Colin Crumpton - Chairman's Report
HAPPY
NEW YEAR
By the time
you read this I hope we shall all have forgotten the snow, ice and cold of the
start of this year. However, despite the difficult weather, there was still a
buzz around the Civic Centre on the opening day of the new U3A year. My wife and
I, together with other members of the committee, usually get there early to set
everything up before members start to arrive, but even we were beaten by those
eager to queue for trips and outings. It seems as if nothing will deter
determined U3A Members.
The New Year
is a time for looking back with thankfulness and looking forward, hopefully,
with anticipation. So, some well deserved thanks. First, to Dave Beasley and
Frank Mawman, for the regular production of this Newsletter. I
think we all enjoy the delightful pictures that grace the front cover. These
come from members. We have a variety of interesting articles, not only about U3A
activities but also about our town and people’s memories. All sensitively put
together and edited by Dave. We need to express our appreciation for this quiet
background work.
Lots of
people came to the Members Day at the end of November. I know that many of you
valued the chance to look at some of the work of some of the groups. What a wide
variety of talent we are able to share in this organization. Remember though,
that what is on display is only a small part of the activities available. How
can you show off table tennis or bowls or book reading or the myriad of other
classes that are available? So
another lot of thanks go to all the leaders of the many groups who faithfully
and regularly give tuition, help, advice and organization to each of their
groups. The drawing class has had to close as has the French for beginners. We
are just grateful for the work those leaders have put in in the past.
Then one
particular apology. All the group leaders should have received an updated
version of the Group Leaders Handbook. Unfortunately, the updated information
about the committee was wrong!!!! Sorry for that but we can’t always get it
right all the time. Anyone who needs the telephone numbers or Emails of
committee members can ask at the Help Desk.
So to
looking forward. As I write this I have had offers of help from two members.
That is an enormous encouragement. Even though I was disappointed that more
volunteers did not come forward at the AGM, it is possible to co-opt members to
the committee if any of you feel that you could put something back into U3A.
Less encouraging is the thought of Car Park charges. The group
‘no2carparkcharges’ has done sterling work in getting the start date
delayed. If you have not yet signed the on-line petition then do so soon. One
thing this whole saga has taught me is whom I shall NOT be voting for at the
next elections. If the East Cheshire Council persist in forcing through this
policy against the wishes of the vast majority of our town, then it may have
repercussions for a number of our U3A activities. We simply can’t tell.
And one
final plea. We are fortunate to have the chance for free first aid tuition. Alex
McNee regularly runs courses for our members and every group should have at
least one person with knowledge of first aid. Do look on the board and sign up
for the next course.
So happy New Year to you all. Be encouraged, and enjoy all your activities.
The
day-long walking group brought their successful 2009 season to a fitting
conclusion during December with a delightful 8-mile walk taking in part of the
Peak District lying wholly in Cheshire.
On
a gloriously sunny morning the 24-strong party booted up by the bridge below
Crag Hall in Wildboarclough and it was soon making its way up the steep drive
towards Shutlingsloe Farm.
On
first sight of Shutlingsloe itself, with its peak covered in a wispy,
cotton-wool cloud, the group left the comfort of the tarmac and made a beeline
for the summit.
Shutlingsloe,
at 506 metres (approximately 1650ft in old money), is known variously as the
‘Cheshire Matterhorn’ or the ‘Matterhorn of the Peaks’ because of the
distinctive profile it offers in many views of the area and it was to be the
highest point of the day’s walk.
The
steep slope of the direct assault from the east meant that some of the slower
members took an occasional stop to take in the view (and to recover their
breath). Even so it wasn’t too long before everyone was assembled around the
trig point to give Graham the chance to try out his new camera with a
traditional group photograph.
Although
the morning was very bright the early haziness had been very slow to clear and
it limited the overall panorama, a toposcope (to the side of the trig point)
indicating some of the more distant landmarks normally visible from the peak.
Situated
on the western edge of the Peak District Shutlingsloe affords an unimpeded view
across the Cheshire plain with Jodrell Bank and the hills around Beeston to the
west. The towns of Macclesfield and Congleton sit neatly laid out to the
north-west and south-west respectively, with Bosley Cloud seemingly standing
guard over Congleton.
The
Roaches could just be made out through the mist to the south while to the east
the ground rises up to the high ridge of Axe Edge and Goyt's Moss with the Cat
and Fiddle Inn perched on the crest and the road from Macclesfield winding up
the hillside.
Leaving
the top of Shutlingsloe the group carefully made their way down man-made steps,
all at different heights, to reach a well-used, paved, path across the boggy
moss. Once the tree cover of Macclesfield Forest was reached the morning coffee
stop was made with the ladies providing the traditional mince pies, always
something to look forward to on the pre-Christmas walk – thank you girls.
Break
over, the red way-markers were followed down the forested Nessit Hill towards
Langley and once Ridgegate Reservoir was reached the Gritstone Trail was then
taken south.
