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Issue No. 70 January 2020
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SOMERTON U3A COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2018-19
Judi Powell Chairman 01458 250280
David Harrison Treasurer/Deputy Chair 01458 273177
Kay Williamson Secretary 01458 448694
Joan Banbury Membership Secretary 01458 272803
Valerie Taylor Groups Organiser 01458 252071
David Robins Programme Secretary 01458 273933
Marilyn Muffe1 Welfare 01458 899773
Julie Hopkins Assistant Groups Organiser 01458 898279
Laurence Reeves 01458 274550
John Rickard 01458 270887
Maggie Beeson Ex officio Refreshments Organiser
THE PUBLICATIONS TEAM
Kay Williamson Joint Editor 01458 448694
Mike Davis Joint Editor 01458 252554
Steve Davis Webmaster 01458 273570
Malcolm Gardner Printer 01458 272516
Leslie Clarke Reporter/Proof Reader 01458 272625
Paul Muffe1 Distribu9on 01458 899773
Nancy Schooling Proof Reader 01458 273859
Doug Skillicorn Technician 01458 250145
Viv Winterburn Proof Reader 01458 252709
THE DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE IS: 15 March 2020
Email your contribu9ons to [email protected]
or contact any of the team above
Would you like an audio tape of The Magazine?
If so please contact anyone on the Publica5ons Team
and we will arrange it for you.
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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Welcome to 2020 … what a wonderful date! But first, let’s
not forget 2019. Just a few highlights: the Group
Leaders Lunch and the new documented Guide for Group
Leaders; the Study Days; our new Cons9tu9on and new
members of the Commi1ee … we s9ll need YOU to join us
and give your con9nued support for local good causes and
chari9es. Did you take part in “ Name the Puppy” for the
CHSW? Further details on page 10.
I was so pleased so see so many of you at the Christmas Lunch and to enjoy the
Somer Singers who entertained us with their unique sound.
I am quite sure that the Somerton jungle drums have already relayed this
message, but in case you have not heard, Denise Clarke has decided to re9re as
Editor of the Magazine ... I cannot think why! She will be greatly missed by the
Publica9ons team and personally I cannot thank her enough for all her efforts and
constant emails hounding me for my monthly report!
We have a number of new groups established and you can read about them on
the following pages or visit the Somerton U3A website. However, another group
Is looking for a new Leader. I have reluctantly accepted that Jane Redgrove wishes
to stand down from the Holiday Travel Group. Many of you regularly enjoyed
these weeks away and unless someone steps up to the challenge of organising
them, we will be the losers.
So what do we have to look forward to in 2020?
Na5onal U3A Day June 3rd: You will make this the success it deserves. We will
need your various skills, your enthusiasm, your friendliness and willingness to
engage with new members. I will be looking to book venues in Somerton, the
Bu1ercross, the Library etc. There will be lots to do and opportuni9es to be part
of the team. More details to follow but do put this date in your diary and enjoy
the Day.
The Commi1ee and some Group Leaders recently received an overview of
the U3A Beacon Management System; this will not only assist with GDPR
requirements for privacy but help group leaders and officers of the commi1ee.
Importantly it will help our U3A become more environmentally greener. Details
are on page 12 and more will follow in the coming months.
Finally, just to wish you and your families a very healthy and happy New Year
from the Commi1ee. Judi
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What will you be doing on U3A Day?
The very first na9onal U3A Day – celebra9ng the learning, ac9vity and fun
that happens every day in U3As across the country – will take place on
Wednesday 3 June 2020.
Each U3A is invited to mark the day by showcasing what they do – from
displays, parades, flashmobs or performances – the day will show all the
learning, ac9vi9es and fun that make the movement so amazing.
Coordina9ng the day, Regional Trustee, Sue Stokes, said, “We are so
excited that from now on, every year, there will be a day dedicated to
learning, staying ac9ve and having fun in your Third Age - that’s people
who are re9red, semi-re9red or no longer bringing up a family. We hope
this day will help to challenge nega9ve percep9ons of older adults and
will bring together all Third Agers in the community to learn about the
contribu9on U3A makes to the quality of life for re9red people.”
We need you to get involved with the planning and assis9ng on the Day.
Please speak to your Group Leader or any Commi1ee member as we need
to set up a working team. We need your skills to help us celebrate
everything Somerton U3A does and what we can do in the future to
encourage the Learning, Laughing and Living … Longer!
