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NOTES FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

Our April newsletter included reviewed the activities of our

some of our Interest Groups, gave a special mention to pro-

posed new Groups as well as drawing attention to some of

our forthcoming events. Just to remind you of one of these,

our August trip to Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum on

Thursday 6th

August. It is free, to members only, including ad-

mission. But please contact Ann Burgess if you are interested

and would like a ticket, or if you have a ticket you no longer

require. Please remember, another member may be waiting

for a spare or returned ticket.

We currently have over 350 members. For various reasons two-thirds of these do not

regularly come to General Meetings. How do we communicate with members to ensure

that all our members are informed and have an opportunity to participate in our activi-

ties? Can we improve our web-site? Can we make better use of e-mails? I would appre-

ciate hearing your views and ideas. Please write, or email me, or via the Comments and

Suggestions Box, if you are at the next General Meeting.

Nepal Disaster Fund

Thanks to all of those who contributed to our April/May appeal for the Nepal Disaster Fund. We

ended up banking £228.00!!!!!

Thanks very much, and congratulations to you all!!!!

Caroline Beebe.

Should we offer members additional ways of

paying their annual subscriptions? Alternatives to

cheques are used by many U3As, and many of us

find it convenient to use electronic methods of

dealing with our finances. If we set up the facil-

ity, would you use SOs, Direct Debit, Money

Transfer or even Pay Pal, in preference to a

cheque? Administratively, it could mean fewer

trips to the bank for the Treasurer, but I also real-

ize that many members would probably still pre-

fer to pay by cheque and this would remain an

acceptable method. Please let me know your pref-

erence.

The September General Meeting is the Interest

Groups Showcase, an opportunity to explore what

Preston Park U3A is about, what is going on,

what is planned, sign up for a different Group

and join new Groups. If you are interested in a

subject we don’t cover, tell us. It could mean that

will be the basis of a new group. Just a bit of ad-

vance information, I have heard that there might

be interest in an Astronomy Group. Word is that

some people want to start a Ukulele Group. If we

can find a member who is fluent in German, some

are wanting to join a second German Group;

there are vacancies in Book Review Group No4;

the Play Reading Group will welcome more

members; from September the Painting and

Drawing Group is planning to meet twice a

month, and something entitled MOTO! Oh yes,

not one, but two possible suggestions for a short

holiday next year. Yes, that is right, 2016. One

is based at Thoresby Hall, near Nottingham,

and the other is a proposed visit to Devon and

Cornwall. Both were announced at the last Gen-

eral Meeting, I expect there will be more details

at the Showcase meeting.

This year we have a member attending the

U3A Annual Conference. Mary Ahmad will be

at the Showcase meeting and will welcome the

chance to tell you about the Conference and

some of the workshops and study groups she

attended. This promises to be very interesting

and, hopefully, more of us will be encouraged to

go next year.

As usual, there is plenty to do in the U3A.

