Croxley Chronicles no. 3 July 2020

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Well, I think it’s safe to say that our FIRST ONLINE MONTHLY MEETING on Wednesday

15th July was a RESOUNDING SUCCESS. We were delighted with our virtual attendance,

over 70 of you joined the meeting and enjoyed a very interesting, engaging and highly topical

talk on climate change delivered by Dr David Gregory who spoke with an expertise and

enthusiasm derived from his studies and subsequent time working at the Met Office. Huge

thanks to him for such an inspiring lecture; special thanks go to Daphne Stratton who

smoothly coordinated the Zoom experience for us all and of course, thanks to those of you

who took part. We very much hope that more of you will be encouraged to join us next time,

for what also promises to be a very interesting talk on osteopathy. So put the date in your

diaries: Wednesday 19th August 2pm. You will be sent a reminder with the link to the

meeting nearer the time. This meeting will end with our AGM, delayed from April – do please

try and attend so that your committee has the authority to proceed and ensure that our U3A

can continue: in these pandemic times, we need your support more than ever.

Meanwhile, lockdown has eased slightly for most of us and we’re able to get out and about rather more. Chris Hodges reports that Food and Nutrition group have been keeping in contact monthly by email but recently were able to meet – in person!! -for a socially distanced picnic in All Saints Church garden. They really enjoyed meeting as a group again, talking through the last few months, sharing experiences and hope to repeat the experience soon. Mary Kelly writes that the Gardening Group has also been keeping in touch via a regular newsletter which is emailed out every week or so. The members of the group send news about what they have been doing in their gardens, together with pictures of their lovely efforts with interesting plants and displays, and Mary then consolidates them into a newsletter. Other groups continue to ‘meet’ either by email exchanges or using Zoom: the two Play Reading Groups enjoy regular ‘performances’; Book Groups have been sharing thoughts via a combination of email and Zoom; the Poetry Groups seem to be in full ‘virtual’ swing as are the Bridge Group and Current Affairs. It’s very encouraging to hear how many of you are circumnavigating the new ‘normal’ and managing to keep in touch, it is just such a pity that there are sadly certain activities that can’t realistically be done virtually, for example, table tennis and singing!

Hoping this finds you all safe and well, and see you on Wednesday 19th August 2pm! Don’t

forget, if you are unable to attend, you can record your vote for the AGM by emailing your response to any of the committee members. All relevant documents are available on the website.

Irene Dubuis

THE PRESENT by Simon Armitage

Thank you to Mary Coulson who felt this poem would be an appropriate companion to this month’s Monthly Meeting on Climate Change. As Mary wrote: ‘The physical present of an icicle to his young daughter melts before he can give it. In the same way the world is melting and we shall eventually have nothing to pass on to the next generation.’

PLAYREADING

Audrey’s Playreading Group enjoyed our Zoom session of Last Séance, by Herb Hasler, but more than one of us felt this was a play that, more than most, would have been even more fun to have acted on stage. No surprise that the medium at the centre of the action is a fraud – well they usually are, aren’t they? – or that computer dating has been misused, but there is a surprise in store at the end. There are some ghostly noises from the wings, for which Zoom is particularly well-suited. And all members of the cast demonstrated a growing proficiency at handling the medium – Zoom that is.

Chris Jones

I shove up through the old plantation – larch

out of season, drab, drained of all greenness,

widowed princesses in moth-eaten furs –

and stumble out on the lap of the moor.

Rotten and rusted, a five-bar gate

lies felled in the mud, letting the fields escape.

Winter is late and light this year, thin snow

half puddled, sun still trapped in the earth,

sludge underfoot all the way to the ridge.

And none of the stuff that I came here to find,

except in a high nick at the valley head

where a wet, north-facing lintel of rock

has cornered and cupped enough of the wind

for running water to freeze.

Icicles:

once, I un-rooted some six-foot tusk

from the waterfall’s crystallised overhand,

lowered it down and stood it on end,

then stared

at an ice-age locked in its glassy depths,

at far hills bottled in its weird lens.

These are brittle and timid and rare,

and weep

in my gloved fist as I ferry them home.

