1

The Editor’s Say

This has been a very productive four months (since the last issue) with people sending me all sorts of things for inclusion in the NL as well as photographs of many of the Groups. I will include as many as I can this time and the rest will appear in subsequent issues. (I asked for a fifty-page NL to get them all in but the committee declined this request!) Please take note of the DATES and TIMES of events which are coming up. The most important one is the AGM. Please note the details in the box on this cover. You will find with this NL copies of the minutes from the last AGM as well as the agenda for this AGM. Attached to the agenda is a nomination form for committee members. You will see from our Chairman that we have volunteers to take on the jobs of Secretary and Treasurer but they must be voted on to the committee so come along and see who they are. All nominations should be with Elaine, our current Secretary, by 20th April.

Inside the NL you will find a piece from a member who appeared on Radio Four and another from a new member who is keen to share with you other ways of learning. The result of the Caption Competition is on page three (I hope!). Please take time to have a look at the pages of the NL: you never know when you might find something you really wanted to know! Ed.

National website: www.u3a.org.uk Locally: http://u3asites.org.uk/street-glastonbury

CONTENTS

Editorial ............................ 1

Deadlines .......................... 1

Chairman’s Report ............ 2

U3A in the Spotlight ......... 2

Membership Report.......... 3

Class Fees .......................... 3

Caption Competition ........ 3

Publicity ............................ 4

The Knitting Group........... 4

Departures ........................ 4

Five on Four ...................... 5

Christmas Party Report .... 6

Copyright on Photos ......... 7

Ways to Learn Online ....... 8

Electricity Supplies ........... 9

Online NL ......................... 9

AGM Notice ...................... 9

Group Leaders’ Meeting ... 9

Diary Dates ....................... 10

Facebook ........................... 10

Tai Chi ............................... 10

James Heappey ................. 11

Scams ................................ 11

Quilting ............................. 11

Your Committee ................ 12

Deadline for the next edition:

20th June 2016

The views and ideas expressed by the contributors to this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the editor nor the Street and Glastonbury U3A.

Forthcoming Events

1. AGM 5th May

2. Enrolment 18th August

3. Portsmouth Dockyard 9th April

4. Avalon Group Quiz Night 13th May

5. Secret World Talk 17th May

6. Mapperton House visit 7th June

7. Group Leaders' Meeting 16th June

8. Astronomy Talk July (date tbc)

9. Somme Visit 5th-9th September

AGM

10am, Thursday 5th May

Glastonbury Town Hall

Details: Page 9

“Spirit of the U3A”: a Line Dancer gives it her

all. Photo: P. Thompson

2

From the Chair

Firstly, some great news. Two members have

volunteered for the Treasurer and Secretary roles. We

are extremely grateful to them and look forward to them

joining the committee.

We are well into the 2015/2016 programme and are

starting to look at the summer and the 2016/2017

programme. If you would like to run a group on a

particular subject then please let me know. More groups

will be running through the summer this year and this

is becoming more popular. This option is available to all

groups as long as they cover their venue costs but I

know that some like to have a rest for at least part of the

summer and come back fresh to a new winter season.

The new astronomy and creative writing groups

commenced in January and we have several new groups

in the pipeline for next year. Our membership continues

to grow and we will ensure that there are sufficient

groups to meet demand.

I have now visited the majority of the groups and it is

great to see so many members having fun and enjoying

socialising, whilst learning new skills or practising old

skills. The variety of the groups is fantastic and the high

levels achieved are truly amazing. It is difficult to

properly understand how groups function without

visiting them and I have been really impressed.

We have arranged a number of trips and talks, as

described elsewhere in this newsletter and we will

continue to try different things and offer a variety of

trips and talks for the membership in the knowledge

that some will be successful and some less successful.

We have had a remarkably mild winter so far this year,

although rather wet, but there is still the possibility of

severe weather and it is best to be prepared for it, taking

extra clothing, snacks and drinks in the car and on trips.

Also ensuring that we can cope if the car breaks down

and carrying a mobile phone. The old saying “hope for

the best but be prepared for the worst” is sound advice.

We should also be keeping an eye on vulnerable friends

and neighbours. So, let's enjoy the rest of the season

and look forward to a warm, relaxing summer.