For
the next mile or more the going was easy underfoot with galvanised kissing gates
having replaced the old traditional wooden stiles. The very narrow Cock Hall
Lane was crossed before reaching Fernlee where the group left the Gritstone
Trail by going east for a short distance along Meg Lane before taking a footpath
to the right that emerged in the beer garden of the Hanging Gate Inn at Higher
Sutton.
Leader
Maureen decreed that it was too soon for the lunch stop and so the inviting fire
in the pub’s lounge had to be spurned and party advanced up the wide,
drovers’, bridleway directly opposite the inn. On reaching High Moor the
bridlepath petered out and an indistinct footpath skirting around the high
ground’s southern flank was taken leading to a pool immediately below
Oakenclough, the walk’s chosen lunch stop.
The
remote mansion of Oakenclough, a substantial building and possibly a grange farm
at one time, was for some time a youth hostel while nowadays it is run as a
retreat specialising in feminine pampering!
Lunch
over the party followed the Oaken Clough brook as it flowed downstream out of
the pool before they turned east to traverse half a dozen dry-stoned walled
fields between Higher and Lower Nabbs to emerge on the country lane alongside
Wildboarclough’s well-known Crag Inn just a couple of hundred metres from the
cars.
Although
a slightly shorter walk than usual it made best use of the daylight available in
mid-December completing the group’s 2009 programme and allowed time for the
group to enjoy a warming bowl of lobby together back at the Yeoman.
Bowls (Bill Norman)
Martin Bailey, the leader of
the Tuesday bowls group, has decided to stand down from his task as leader after
7 years of dedicated service to the cause. I believe Martin was instrumental
from the word go in setting up this group and has "captained his ship"
ever since, even though he has not bowled much in the last year or two.
When he decided to retire, he
invited group members to volunteer to take over and met with an unenthusiastic
response, and eventually his job was taken by a team of no less than 4 of us,
helping each other to run the group.
Martin has done a great job
over the years, I believe he has documented everything that transpired during
his tenure and he will still be a member of the group. He has enjoyed the "fellowship",(one
of Martin's favourite words), and helped to create a friendly and relaxed
atmosphere at the bowling sessions.
We owe him our sincere thanks
and hope to still see him regularly on Tuesday mornings.
Un-Educational
Reminiscence?
Remember
Grahm?
Poor
ham-fisted, ink-stained Graham? Gentle, kindly, slow. A plodder-destined to go a
short way in a long time, with sustained effort. And his mother, so proud of
him. Not pushing him into ‘O’ levels and all the rest. But believing he
could do it.
And
he didn’t have a chance. There she would sit on Parent’s Evening “Oh , I
can’t thank you enough, Mr Brown, for all you do for Graham. He works so hard.
He likes it in your class”
She was the only parent out of my lot (3C) who ever came to Parent’s Evening. None of the others could have cared less- except to complain. “Don’t give my lad homework. He comes to school” (-infrequently-) “that bloody well ought to be enough. That was George’s Dad. George punctuated his stories beautifully, comma, semi-colon, full-stops, capital letters. His sentences were well constructed too, his handwriting almost copper-plate. It was that the two never matched- like a print with the second colour laid adrift, It made your eyes go funny to look at it. I only gave George homework because he asked for it. You didn’t give homework to 3C. I remember setting some so that they wouldn’t feel inferior to other classes. A complete set of homework books. The Head of English wasn’t amused. “You’ll be lucky to see any of those again!” He was right. There were all sorts of excuses. “Me Mum used it to light the fire”. “The dog chewed it up”. “The baby was sick all over it”. Of twenty five, I got three back, Graham’s and the Allan twins, Doris and Mary. Identical answers of course. Graham was covered in ink, but Graham’s books always were. Amazing when you think about it, the Head would not allow lads to use biro. Ink it had to be and old-fashioned dip-ins. 3C’s classroom was a disaster area. You wouldn’t believe the places that ink could get to.
The following year, in 4C, smiling, placid, slow Graham came up against Rosie (Mrs Barker to you0. He drove her frantic. She would lay into him with her tongue. “You’re dirty, lazy stupid”, snatch up his book and fling it to the floor. There she would stand, all five foot of her, trembling with fury. He became her obsession, at least one attack a day, and finally he reached fed-up point: didn’t lose his temper, but that he never did. Just said, calmly, “Rosie, stop your bloody nagging”, and walked out.
He
never came back. Began work in his Uncle’s smithy. Grimy, black-handed, but a
long way from ink. Still smiling, hardworking, slow.
FULL DAY WALKS – Look back on 2009
2009 was an excellent year for our walks, the weather
was usually good and importantly, I didn’t lose anyone.
However there was an incident where a squeezer stile was a ‘squeeze too
far’ for one of us, fortunately a field gate nearby was not padlocked so we
didn’t have to abandon him.
The snow came a little later last year and our February
outing took us through a white landscape in the Dovedale area.
As we ate our sandwiches in the shelter of trees by the river, we watched
a Sparrowhawk plucking and eating its lunch, not at all disturbed by us.
Continuing the walk following the river we became the bird watching group
and saw dippers, a heron and a tree creeper – well worth braving the cold for.