I’d wanted to offer my daughter

a taste of the glacier, a sense of the world

being pinned in place by a diamond-like cold

at each pole. But opening up my hand

there’s nothing to pass on, nothing to hold.

Wed Aug 19th ‘Osteopathy’by Anita Singdia Anita Singadia is a local osteopath. Her talk will explain what osteopathy is, treatable conditions, and how individuals can manage their ailments taking into consideration their lifestyle, occupation and hobbies. She will also say how she came to be an osteopath and what importance she lays by it. This talk will be followed by our AGM: This will be very short: all the relevant documents are already on the website for you to inspect. The purpose of the AGM is to formally accept these and to confirm the appointment of committee members. This will be done via an online poll – very quick and easy!

Wed Sept 15th ‘The London Cage’ by Helen Fry A return visit from Helen Fry, author of many books on the second world war. Her last talk was a high light of the year when she described the special velvet glove treatment at Trent Park and Latimer house of important prisoners of war. In this second talk she describes how in WWII, behind locked doors in Kensington Palace Gardens, British Intelligence established a clandestine interrogation centre called the ‘London Cage’. It held prisoners of war who would give information in regular interrogations. Then, at the end of the war, it was transformed into the most important war crimes investigation unit outside Germany and across its threshold came the worst Nazi war criminals and perpetrators of Nazi atrocities.

Wed Oct 21st ‘From Bangladesh to Banksy’ by Pepe Martinez Pepe Martinez is a highly qualified Blue Badge Guide. He will take us on a good hour+ virtual tour of the East end of London from the Second World War to present day. This proved a fascinating talk and comes highly recommended by two local groups. Unlike walking a tour one is able to see everything close up and hear every word! There will be plenty of time for questions afterwards.

FORTHCOMING MONTHLY MEETINGS: online at 2pm

Croxley U3A Lockdown quiz 2 (Thanks to John Murphy of Herts Network U3A Answers in the next issue)

Shakespeare

1 In what month is William Shakespeare believed to have been born?

2 What is the name of the Shakespearean theatre still active in his hometown of Stratford-upon- Avon, used as a base for the Royal Shakespeare Company?

