Southport Newsletter

July 2017

Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to our summer newsletter. I'm sure you are all enjoying the amazing diversity of weather in this season. Just when you think you need to water the plants, miraculously it rains.

I'm sure many of you will have availed yourselves of the huge variety of exciting activities.

I for one have begun to learn to play the ukulele thanks to John Andrews. It will take time and lots of patience from John but I will persevere.

Twenty members had the privilege of being the first public group to meet in the newly refurbished Hesketh Park observatory. This was the inaugural meeting of the Astronomy Group which was so informative and fascinating thanks to our leader Bob Mount.

The Baby Boomers continued their bucket list year with a tour of Concorde which we all loved as its heyday was so much part of our living history.

So please get out there and enjoy yourself. Hope to see many of you at Geoff’s party in the

park.

Brenda

Local History Group

Local History offers something for everyone! Not only are we learning amazing and interesting facts about our local area but we enjoy exercise as we walk around the various venues, we enjoy each other’s company, we enjoy fresh air (with all that vitamin D!) and often we enjoy good food and sometimes a drink! So anyone joining our tours will be feeding their mind, body and soul which is what the U3A is all about!

Recently there has been a bit of a ‘religious’ theme to our trips. We have visited the Unitarian Church in South Liverpool. Here our tour guide was the Rev Philip Waldron who provided a fascinating tour of the church and its extensive buildings and ended up entertaining everyone by playing the organ!

In May we led two groups on the same day. Ritchie the Ranger took over 20 members around St James Cemetery which is situated next to the Anglican Cathedral. This was originally a quarry but was subsequently used in the 19th century for burials. Ritch ‘entertained’ us (if that is the appropriate word!) with stories about the people buried there. The list includes Lord Huskisson about whom we learned some fascinating facts surrounding his unfortunate demise at the hands of one of the first steam engines. There is a large

memorial dedicated to him within the cemetery grounds. We were lucky as the weather was glorious and the cemetery (as one would expect!) is an oasis of calm and peace and certainly worth a visit by anyone calling into the cathedral (you could even take a picnic as some people were doing when we were there).

Our June outing was a tour of Sefton Park, Liverpool again with Richie the Ranger! This park was part of land designated as a Royal Deer Park solely for the use of the hunting Nobility and Royalty. Despite the predictions of bad weather, we were lucky enough to enjoy a “break in the clouds” and managed to enjoy the park and the Palm House in all its glory. They say the sun always shines on the righteous so we were indeed blessed on the day.

Our future outings will be repeat visits to Sefton Park and Liverpool Town Hall in August and in September the Nordic Church. Details of all our trips will be available on our web page and places can be booked at our desk at each monthly meeting.

Finally, Barbara and I would like to thank Helen who has joined our team and has been leading some tours so that we have been able to offer extra places. Best Wishes Barbara, Jean and Helen.

Walking Group 4

Spring arrived for our first walk in March, with sun, warmth and good views. Starting from the R.S.P.B. reserve at Leighton Moss, we visited Trowborrow quarry on route through Woodwell to a very pleasant lunch stop overlooking Morecambe bay. We then descended to the Lancashire coastal path before visiting the view point overlooking Leighton Hall and a welcome drink at the visitor centre.

Windermere was the starting point for our second walk. We climbed to the view point of Orrest Head above Windermere before setting off across some extremely muddy terrain for lunch overlooking the Troutbeck valley. The route to Troutbeck village then took us across the river on a very narrow precarious part of what remained of the foot bridge which had been washed away during the floods and we returned to Ambleside (for the return bus) along the lower slopes of Wansfell, with excellent views of the lake, and a visit to Jenkins Crag.

Our first Saturday walk found us in Cheshire. We ascended Bulkeley Hill with excellent views over the Cheshire plain and the North Wales mountains and then went back down to the valley to have lunch at the old village of Harthill. More climbing took us up to Bickerton Hill (again excellent views) and the site of the ancient

Maiden Castle dating back to 800BC, before going down to the valley again only to have a further climb and descent back to the cars and welcome refreshments in Tarporley.

We started our final March walk in the village of Strongstry. After climbing up to the moors through the rather muddy Stubbins estate, we visited Holcombe Peel Tower, before taking lunch in a warm sheltered spot. After lunch we dropped down to the valley bottom along a fairly steep rocky path before sliding down a very steep muddy section. Nuttall Park was crossed on our way to Ramsbottom, and finally another muddy path was taken back to the cars.