Tony Beirne

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Thoughts from Sandie Cooper Dear Members of Preston Park U3A, I joined you on my birthday, 7th November 2007 and would like to thank all those who have, and continue to have, anything to do with running the Committee, Interest Groups, paperwork, computing, trips out, driv-ers, sorting out ideas of members and making use of them. Having joined the History of Family and German conversa-tion from the start, I only gave up the first when another club be-gan, as I knew there would be people eager to take my place. Dorry started up a Memories group and Joy kindly took it on and has been our hostess for several years. I have been pleased to go to Exercise and Swimming classes and Scottish dance classes in 2013 and 2014. My latest ventures are the visits to Churches and Cathedrals, and the Military museums and I hope soon to see 'Oh What a Lovely War'. My special thanks to Rita Goldman, who always has something to entertain and make us laugh, as well as slipping in the more serious things we need to know in speaking German. We enjoy meeting at her house and acting as host, or hostess whenever convenient and I am pleased that my 42 years at Radiogram comes in useful. I have been to the Imperial War Museum and Southwark Cathe-dral recently with John Colman and was very moved by the Holo-caust Exhibition. It was a visit to the area where Shakespeare lived and worked and the atmosphere of the Borough Market that had an impact on me too. I have just finished reading a book about Shakespeare's last play, so found the reburial of Richard III so fascinating. On 27th March, I went to Tudeley Church in Kent Our tour guide met us on arrival and , after a look round, we sat and ad-mired all the beautiful stained glass windows by Marc Chagall. We were told that the Victorian windows had been moved to the vestry. I pricked up my ears when I heard ASSY and HAUTE SA-VOIE mentioned. Our guide pulled a piece of glass designed for the Church in the French Alps. Other famous artists had also pro-vided works of art. About 55 years ago, I went, as part of the Westlain Gram-mar School, school exchange, with our hosts from Le Fayet, St, Gervais, and our teachers, including Monsieur Gloyn who, I told the guide, still lives in Patcham. My friend, Heather, even stayed at Plateau d'Assy with Mise, her French friend and I saw Joyce MacDonald and her friend from Sallanches, with the Church in the background. I must look in my box of Westlain memorabilia. I looked Assy up online and got two pages of information and then a page full of photos. (There were several more pages available.) I then decided to look for the Mairie at Magland where I stayed with Stephanie and Marcel Gradel Maryie, Colette and Gerard. The present Mayor is in office until this month but I will probably have to go back until 1987 - the date when the Gradels met my daughter Chantel whilst on an Imberhorne School ski trip at Le Grand Bornand. They knew her as she looked like I did age 14! Many thanks to you all, Sandie

Study Days:

Members with a scientific

bent may be interested in two

Study Days that I will be lead-

ing in the next year.

On Friday November 20th, I'll

be doing a day on Cosmology-

the origin and future of our uni-

verse, including the Big Bang,

dark energy and the multiverse.

This will take place near

Leatherhead, as part of the Sur-

rey U3A programme of study

days.

On Saturday March 12th next

year, I'll be leading another

study day on Mathematics.

We'll look at three activities in

life - tiling your floor, driving

your car, and voting in an elec-

tion - and see how mathematics

can be usefully applied in each

of these areas. This will be part

of our own SUN Study Day

programme, and will be held in

Seaford.

Anyone interested in either of

these days is welcome to con-

tact me for any more details.

Please e-mail me at

rogerluther@tinyworld.co.uk.

Whilst writing, I'd like to

mention the pop-up courses on

Cryptic Crosswords that I've

been running for Preston Park

U3A since February. There's

been a lot of interest, but I

should soon be able to take new

names for future courses (each

course is for just two sessions,

over two months). Again,

please contact me if interested.

Those who have attended the

courses so far have had some

fun afternoons, and might even

have learnt something!

Roger Luther

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Memories of Blakers Park

Sue has sent us the following request. If you have suitable 'memories', please contact Sue directly.

Hi,

I'm a Preston Park U3A member and

also currently involved in a commu-

nity project for Friends of Blakers

Park.

I wondered if any members have any

photos or memories of the park that

we could include in a new website?

Sue Korman

Friends of Blakers Park

77 Chester Terrace BN1 6GD

Tel 07981 490516

Email friends@blakerspark.org.uk or

friendsofblakerspark@gmail.com

Follow us on Twitter

RNIB Collections We have received a request for help. If anyone is interested, please contact Helena directly.

Hello,

I am writing in the hope you

will be able to help. I work for

RNIB (Royal National Institute of

Blind People) and am looking for

volunteers who can help around

the Brighton area, collecting and

banking money that's been col-

lected in our iconic Sooty charity

collection boxes.

I was hoping that I might be

able to put a small advert in your

newsletter which would include

some information on the charity

and a request for people to be-

come a volunteer?

I'd be happy to send over

more information and discuss this

with you further if that's possi-

ble?

