July - August at a Glance

Monday 2 July Country Dancing

Wednesday 4 July Walking

Wednesday 4 July Bookworms

Wednesday 4 July Sailing

Thursday 5 July Croquet

Monday 9 July Wildlife Walk

Thursday 12 July Let’s Discuss It

Friday 13 July Croquet

Friday 13 July Voices of Hickling

Friday 13 July U3A Meeting

Friday 13 July Sailing

Monday 16 July Blurr

Wednesday 18 July Pub Lunches

Wednesday 18 July Sailing

Thursday 19 July Cycling

Thursday 19 July Croquet

Thursday 19 July British History

Monday 23 July Gourmet Diggers

Friday 27 July Art

Friday 27 July Croquet

Friday 27 July Sailing

Thursday 30 July Croquet

Wednesday 1 August Walking

Wednesday 1 August Bookworms

Monday 6 August Country Dancing

Thursday 9 August Let’s Discuss it

Friday 10 August Voices of Hickling

Friday 10 August Croquet

Friday 10 August Sailing

Friday 10 August U3A Meeting

July - August 2018

HBU3A Committee Monthly Update

We would like to thank everyone for attending our June meeting when Pam Taylor from the British Dragonfly Society came to talk to us. Pam helped us to learn about the dragonflies and damselflies of Norfolk, the habitats where they can be found and some of the other wildlife that shares their world.

We have a change of speaker for our July meeting when Duncan Morris will present a talk on his life and times in the Police Force. This promises to be both entertaining and informative - definitely a speaker not to be missed!

Anyone who is no longer in full time employment is welcome at our meetings. Visitors pay £2 and membership of just £15 per annum gives you free access to all our meetings as well as multiple wider benefits of being a member of the national U3A. It also gives you access to a wide variety of interest groups from Country Dancing to Wildlife walks and Croquet. Joining an interest group is optional and is about learning new skills or developing your existing talents and it really is never too late to start learning. So if you fancy the thought of learning something new, interesting speakers, good company and a nice cup of tea and cake, why not come along to our next meeting and find out more - you will be most welcome.

Next Members Meeting in the Barn: Friday 13 July at 2:00 pm – Life and times in the Police Force

Did you know ………………………….? The Norfolk Hawker dragonfly is protected by law. Dragonflies and Damselflies prefer our marshes and ponds as their habitat. A slow worm is actually a legless newt.

News from our Interest Groups

Art: 4th Friday (2:00 – 4:00pm) in the Methodist Hall The Art Group meets on the fourth Friday each month at the Methodist Hall in Hickling 2 – 4pm. In May and June, the group were busy with the project for the August U3A Members Meeting and generally having a pleasant couple of hours painting, sharing tips and ideas and having a chat over tea and biscuits. We are a friendly bunch with different levels in art so if you would like to join us, please give me a call.

BLURR – The Camera Group: 3rd Monday (2:00-4:00pm) at Hickling Barn

Bookworms – Reading Group: 1st Wednesday (pm) Bookworms meet on the first Wednesday of the month 2-4pm.

We take turns to host our meetings and the host will have chosen the book to be discussed. On 6 June the group discussed Guernica by Dave Boling. Set in Spain in the early 1940's the author takes the reader into life in Spain during the oppression of Franco, the Spanish Civil War and eventually into World War II. We thought the book started very slowly and only really got going will into the second half when the author introduced the Spanish Civil War, Picasso and WWII. It is well written with some humour in places but too many characters seemed to interrupt the story line.

Next month we will be reading two classics: Breakfast at Tiffany's and The 39 Steps. Please contact me if you fancy giving the Reading Group a go.

Group Contact Co-ordinator A reminder that there will be a Group Contacts meeting after the main meeting in the Barn on Friday 13th July. One topic of discussion will be displays/demonstrations for the August Barn meeting, so have your ideas ready please. An Agenda will be sent out prior to the meeting.

Outings Is anyone willing to think ahead and organise any outings such as a theatre trip for the autumn/ winter season? If so, that would be great.