If you are not currently a U3A member, we’d love you to come along to a
local U3A event and help us celebrate the new experiences and fun we
are having in the third stage of our lives. And if you want to get involved
but you are not yet a member – why not consider joining? You can find
more from: www.U3Asites.org.uk/somerton
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THE MGM MUSICAL STORY: TERRY MERRETT-SMITH -27 September 2019
What a great morning at the U3A mee9ng on Friday 27 September which
coincided with the Macmillan Coffee Morning Appeal. So, tea/coffee and cakes all
round (kindly donated by our generous members) with the extra bonus of being
able to take part in compe99ons, and a superb raffle all in aid of raising funds for
such a worthwhile cause.
We were then treated to a return of a very popular speaker, Terry Merre1-Smith,
who took us on a wonderful nostalgia trip of the MGM Studios. Terry has been an
avid collector of vinyl records since he was seven years old and has over 7,000 in
his collec9on most of which are the old 78s.
Terry's talk today centred round MGM
musicals. MGM Studios which started
as Metro Pictures in the 1920s,
merged with Goldwyn Pictures and
Louis B Mayer Pictures in the 1930s,
when they were producing two
musicals a year. It is this wonderful era
of musical films that we were given
snippets of, star9ng with the first
musical film made by MGM in 1939 -
“The Wizard of Oz”, starring Judy
Garland, featured a film clip of the beau9ful song, “Somewhere Over the
Rainbow” then “Follow The Yellow Brick Road”. Moving into the 1950s another
early Judy Garland film was “Meet Me in St Louis”, with “The Trolley” song.
Terry gave us a li1le insight into the sad upbringing that “Judy Garland” had. Born
Ethel Gumm, her mother soon realised her talent and groomed her daughter for
the film industry by giving her drugs to keep her awake night and day so that she
could work endlessly. Hence her very sad personal life.
We were shown clips from “Annie Get Your Gun”, with Howard Keel and Be1y
Hu1on - the famous “Anything You Can Do” song. We then moved on to “An
American in Paris” with Gene Kelly and co stars Lesley Caron and Georges
Guetary. And, of course, Gene Kelly in the fantas9c “Singing in the Rain” with the
famous rain dance, together with a clip featuring co-stars Debbie Reynolds and
Donald O'Connor singing and dancing to “Good Morning”. Apparently, although
Gene Kelly was quite ill on the day he shot the rain dance, to get the right effect
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milky water was used so that it showed up
be1er on screen. No chance of a day off in
those days.
Other classics we were treated to included
“Showboat” with Kathryn Grayson, Ava
Gardner, Howard Keel and William Warfield
singing “Old Man River”; and “The Student
Prince”, with Edmund Purdom who mimed
to a previously recorded soundtrack by
Mario Lanza, who should have starred in the rôle but fell out with the studio.
Who can forget “Seven Brides for Seven
Brothers”, again with Howard Keel and Jane
Powell? Then there was “High Society” with
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly.
There were a few 9ssues out when the
roman9c “True Love” was shown. Terry also
pointed out a small con9nuity error where
Bing and Frank swapped champagne glasses
in the “Swell Party” clip.
It has since been reported that a certain lady,
who will remain nameless, said, “I did enjoy
the talk yesterday – it reminded me of all the
boy friends I saw those films with too.”
It's hard to believe these truly amazing films were produced so long ago; the
colours were dazzling and the stories took us into an age of romance and
entertainment, with beau9ful and 9meless music, and stunning choreography,
executed by mul9-talented singers and dancers. True stars.
As someone commented, "They don't make films like that any more." I think we
all felt a twinge of nostalgia for what seemed simpler and kinder entertainment.
But 9me moves on and Terry finished his talk with the words of Irvine Berlin,
spoken by an ageing Gene Kelly: "The song is ended but the melody lingers on."
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MEMBER PROFILE : STEVE DAVIS
My introduc9on to U3A was at Bushy Police
Sports Club around 2001. I had been booked to
talk to a U3A Group about ‘The History & Work
of the Thames River Police’, a subject I had been
talking about for several years since being
persuaded by a neighbour to talk to her
Townswomen’s Guild. I understood about the
TWG but knew nothing about U3A. It was
explained to me and one of the members
suggested I might join when I re9red? Hah!