Happy Days

Stephen

From your Membership Secretary

Well, it has been a quite exceptional year with regards to

membership – we are now a staggering 459. That's an

increase on last year of approximately 10%, with the

number of first time members amongst us just tipping

the 100 mark. Of course with growth comes challenge –

administratively obviously, but most important is the

heightened need to offer a full and varied programme to

sustain membership at this level and to be in a position

to welcome even more new members next year. You

may or may not realise but now is the time of year when

planning for the new season gets underway; setting

dates, identifying requirements, booking venues, all

gearing up to confirmation of the programme for

publication in July. This means that NOW is the time

when we would like to hear from those of you willing to

offer to lead a new group come September. Letting us

know sooner rather than later means any new activity

can be more easily integrated in to the programme.

Please contact Chairman and Groups Coordinator,

Stephen Wright – you will find his details on the back

page.

The fact that more than 1 in 5 of our membership is new

to U3A, its ethos and our ways of working is another

challenge. We do our best to provide everyone with the

information they need to get the most out of their

membership, new or of longer standing, but if anyone

has any query, comment or suggestion in this regard or

on any other matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Julie Hillman, Membership Secretary, 01458 446643 or

juliehillman@btinternet.com

U3A in the Spotlight POINTS WEST on 2nd November 2015 (too late for last

issue) 60 seconds on the U3A and film of a table tennis

group (one of FIVE!) at Burnham-on-Sea. Forty per

cent of the table tennis members are over eighty.

CENTRAL SOMERSET news group. I hope you all saw

the picture of Mike Ellington in the paper of 11th

February on the Club News page. He was listening

intently to our speaker, James Heappey, MP, who

came to Walton on 15th January and gave us an

interesting talk. He is very new to Parliament and I

only hope his enthusiastic intentions do not get cooled

by the realities of political life.

CENTRAL SOMERSET news. Report on the Christmas

Party by Steve Wright with pictures (14th January)

AUDREY and the KNITTERS were in the December

issue of the Mendip Times (See Audrey's article on

page 4).

RADIO FOUR Peter Lander had five minutes of fame

on Radio Four and you can read his account of what it

was like on page 5.

And as a PS: There are other ways of learning things

and one of our new members, Joanna Cobb, has put

together a piece giving you information about how you

can go about this if you wish.

3

Class Fees It seems that a few Groups are not paying over their

class fees at a reasonable date after the start of the term.

This makes life awkward for our Treasurer at the best of

times but the fees for this Spring Term MUST be paid in

by the end of February at the very latest to enable

Vaughan to get the accounts ready for the year end on

31st March. In other words if you are reading this and

you have not paid the class fees to Vaughan, you are

late. And if you are late, so will the end of year accounts

be and that causes trouble for the Treasurer and for the

Caption Competition

Now for the important stuff: the

WINNER OF THE CAPTION

COMPETITION. I had quite a few

entries for this with some obvious

overlap: several people mentioned

barrels, the scraping thereof. One

naval entry concerned bilges.

Somebody even mentioned full barrels

though I don't think it was rain water

they had in mind for the contents. But

in the end the winner is: MARION HICKS with her

caption: I KNOW I PUT IT SOMEWHERE SAFE!

Congratulations and much honour to Marion. What

was actually going on was wife-inside-barrel (because

she could fit and larger husband could not) to help fit a

new tap. These always sit low down in barrels, for

obvious reasons, and somebody had to be inside to hold

the washer while the roughie-toughie tightened it all up

from the outside. I have to say the dog was worried. Ed.

Photography Group on a Trip to Greylake. Photo: Steve Wright

Table Tennis Tuesday Morning. Photo: Steve Wright

rest of us because the figures will not go to the auditor

on time and the whole machinery of the U3A will grind

to a halt. So PLEASE, Group Leaders: Pay the class fees

in as soon as you possibly can. (And chase tardy class

members with threats of ejection if they do not pay up

at the first or second session they attend.) PS To clarify

an issue: members may pay their fees to Group Leaders

however they please: cash or cheque BUT the Leader

should pay over the fees to the Treasurer by cheque. In

most cases this means that any cheques they have

received from members go straight to the Treasurer As-

Is (they will have been made out to S&G U3A so they

are no use to anyone else.) What most Leaders do with

the cash is write a cheque from their own account (ie to

make up the balance) and send that to the Treasurer as

well and they keep the cash. The Treasurer, whoever he

is, can't deal with hundreds of pounds of fees which are

delivered to him in cash (and some Groups do reach the

hundreds).