Country Dancing

This month's challenge photographs were on the topic of Spider's webs. As usual, members applied their own interpretations, including a couple of the spider's web gate at Hoveton Hall. The group vote went to Sue's "Cobweb necklace". Pictures from magazines that had caught the eye were circulated and discussed, both for aesthetic appeal and technical quality. We finished the session with an exercise aimed at producing different versions of the same image by changing the depth of field. Duncan is the contact for anyone interested in joining our group.

British History: 3rd Thursday (2:00 pm) Despite several absentees 8 people gathered to hear Maureen give a fascinating insight into The Reserve Army of Occupation in WW1 and WW2. For those who don't know this was the name given to women who joined the services, the Land Army or worked in voluntary services. During the second World War women were conscripted if over 19 and Maureen told of 3 Norfolk women who claimed to be conscientious objectors. She went on to shatter the myth concerning the picture of Princess Elizabeth (aka the Queen) showing her changing a tyre - perhaps not unsurprisingly this was a staged photo opportunity. Furthermore the princess lived in fairly luxurious officer's quarters rather than the poor living conditions (often Nissen Huts) usually given to the Land Army. After more than an hour general discussion ensued but, unusually for the group, this centred on the chosen subject. We are currently looking at a change for next month's meeting as The Freemen of Norwich are supporting a fortnight of free admission to Strangers' Hall and the Museum of Norwich again this year. Come and explore the beautiful period rooms and see how the freemen of yesteryear used to live. Highlights include the Toy Room, Make the bed Tudor Style, garden games and a brand new spotters' Safari trail This visit is open to all, not just British History Group members - contact Steve Whitby if interested. As a result we have cancelled our usual July meeting on 19th July.

Cycling: 3rd Thursday

Gourmet Diggers: 4th Monday (2:00-4:00 pm)

Let’s Discuss It: 2nd Thursday (2:00-4:00 pm) The June meeting was cancelled as we were unable to come up with a topic to discuss. If anyone has ideas for discussion you are more than welcome to join us. The gatherings are much enjoyed by all. Next meeting: Thursday 12th July 2pm Topic: Current news items

Croquet: alternate Thursdays and Fridays Out of the 16 or so who showed interest in playing Croquet we now have 9 core players who meet each week alternatively on a Thursday afternoon (2 – 4) and Friday morning (10-12). After our initial instruction our playing skills are really improving with Michael Steward demonstrating a great ability on getting his ball to jump over his competitors which is just in front of the hoop. As he has done this once we are all really impressed! Croquet is a great game to play, easy to pick up and loads of fun, it is also surprisingly quite a physical and tactical game especially when a competitors ball is in a scoring position. If you have not yet ventured onto the Croquet court, then now might be the time to join us.

Today at the gardening section of our group I gave a demonstration on how to take a clematis cutting, very simple and a good way to increase your plants that you love or give to family and friends. We then talked about WEEDS and instead of hating them we should respect them as they tell us something about our soil eg. Chickweed tells us that our soil is rich and fertile. GARDEN PESTS eg rabbits, pigeons, lily beetle cats and numerous others were discussed. How to prevent them from appearing in the first place or how to get rid of them once they have invaded your garden. We finished off with JOBS TO BE DONE IN THE GARDEN IN JULY. The list was endless.

Our theme of “Food from my Childhood” continued this month with Jane entertaining us with her favourite dish of Beans on Toast with hot crisps. According to Jane her mother’s cooking abilities were not good so there was very little she remembered she liked. Well done Jane for pulling it off. Brenda provided us with a dessert of Pineapple upside down pudding. A pudding not very often seen these days. Made in reverse with the pineapple slices on the bottom covered in a buttery sugary mix and topped with the sponge mixture. This is then reversed on serving so the pineapple is on the top. Very nice.

Pub Lunches: 3rd Wednesday

Report of the Pub Lunch Group - The Maltsers, Ranworth - 20 June 2018 The Maltsers is close to the Broad in Ranworth, so a lovely setting. The pub has a large car park just across the road. Outside there are tables and seating for a good number of people, and more inside. There is a pizza “bar” too. Our experience on the day was mixed. On the “plus” side, most diners enjoyed their lunch and all said they would return. On the “minus” side, we encountered difficulty with the pub forwarding menus for us to pre-order, one poor diner being told she had ordered from the wrong one. The members of staff were polite but not attentive nor efficient. Of the three ladies loos, only one was in working order. We are hoping for a more positive time at our next Pub Lunch which is at 12.15pm on Wednesday 18 July at “The Ferry Inn” in Stokesby. Please let me know whether you are joining us so I can phone through numbers a few days beforehand.