Life for me began in 1952 and I spent a very happy childhood growing up
in CaXord, south east London with my parents and older sister. My
schooling was spectacularly uninteres9ng, and I a1ended the local Primary
& Junior School, Sandhurst Road - which had the sad history of being
targeted by a lone bomber during the war. This was followed by the local
Comprehensive School, a fairly new concept. The saving grace for me was
that the school had just started teaching the sport of Fencing, which I
embraced extremely enthusias9cally. The Fencing Team would compete
against other schools but the only schools that taught Fencing in the
1960’s were ‘public’ schools so we found ourselves touring around all the
public schools in London and the Home Coun9es which was certainly an
eye opener and actually made me appreciate what I had!
From an early age my ambi9on was to join the Police. Moulded, possibly,
by my Grandmother constantly saying, ‘Isn’t Stephen tall, he would make
a Policeman?’ (she was shrinking) and the ritual of watching Dixon of Dock
Green every Saturday. I applied to join the Metropolitan Police Cadets in
1968. AYer successfully passing the entrance exam, interview and medical
which consisted of standing naked and touching your toes (no, I don’t
know either!) I joined in January 1969. So began an amazing 2½ years
where I became the most physically fit I would ever be, gained extra ‘O’
Levels and make friendships that have lasted since then. The Cadets at the
9me was a huge organisa9on taking in 200 boys at a 9me. AYer 9 months
at Hendon I went onto ‘Phase 2’ at the training establishment at Ashford,
Kent for a year before going onto ‘3rd Phase’ where Cadets would now be
on a1achment to a Police Sta9on un9l they reached 19 years of age and
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sworn into the Force as a Police Constable. I was posted to Norwood
Cadet Centre and worked at Streatham Police Sta9on which suited me fine
as I was back near my roots. On the Monday following my 19th
birthday I
was sworn in and started my 16 weeks training at Hendon.
My first pos9ng was to Marylebone Lane in the West End. An extremely
busy sta9on and, living in the local Sec9on House, a very enjoyable 9me
was had! In 1974 I moved out to Ealing when I got married. It wasn’t what
you might call a ‘whirlwind romance’ as I had known Mary since I was 5
and we had gone out on our first date alone together when I was 12! I’m
sure we can’t be the only couple to be in the same Primary School photo
can we? By the 9me our third child was born we were living in Wembley
and I was working on the Diploma9c Protec9on Group. My 9me there was
made more exci9ng with the Iranian Siege followed by the Libyan Siege
and s9nts in Downing Street but as 9me went on I got a bit 9red of
motorbikes and guns and another stroke of fortune came my way when a
colleague of mine joined ‘Thames Division’ and I went down for a trip out
one day. I was hooked! In 1990 I transferred to Thames Division where,
over the next year, I was taught boat handling, naviga9on, Mari9me Law
and awarded my Boatmaster’s Licence - at the taxpayers’ expense!
While on ‘Thames’ I started giving talks, which helped me raise money for
the local Hospice that I had become involved with many years earlier and
that brings me full circle to the beginning of all this, talking to U3A!
In 2004 I re9red and Mary and I moved to Somerton. We found there was
a U3A and joined straight away. We were made very welcome by the
Chairman, Colin Conway, and I led the Walking Group for 10 years aYer
Glennis Dix ‘re9red’. I joined the commi1ee under Colin’s Chairmanship,
did a 9me as Groups Organiser and became Vice Chair to Roy Sanders.
AYer that I was privileged to be Chairman for what was a very enjoyable 3
years. Mary and I have con9nued in U3A but nearly 6 years ago I took up
part 9me work as an Ambulance Care Assistant and Mary has been more
involved with her charity work but I am looking forward to my 2nd
re9rement and discovering Somerton U3A all over again!
Every calendar's days are numbered
Page 9
NOT FOR KING AND COUNTRY - Kathy McNally - Friday 25 October 2019
The Duke of Windsor and Mrs Wallis
Simpson, the prince who gave up a
kingdom, and divorced American woman
with seemingly li1le beauty, wealth or
talent. Star–crossed lovers? Historian,
Kathy McNully, is in no doubt that they
were as bad as each other in their amoral
behaviour. There have been many books,
films and documentaries about the
couple in the eighty years since the Abdica9on happened. Certainly the release
of private le1ers and papers have helped historians to try to understand be1er
the mo9va9ons on both sides that caused such a major event that changed the
course of history.
