Canterbury & District

September 2017

U3A Matters

The next U3A Matters issue will be in early December.

Please bring or send any brief items by 10 November to the U3A office: 8 Orange Street, Canterbury, CT1 2JA, answer phone 01227 634 569, or email them to Newsletter@U3ACanterbury.org.uk.

Office opening times are Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The office will be closed over the Christmas period, from 20 December to 4 January inclusive.

⤙ ⤙ ⤚ ⤚ The next Joining Day is Monday 27 November: 10.30 Salvation Army Hall, White Horse Lane, Canterbury.

Please contact Barbara Rogers: barbara_h_rogers@icloud.com

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Diaries

We have a small supply of U3A diaries this year at a cost of £2.50 each. They are available in the Orange Street office, and more can be ordered if required by contacting Maggie Alfrey (details on blue card).

⤙ ⤙ ⤚ ⤚ Contents

Christmas Concert ................................... 2 Kent Physics Centre Talks ................ 6 Christmas Lunches .................................. 2 SE Region Research Conference .. 7 Two Quizzes ................................................ 2 Citizens: 800 Years in the Making . 8 Day Trip .......................................................... 2 Herne Bay and Whitstable ............... 8 Short Story Competition ...................... 3 Leading a U3A Course ........................ 9 Calling all Artists ....................................... 3 Computers and All That .................... 9 Research on World War I Drama .... 3 Canterbury Festival ........................... 10 Volunteers Required .............................. 4 New South-East U3A Trustee ..... 10 Local History Talks ................................... 5 Course Vacancies ............................... 11

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Christmas Concert Friday 8 December, 2 p.m. at St Mary Bredin church

There will be contributions from all the musical Activity Groups in the Canterbury U3A, so come along and join them for what promises to be a most enjoyable event and will include mulled wine and mince pies.

Christmas Lunches

This year these will be on 1st and 6th December, as in previous years in Chartham Village Hall, with members bringing contributions so that we have a balance between savoury and sweet. Will members kindly notify Orange Street whether they are coming, on which date, and what they will be bringing?

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Two Quizzes Our annual U3A Quiz is at 2.00 for 2.15 on 8 November

St Mary Bredin church

⤙ ⤚ A Quiz Night is being organised at St Mary Bredin church on Friday 13 October at 7.15 p.m. to which members are invited, either as a team of eight or by joining a table. This gives an opportunity to meet socially and get to know other groups that run activities out of SMB.

Tickets cost £2, which includes soft drinks and nibbles. You may bring along your own alcoholic drinks, for which glasses will be provided.

To book tickets see details in the copy of the newsletter sent to you.

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Day Trip: 23 November

A gentle Christmas meander round historic Saffron Walden, followed by a leisurely drive through the ‘Essex Highlands’ before arriving at a country pub for a Christmas lunch where we are invited to linger, play games, chat or doze. There is coffee and a mince pie just before we leave. Cost: £47. See booking-form sent to you with the newsletter.

This trip can only continue if there are sufficient numbers. The September trip had to be cancelled owing to lack of interest. Any suggestions for future trips will be warmly welcomed.

Mike and Hazel Kreffer

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Short Story Competition To all Canterbury and District U3A Members. The Short Story Competition has run for two years now and in that time we have learnt lessons about how to make it a success. Thank you to all members who bravely put forward their short stories, and congratulations to the lucky ones who were identified by our judges at Canterbury Christ Church University as worthy of commendation.

To prepare and deliver the competition takes a considerable chunk of time and for this reason we would now like to move to a biennial event, so the next call for stories will be in the autumn of 2018. Please save all your writing and prepare to submit it in 2018. Remember, there is no requirement to be enrolled in a U3A writing course; the competition will be open to all.

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Calling all Artists

The Review Editorial Board would like a design for the front cover of the next edition of the magazine, to commemorate the 30th birthday of Canterbury and District U3A.

Get your brushes and paints out, you artistic members, and please send entries to Orange Street marked ‘Birthday Cover Design Competition’ by the end of November.

Please put your name and contact details in a separate envelope. Each entry can then be allocated a number only, to allow ‘blind judging’ to take place.

