she
wants to share them.
This has proved a huge success and the
trips have incorporated visits to such
diverse buildings as Hawksmoor’s St
Luke’s now a concert hall; the Bethnal
Green Museum of Childhood; the
Temple Church; and appropriately the
headquarters of the Royal Institute of
British Architects.
If all this seems a tad serious, laughter
is a constant presence in our group. The
friendship and support that has been
there in the past year since my husband
became ill has underlined the other
purpose of the U3A, social connection.
We’re studying architecture yes but
we’re building personal relationships
too. It’s our foundation stone.
I’ll always value the scaffolding of
support that my class helped to build
around me. The structure that I may erect
within this framework might not be a
temple, more of a garden shed, but it will
be a building.
Tel: 02392 756856
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Go And Look At It!
While we enjoy slide shows and other illustrated
presentations indoors, we know there’s no substitute for
seeing and, where possible, getting inside the buildings.
A
t Shrewsbury we visit ruined and
complete buildings, ancient and
modern, entire villages or small
towns, or parts of them, each arranged by
individual group members.
We have three or four annual field trips
during the warmer months. Reasonably
local visits usually take a long afternoon
while others need a full day using train or
chartered coach.
In rural counties you can be surprised
by how much architectural interest there
is within one hour’s drive of your base.
Members of your group may have
contacts allowing you entry to places
otherwise not open to the general public.
These are a few recent expeditions:
April 2011. Cardiff was once the
largest coal-exporting port in the world
when the valleys behind it contained 600
pits. It is now, like many of our port
areas, a regeneration zone with shiny
modern buildings.
We had an excellent prearranged
official tour of Richard Rogers’s new
Assembly for Wales (Senedd) Building
(Stirling Prize 2006), designed on
principles of green thinking and, in every
sense, of openness and transparency.
Beautiful inner ceilings are of strips of
Canadian pine. Exterior walls are glass,
the floors of North Welsh slate. The
chamber seats 60 members where the
public can watch from a gallery. There
are no restrictions on photography.
We also saw the Millennium Centre
nicknamed the Armadillo, designed by
local architect Jonathan Adams. It has a
high curved frontage in metal plates and
side wings of Welsh slate.
One of Cardiff’s most notable
landmarks The Pierhead Building nearby
is Grade 1 Listed, constructed in 1897
with red Ruabon brick.
July 2011. The ruined mansion
Moreton Corbet in Shropshire stands
where Bartholomew Toret built a
fortified manor house during the 12th
century to replace an 11th century
moated wooden castle.
The later Elizabethan building, using
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
local Grinshill stone, was inspired and
begun by Robert Corbet in 1580. The
intended building was never completed
and was badly burnt during the Civil
War, though partly occupied by the
family at various times.
The adjacent St Bartholomew’s church
contains numerous memorials to Corbet
family members from the 1500s into the
20th century. The mansion and church
stand in a flat bit of agricultural nowhere,
its rural calm spoilt only by the insistent
noise of RAF helicopters at the
Shawbury base next door.
May 2010. To Broseley for a long
detailed guided walk around most of this
once booming industrial revolution town
beside the former Shropshire Coalfield,
adjacent to Coalbrookdale, the Darby
works and Ironbridge.
There are several iron tombs and
headstones in All Saints graveyard and
plenty of ironwork to gateposts, fences
and other house accessories.
We saw, famous in its day, Broseley
Pipe Works (now the town museum);
several grand houses built for incredibly
wealthy ironmasters; and a variety of
churches and chapels of different
Christian tendencies.
There are the sites of former foundries;
once-thriving pubs and shops; working
class cottages; and a range of individual,
mainly residential buildings that
blossomed fast during the end of the 18th
and well into the 19th centuries.
These three examples confirm the way
that architecture exists within an
historical context, created in one period,
then admired or despised in a later one.
The Senedd speaks of today’s most
sophisticated modernity, using groundbreaking technology for environmental
protection. With no such concerns at the
Tudor mansion, our interest is historical
as generations of a single family occupy
and develop the same house.
Through its buildings Broseley today
tells the story of people’s working and
private lives at the height of the
Industrial Revolution.