3 Name the three categories into which Shakespeare’s plays are divided.

4 Which Shakespeare play has been adapted for film the most number of times, as of 2013?

5 Which character says the line ‘A plague on both your houses’ in Romeo and Juliet?

6 From which play is this quote taken? “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?”

TV and film

1 Who played Purdey in The New Avengers?

2 In which War film did we meet The Cooler King, The Scrounger and The Forger?

3 Who are the male and female leads in the film When Harry Met Sally?

4 The Malt Shovel (or The Malt) is the lesser known pub in which soap?

5 Who was the cinematic partner of Lou Costello?

6 In which American TV series did we meet Miss Ellie?

7 Which film star was born David Daniel Kaminsky in 1911?

8 Anneka Rice and Annabel Rice famously flew in a helicopter for which TV show?

9 What sort of creature was Slowcoach in The Flowerpot Men?

Geography

1 Which river forms much of the border between Cornwall and Devon?

2 Name the cathedral in Red Square, Moscow.

3 Where is Louis Armstrong Airport?

4 Which British town did the Romans call Aqua Sulis?

5 In which English county is Hever Castle?

6 Name the capital of Jersey.

7 Where is January 10 celebrated as Margaret Thatcher Day?

8 In which American State would you find Amarillo?

Music

1 Which Vaughan Williams piece often tops Classic FM’s Hall of Fame list as Britons’ favourite music?

2 Who wrote the score for the film Oliver!?

3 Jazzman Kenny Ball was famous for playing which instrument?

4 Which PM was born first…Disraeli or Gladstone?

5 The ukulele originated in which US State?

History

1 What became Edward VIII’s title after he abdicated in 1936?

2 In which city was Terry Waites kidnapped, in 1987?

General knowledge

1 For what do the initials GCSE stand?

2 The Prince of Wales’ heraldic badge shows three white feathers from which bird?

3 Of what were Bubble Jet and Dox Matrix examples?

4 Which road sign is the only one that is octagonal in shape?

Literature

1 Who wrote Pygmalion?

3 Name the Bronte sisters’ brother.

3 For how long did Rip Van Winkle sleep?

4 Catherine Earnshaw appears in which Emily Bronte novel?

5 Who wrote the Father Brown mysteries?

6 Toad of Toad Hall is an adaptation from which book?

7 In which Roald Dahl book were people turned into mice?

CORNY CORNER

Late one night a burglar broke into a house. While he was sneaking around he heard a voice say, "Jesus is watching you." He looked around and saw nothing. He kept on creeping and again heard, "Jesus is watching you." In a dark corner, he saw a cage with a parrot inside. The burglar asked the parrot, "Was it you who said Jesus is watching me?" The parrot replied, "Yes." Relieved, the burglar asked, "What is your name?" The parrot said, "Clarence." The burglar said, "That's a stupid name for a parrot. What idiot named you ‘Clarence’?" The parrot answered, "The same idiot that named the Rottweiler ‘Jesus’."

A ‘cheeky’ link (you don’t need to speak German to understand it!) https://www.facebook.com/113196523668373/posts/134647138189978/

PUB LUNCH GROUP

I’ve been keeping in touch with the 20 members of the Weekend Pub Lunch Group by email and phone calls every month and looking forward to outdoor groups being allowed to socially distance up to-and including - 20 persons from as many households. At which point I will be suggesting a suitable day, weather forecast wise, to meet in my garden for a socially distanced picnic, bring your own picnic food, bring your own drinks, and glasses, mugs or plates & cutlery: no swapping or sharing food, no rubbish left behind, please . Chairs will be spaced out on terrace and lawn at the recommended Government distance pertaining on that day. Hand sanitizers, tissues and wipes will be available. If you change chair you must agree to wipe down arms of chair you are vacating and take your stuff with you. If you move the chair you might get distancing wrong. Chairs will be side by side rather than opposite each other. If you feel unwell on the day, please do not come! No hugging, no offering lifts to others unless both agree to wear face masks while in the enclosed space of the car, and journeys only last a few minutes. Not more than 1 driver and I passenger from another household in any car at same time. WE CAN MAKE THIS WORK! Those who are shielding and not able to come at all at present, MAY be free of restrictions by middle of August. We want to include as many as possible so we can wait until the end of July to fix a date for all who might wish to come and by then have the confidence to do just that. In the meantime stay well, look after yourselves and will hope to see you all soon, Email: vickyholbrook535@hotmail.com; Phone 01923-443036

Vicky Holbrook

How well do you remember the names of these famous PMs of their day? Answers at the end!

POETRY GROUP

This beautiful poem was sent from New Zealand. It is by Ngāti Hine/Ngāpuhi writer Nadine Anne Hura.

Rest now, e Papatūānuku (Mother earth) Breathe easy and settle Right here where you are We’ll not move upon you For awhile We’ll stop, we’ll cease We’ll slow down and stay home Draw each other close and be kind Kinder than we’ve ever been. I wish we could say we were doing it for you as much as ourselves But hei aha We’re doing it anyway It’s right. It’s time.

Time to return Time to remember Time to listen and forgive Time to withhold judgment Time to cry Time to think About others Remove our shoes Press hands to soil Sift grains between fingers

Gentle palms Time to plant Time to wait Time to notice

.

Thank you to Janet Lewis who sent in this poem via Mill Hill U3A

Back in the days of tanners and bobs, when Mothers had patience and Fathers had jobs.

Back in the days of three penny bits, when schools employed nurses to search for your nits.

Back in the days of Milligan's Goons, when butter was butter and songs all had tunes.

To whom we belong For now it’s just you And the wind And the forests and the oceans and the sky full of rain Finally, it’s raining! Ka turuturu te wai kamo o Rangi ki runga i a koe Embrace it This sacrifice of solitude we have carved out for you He iti noaiho – a small offering People always said it wasn’t possible To ground flights and stay home and stop our habits of consumption But it was It always was. We were just afraid of how much it was going to hurt – and it IS hurting and it will hurt and continue to hurt But not as much as you have been hurt. So be still now Wrap your hills around our absence Loosen the concrete belt cinched tight at your waist Rest. Breathe. Recover. Heal – And we will do the same

Back in the days of Dixon's Dock Green, Crackerjack pens and Lyons ice cream.