Sailing: alternate Wednesday and Friday mornings throughout the summer

Newbies Sailing dates: 12th and 26th July. August 9th and 21st. Main Group Sailing Dates: July - Wed 4th, Fri 13th, Wed 18th (sail day) and Fri 27th. August – Wed 1st, Fri 10th, Wed 15th, Fri 24th and Wed 29th (we missed a week in June due to NOT seasonal large bookings).

The Newbies Sailing Group has enjoyed two brilliant sails this month. The 28th June was a very windy day and some felt it may be touch and go as to whether they would be on the water. However our intrepid sailors were up for it and duly set off. With wonderful Instructors making sure they were both safe and suitably informed, I hear they had an exhilarating session and several wet behinds!!

The main group took part in the first of two river sail days taking a picnic and sun cream. The previous day had been very windy (the day the Newbies sailed) but on this occasion there was little wind. I hear there was some pushing and pulling involved to get the boats up river from Barton Broad to Sutton Staithe! Anyway after a good lunch they returned to Barton Broad, where there was some wind, for a fairly decent sail in the afternoon. Please see above for our July and August Sailing Dates.

Voices of Hickling: 2nd Friday (11:30 – 1:00 pm) After focusing and planning our successful website launch it was back to business as usual for the June meeting. The group has agreed to enter partnerships with wiseArchive (historic website) and the NWT in order to gain a wider audience for the website. We have also submitted an article and letter to TAM and produced a poster advertising the website for display around the village. Over the next few months we have been invited to put on a display of posters and the website at the HBU3A August meeting, to give our annual update session to the monthly meeting in October and to exhibit the website at the NWT Open day on 14th July with whom we are exploring new projects. Since the meeting we have recorded another new "voice", Molly Greenacre, and have dates with two more potential voices.. To this end we have purchased a second set of recording kit for use by our "interviewers". Our next meeting is on 13th July at 11.30 a.m. at Waterside Lodge and prospective new members are welcome to come for a "taster session". It would be helpful if you could let us know in advance if you would like to attend.

Walking: 1st Wednesday at 10:00 am

A group of 15 of us set off from the car park near Gays Staithe at Neatishead for our walk this month. Our route took us out of the car park along a footpath to the boardwalk at Barton Broad where we had a great view of the Broad from the viewing platform. From there we visited Irstead church, parts of which date back to the 15th century, stopping for a few minutes at the nearby moorings on the river Ant before heading back along the lane and then through woodland to Alderfen Broad. This broad is not connected to the navigable parts of the rivers and broads and consequently is a haven for wildlife – although there wasn’t much to be seen on our visit! We then followed the lanes and footpaths through Neatishead and back to the car park. A walk of 5.5 miles. After the previous dull days, the sun shone and we had perfect walking weather all the way. It was an interesting and varied walk followed by a well-earned lunch at Vera’s at Wayford to round it all off. If you’d like to join us just contact Roy for details of the next walk.

Wildlife Walks: 2nd Monday (2:00-4:00 pm)

Rarely, if ever, have I used the word ‘perfect’ when describing the weather we had for a wildlife walk. On June 11th, however, we had a perfect early summer day – cloudless sky, warm sun and just enough gentle breeze to ensure that walking was comfortable.

As we approached the path leading to Toad Hole Cottage to get our tickets, we saw the first of three swallowtails flying quite high over the trees. The meadow was colourful with wildflowers, among them meadow thistle, ragged robin, field bindweed (very pretty when not in your vegetable patch) and pyramidal orchid.

More swallowtails, holly blue and speckled wood , small tortoiseshell and red admiral were seen, though in small numbers. Damselflies, mainly common blue and azure, were everywhere; their bright blue bodies gleaming in the sunshine. There were also some small reds and a few dragonflies, notably the Norfolk hawker with eyes like tiny green apples. Not much bird life was seen from the hides but we enjoyed watching terns fishing in Crome’s Broad then flying off with their catch, presumably to feed young.