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Research on World War I Drama

There is a project run by the University of Kent, with whom we have a memorandum of understanding in which groups of volunteers across the UK are working on recovering lost plays which were written and performed during the First World War. You could be involved in working in archives wherever interests you, on particular playwrights, special interest topics, etc. Some groups have even enacted the plays. Training is given and all expenses will be paid. For more information please look at our research webpage: https://u3asites.org.uk/canterbury/page/71005

Rona Hodges

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Volunteers Urgently Needed We still need a volunteer who is prepared to sign equipment in and out of the Orange Street Office. The equipment, mainly laptops and projectors, must be collected and returned by the member using it, your task is simply to keep track of it all. You would not be responsible for teaching members how to use it or for arranging any repairs. Records can be kept on a spreadsheet or in a notebook, whatever suits the volunteer. Initially Maggie Alfrey will help and advise. We need YOU urgently. Please contact me on 01227 711 536 or via my email address on the blue card. Ursula Steiger

List of Equipment This list of equipment may be borrowed by tutors for their courses.

ViewSonic digital projector PJD6318 Prinz diplomat slide projector Phillips radio/cd player Large projection screen Smaller (large) table-top projection screen Celexon screen tripod Economy 158 × 118cms HDMI to HDMI black cable Apple lightning digital AV adaptor Prosound VHF wireless microphone kit

We also have two CDs: Celebration of 1,000 U3As (November 2016) and U3A Founders’ Lecture 2013: Dr Eric Midwinter.

If you wish to borrow any equipment please contact Chris Plant in the first instance who will arrange this for you. See contact details in the copy of the newsletter sent to you.

River Volunteers Required

Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership is looking for volunteers for their Our Stour project. Here are just two of the ways you can help:

River Warden. Training and support will be given, including wildlife surveying and river ranger skills. You will be given your own stretch of the river to manage.

River Conservation. You will be part of a team to work on various tasks on a regular basis.

To find out more, contact Will Hirstle, Our Stour Project Co-ordinator, Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership, tel. 03000 410900, or visit www.westgateparks.co.uk

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Five Local History Talks An omission The five Local History talks, which are now available as a free activity, are listed on page 11 in the main programme. Regrettably, what is missing is the important information that these talks have been organised by Maureen Ingram, our History Co-ordinator. The History section is thriving, thanks to Maureen’s hard work, and I apologise for this omission from the programme.

Pam McGregor, Director of Studies

A change of speaker Please note that there is a change of speaker for the first lecture on 3 November at 10.30. This will now be given by John Butler, who calls his talk ‘From Augustine to Justin: the Archiepiscopal Oscars’.

John Butler had a long and distinguished academic career at the University of Kent and he has spoken to us twice before: on ‘The Search for Becket’s Bones’ and on ‘The Stained Glass of Canterbury Cathedral’. His lectures are informative, articulate and witty, and this promises to be no exception. The lecture is based on his forthcoming book: The Archbishops of Canterbury: A Tale of Church and State, which is beautifully illustrated. He hopes to have copies (at a privileged price) available to buy after his lecture.

Maureen Ingram, History Co-ordinator

The talks are now as follows, all at Canterbury Baptist Church: 3 November John Butler From Augustine to Justin: the Archiepiscopal Oscars

10 November David Birmingham Canterbury before the Normans

17 November Joanna Labon, Chair, Marlowe Museum Project What Happened to Canterbury’s ‘Rash Boy’?

24 November Philip Lewis, Mayor of Fordwich Fordwich

1 December David Lewis More Stories from Canterbury’s Colourful Past

You do not need to apply to attend these talks but you should bring proof of your U3A membership (blue card or membership card showing your membership number) to every talk.

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2017 Kent Physics Centre Autumn Programme

All meetings will be held on Tuesday evenings at 7.30 p.m. in Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1. Further information can be obtained from Dr C. Isenberg, Tel. 01227 823 768 The lectures are sponsored by the Institute of Physics.

Tuesday 10 October: Seeing is Believing Professor Dame Julia Higgins, Imperial College, London; President Elect of the Institute of Physics This talk is on the behaviour of polymeric materials (plastics and rubbers) with the help of neutron scattering.

Tuesday 24 October: Wind Farms Mr Rupert Berryman, Retired Royal Naval Engineer The talk will describe the construction of an early onshore wind farm and the subsequent development of offshore wind farms.

Tuesday 7 November: From the Big Bang to Fermat’s Last Theorem Dr Simon Singh, Author and TV Personality A whistle-stop tour through the best-selling books that Dr Singh has written over the last two decades.

Tuesday 28 November: Astrobiology: Exploring the Origins of Life Professor Nigel Mason, The Open University How this field is developing and some of the exciting results that are emerging.