4

Publicity

I hope you all saw the picture of Audrey and her

Knitting Group in the December issue of the Mendip

Times. She was there with Knitters and some of the

figures they had made illustrating the Twelve Days of

Christmas. The only slight problem was that the

photographer had managed not to include the tree as

decorated. Elsewhere in this issue you should find some

pictures of the Group's efforts: two little lads wearing

jumpers made by the Group and showing a teddy

(actually, one is a rabbit!) which were sent for

Christmas. These have proved very popular and more

are being knitted as we speak. (See Audrey's piece about

the items.) There was a long piece in the paper about

our Christmas feed with two pictures of the

entertainers. We (as a U3A) are making ourselves heard

at last! Many thanks to Andrew for his contributions to

our publicity efforts. NB You may not have realized that

we are now on Facebook, for those of you who know (a)

what it is and (b) what to do with it. There are more

pictures of the party on there I'm told by those who

know how to do these things!

The Knitting Group

The decoration of the Christmas tree in St John's

Church (Glastonbury) depicting the Twelve Days of

Christmas was a great success. We had very many

compliments paid to us. I was very proud of my Group

for the enthusiasm they showed in carrying out this

project. The delighted recipients of the figures are the

Children's Hospice South West which is in Devon. They

will bring them out each Christmas to be used to

decorate their tree. We are still producing jumpers for

the charity we support in Kenya and all our odd balls of

wool are going to be used to make blankets for anyone

who needs them. We are looking forward to plenty of

knitting and nattering in the new term.

AUDREY CROWE

Departures

Jill Oldbury died on Sunday, 17th January at Arthur's

Court Nursing Home. Jill was a member of the Line

Dancing and the Local History Groups. I met Jill when I

first joined the U3A five years ago and started line

dancing. She was next to me in the front row and, when I

couldn't learn one of the more challenging dances just by

watching, it was Jill who printed out the step-sheet so I

could practise at home. Every time we do that dance (not

just at the U3A class but elsewhere as well) I always think

of Jill and I am very grateful that she took such trouble

for a Newbie. P. Thompson

At the end of January some of us went to Mendip

Crematorium to pay our last respects to Jill Oldbury who

had been a regular and enthusiastic Line Dancer until she

had to stop, saying she could no longer remember the

sequences. I was surprised, not realising this was the

onset of her illness. I had danced next in line to her for

some years, following her lead confidently and had never

seen her wrong-footed. It was another more experienced

dancer who told me that she was a gold medallist. She

was far too modest and unassuming to mention this

herself. She was a very pleasant companion, always

cheerful and with a naughty sense of humour which

surfaced quietly from time to time. Jill will be

remembered by many of us with gratitude and affection.

Lorna M.

Two little boys show off their new soft toys,. They are also

wearing the jumpers produced by the Knitting Group,

Three French hens and four calling birds—from the Knitting Group’s Twelve Days of Christmas

5

My Five Minutes on National Radio

I recently appeared in BBC Radio Four's ‘Open Country’ series which

covers country life. In January they chose ‘Somerset Peat: Past Present

and Future’ as their topic and concentrated on Shapwick and Meare

Heaths. Archaeologists from the Somerset Heritage Centre talked

about the ‘deep past’, the present peat industry and the nature reserves

(present/future). I added a snapshot of the peat extraction ‘boom’ of

the last century.

Since volunteering for the Avalon Marshes Landscape Partnership I

have built up a wealth of information on the rise and demise of the

Eclipse Peat Company (latterly Fisons) from old photographs,

documents and artefacts, field evidence and chats with various people

who were involved at the time. The topic interested me because little

has been set down so far, and yet it was of huge local importance with

up to 250 local people employed in its heyday. It involved the

largescale industrialisation of traditional smallholder working and was

at the cutting edge of improved horticulture (and other intriguing uses

once it was ousted by coal as fuel). It drove many of the rich

archaeological discoveries, and has given rise to the marvellous watery

nature reserves that are now enjoyed here. I have started drawing on

this material for talks – including recently to our own Local History

Group – and I may put it in a book one day.

I was contacted by the BBC producer and invited to take part in this

programme. The turnaround on this weekly programme is very short. After this initial contact I had a brief chat over

the phone with the producer, Andrew Dawes, who also produces ‘Farming Today’, and then I was sent a very short

outline of what my contribution might cover. It was explained that the five contributory segments would be recorded

separately – this was probably a good thing knowing my and some of the other contributors ability to talk and discuss

at length! I had also suggested that we go to the site of the original ‘Great Plain’ peat works, on Meare Heath alongside

the new bridge over the South Drain. We arranged to meet on 11th January. Having no real idea of what was expected

of me I assembled a thick file of photographs and plans – especially of the peat works there in its heyday – to be able to

share with Helen (the presenter) if required.