16
Graham Brown,
Architecture
Coordinator,
Shrewsbury U3A
The Pierhead Building, Cardiff
Moreton Corbet in Shropshire
The Senedd Building, Cardiff
Checklist for field trip organisers
Establish costs: travel, entry fees,
before committing.
Inform members of duration of visit,
where and when to meet, and travel
plan. Provide directions and map.
Make best use of public transport,
bus passes, senior railcards, travel
offers, age-related deals.
Organise car-sharing when relevant
Check availability of guided tours at
major sites.
Research refreshment plans.
Determine demands on less
physically mobile members.
Remind members a week ahead.
P
lain and coloured glass have been a
large part of architecture for
centuries. In the Middle Ages
windows of the cathedrals in France,
Germany and England e.g Canterbury (1)
were designed with this in mind.
In the Gothic era of architecture ever
larger expanses of glass took over the
east ends of two major cathedrals in
England. York Minster and Gloucester
Cathedral (2) vie with each other for the
title of the ‘largest stained glass window
in the world’.
With the Reformation came much
destruction but in the 17th and 18th
centuries clear glass replaced the stained
glass in many instances, the greater light
making the Bible texts easier to read.
Wren designed most of his churches with
this in mind.
In the early 20th century Art Nouveau
period, glass was used innovatively in
several ways. One of them was Domes as
in the Galeries Lafayette in Paris (3) built
in wrought iron, steel and glass by
Jacques Gruber in 1912.
In modern times clear and stained glass
have been greatly used in the design of
buildings. Advances in engineering have
enabled large areas of glass to become
structural as well as being decorative.
The new Coventry Cathedral (4) built
after WWII was one of the first buildings
to use a glass wall. It was placed between
the ruins of the old cathedral and the new
building. It was engraved with figures of
saints and flying angels by John Hutton.
Shopping malls have been designed in
collaboration with stained glass artists
such as Brian Clarke who has made his
name in abstract, architectural glass (5).
Other stained glass artists have been
commissioned for designs to be used in
offices to provide walls of stained glass
as dividers. More etched glass walls have
been used also (6).
Artists are now being commissioned
for decorative panels in commercial
environments
quite
apart
from
continuing church work.
1 Canterbury Bible Window
2 Gloucester Great East Window 14 C
Architecture
and Glass
Frances Funnell : Merton U3A
Frances Funnell has been running
her History of Stained Glass Group
for six years. She starts with the
discovery of glass giving lectures to
the group based on notes including
a list of illustrations which are
handed to the members at the end
of each meeting.
The group has also spent happy
days visiting York, Canterbury,
Gloucester, Sussex (Tudeley for
Chagall glass and Ashdown for
Harry Clarke glass).
Some members have joined the
British Society of Master Glass
Painters which runs lectures and
more extended visits.
5 Shopping Mall Roof Leeds
3 Galeries Lafayette in Paris
4 Coventry Cathedral Flying Angels
17
6 Office Reception Panel
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Barrie Haigh
Barnsley U3A
read with interest the articles in the
last edition of Sources about walking
groups and shared learning projects.
Perhaps readers would be interested in a
group which I started in November 2011.
I find that people travel far and wide
but never seem to know anything about
the places of interest in their own county.
How often do you hear people say ‘We
had a good holiday. We visited this
stately home and that ruined castle and
took in the breathtaking countryside
round such and such a town or city.
But when you ask them if, as in my
case Yorkshire, ‘Have you been to
Conisburgh Castle or Roche Abbey?’ you
often get the reply, ‘Never had the time.’
or, ‘Where’s that?’
With that in mind I decided to start a
group which we would name Out and
About. The ethos being to travel by
public transport to a place of interest
within the surrounding area of Barnsley
up to a radius of no more than 40 miles.
We are lucky in South Yorkshire in that
those who are eligible for National travel
passes can use them from 9.00am in the
morning until midnight the same day.
We can use rail and tram services
within South Yorkshire free of charge
with the same travel pass as well as
Northern Rail services to and from West
Yorkshire provided there is no change of
train during the journey.
This means we can travel to
Huddersfield, Leeds, Castleford and
Pontefract on direct rail services from
and to South Yorkshire. Outside these
towns rail fares have to be paid.