With our leader being on holiday during April, we would like to thank the three group members who led the April walks. On our first April walk we went to Hurst Green, and did the Tolkien Trail (‘Three River Walk’). We walked on grassy paths alongside the River Ribble which eventually flowed into the Rivers Calder and Hodder. After lunch by the River Hodder we continued to a woodland area, climbing over 100 steps, before passing Stonyhurst College on our return to Hurst Green for refreshments. The walk was just over seven miles, relatively easy with no mud and beautiful views.

On our second walk, after parking the cars by the marina at Glasson Dock near Lancaster, we walked along the Lancaster Coastal Way on grassy paths with lovely views, although the tide was out. In the distance, we could see Plover Scar Lighthouse, which was struck by a ship in March 2016, causing severe damage, and we then passed Cockersand Abbey which began as a hermitage in 1180AD and became an Abbey of the Premonstratensian Order ten years later. In 1539 the Abbot and 22 canons surrendered it to the Kings Commissioners and it has lain in ruins ever since. After lunch on a grassy bank, we left the coastal path to walk inland to join the Lancaster Canal on our return to the cars after walking about eight miles.

The final April walk found us repeating the walk over Nicky Nook from Scorton, returning via Grizedale. Our May walks started with a climb up to Darwen Tower which was followed by a brisk and windy walk

across Darwen Moor before dropping down to the ruins of Hollingshead Hall for lunch after having walked five miles. We returned to the cars via the Roddlesworth nature reserve and reservoir.

The Saturday walk turned out to be 10¼ mile trek with fantastic views of the East Cheshire countryside all day. Starting from Bollington, we climbed up to the canal before the steep ascent of White Nancy, and then followed the Kerridge ridge before descending to the road and climbing again to have lunch at Tegg’s Nose Country Park. The return route was along grassy tracks through the village of Rainow before making a final steep ascent in the very hilly village of Bollington.

The Haslingden Grane valley was the venue for walk number three, which started at the Clough Head Café near Haslingden. We first climbed up to walk part of the Rossendale way before dropping down for a very pleasant lunch spot. We returned to the car park on the other side of the valley on a path above the three reservoirs before joining the Rossendale Way again for an uphill return to Clough Head and refreshments.

We had extremely hot weather for our final May walk of 8+ miles, which started in the village of Barbon. After walking through the grounds of a delightful Barbon Park, we managed to cross the river on rocks and then climbed up Barbon Fell (excellent views of Middleton Fell) to the caving centre at Bull Pot Farm. There was a further climb after lunch before dropping down to the road with views over to the Lake District mountains (unfortunately in the heat haze) and down to Kirkby Lonsdale and Casterton in the valley. A further very steep descent was followed by an exhausting two mile stretch across fields back to the cars and very welcome refreshments at the Churchmouse Café in Barbon. Report by David Miley and Coral Astley

Ukulele Group 3 Uke-a-teers (Beginners)

We now have a new ukulele beginners group. They started playing in February 2017 and we have just taken delivery of some new banner stands as you will see in the photo below. This would not be possible without Southport U3A and the support of the Committee.

Our members say U3A has opened up a whole new world to them, and through joining the Ukulele group they have been able to venture out into other activities and feel that they are now more active and involved in the community than when they were working!

We have a social secretary who organises trips out and some of the group went to Skipton recently for the day and had a brilliant time. We now have two talented songwriters within the group, who have never performed in front of an audience or written anything before joining us, and say that they have been inspired by the camaraderie and encouragement from the rest of the group. Our three sections all get together at the end of each month and share songs and tales of their exploits from previous weeks. We have also encouraged and supported two members from our Intermediate & Advanced group to become Co-ordinators /Facilitators. Hopefully they will be able to share their skills & knowledge and go on to facilitate other activities in the future.

If anyone is considering becoming a Facilitator/Co-ordinator and would like some advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us via U3A website.

Maria Forsyth – Ukulele Group 3 Uke-a-teers (Intermediate/Advanced Facilitator) Margaret Clapham – Ukulele Group 3 Uke-a-teers (Beginners Facilitator)

Line Dancing Group

Here they are celebrating their fifth anniversary on 16th May …

Coach Trips

A fine day out (no rain!) at Haworth with a 40s theme.

Ruth Lawless

Beer Appreciation Group

David Carden, the original group leader, has unfortunately had to step down from the role but has been willingly replaced by Phil Watling leading a newly reformed Beer Appreciation Group. It had its first get together in the Grasshopper, Hillside where they sampled fine ales from the 'Rock the Boat' brewery (Little Crosby) while being entertained by a local 'shanty' choir.