We met at the Ashcott Corner car park on the Monday afternoon, and fortunately the rain had slowed by then. I was

expecting a vehicle clearly identified as BBC with a whole crew of people but Helen and Andrew turned up in an

ordinary car. Helen would do the talking while Andrew would do almost everything else: the arranging and directing,

carrying the equipment, and making the recording. It turned out that subsequently he also did all the editing and

collation for the programme which would then be broadcast on 21st. BBC Radio is clearly run on very lean lines when

compared to those long lists of helpers on TV.

We greeted and introduced ourselves and covered what we were going to do. However, since we were going to be

‘meeting’ again on record, and they were keen that that seem as ‘natural’ as possible, this was kept as brief as possible.

So we strolled along the South Drain trackway towards the location until they decided that the clouds had cleared a bit

and the light had brightened and we began the first of the recordings. Of course, with radio everything including the

describing and setting of the scene has to be conveyed by sound so Helen practised and then gave a descriptive account

of the scene. Part of this is that background sounds can seem very intrusive when recorded – we had to wait on

occasion for distant helicopters to pass by. Apparently this is a well-known issue amongst outside broadcasters

working in our area.

Then I was introduced and we spent a very interesting hour or so exploring the old peat works site, with me sharing

some of the ‘as was’ photographs that I had of the place. I must confess that, with my great interest and enthusiasm for

the topic, I was probably giving several answers, and at some speed, to every question that Helen asked, and possibly

going far deeper than they might actually have been hoping for. Being rather lost in the topic and trying to pass on a lot

of information, this all passed by in a bit of a blur. We did go over some of the more important aspects several times

and from different angles, especially those that set out some form of narrative of the phenomenal growth of the large-

scale peat extraction and how it gave rise to the current landscape. I also recall that Helen was very keen to record her

linking piece from here to the next section which would focus on the archaeological finds and ancient trackways. This (Continued on page 10)

Peter Lander with the Radio Four presenter

6

Well, this was a cracker of a do. More than 120 people

attended at Compton Dundon's Meadway Hall and we

were dragging out extra tables and chairs for people

who were just pouring in through the doors. The

amount of food had to be seen to be believed and it was

all of excellent quality as well as quantity. We tried a

new approach this year with people able to get round

both sides of the long table, savoury at each end and

sweet in the centre. And guess where the bottleneck

came!

Our Chairman, Steve Wright, was well set up with his

camera and tripod, flashing away at nodal points during

the proceedings. Some of the results should be

elsewhere in this issue.

Vaughan Williams, our very own impresario, had great

fun with producing the programmes and despite a few

hiccups in the practice printing, they were very well

presented on card of various hue. I have brought home

a couple of copies as mementoes. (I admit to having

scribbled all over one of them so as to remember the

details to write this piece for you.)

The entertainment began with Tony Martin and Dave

Scarrott playing the guitar and singing at the same time

(and that really isn't as easy as it sounds or may seem

when some teenager is screaming his head off on the

telly while beating the guts out of an electric

monstrosity.) Their second piece, Mary, Did You Know

contained some gentler harmonies and some nicely

melodic modulations.

Jackie Gingell will be running the CREATIVE

WRITING group from January and she read us a short

story of her own which, like all the best shorts, had a

sting in the tail.

The Ukulele Group was excellent, considering that none

of them had touched an instrument before September

and they have had only six sessions. The most unusual

piece was Silent Night, which is usually characterized

by its long, sustained, arching notes. This is just not

possible on a ukulele and the solution is to set up a

continuous gentle alternating vibration to take up the

length of the note; and very soothing it was too.

Sounded like a softer version of a harpsichord.

The third song, Rudolph, was enlivened by Rosie

Lander's interjections (accompanied by Shelia Scarrott)

where, to give just two examples, the words 'You would

even say it glows' were extended by a quick upstanding

and the tag: Like a Lightbulb! and the last line: You'll

go down in History! Like Napoleon! Rosie says that her

children used to sing this version when they were young

but I had never come across it before and it caused

much merriment in the audience. Well done to the

dozen players who took part (some of them even sang

the words as well.)

Mike Ellington employed that great rumbling voice of

his in two Christmas poems, one by Tennyson and the

other the one we all know the first line of: 'Twas the

night before Christmas.

Then the Music Jammers played five pieces, some

without a break. Vaughan was enjoying himself,

directing from the floor (with guitar or recorder) while

the group was on the stage. Such was the enthusiasm

that at times the instruments were a little overpowering

for the voices but it was their own voices they were over

-powering.