Tuesday 5 December: Spacecraft I have Known and Loved Professor John Zarnecki, The Open University; President of the Royal Astronomical Society A scientific and personal account of his 35-year career in space research.

Tuesday 12 December: Rutherford and Rosetta—Two Explorers of the Unknown Professor John F. J. Todd, School of Physical Sciences, University of Kent A look at Rutherford’s principal achievements, followed by a brief survey of certain aspects of the Rosetta mission as a means of comparing and contrasting these two examples of scientific exploration.

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South East Region U3A Research Conference

Royal Holloway, 5 July 2017

This was an opportunity for U3A researchers and university collaborators to share information about their projects and encourage the development of research groups, shared learning projects and regional research networks.

As was only to be expected, Rona Hodges, the Canterbury Research Group and their University of Kent collaborators were prominent, presentations including ‘Research Ethics’, ‘Interviewing End of Life Patients at a Hospice’, and two on aspects of memory.

Projects described by other U3A groups and SLPs ranged from ‘Bumble Bees’ to ‘The Effect on the People of Portsmouth of the Battle of Jutland’. Dr Matthew Smith of Royal Holloway, an organiser of the conference, talked about the project ‘Citizens 800’ which explores ‘the history of liberty, protest rebellion and reform from Magna Carta to the suffragettes and beyond’. I joined a workshop on Archival Research.

I was struck by the emphasis on two themes among others. One was the potential for U3A collaboration with universities which goes beyond merely providing ‘guinea pigs’ into consultation and cooperation. The other was the importance of articles, exhibitions, presentations and so on in sharing the results of U3A research with local, regional and even national communities. The Thames Valley network’s work on historic footpaths has resulted in the publication by a Parish Council of a booklet of walks.

U3A’s National Research sub-Committee has produced ‘Getting Involved in Research’, a guide for members, Research Ambassadors and Co-ordinators. This booklet and the regional conference represent a drive to encourage and develop U3A research activity, which was seen by its founders as a vital element of our movement.

Stewart Miller

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Citizens: 800 Years in the Making the History of England’s Journey from Serfdom to

Democracy and Equality

On 5 July, at U3A’s SE Region Research Conference, Dr Matthew Smith of Royal Holloway University outlined this fascinating project. His objective is to establish an educational website for the use of students and teachers, and he is looking for volunteers to undertake research into ‘the history of liberty, protest, power and rebellion from Magna Carta to the suffragettes and beyond’, covering the role of local people and local struggles as well as more prominent national issues. Material resulting from the research will be condensed into articles for inclusion on the website, the original unabridged findings being deposited with local museums or archives. It is envisaged that short videos will be produced where appropriate. There is already a link on the website to an animated video of local interest, concerning the Battle of Sandwich in August 1217.

Dr Smith’s approach to this Shared Learning Partnership is flexible; he welcomes research by U3A groups and by individual U3A members, with or without the help of local museums, etc. His team will be able to offer advice as to which institutions might be of assistance in providing source material. The website, www.Citizens800.org, has a link on its homepage to a U3A section.

If you have a relevant topic that you’re keen to research, on your own or within a group, or you want to discuss the project, then please contact Lesley Griffiths who is liaising with Dr Smith and with Jennifer Anning, the U3A National Co-ordinator of SLPs, regarding the project. Contact details are in the copy of the newsletter sent out to you.

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News from Herne Bay and Whitstable

The final session of the year of Swimming in the Sea in Seasalter will take place on 6 October at 1.30. Please call Sheila Miller if you wish to know more. The next lunch will be held at The Ship on Herne Bay sea-front on 16 October. Please call Pat Barrett on if you would like to go.

Contact details are in the copy of the newsletter sent out to you. Carol Appleyard

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Workshop Leading a U3A Session or Course and Sharing Learning

Tuesday 17 October 1.30–4.30. St Mary Bredin, Canterbury

Come along to this half-day workshop and find out how you can share your bright ideas and knowledge/skills with others. The aim of this workshop is to encourage more leaders of groups/sessions to come forward and to support them in doing this.

Please contact me directly if interested and we can have an informal chat. Email: DirectorOfStudies@U3ACanterbury.org.uk

Pam McGregor, Director of Studies

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Computers and all that sort of stuff

Most members will make some use of what is generally called information technology, but is Canterbury U3A doing enough for you in this area? We have a very small number of courses and perhaps need more, but what sort of courses would be useful: beginners’ courses, courses on less common topics, or perhaps to find out more about how computers (or similar devices) work?