Most of our excursions involve the use
of trains to or from these towns and local
bus services thereafter if they are
convenient. There is no formal
membership list for the group.
I post an interest list for an excursion
on our notice board at our monthly
General Meeting. At the next meeting
itineraries are available for those who
have expressed an interest and also for
anyone else who may wish to take part.
On the day of the excursion it is a case
of turn up and go. Since we use only
public transport, if anyone doesn’t arrive
on time we cannot wait for them.
So far we have had quite a few
I
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Out and About Group
The Out and About group at Knaresborough station
excursions which are on a bi-monthly
basis except during the summer when I
try to fit in one or two extra ones.
We usually have about a dozen or so
people joining our excursions and to date
all those who have been have said how
thoroughly they have enjoyed them.
In November 2011 our first excursion
was to the Museum of Media in Bradford
(Photography, Film and Television).
Since then we have visited:
The City Museum, the Victorian
Quarter and Market, and the Refurbished
Corn Exchange – Leeds.
The Cathedral, the Winter Gardens and
the Millennium Galleries – Sheffield.
Marsden Village and the Huddersfield
Narrow Canal’s Visitor Centre at
Standedge Tunnel End.
The Market, Museum and Castle at
Knaresborough.
Each of these excursions involves
some physical exercise even if it is only
a steady stroll from the railway or bus
station to the centre of each town or place
of interest.
The group is thus involved in some
form of academic and physical activity.
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Because we all travel together there is
ample time to get to know one another on
the journey and even though we tend to
split into small groups at the venue it is
noticeable that the groups do not always
consist of the same people each time.
We therefore mix and match with each
other which tends to encourage new
friendships and certainly interesting
conversation.
Organising an excursion is easy. There
are an abundance of railway and bus
timetables available so I visit the relevant
station from which we will start or finish
and obtain the information. This costs me
nothing except time since I use my
National travel pass.
The group is successful and I look
forward to organising more excursions. It
will take me a long time to run out of
places to visit and by that time of course
I can make repeat visits to some of the
places to see those bits that we did not
get round to seeing in the first place.
If any U3A would like to know more
about our Out and About group or would
like to start one I can be contacted on:
01226 249709
WWI Exhibition
at Washington
Tyne & Wear
Peter Welsh : Wessington U3A
L
ast Nov the
We ss i ngt on
U3A
War
Memorials Group
held a three-week
exhibition at the
Arts Centre Washington.
The group compiled files with the
details of the 400 men who were killed in
WWI and subsequently listed on the war
memorials at Usworth, Harraton and
Washington (all part of Sunderland in
Tyne and Wear).
The files include photographs of the
men and their graves and information
from their service records and of their
families. Memorials from Fatfield
Council School, Usworth Colliery and St
George’s Church were made available
for the display.
There were maps of Washington
showing where the soldiers lived and
posters of the Memorials at Usworth,
Washington Village and Harraton. The
condolence book listed every graveyard
and memorial where local men are
buried or remembered.
Maps of Commonwealth War Graves
Commission cemeteries at Picardy and
Ypres showed where most of our men are
buried or commemorated.
There was Ernie Seed’s ‘widow’s
penny’, (one visitor came to find out
about Private John George Pearson and
was surprised to recognise Ernie Seed as
the man whose medals she had at home);
miners’ gear from Beamish Museum;
medals; a gravestone from a war
cemetery near Albert in Picardy; a
haunting board showing photographs of
some of the men who have no known
grave; a book listing the addresses of the
men so far identified; the glass eye which
replaced the real one lost by ‘Tipper’
Willcock at the Somme (he died in
1956); and a board showing photographs
of the 42 young men of the Washington
Catholic Young Men’s Institute.
There were WWI uniforms and rifles,
and a 1914 typewriter with a typed copy
of the letter explaining to the parents of
Lt Eric Heatherington the circumstances
of his death, and a chart showing the
casualty tolls for each month of the war –
and the resulting number of widows and
fatherless children.
More than 500 people visited the
exhibition, most spending between 40
minutes and an hour giving the hosts the
chance to talk in detail about the men,
and to listen to the stories that turned
names engraved in stone into characters.