After a break for the raffle Sue Martello read 'The

Alternative Christmas' and then the Mixed Choir sang

two songs: Sing We Now Of Christmas, a French carol I

remember singing about forty years ago! Then they

tackled Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas. This was an

ambitious programme considering the group had only

(Continued on page 7)

Christmas Party—17th December 2015

Christmas Party Choir. Photo: Steve Wright

7

Copyright on Photographs

Please remember that you are NOT allowed to use any

photo you fancy the look of on a website, whether ours

or any other. There is still such a thing as copyright and

if the photo is not yours, or you took it without proper

permission (usually this applies in museums and the

like) you must not flout the rules about putting them on

websites. HQ has sent out a reminder about this

recently when several U3A's 'incurred a financial

penalty'. So don't do it.

had two and a half rehearsals and, where some people

might have a re-start (even in Formula One races), the

choir managed a re-end, where dissolution threatened

until Dick stopped them and did the last bit again with

much more confidence. William Salmon provided a

strong solo in this number which held the backing

voices together even through the re-end.

By now we were running short of time so the session

finished with just three carols for us all to join in. We

have acquired (we offered to pay for them but they were

gratis to us) 150 copies of the modern version of the

Bethlehem Carol Sheet. Now: I remember singing from

these about fifty-odd years ago when the print was very

tiny and would be impossible for those of us now in the

U3A. These new sheets belong to the U3A and will be

used as and when they are needed again.

First prize in the raffle was won by Julie Mills and she

chose Macmillan as the charity to receive the proceeds.

We raised £134 for them and £43-12 in the tea/coffee

donations which will be offset against the cost of hire of

the hall.

And now the best bit: Thanks. Thank you to everyone

who attended. Without you it wouldn't have worked.

Thank you for all the food; thank you to the tea ladies

who did sterling service supplying the essential caffeine

to any who were in need of it; thank you to all the

committee members who came early to set up tables

and chairs (when it came to dragging out the extras

anybody was pressed into service, even those who were

already doing other jobs) and then had to put them all

away again at the end. Thank you to all those who went

round collecting the rubbish; and to those who took

home some of the leftovers. (Talk about filling baskets

of bits after feeding the five thousand!) Particular

thanks go to Elaine, our retiring Secretary. Every time I

saw Elaine she was running around sorting something:

food, song sheets, teas, people, empties, chairs, raffles

etc. Thanks are also due to Wendy Howiantz who played

the piano for many of the musical items including the

general carols. And thanks to Vaughan for organizing

the entertainment (and the programmes and getting

hold of the carol sheets and the microphones) and who

led the 'congregational' singing with such gusto. Ed.

Music Jammers at the Christmas Party. Photo: Steve Wright

Bridge Group. Photo: Steve Wright

8

I am a new member of the Street and Glastonbury U3A

and I am very much enjoying the photography group.

One aspect of the U3A I find appealing is the sharing of

knowledge, expertise and experience. I am writing this

piece to give you information which may be of interest

to you, and which may offer new avenues for you to

explore.

Since my early retirement from teaching History I have

followed several lifelong learning courses. A chance

comment by one of my ex-students led me to MOOCs

(Massive Open Online Courses) which is a form of

flexible online learning available to everyone and is free

unless you want a certificate.

MOOCs are run by leading universities and educational

institutions. They are online so students can be

anywhere worldwide. My first encounter with MOOCs

was through an organisation called Coursera, which is

based in the US. Since then I have discovered

FutureLearn which comes under the umbrella of the

Open University. The format of these courses varies but

the idea of making short courses in an extensive range

of subjects widely available and for free is the same.

MOOCs have given me the opportunity of discovering

more about subjects with which I am familiar and

others which are quite new to me. There really is

something for everyone. My choices have included such

diverse subjects as England in the Age of Richard III,

the music of the Beatles, football, forensic science,

forensic psychology, key transitions in Hollywood

cinema, Shakespeare and his world, and Hadrian's

Wall. At the moment I am enrolled on two MOOCs, one

on antiquities trafficking and art theft, which is being

run by the University of Glasgow, and one which I am

about to start on Mindfulness through Monash

University in Australia. My husband has just finished

the first week of a MOOC on the legacy of the First

World War and he has completed several courses on

this subject since the centenary of the outbreak in 2014.