Many thanks

Helena Pellier

helena.pellier@rnib.org.uk

Jigsaws We know that many

members enjoy jigsaw puzzles and we have re-cently received a sug-gestion for members to exchange jigsaws that they have completed. As a trial, we will provide a table at the rear of the hall at the General Meeting, where puzzles may be ex-changed. Please note that we cannot store puz-zles, so please ensure that the table is clear at the close of the meeting.

Many of us may not realise

that the National Trust gives a

yearly discount to members

aged over 60. A recent article

in a national newspaper dis-

closed the fact that the deal

needs to be requested on re-

newal and offers 25% less

than the standard adult mem-

bership. However, one must

have been a member for at

least five of the last ten years.

National Trust

Over 60 reduction

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Gardens Group The new Gardens Group’s first visit was to Old Erringham cottage, up a narrow lane just north of

Shoreham (number 93 in the Sussex Gardens

Yellow Book). There is a small wildflower

meadow at the front, reminiscent of Great Dixter,

and a very artistic layout to the rest of the garden.

We were made to feel very welcome by the

warm and friendly owners.

Our next visit is to the Old Vicarage garden at

Firle (95 in the Yellow Book). It is a much larger

garden, with lots of roses, just right for June.

Where we go after that will be decided by our

members. Jack Wright, Convenor Gardens Group

Whitehawk Food Bank Collections

Following our recent food collection, we have received

the following email:

Dear U3A,

I am just writing to thank you so much for the food

you donated recently to the Whitehawk foodbank.

We are solely dependent on donations in order to

provide our clients with emergency food, so we are

really grateful to you. For your information we

have received 29.7kg from you.

As you may have seen in the media recently, the Trussell Trust (whose network we are

part of) have just reported that their foodbanks supplied 1,084,604 people with 3 days

emergency food, including 396,997 children in the 2014/5 year. So there is, sadly, signifi-

cant need in this area and one we are seeking to meet on the Whitehawk estate.

Many thanks again for your support.

Kind Regards Doug (Curties) Project Manager info@thewhitehawk.foodbank.org.uk”

Alan Beebe and Roger Luther have decided to do two more collections this year. A "Harvest

Festival" one in October and a Christmas one in December.

Archive picture

New book Group A new book group is starting for Preston Park U3A members. The books read will be a selection

of fiction and non-fiction books and will be chosen in turn by members of the group. We will be

meeting on the first Monday of the month, from 2pm to 4pm, in the downstairs bar of the Park

View pub. The next meeting will be on 7th Sept. There is no August meeting.

New members are welcome to contact me beforehand by email, cathwitherow@hotmail.com.,

or to just turn up on the day. Cath Witherow

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Arts and Gardens in Cornwall Holiday Organised by Brightwater Holidays for Preston Park U3A 26th – 30th May 2016

Itinerary

Thursday 26 May 2016 We depart from our local pick-up point this morning and begin our journey south for Cornwall, stopping en-route for refreshments and lunch (not included). In the afternoon, we will call in at our first garden: Hestercombe, one of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens’ greatest master-pieces. The garden is home to a round pool in a round walled garden filled with wintersweet and roses, a Dutch garden of lamb's ears, lavender and the most beautiful orangery of the 20th century. Everywhere there are details of design and planting from which any gardener can learn.

We will then continue to our comfortable accommodation, the Restormel Lodge Hotel, in Lostwithiel, Cornwall. Set in a lovely secluded location, all bedrooms are en-suite and equipped with tea/coffee-making facilities, flat screen TV’s, hairdryers and free wi-fi. The hotel also boasts an outdoor heated swimming pool open for guests to enjoy from April to October.

Dinner will be served in the hotel this evening.

Friday 27 May 2016 Following breakfast this morning, we will visit Falmouth Art Gallery, which houses one of the leading art collections in Cornwall, and features work by major Victorian British Impressionists, leading maritime artists, old masters and topographical watercolourists and printmakers. There is also a gallery shop, which sells a variety of ceramics, jewellery, hand-made cards, catalogues and books and paintings as well as fine crafts, original prints and paintings, many of which are made by local artists and are of the highest standard in craftsmanship.