In the 1930s the Prince of Wales was regarded as one of the most eligible
bachelors in the world, with boyish good looks, an easy charm and as a hero
having served in the First World War. What the Bri9sh public did not know was
that the Prince was a dissolute playboy with a penchant for nightclubs and
affairs with married women. His parents, King George V and Queen Mary, had
rigorously built up a reputa9on of the Royal Family as one of moral rec9tude
and devoted service and duty to the Crown. Having seen so many of the
crowned monarchs of Europe, many close rela9ves, deposed and even
murdered aYer the First World War, the royal couple thought it vital for the
survival of the Bri9sh Royal Family that they must earn the love and respect of
the Bri9sh people.
To see their eldest son David, the heir to the Bri9sh throne and Empire, in his
thir9es, neglec9ng his du9es, leading a dissolute life and making no a1empt to
find a suitable bride, must have caused the King and Queen much heartache.
They regarded Wallis Simpson, a brash American already married to her second
husband, as an adventuress on the make. Le1ers wri1en by Wallis and seen by
Kathy McNully show that Wallis’s impecunious beginnings greatly influenced her
a\tudes towards money. In one le1er, Wallis implores her Aunt Bessie to visit
her in England, urging her to take the speedier liner but not offering to make up
the difference in the cost of the slower ship. Certainly at this stage Wallis was
not only the wife of prosperous businessman, Ernest Simpson, but as the
Prince’s mistress was in receipt of an annual allowance from him of £100,000 -
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£7 million in today’s money! Also, the beso1ed Prince showered Wallis with
several millions pounds worth of jewellery.
The Duke of Windsor, as he became aYer the Abdica9on, also had a venal a\tude
where money was concerned. AYer he complained to his brother, who was now
King George V1, that the annual allowance awarded by the Bri9sh Government
was not enough, Ber9e very generously gave him money from his own Civil List
allowance. Not un9l some 9me later did the King find out that David had been
receiving millions of pounds from the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster as well.
Far more serious than an affair with a
married woman was the Prince’s perceived
a\tude to Germany, the rise of the Nazi
Party and Hitler. The Government stopped
short of accusing the couple of spying but
there must have been a collec9ve sigh of
relief when the Prince decided to abdicate
in favour of his brother Ber9e, happily
married to the daughter of a Sco\sh earl
with two young daughters.
The Prince of Wales’ niece, Elizabeth, has been Queen of the United Kingdom for
over sixty years and is one of the most admired people on the planet so maybe
everything turned out for the best. For the full report please go to the website
www.u3asites.org.uk/somerton.
NAME THE PUPPY
Our thanks to Jane and Doug Skillicorn who kindly donated this
wonderful giY. Our first thoughts were the Children’s Hospice
South West at Charlton Farm, Wraxall. Adrian and Kay Zielonka,
who are official fundraisers for the charity, were contacted and
they in turn contacted Emma at the Hospice. She was incredibly
grateful to us for thinking of them. The compe99on to Name the
Puppy raised £170.07 and Judi Powell chose the winning name:
Harry. He has travelled to the Hospice and was a great success
with the children who were overwhelmed with Harry’s size and
friendliness! Let’s hope he has cheered up a bit since arriving there - he looks so sad!
Please look on the website www.u3asites.org.uk/somerton to see the thank you le)er
wri)en and illustrated by the children at the Hospice.
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EVENING READERS GROUP
It’s becoming a rather nice tradi9on. The Evening Readers choose a
des9na9on we would all like to visit, and then a classic novel that 9es in to
provide a wonderful excuse for an ou9ng. This year it was Anthony
Trollope’s “The Warden” set in the fic9onal city of Barchester, which is in
reality Salisbury.
For several of us it was not only a first a1empt at reading Trollope (which
we regre1ed having leY so late as it is an enjoyable book covering many
modern moral dilemmas), but also our first visit to the Cathedral Close and
Salisbury cathedral.
On a gloriously sunny morning we met
and independently toured the Cathedral
Close, dazzling in autumn colours. The
Close surprised many of us with its
elegant layout, the array of interes9ng
houses and museums to visit, and a
beau9ful walk. Far larger than we
imagined in “The Warden”! AYer lunch
at The Refectory Café we had an
outstanding tour of the Cathedral. Every
so oYen you have the good luck to have
a guide that brings the personal and
social history of a building to life, and we
had the good fortune to have one of
those. Couple that with a chance to see
one of the four copies of Magna Carta
(which the group had already seen on a
previous visit to The Bri9sh Library) and
there is enough to fill a day.
Julie Hopkins was the star of the group
who organised both the trip and
ourselves: she may have her work cut
out as our current book is “Last Le1er
from Istanbul”! Now that would make
for an interes9ng visit……..