Cameron Robson aged 12, was
interested to see how the local coal
miners became soldiers and how the
1914 typewriter worked, while his sister,
appropriately called Poppy, noted that
two teachers and 40 old boys from
Fatfield School went to war and didn’t
come back.
Mrs McGhee was delighted to resume
her acquaintance with the School
Memorial: “I thought it had not survived
the old school.” Mr and Mrs Forster
offered the group a letter written by John
Frederick Potter, killed in 1918 but
previously awarded the MM and Bar, and
photographs of John William Noble.
Vivian Todd brought photographs of
Tommy Garnham wearing wooden clogs
in a German POW camp, his three
medals and the watch that he won in
1913 as best sniper in the 8th Durham
Light Infantry .
John Woodall brought two silver
tribute medals awarded by Great and
Little Usworth Parish Council to soldiers
who’d served. Elizabeth Cox provided a
range of documents about the extended
O’Neill family, including the last
postcard sent to his parents by RAF
sergeant-observer Pat Murphy five days
before his death, and one of four scrolls,
still in the original cardboard roll, sent to
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Mrs O’Neill to commemorate the loss of
her sons: three killed in France and the
fourth by a bus while home on leave.
A relation of Fred Armstrong brought
an original photograph of him. Fred’s
daughter Polly would later bear a child
called Bryan Ferry.
The group is nowhere near finished,
some names remain unidentified and
stories are still to come to light.
Members of U3A Wessington provided
all sorts of support. The constitution and
accounts of the U3A allowed the group to
access funds from various local and
national charitable bodies.
The individual skills of U3A members
were much in evidence: bunting
stitching, wreath making, cutting out
poppies, leaflet colouring and delivering,
photographing, scanning, computering,
researching, morale-boosting and so on.
Local MP Sharon Hodgson wrote in
the visitor’s book: ‘Excellent Exhibition.
Well done to all involved. It certainly
deserves a permanent home’.
It is intended to be a guided exhibition
with opportunity to talk and to reminisce
rather than an unattended display – so
much more ‘community’ comes out of
the personal contact.
The updated exhibition with new
materials will be repeated from 3-17
November 2012.
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
Hal Brooks of U3A Arun West was featured in issue 44
with his ‘Creations From Waste’. He said: “My main
material is papier mâché. I model using second hand
paper, cardboard, and plastic containers from stores.
They are finished with layers of paper glued together with
wallpaper paste. Then they are decorated to a high
standard. I use only second hand materials. A craft knife,
masking tape, scissors and wallpaper paste, have
replaced glue, saws and planes.”
Here is the latest picture of his trusty band. L-r: Trish,
Margaret, Hal and Barbara. She is a real find. The two
dolls and the elephant are her creations built up from
scraps. Trish, recently widowed, has made a model of her
husband’s favourite car. Margaret has made a couple of
vases, the bowl and some framed material pictures.
Hal made the U3A vase with a waterproof lining and he
shows it at functions sporting a nice bunch of flowers. The
tail end of his fish in laminated pine is just showing.
Forthcoming Events
Gillie Collyer from Horsham U3A was
interested in the article Raving About
Racketball in the last issue of Sources. She
tells us that in the Horsham area of West
Sussex at Christ’s Hospital Sports Centre
there is a ‘short tennis’ session every
Thursday morning. This provides great fun
and exercise for the over-50s who perhaps
feel that tennis is too much for them but would
still enjoy and could cope with the game on a
smaller scale. The group ranges in age from
early 60s to 80s.
Discovering Britain
Meeting at the Royal Geographical Society
London SW7 for U3A members with
a love of the British landscape
Friday 26 October 1.30pm-4.45pm
£13pp including refreshments
Opera: Der Rosenkavalier
A screening with Renée Fleming
Odeon Covent Garden £13pp
Tuesday 6 November 12.30pm-4.40pm
Foetal afflictions and
the most important days of our lives
National Institute for Medical Research
London NW7 1AA
Do you have a passion for architecture?
Tuesday 13 November 2.30-4.30pm
The meeting is free of charge
but requires tickets
Apply to National Office for tickets
for the above events enclosing SAE
an architecture tutor
Sources Sept 2012 No 47
You may be interested in being
at U3A national summer schools next year
Please contact Philippa Bassett
at National Office for more information
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