Phil Watling

Singalong Group

We are looking for new members for the Singalong Group that meets once a month on a Monday evening at the Boulevard West Bar on Lord Street. Members have a great evening singing along to popular songs, with the words projected onto a screen and live accompaniment by a small band.

Please contact Ian Stern if you would like to come along.

[Editor: I’m informed this is proving a really enjoyable evening for all involved so get along with you!]

Quiz Night

The Summer Quiz has been arranged for Thursday, 27th July at the Fleetwood Hesketh as normal. The meal will be Beef Bourguignon, that's different! [Editor: another Fine Dining experience may one ask?]

Tickets are £7 and the quiz starts at 7:30 prompt, be there for 7:00. Cash prizes as normal.

Dave Blundell

First Aid training

As mentioned at the June monthly meeting, the Committee is making arrangements for First Aid training to be available to any member who wishes to participate. Sessions will be held on Wednesday, 26th July and Wednesday, 30th August at St John Ambulance premises in Scarisbrick Street. Each course lasts for three hours with an extra half hour on AED (defibrillator) awareness and epi-pen use. The cost is £5 per person and cheques should be made payable to ‘Southport U3A’. Anyone interested in attending either the July or the August session, should email me using the link on the website Contacts page or call or text me on 07900 695149.

To reiterate what Brenda Jones said at the June meeting, please be aware that if assistance is offered by any member, whether trained or untrained, to another member following any incident during a U3A activity, it is given purely on a Good Samaritan basis.

First Aid is a practical skill and all participants need to be able to get down on their knees – and up again! Casual clothes and comfortable shoes should be worn. Ilush Bricknell [Editor: I have done a defib course and found it immensely rewarding and empowering. Everyone really ought to be familiar with this life-saving equipment, especially as it is so widely available throughout the country and so many good people have made a huge personal effort to make it so. Don’t let it go to waste!]

Wine Holiday Burgundy 2017

In May a number of U3A members took part in a wine tasting holiday arranged by Hilary Dalton. Despite being a ridiculously early start on the first day, and the coach driver getting lost, resulting our missing the scheduled Channel Tunnel train, the trip was very relaxed. This was due mainly to the sooper dooper executive VIP coach. This was equipped with granite tables, toilet, fridge microwave cookers and coffee maker. The luxury coach is usually booked for first division football teams, and served both as transport for our party and the copious amounts of wine we brought back.

Our arrival in France was marked with a superb tasting of champagne and canapés before driving on to the hotel in Beaune. The fine dining aspect of the holiday was mainly taken up with regional cuisine, including snails in soup and beef bourguignon. The Burgundy wine itself was not impressive. Most felt that it lacked body. We did try Beaujolais, which was better, on a trip to the Chateau de Javernand, where we had a fantastic meal, including Coq au Vin, in the atmospheric chateau cellar. This was one of the high spots of the holiday, which included a guided trip round the Hospice de Beaune. Here we saw a number of late medieval hospital implements such as the self-administered “sit on” enema kit, which had most of us walking funny at the thought of it!

The last evening was spent near Calais in a beautiful Chateau where we were served an exquisite dinner with an equally exquisite lunch the following day. We had sole occupancy of the chateau and spent the evening in the bar (quelle surprise!). Geoff Matthews was persuaded to play the piano. After some light jazz numbers he misheard a request for something from the “musicals” for “music halls” and launched into a selection of early 20th century popular refrains beginning with “My Old Man Said Follow the Van”. These were sung with great gusto to the obvious consternation of the staff.

We learned a good deal about the local terroir, the grapes, domain and appellation, as well as having a really good time.

[Editor: John Warren seems to have uncovered an ancestor in the trade. Or maybe John’s just on his second time around?] Tony Dalton

Jazz Group

The Twin Frets gig (Vernon Fuller middle, Willie Fluss right in the picture below, courtesy of Steve Birchall) was at Boulevard West on 1st May. We had a full house for an evening for jazz, blues, soul and a touch of reggae from these two highly entertaining guitarists with Vernon providing the vocals. Supper during the interval was Chilli Con Carne.

The Nicola Farnon Trio sang and played for us on 5th June and it was another wonderful evening of live music.

The Summer Party in the Park gig (18th August) is now sold out.