The next walk will be at Ranworth on July 9th. Meet at the conservation car park near the pub at 2pm. There may still be a few swallowtails on the wing and we might well see some of their caterpillars on the cow parsley. In the past we have seen a visiting osprey, though I can’t promise one this time. However, there is always something at this reserve.

23%

10%

21%

21%

3%

6%

7%

4% 5%

HBU3A Expenditure 2017/18 Speaker Fees

Venue Hire

Payable to National U3A

Stationery, postage , printing

Refreshments/flowers

AGM Catering

Group Contacts lunch

Gifts to founding & retiringtrusteesOther

63% 5%

25%

7%

HBU3A Income 2017/18

Membership Fees

Visitors Fees

Raffle

Refreshments

98%

2%

Income v Expenditure 2017/18

Income Loss

The Committee is currently reviewing the HBU3A’s financial position for the forthcoming year and is formulating a Grants and Subsidies Policy for the benefit of all members.

We are very aware that other, much larger, U3As have a considerably greater surplus to spend and so have been able to be liberal with funding a variety of items, groups and activities, but unfortunately our smaller surplus might not spread so far!

We will keep you all updated as we progress. In the meantime we have created pie charts that show a breakdown of annual income and expenditure for your information.

The Charity Commission and U3A head office currently recommend that each U3A carries a financial reserve of 6 months liabilities which, in our case, leaves a sum of around £1000 surplus. This surplus was generated historically when it was advised that 12 months reserves should be held. Now that we are only required to keep 6 months funds, the committee’s intention is that the surplus will be used for the benefit of all members, and by way of a new grants and subsidies policy and procedure.

Financial Information

Friday 13 July 2018 A Lighthearted Look at Life in the Police Force

Friday 10 August 2018 Summer BBQ and Interest Group Extravaganza

Friday 14 September 2018 BUILD

Friday 12 October 2018 The Voices of Hickling

Friday 9 November 2018 Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the end of WW1

Friday 14 December 2018 Rock and Roll Will Never Die – Part 2

Friday 11 January 2018 The 21st Century Traditional Miller

All items for the newsletter should be sent to: hbu3anews@gmail.com or see a Committee member at the monthly members meeting in Hickling Barn.

Members Corner

What’s on Next at your Monthly U3A Meetings

Summer Art Exhibition 21 -22 July 2018

10:00 am – 4:30 pm

St Lawrence Centre, The Street. South Walsham

www.st-lawrence.org.uk Facebook/ART149

Art work for sale includes oils, watercolours, acrylics, collage, drawings, pastels, prints and greeting cards.

Free Admission

Refreshments available

Do you have anything to tell us that you think other members would be interested in? Please let us know if you would like it published here. Do you have any items for sale, or items wanted? If so, you may advertise here in the next newsletter (space permitting). Email hbu3anews@gmail.com and include a brief description, maybe a photograph, and contact details of course!

BATTLE’S OVER

A NATION’S TRIBUTE 11TH NOVEMBER 2018

100 YEARS OF REMEMBRANCE

On 11th November, at 7:00pm, Hickling will join more than 1000 Beacons of Light, which will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories, with the first of these beacons being lit at Westminster Abbey that evening. The Beacon lighting on Hickling Playing Field will be followed by a firework display.

The event is in tribute to the millions who gave their lives in the dreadful darkness of four years of war from 1914-1918.

More details will be announced in the coming months once everything is finalised. If you wish to help please contact David Belsten on 598901 or davebelstenhpc@gmail.com

“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

Sir Edward Grey, 3 August 1914

Hickling Village Show at

Hickling Barn on

Sunday 29 July 2018 Come along and see the talented displays in over 100 different categories ranging from flowers to photography, preserves to handicrafts and vegetables to art. There are also classes for children to enter.

Refreshments, including home-made cakes will be on offer.

Coming to Hickling Barn later this year:

THE MAGNIFICENT MACHINERY SHOW

Sunday 23 September

Details to follow