We then continue to our next visit - the gardens at Treng-wainton. Intimate and closely linked to the picturesque stream running through its valley, the garden leads up to a terrace and summer houses with splendid views across Mount’s Bay to The Lizard. The walled gardens contain many rare and unusual species, which are difficult to grow anywhere else in the country.

We conclude today’s schedule with a visit to Penlee House Gallery. Built in 1865, the former home of wealthy Penzance miller and merchant, J.R. Branwell, Penlee House and its sur-

rounding park were purchased by public subscription in 1946 as a War memorial for the town. Since 1949 it has been home to the town and district’s historic collections. Completely refurbished

and extended in 1997, Penlee House offers visitors a unique experience - a modern gallery and museum within the gracious setting of a Victorian House and park in Penzance.

We return to the hotel for dinner.

Saturday 28 May 2016 After breakfast we travel to St Austell for a visit to the Eden Pro-ject, which has become one of Cornwall’s star attractions. The Eden Project is a 50 metre deep, 34 acre china clay pit which has been reclaimed and transformed to house 2 controlled envi-ronment plant conservatories, the larger of which recreates the climate of the Tropics and displays some of its plants such as cotton, rice, rubber, orchids, bamboo and rainforest flowers.

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At its highest point it reaches 50 metres, taller than Nelson’s Column. The second conservatory recreates a warm temperature climate and houses plants from Southern Africa, the Mediterra-nean and south western America, with orange trees, olives, grape vines and hundreds of colourful flowers.

Our next visit today will be to the Lost Gardens of Heligan. The award winning gardens, asleep for more than seventy years, are the scene of the largest garden restoration project in Europe. In the spring of 1991, the Gardens of Heligan lay under a blanket of bramble, ivy, rampant laurel and fallen timber. A year later the restoration team opened the gardens to enable the public to share in the excitement of their discovery.

Once again dinner will be served at the hotel this evening.

Sunday 29 May 2016 Following our full English breakfast we visit the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Gar-

den in St Ives. Dame Barbara Hepworth lived and worked in Trewyn Studio from 1949 until her death in 1975. The small house, her working studios and the lush and secluded garden she created are open to the public as a museum devoted to her life and work. We then continue to the Tate Gallery, which was specially created, to show a collection of work by twentieth-century painters and sculptors associated with St Ives. The collection includes work from 1925 to the present day based around major figures of mid twentieth-century art in Britain such as Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. We return to our hotel in time for our final dinner.

Monday 30 May 2016 After breakfast, sadly we must check out of our hotel. Before we begin our journey home, we will make one final visit to the gardens of Lanhydrock. Now the property of the National Trust, Lan-hydrock was the home of the Robartes family from 1620 until 1953. The magnificent seventeenth century house is surrounded by nineteeth century formal terraced gardens which formed part of a scheme of improvements overseen by George Gilbert Scott in 1857. Beyond the terraced gar-dens are areas of informal pleasure grounds which were developed from the mid nineteenth cen-tury with many choice trees and shrubs. The parkland with the famous beech avenue was first enclosed in the mid seventeenth century, and remains one of the finest examples in Cornwall. Lanhydrock Gardens feature a formal courtyard garden, beds of modern roses and a woodland garden, rich in flowering shrubs and trees, especially rhododendrons and magnolias. Lanhydrock is also home to the National Collection of crocosmias.

Following our visit, we will return to our original pick up point, stopping en route for refreshments as required, expecting to arrive home late afternoon.

£495.00. pp (+ £120 single supplement)

Deposit: £75.00. by 30th September 2015 & balance by March 2016. Places will be allocated on receipt of deposit and a first come first served basis.

Included in the price 4 nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast at the comfortable Restormel Lodge Hotel, Lostwithiel. All rooms have private facilities. Comfortable coaching throughout. Visits to the gardens of Hestercombe, Trengwainton, Lanhydrock and the Lost Gardens of Heligan; entry to Falmouth Art Gallery, Penlee House Gallery, Eden Project, Barbara Hepworth & Tate St Ives. Services of a Brightwater Holidays representative.