This will give you some idea of the range but if you want

to browse through all that is on offer, either in progress

or forthcoming, you can look at these links:

www.coursera.org and www.futurelearn.com

You can start by browsing them first without

registering. You will find information about each

course, often with a short introductory video. The next

step is to register with the organisation. Once registered

you can pick a course and click to enrol. You will get a

welcome email and notification when the course is

available online. Although it appears that you need to

follow a course week by week, in practice (especially

with FutureLearn) once you have enrolled and so long

as you do this while the course is in progress, you can

work at your own pace and the course remains available

to you indefinitely. It is possible to enrol on a course at

any point while it is still in progress. If you miss that,

many of the courses are repeated at a later date and you

can register to be notified. If at any point you decide

that the course isn't for you or you simply haven't the

time you can just un-enrol. These courses are free. The

only fees are if you require a Statement of Participation

(FutureLearn) or a Verified Course Certificate

(Coursera). This is for students who require proof of

attendance and completion for CVs. It is probably not

applicable to any of us.

(Continued on page 9)

Ways to learn online: Futurelearn and Coursera

Shakespeare Group One. Photo: Steve Wright

9

Online edition of the NL. I have been asked several times whether the online

edition can be presented in a single column so that you

can just read straight across. I have consulted with the

expert and the short answer is: No. That would involve

setting up the entire Layout TWICE, once for the

Electricity Supplies Western Power Distribution has launched a service to

provide practical support to vulnerable people in the

event of a power cut. The service is free and confidential

and WPD wants to know who their 'vulnerable'

customers are. This includes people who are medically

dependent (presumably on machinery of some sort) and

those who are frail or disabled. If you think you may

qualify (or you know of someone else who might) the

number to call is 0800 917 79 53. Even if you are not

sure whether you would qualify, a call to the staff at the

Priority Service Register will help you go through the

rules. It seems that less than a quarter of those who

qualify in Somerset have actually taken up the chance to

be on this priority register and it is always worth

enquiring. Ed. (Many thanks to a member for providing

this information.)

AGM Notice The AGM this year will be held on Thursday, 5th May at

10.00 at Glastonbury Town Hall. Please all make an

effort to attend: we have some important items to

discuss such as the funding for summer groups in the

next academic year. We also need to elect to the

committee the volunteers we have had (molto thanks to

both of you) to take on the jobs of Secretary and

Treasurer and we need to convert our co-opted

Publicity Man into a full committee member. You may

not know Andrew Boatswain but by now you should

have seen some of his work in the local paper and the

freebie magazines.

Group Leaders’ Meeting The meeting this year will be held on Thursday, 16th

June at 10.00 in the small hall at Glastonbury Town

Hall. Please make a note of the date and do your best to

attend. We only have the one meeting a year now and it

is important to have some face-to-face discussion about

things that have cropped up over the course of the year.

You may find it useful to talk about some of the things

you have come across with others in the same boat.

Courses usually last between 2 and 8 weeks and you will

see estimates of weekly time requirements with the

course details. However, this will very much depend on

your own preferences. Courses usually consist of

articles, short videos and sometimes audio recordings.

Plus there are opportunities for engaging in discussion

forums, posting comments, doing short exercises and

quizzes but there are no compulsory exams or tests.

Additional links are often provided if you feel like taking

things further. It is really up to you how much time and

effort you want to put in and how much or little you

want to involve yourself in the student community.

Here is another link explaining how FutureLearn

operates which you might find useful:

www.futurelearn.com/about/how-it-works

I hope that some of you may also reap the benefits of

MOOCs and find them to be a welcome addition or

complement to the excellent learning and sharing

opportunities on offer through the U3A.

Happy exploring! Joanna Cobb

ericjoanna@waitrose.com 01458 832178

NB: I spent a very happy two hours just browsing the

futurelearn site. It is very easy to use and offers a huge

range of courses for you to dip into, sample and see

whether they might suit you or not. Well worth a visit to

the site just to see what's on offer. Editor

(Continued from page 8)

Quilting Week One Group. Photo: Steve Wright

printed version and once for the online version. It takes

two to three weeks for all the technical stuff to be done

and it's just not feasible to ask our expert to do it all

twice. When would she ever have time to attend

classes??

10

1. AGM Thursday, 5th May 2016 at 10.00 in

Glastonbury Town Hall.

2. GROUP LEADERS' MEETING on Thursday 16th

June at 10.00 in the small hall at Glastonbury Town

Hall.

3. ENROLMENT DATE Thursday, 18th Aug 2016 at

10.00 Glastonbury Town Hall

4. The September term will start on Monday, 19th

September (Week One) until 28th November. Week

Two will run from 26th September until 5th

December.