When snowballs were harmless; ice slides permitted and all of your jumpers were warm and

hand knitted.

When children respected what older folks said and pot was a thing you kept under your bed.

Back in the days of Listen with Mother, when neighbours were friendly and talked to each

other.

When cars were so rare you could play in the street. When Doctors made house calls and

Police walked the beat.

When football team families wore hand me down shoes and T.V. gave only two channels to

choose.

It was dumplings for dinner and trifle for tea and your annual break was a day by the sea.

When children could freely wear National Health glasses, and teachers all stood at the

FRONT of their classes.

Back in the days of rocking and reeling, when mobiles were things that you hung from the

ceiling.

When woodwork and pottery got taught in schools and everyone dreamed of a win on the

pools.

Back in the days when I was a lad, I can't help but smile for the fun that I had.

Hopscotch and roller skates; snowballs to lob. Back in the days of tanners and bobs.

‘These are the hands’ by Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen wrote this poem in 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS. It has particular resonance and poignancy for all of us this year, but particularly for Rosen himself when he fell victim to Covid19 and was on a respirator in intensive care for 48 days. He is now out of hospital and continues to make his recovery.

These are the hands

That touch us first

Feel your head

Find the pulse

And make your bed.

These are the hands

That tap your back

Test the skin

Hold your arm

Wheel the bin

Change the bulb

Fix the drip

Pour the jug

Replace your hip.

These are the hands

That fill the bath

Mop the floor

Flick the switch

Soothe the sore

Burn the swabs

Give us a jab

Throw out sharps

Design the lab.

And these are the hands

That stop the leaks

Empty the pan

Wipe the pipes

Carry the can

Clamp the veins

Make the cast

Log the dose

And touch us last.

DINGBATS (Many thanks to Geoffrey from Ware U3A! Answers at the end.

Lockdown U3A Quiz answers from July 2nd issue

(Again, many thanks to Chris Jones!)

Religion 1) Sir Thomas More 2) The Sermon on the Mount 3) The road to Damascus 4) The Pope 5) John and Charles Wesley 6) Buddha 7) St Augustine 8) Martin Luther 9) 39 10) Light of the World

History 1) Poland 2) Wat Tyler 3) Perkin Warbeck 4) General Santa Anna 5) William Gladstone 6) John Adams 7) Amritsar 8) Mary Queen of Scots 9) Gulags 10) Winston Churchill

The Human body 1) The eye 2) Blackhead 3) Humurus 4) DNA 5) Tongue 6) Hammer, anvil and stirrup 7) A stent 8) The brain

Politics 1) Hansard 2) Aneurin Bevan 3) It wasn’t 4) Ronald Reagan 5) The Bundestag 5) Perjury 7) Prayers 8) Harold Wilson

9) Sneezing 10) Patella

9) Drawn swords 10) Boris Johnson

Sport 1) Torvill and Dean 2) Romanian 3) Barry McGuigan 4) Viv Anderson 5) Faster, higher stronger 6) Kevin Moran, of Manchester United 7) Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas 8) Margaret Smith Court 9) Four 10) Ten (five each side)

British Prime Ministers: who’s who?

1. James Callaghan 6. Anthony Eden

2. Harold Wilson 7. Clement Attlee

3. Edward (Ted) Heath 8. Neville Chamberlain

4. Alec Douglas-Home 9. Stanley Baldwin

5. Harold Macmillan 10. (James) Ramsay MacDonald

DINGBATS Answers

1. Misunderstanding.

2. Two little too late.

3. White elephant.

4. Forgive and forget.

5. A score to settle.

6. An afterthought.

7. Half baked.

8. See eye to eye.

9. All in a day’s work.

10. On second thoughts

11. Anyone for tennis.

12. Paradox.