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U3A BEACON
On Monday 25 November, Stephen Shipley, from Crewkerne U3A, came to the
Parish Rooms to talk to the Commi1ee and some of the Publica9ons Team about
Beacon, the membership management system devised by members of the U3A
for the U3A. It allows any U3A to manage their data and communicate with their
members easily and efficiently and can be a huge 9me saver for those who
manage membership and group informa9on. It ensures that the U3As that use it
comply with all the legal requirements of GDPR.
Here is how Beacon provides individual U3As with a secure, efficient and effec9ve
means of managing their day-to-day business func9ons.
• provides a comprehensive set of tools for handling membership: new
members, renewals, subscrip9ons, address changes, membership cards and
communica9ons.
• groups are the heart of a U3A, and Beacon provides group leaders with
membership management, calendars, group ledgers, and easy
communica9on with group members.
• financial management is based on a secure, simple transac9on approach.
Every transac9on can be assigned to individuals, groups and categories, and
the system provides tools for reconcilia9on with bank accounts and regular
repor9ng.
• all data is together, secure and held in just one place.
• can be accessed by chosen authorised users, usually officers and group
leaders, each with their own “individual permissions” to do just what they
need to do.
• if so chosen, Beacon can be accessed by members - who enter personal
logins to use various func9ons.
• security, no duplica9on, on-line payments, joined-up func9onality, less
work and more accuracy.
The Commi1ee is currently thinking about adop9ng this scheme. Stephen
suggested that a Communica9ons Officer could be used to contact those
members who do not have email, by phone or le1er, thus ensuring that everyone
in the Somerton U3A would receive communica9ons direct rather than leaving it
to the group leaders to pass things on. There are other branches within the
Avalon group who already use Beacon and there is a a good support team locally
who would be able to assist.
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This is my last magazine as Editor. I have enjoyed
working with the rest of the team over the past 8 years
since Steve Davis, then Chairman, twisted my arm to
take over from Gill Pentelow and John Keep who were
re9ring.
It is 9me to hand over to someone with new ideas and
different views. Kay Williamson and Mike Davis are
taking on this task and most of the rest of the team will
be the same.
Before I go I would like to urge you to send in your contribu9ons to Kay for the
magazine and Steve for the website. These are run for the benefit of you, the
members, but unless we have the informa9on from you we cannot use it!
Maybe you feel that you don’t want to adver9se what fun you have in your
par9cular groups as other people may want to join in! Well, the answer to that
is, let them know what a great 9me you all have and if you have no room for
them, help them to form a group of their own.
I’d like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone for the beau9ful bouquet
of flowers presented to me at the Christmas lunch on Friday 6 December 2019.
Denise Denise Denise Denise
REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE : SUNDAY 10 NOV 2019 : David Robins
St Michaels church was burs9ng at the seams, with all the
members of the parade. They represented many of the
organisa9ons of Somerton. Par9cularly pleasing was to see
the dozens of children si\ng on the floor at the front of
the church. The congrega9on was then augmented by an
enormous crowd wai9ng at the memorial statue outside
at the market square. The Reverend Alan Symonds
con9nued the Remembrance service there, and the
numbers of wreaths can be seen. As usual, at exactly
11.02am we were treated to the tradi9onal aircraY flypast
which, perfectly 9med, broke the two minutes silence. I had the great pleasure of
laying the wreath on behalf of the U3A. A dona9on of £58.15 collected at the
Friday U3A mee9ng in October, was given to the Royal Bri9sh Legion. My dad,
bless him, was a Halifax bomber pilot during WW2 who survived to relate many
stories to me as a young boy. However, many things were not spoken about, and
it was only years aYer his death that my mum (now 97 years old) filled me in on
dad’s war 9me exploits. But that’s another story……
Page 14
BEHIND THE SCENES AT BLUE PETER : Alex Leger 22 Nov 2019
On gradua9ng from university, Alex joined the
army which he enjoyed. However, he re9red
at 25 and, on seeing an adver9sement for an
industrial engineer at the BBC, he applied for
the job and was granted an interview - and
the job. Other vacancies were adver9sed on
the BBC internal no9ce boards and he applied
for about 18 of them! He eventually went to work on Blue Peter with Biddy
Baxter, John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves. Biddy Baxter was the
producer and would take home a large bag of newspaper cu\ngs each night to
work out possible running orders for the programmes. She was very good at it.