Brightwater recommend travellers have Travel Insurance cover.

PPU3A Holiday Coordinator: Ann Kerrison: Tel 01273 557362 Email: ann.kerrison@ntlworld.com

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DATES FOR YOU DIARY

OUR MONTHLY GENERAL MEETINGS AT 1.30 P.M. KNOYLE HALL

Date Event

Thu Jul

2nd

This will be our annual SUMMER PICNIC and as in previous years

will be held in Knoyle Hall. This is a free event for Members only and

limited, numbered, tickets can be obtained by contacting Julia Clark

01273 667015 or juliaclark1@ntlworld.com These will then be deliv-

ered or posted. Please bring your ticket with you on the day.

Thu Aug

6th

An afternoon outing to BENTLEY WILDFOWL and MOTOR

MUSEUM, Halland, Near Lewes. This will also be a free event

(12.30p.m.), for Members only. Ann Burgess is taking reservations.

Thur Sep

3rd

The SEPTEMBER SHOWCASE is a celebration of Preston Park

U3A's Groups, plus an opportunity for Conveners to show members

the varied activities that have taken place in their Groups during the

past 12 months. Come along and expand your knowledge of what

goes on behind the scenes.

Thu Oct

1st

David Porter returns, this time to talk, with a digital presentation,

about his LIFE ABOVE A RAILWAY TUNNEL. David has lived at

Clayton Tunnel, North Portal since 2003 and now tells the story of

this unique building. David is an experienced and recommended pub-

lic speaker.

CLASSICAL MUSIC GROUP

Sun Oct

11th

The first CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERT in the new season will

be at the usual start time of 2.45pm. Dates for the remaining Concerts

will be 8th November, 6th December, 31st December, 31st January,

14th February, 6th March and 20th March.

Bookings for the first two concerts are being taken at the Septem-

ber General meeting on Thursday 3rd September and will be sent

off on Friday 4th September. Prices and concert details from Julia

Clark.

MILITARY MUSEUM VISITS Please contact John Colman tel:07710298221 email: jlacolman@btinternet.com

Fri Sep

11th

Trip to ARUNDEL CASTLE AND FITZALAN CHAPEL by

coach. Taking reservations. Cost £22.

Thu Oct

29th

Trip to JEWISH MUSEUM, (including military museum), Camden,

London. Taking reservations. By train & bus. Cost £20 This trip is on

a Thursday.

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The Preston Park website is http://u3asites.org.uk/code/u3asite.php?site=88

Please send any items for the October newsletter by:

20th September 2015

to Terry Careford: terry.careford@ntlworld.com

For the latest details of events, please see the Preston Park U3A website.

SOCIAL OUTINGS

Fri Jul 3rd Trip to DOVER CASTLE by Coach. Cost £16.00 Reservations

are being taken by Ann Burgess , £10 deposit.

Wed Sep 23rd Coach visit to LEEDS CASTLE (Including FLOWER

FESTIVAL). Cost £30, plus optional audio £3.25.

Thu Nov 19th Visit to WINCHESTER £24.00.

Planetarium 1.30-4.00; Live Lecture 2.30-3.00.

The Christmas Market opens this day.

THEATRE GROUP Please contact Maureen Dickson tel:07787 563261 email: maureen.ruane@ntlworld.com

Thu Jul 16th AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – Agatha Christie. Starring

Paul Nichols, Colin Buchanan, Susan Penhaligon and Mark Curry.

A group of 10 strangers are lured to a remove island off the Devon

coast, stranded by a torrential storm and haunted by an ancient

nursery rhyme. One by one the guests begin to die. Tickets £26.00

Bookings now closed.

Thu Aug 13th TALKING HEADS by Alan Bennett. Starring Stephanie Cole.

Stephanie Cole was named Best TV Comedy Actress in 1992 for

Waiting for Godot. Tickets £27.50 each. Limited provisionally

reserved tickets. Please contact Maureen if you are interested.

Date Event