U3A Jazz Group recommences on 4th September with the Rob Stringer Trio featuring Rob on keyboard and vocals with Dean Masser on tenor sax and John McCormick on double bass. Great New York trained pianist in the Fats Waller mode. Tickets £15 each (includes supper). Maximum 40 Southport U3A group members. [Editor: that’s Geoff on the left. He can play but I’m not so sure about his singing] Geoff Matthews

The Original Baby Boomers

The Boomers are still ticking off items on their bucket list. They’ve recently done helicopter rides, quad biking, and a tour round Concorde. Plenty of fun being had by those determined to grow old disgracefully it seems, judging by the photos.

Jim Hay

Stars in their Eyes

The newly formed Astronomy Group held its inaugural meeting this month at the refurbished and quite splendid Astronomical Observatory in Hesketh Park. Although this is known commonly as the Fernley Observatory we learned early on that it should more correctly be called the Baxendell Observatory. Under any name it is a wonderful piece of important astronomical history which we're lucky to have in Southport.

Following on from the initial introduction to the observatory and its history, members were treated to a dazzling guided tour round the Solar System by our inestimable guide Bob Mount who presented an array of mind-boggling facts about our immediate neighbourhood in space and the objects within it. All was skilfully presented in easy to understand language, though the physical scale of things is often a little overwhelming. Did you know, for example, that although space is vast and contains an almost uncountable number of stars of tremendous mass floating around in the billions of galaxies within it, it is mainly just that - empty space! There's more nothingness out there in the known, visible universe than matter. Distance between objects is simply huge and a little hard to comprehend on a human scale.

This is a group anxious to learn more about the wonders of the universe and there was the promise of

much more to come, including more about the mysteries it holds such as black holes and neutron stars. And of course occasional, weather permitting, star parties are to be scheduled as well as visits to other observatories in the area. Looks like the group has a star-studded future! Steve Hardwick

Cycling Group

On 24th May the Cycling Group had a magnificent day out riding around Liverpool. We covered four parks - Princes, Sefton, Otterspool and the Festival Gardens, with a stop at the Botanic Gardens. Then down to the riverside where we cycled along in glorious sunshine on the fully finished promenade all the way into the Albert Dock in the centre of the city. After a break at the dock we cycled back to Brunswick station to get the train

home. It was a fantastic day out in marvellous sunshine and our thanks go to Peter Sinclair for organising it. If you would like to join the cycling group log onto the website and contact Peter or Dave. Go on - you know you would love to!!

Jim Hay

Poetry and Writing Group

The U3A Poetry and Writing group, jointly led by Zoe Dalton and Sylvia Miley, hosted and ran a poetry reading at Holy Trinity Church as part of their recent art exhibition. The poetry reading was well attended and was enjoyed and enhanced by the audience participation as well. Feedback was good and another could follow shortly!!!

The picture is of the group along with local poets Susan Cunningham and Margret Andrews and with

exhibition organiser Bob Ball. Ian Martin

Some Nonsense

And finally, as we all know that ‘a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men’* we present an offering from our enthusiastic and prolific in-house writer. And haven’t many of us been there in our youth I think I remember!

Alcoholic woe I felt real thick so I phoned in sick Had too much to sup, couldn’t stand up

On a lads night out, with loads of stout To Boss I’m no loss, don’t give a toss Sore head caused perjury, was anniversary

Head aching to bust, couldn’t be fussed It is so unjust, what a drink must Trigger throbbing head, left feeling dead

Tummy real upset, body in a sweat Until another date, the job can wait Boss is not happy, that I’m so crappy

Makes him like a fool, it’s not very cool He’s angry, quite irate, tells me my fate Well he is the Boss, my jobs a loss

Now I’m on the dole, I’m in a hole Feeling such a trout, there’s no more stout I need a new start, then I’ll not part

With money for booze, pores need to ooze There will be no fear, just new ideas I will start again, take up the pen

Then I’m able to write and tell my plight To all those who care and then I’ll snare Bundles of more work, so I’ll not shirk

I’ll take out the whip, for writing trip Will give me more clout, to drink new stout

Chris Coxhead * Willie Wonka, in case you’ve forgotten

Forthcoming Events

Thursday, 3rd August Monthly meeting (Speaker: Carole Codd – “Confessions of a Registrar”) Friday, 18th August Jazz Party in the Park Thursday, 7th Sptember Monthly meeting (Speaker: Chris Devereux – “Magical Musical Tour”) Thursday, 5th October Monthly meeting (Showcase)

The next edition of the Newsletter will be published on Thursday, 5th

October. Please send your contributions to the editor, Steve Hardwick, by Friday, 8

th September.