At the end of six months one of the produc9on assistants went to work on a new
programme: The Mul9 Coloured Swap Shop, leaving a vacancy which Alex filled.
He found that direc9ng a studio, although stressful, was similar to flying a plane,
which he could do, so he got on quite well.
One of his projects was to take a film crew to
Trafalgar Square to see why large ladders had
been erected up Nelson’s Column. This was
to clean up the pigeon droppings. He then
made a film about it with John Noakes but
was concerned to discover that the lead
cameraman was a rather portly, elderly
gentleman. Luckily the other cameraman was
a rock climber and willing to be lead for that
project. A cherry picker was hired but at the
top of the column, a ladder leant backwards
to reach the plaXorm. John didn’t wear a
safety harness or a hard hat! Unfortunately, just as John nego9ated the climb his
microphone was whipped away by the wind and the recording was spoilt - so Alex
had to ask him to do it again! He was very impressed with John’s professionalism
and bravery.
Another assignment was to go and film Mount Etna which was erup9ng. Biddy
Baxter didn’t want to have to pay for the flight or accommoda9on so Alex
arranged it with the Italian tourism board. He booked five 9ckets but they had so
much equipment in the way of cameras and sound recordings that they had
trouble with excess baggage. However, he nego9ated a deal with the Bri9sh
Airways crew in exchange for some Blue Peter badges!
Page 15
It is apparently very propi9ous to get
married when Etna erupts and the crew
found it very difficult to get breakfast as
so many weddings were going on. They
managed to film quite a lot of lava flows
from the face and Simon Groom was the
presenter. In those days, a script was
wri1en away from the ac9on and the
presenter had to use it. However, Alex
realised that what they could see bore no
resemblance to the script and asked Simon to use his own words - which he did
to great effect. Alex learnt to be passionate about his work and try new ways
of doing things.
In the 1990s a new director general of the
BBC was appointed. He brought in mul9-
skilling and new technology. Lightweight
cameras which could be carried on the
cameraman’s back were introduced which
was extremely useful in jungle areas.
These changes meant that the presenter
could also be the cameraman and commentator cu\ng down on 9me.
One of the later presenters, Janet Ellis, wanted to do a free fall parachute jump
- only one - but she actually had to do 60. On one, she landed awkwardly and
broke her hip. Not realizing, she actually managed to get into her car and drive
back to London. Only to find she couldn’t get out and an ambulance had to be
called so she could be removed and taken to hospital.
Alex then showed us a clip of Simon doing a free fall. He had been filmed in the
aeroplane saying he was so scared aYer one of the chutes on a previous jump
had started to split. The professionals encouraged him to jump and he
managed successfully. The film eventually became about him overcoming his
fear which evoked a great response from the public because they could
understand him. However, when he later felt he could a1empt another jump -
no one seemed interested! So life isn't always about winning.
The Blue Peter flag is lowered when a ship leaves port - the name
of the programme was chosen to indicate that each was a voyage
of discovery.
Page 16
EVENTS
(All to take place in the Edgar Community Hall on the fourth Friday of each
month, commencing at 10am unless otherwise stated)
More details on www.U3Asites.org.uk/somerton
28 Feb 2020 Richard Grundy tells us of the “Splendid Isola9on of Tristan
da Cuhna” The talk will give an introduc9on to the island’s
wildlife, history and the way of life of its people. Tristan da
Cunha is the world’s most isolated inhabited island, home
to fewer than 250 islanders who all farmers and rely on a
flourishing fishing industry which provides their main
income. Tristan is an ac9ve volcano, last erup9ng in 2004
and famous for the 1961 erup9on which forced its
popula9on to evacuate to the UK.
27 Mar 2020 A representa9ve from the RNIB (Royal Na9onal Ins9tute of
Blind People) will talk to us celebra9ng 150 years of crea9ng
change for blind and par9ally sighted people.
24 Apr 2020 Bonny Sar9n was for 50 years a member of the Dorset folk
band ‘The Ye\es’. The band re9red in April 2011 and since
then he has con9nued entertaining various organisa9ons
with a mix of historical talks, poems, readings and songs,
mainly with a Dorset bias.
TEA AND COFFEE ROTA
Tea and coffee costs a minimum of 50p at
Group and monthly mee5ngs
February Vegetarian Cook and Eat
March Art
April Art History and Avia5on
Each group takes a turn to make tea and coffee at the monthly
mee,ng. We have so many groups now that these turns come
up about once every four years! However, our thanks go to
Maggie Beeson for her input every month.