5. Saturday, 9th April Visit to PORTSMOUTH OLD

NAVAL DOCKYARD. Your entry ticket covers visits

to at least ten different exhibits/displays/ships in the

dockyard and you will need the day just to look at

them let alone examine any of them in detail. There

are several cafes and picnic places. For full details of

the exhibits go to our website: u3asites.org.uk/street

-glastonbury. The coach leaves at 0800 from Avalon

Coach Yard but there will also be a pick-up outside

Glastonbury Town Hall. Return to Glastonbury

8.00pm. Cost £35 a head including entry. The ticket

will allow unlimited access for twelve months but

you can only visit each exhibit once. To book a place

call Stephen Wright 01458 442737

6. Tuesday, 17th May 2.00pm Walton Village Hall. A

talk by Pauline Kidner from SECRET WORLD

WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTRE. At 3.00pm there will

be a tea/coffee break and at 3.30pm it is planned

that Maya Carrington will give a talk on Self-Calm

and Relaxation

7. Tuesday, 7th June Visit to MAPPERTON HOUSE and

Gardens, near Beaminster, Dorset. The cost will now

be £27 a head if we can fill a coach.

8. In July we are hoping to arrange a talk by Chris

Sperring on Astronomy.

9. The big event in the autumn is the planned visit to

the SOMME BATTLEFIELD 5th -9th September

(Monday to Friday.) The cost will be £375 per person

and full details can be found on our website or you

can contact Andrew Boatswain on 01458 832195

10. We are hoping to arrange a talk on Personal Security

in October or November

11. Advance Notice of the Christmas Buffet: This will be

held on Thursday, 15th December 2016. Put it in the

diary now!

12. THE AVALON GROUP is holding a Quiz night on

Friday, 13th May at Birchfield Primary School,

Birchfield Road, Yeovil BA21 5RL. Doors open at

6.30pm (please do not arrive before this time). Quiz

will start promptly at 7pm. It should be finished by

10pm. The cost is £6 per person to include a Fish

T’ai Chi

ADVANCE MENTION of T'ai Chi taster session. We are

hoping to run two one-hour sessions on Tuesday, 24th

May at the Methodist Rooms in Glastonbury. Please

look out for further mentions and details of clothing,

shoes etc nearer the time.

Facebook

You may know (or not) that we now have our own

Facebook page where you will find events past and

future and various other items of interest including

pictures from our events. So far, only fifteen people

have signed up for this so I am giving it a mention in

case it has not yet come to your notice. Here’s the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/467804163409114/

and Chip (or alternative) Supper. Teams of up to 6

persons; a maximum of 2 teams per U3A. (Because

of space limitations we prefer that you do not bring

extra members to this event). Tea, coffee or fruit

squash will be served with supper but you may bring

your own drinks if preferred. There are a few

parking spaces in the school, but plenty of street

parking. Please DO NOT park in the doctor's surgery

car park opposite the school as they lock the gates in

the evening. NB Please let Steve Wright know by 31st

March if you are keen to field a team or be part of

one.

became a bit of a tongue-twister and it took her about

half a dozen attempts to get right to their satisfaction.

Then, all too soon, our session was over. Four days later

I received a very nice note from Andrew thanking me

for my contributions and letting me know that he had

just completed the edited programme and it would be

broadcast the following Thursday (21st January at

15:00hrs). Along with other episodes, the final

programme can still be listened to or downloaded at the

BBC Radio Four ‘Open Country’ webpage [http://

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06whswq] with my piece

starting about 14 minutes in. The art of all this is clearly

in the editing where our rather rambling discussions

can be heard distilled down into almost five minutes.

Peter Lander

PS From the editor: I have listened to this broadcast

(online) and I have to say Peter was very enthusiastic

and knowledgeable and so were the other speakers! The

editors must have had a hard time squashing all the

eagerness down into just a few minutes when they all

had so much to tell us!)

(Continued from page 5)

Dates to write on your fridge calendar

11

James Heappey

Wells's new MP, James Heappey, came to talk to us on

Friday, 15th January in Walton Village Hall. James was

half an hour late because too many people in Shepton

Mallet had come to see him at his 'surgery' that

morning. (This was the day after the announcement

that the Cider Mill was to close. People may have had

something to say about that!) And when he left, he was

running an hour late to go and talk to people in Wells.

It's a busy life being an MP.