However, more courses may not be the whole answer if all you need is occasional help that you can’t get anywhere else. A new social group (or groups) might enable members to help each other solve problems even though the group contains no actual experts. Would you just like to chat with other enthusiasts about your favourite IT topic?

None of these will happen unless we can identify a need for it, so please email InformationTechnology@U3ACanterbury.org.uk with any comments, queries, suggestions or just an expression of interest and I will keep you informed about the results of this request.

How we might manage to satisfy these needs is of course another question. Not every member with competence in some area of IT would be willing to offer to run a course, but if you would be willing to offer help, perhaps in an occasional one-to-one meeting for example, please let me know at the above address. Obviously I would also like to know if you may be willing to run a course and I would be glad to discuss that possibility or help planning the course. If you have no access to email you can write to me at the Orange Street office.

Fred Cole, IT Co-ordinator

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Canterbury Festival: 14 October–4 November 2017

Highlights that may be of particular interest to those on U3A courses include:

Talks for the Enquiring Mind David Lough: Churchill and Trump; birds of a feather? A N Wilson: The Queen; James Alexander-Sinclair: Thirty Years in Gardens; Paul Atterbury: The Story of the Poster; Nicholas Crane: The Making of the British Landscape; Andrew Thorns: The Art of Dying Well; and Adam Rutherford: A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived.

For the Musically Inclined St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra; Oz Clarke and the Armonico Consort & Baroque Players; Jacqui Dankworth and Craig Ogden; Harvey and the New Wallbangers; and Emma Johnson and Friends.

And don’t forget … … to visit the wonderful Tapestry of Light: Intersections of Illuminations exhibition in the Cathedral Chapter House. For more details go to www.canterburyfestival.co.uk

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National U3A Events in the Autumn

16 October: U3A Explores Science at the Ri 23 October: 1000 Years of Illumination at the British Library 14 November: Setting the Scene: Landscape Painting at the

National Gallery: For more details go to

https://u3a.org.uk/events/educational-events

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U3As in Kent Bob Duckmanton is the new Trustee for our South East region of U3A. There is also a list of all the U3As in Kent available in the office for members to view.

A rapid response team has recently been formed to post out information previously only sent to those members on email.

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Course vacancies at 6 September

The courses below are detailed in the 2017 Main Programme, and each has at least one vacancy as of 6 September. To apply for one of these courses, please notify the Courses Administration Team:

by email at Courses@U3ACanterbury.org.uk or by post to U3A Courses, 8 Orange Street, Canterbury, CT1 2JA. or leave a message on 01227 634569.

ID Course

A102 A French Perspective (1600–1870)

A112 Michelangelo

A122 Art in the Nineteenth Century

A126 Why Does it Look Like That?

B134 Christmas Tree Decorations

B136 Practical Art/Craft 1

B138 Practical Art/Craft 2

B144 Patchwork

B158 Herne Bay & Whitstable Green Fingers

B160 Flowers on a Budget

B166 Costume Jewellery 1

B168 Costume Jewellery 2

B172 Beads and Banter

B176 Basic Clay Modelling Techniques for Use with Children

C200 A History of English Monasticism

C232 The King’s Little Port

C234 The Ancient Maya

C904 Archæology of Ancient Turkey

C914 The Second Chindit Expedition 1944

C926 Canterbury in the Eighteenth Century

D256 Learning to use Excel 1

D258 Learning to use Excel 2

E320 Improve your German (Intermediate)

E326 Brush up your German

E330 Intermediate Level Latin

E334 Intermediate Italian

E338 Further Italian 2

E344 Advanced Latin Reading Group

F400 Church and Churches: A Betjeman Point of View

F402 Reading the plays of Michael James Gould

F476 James Joyce—Ulysses

G502 Circle Dancing 1

G504 Circle Dancing 2

G530 Chi Kung and Tai Chi 1

G532 Chi Kung & Tai Chi 2

H548 Intermediate Recorders

H552 Singing for Pleasure

H554 Beginners’ Recorders

H556 Recorder Ensemble

H560 Ukulele Group

H562 Ukulele Finger-Picking Group

H574 Desert Island Discs

H588 Reading Music for Improvers

K638 Child Language Acquisition

K646 Sources, Distribution and Consequence of Power.

K648 Elections in 2017

K662 Money Matters

K664 Jordan—Reinforcing bars, red rocks and Romans

K668 Not the Hanging Gardens of Babylon