James is quite a young man and he served some years

in the Army, in Afghanistan among other places. He

told us that it was while he was there, in 2009 when the

expenses scandals were breaking, he was inspired to

become an MP and try and do something about

people's problems. He spoke at some length about his

own CV but then he took questions. Some people asked

straightforward ones and I have to say he attempted an

answer. Obviously, if you ask him whether he can make

one of the banks stay open in Glastonbury he can only

say, I don't have that power but I can raise it in

Parliament. (That's if he's lucky in the Friday ballot

which, in fact he was: I saw him raise this very issue on

the national news a few days later.) But some people

asked long-winded questions ('portmanteau' was the

word used to me by somebody who didn't get their own

question in for lack of time), beginning with one about

the Health Service. (This was the week of the first

doctors' strike and, as he said, the BMA wasn't on good

terms with him that week.) But he made notes (in biro

directly onto his hand!) and promised to raise the

questions even if he couldn't guarantee answers or

action. But he did agree that the NHS is in a mess

which is brave for a politician. I worked in the NHS for

many years (1968 until 1988) and it wasn't in this state

then. I must say he did announce, in unequivocal

terms, that all Whitehall was interested in was Money,

whether it was the MoD and the needs of soldiers

fighting in the desert or the DHSS closing wards and

overworking not just the doctors but all the

professionals and many of the junior admin staff. It

was refreshing not to hear the usual waffle from a

politician but he has only been in the job since May so

we must wait and see whether he goes the way of the

rest and resorts to waffle because he doesn't actually

have the clout to get anything done. Ed.

Scams

We haven't had one of these for a while but they are

alive and well and going strong. These two were sent to

me by a U3A member. One that's been around for a

time is a call from someone saying they are with Avon

QUILTING FOR PLEASURE led by Lisa Payne is

doing a quilt to be raffled for Save The Children. They

have only just started the quilt so it will take a while to

complete but it is hoped that by the summer it will be

ready for raffling.

Beautiful rose by a member of the Painting for Pleasure

Group. Photo: Steve Wright

and Somerset Police and they are starting a scheme to

get youngsters off the streets. Will you help with the

funding? The short answer is NO. The police will

NEVER ask you for money. A more inventive scam

purports to be from BT saying they are going to

disconnect you because of an unpaid bill. This caller

didn't bat an eyelid even when the recipient said he was

with Virgin Media. The scammer had some answer for

that. This man with an African voice gave a very English

name and offered to prove he was from BT by

disconnecting the phone–––and he does! This is NOT a

permanent disconnection but a playing with the system:

he gives you a wrong number to dial and holds the Mute

button down so you can't do anything (can't dial out, no

dialling tone, no engaged) but he can hear you trying.

Then when you give up and put your phone down he

rings you back thus 'proving' he is from BT. THIS IS

RUBBISH. But this is not about getting CASH out of

you. It is about getting credit card details including the

security number. SO DON'T DO IT. If you owe enough

money that BT want to disconnect you THEY ARE

OBLIGED TO SEND YOU WRITTEN WARNING first.

So don't give ANYONE your card details over the phone

unless you are certain they are who you think they are.

Ed.

12

Design and layout: U3A member Geraldine Charles, www.geraldinecharles.co.uk

Printed by: Purnells 4 Print & Design, 27 Friarn Street, Bridgwater TA6 3LH

STREET & GLASTONBURY U3A

Committee members July 2015

Chairman & Stephen Wright, 12 Westacre, Street, Somerset BA16 0UG

Group Co-ordinator: 01458 442737 stephenjwright@sky.com

Vice Chairman: Mike Ellington, Farthings, High Street, Ashcott TA7 9PL

01458 210563 michaelcell@madasafish.com

Treasurer: Vaughan Williams, 2 Maple Close, Street BA16 OJD

01458 445725; 07864 596331 vwilliam08@btinternet.com

Secretary: Elaine Robertson, 17 Willow Road, Street

01458 840252 danderobertson@hotmail.co.uk

Membership Julie Hillman, 1 Brookfield Way, Street BA16 0UE

Secretary: 01458 446643 juliehillman@btinternet.com

Venues Manager: Alison Boswell, 11 Gooselade, Street BA16 0TD

01458 446265 alison11_uk@yahoo.co.uk

Newsletter: Pat Thompson, Greenloaning, West Compton, Shepton Mallet

BA4 4PD 01749 890213 pat848@btinternet.com

Publicity: Andrew Boatswain (see below)

Co-opted Andrew Boatswain, Actis House, Bere Lane, Glastonbury BA6 8BB

01458 832195, 07974 397356

Peter Griffiths, 19 The Boardwalk, Street BA16 0AJ

01458 445107 or 07765 387341 Petergriffiths70@googlemail.com

Web Manager Tony Martin, 7 Portway Crescent, Street BA16 0GR

(non-committee) 01458 841060 tony_martin@btinternet.com