Spring walks were memorable for the flowers; carpets of
crocuses in the beautiful churchyard at Ellastone and later in the season
cowslips and orchids in the limestone dales, bluebells in the woods.
One of our best days in late summer was spent on the Eastern edges with
views over the valley towards Chatsworth. Small herds of highland cattle dozed
in the sunshine and the heather was still in bloom.
We persuaded a friendly rock climber to take a group photograph in front
of Nelson’s monument, all the ladies had very big smiles. He was a very
attractive young climber!
Mud was a feature of the late autumn walks and though
we didn’t have rain, the allegedly best view in Staffordshire, from Morridge
Edge, was completely lost in thick mist at the start and the finish.
Luckily it wasn’t a problem the find our way downhill to the Three
Horseshoes pub. Our reward after a
days exercise is usually a cream tea at a favourite café or to sit in the sun
with a drink outside a nice country pub.
We ended the year with a challenging climb up
Shutlingsloe from Wildboarclough, circling round through Macclesfield Forest,
with beautiful views towards Tegg’s Nose.
We worked up a good appetite for the delicious hot pot and the
pre-Christmas drinks waiting for us at The Yeoman in Audley Road.
For the time being we are going to meet up on The Yeoman car park and
return there for a drink and chat afterwards.
Now we’re all looking forward to getting our boots
out again in 2010 whatever the weather.
Maureen Webb
SOMETHING
TO BE PROUD OF
In
1970, our daughter Susan, who has learning difficulties, started at Springfield
School, Crewe. I soon got roped into the PTA. At first I stayed in the
background, helping out at the various fund raising events. Eventually, I joined
the committee, and at various times became Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. We
did the usual things to raise funds and remembered to keep the fun in fund
raising, by having family activities like beetle drives and barn dances, where
all the family could get involved and have fun whilst raising money.
Some
of the parents and teachers were very keen for the school to have a swimming
therapy pool, as many of the children were also physically disabled. It was felt
that this would be of great benefit to them all. The idea was put to the PTA
committee who agreed to look into it. The Local Education Committee were
consulted and agreed to provide the land. The plans were drawn up, all we needed
now was the money.
It
was decided that in order to get the project off the ground, we would borrow the
funds required, and the current Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer would
guarantee the loan. This was a massive undertaking for us and I shudder to think
what could have happened if anything had gone wrong. At the time, I don’t
think that I fully understood the implications of what I was doing. Perhaps it
was just as well.
We
were a small but dedicated group mostly made up of parents of children at the
school, along with some of the teachers. Everyone was equally committed to the
cause. The range of our fund raising activities increased. Anything that we
thought would make money was tried. Nothing was too small or too big for us to
attempt.
One
of the simplest but very successful fund raisers was the Diminishing Coffee
Mornings. If every coffee morning made a profit of just £10, over £50,000
would have been raised, and 10,000 people would have been involved. That was the
theory. If it had worked the way it should have done, we needn’t have done
anything else. In reality, only a fraction of the people who had undertaken to
hold coffee mornings actually did so. But those that did were so enthusiastic,
that each event raised far more than was expected. Raffles and bring and buys
were added to the coffee mornings, and tickets were sold to people who
couldn’t go but wanted to donate to the fund. Some people did it in style,
inviting a small number of friends to dinner and charging them a small fortune
for the privilege.
Big
or small, every one of those Coffee Mornings did two things. Firstly they
brought in much needed cash for the swimming pool, but perhaps even more
importantly, they spread the word about what we were trying to achieve. Articles
appeared in the local press; even Radio Stoke invited us to send along someone
to talk about our project. Then gradually, money started coming in from
organisations and people who had raised money for us. Many of these
organisations didn’t have any connection with the school, but had heard about
us and wanted to help. It seemed as though everyone in Crewe and the surrounding
towns and villages knew about our project, and wanted to help in whatever way
they could. It was wonderful the way the local community rallied round and
supported us in so many ways.
A
friend of one of our committee members, who attended Wells Green Methodist
Church, thought up another simple fund raiser. She made ‘sunshine bags’, and
gave them out to other church members. The idea was to put some money into the
bag on those days that the sun shone, the amount being left entirely to the
individual to decide. Periodically the bags were collected and the contents
donated to the swimming pool fund. Once the swimming pool was finished and the
loan paid off, the bags remained in use and the money raised continues to be
donated to Springfield School to this very day. The building of the swimming
pool is one of the things in my life in which I am very proud to have been
associated.
Kathleen
Large
Note:
Because the number of members has increased to a level just about manageable it has become necessary to introduce a waiting list. I am keeping names and telephone numbers of those interested in joining us and you can contact me if you wish to be added.
SOMETHING
TO BE PROUD OF
In
1970, our daughter Susan, who has learning difficulties, started at Springfield
School, Crewe. I soon got roped into the PTA. At first I stayed in the
background, helping out at the various fund raising events. Eventually, I joined
the committee, and at various times became Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. We
did the usual things to raise funds and remembered to keep the fun in fund
raising, by having family activities like beetle drives and barn dances, where
all the family could get involved and have fun whilst raising money.
Some
of the parents and teachers were very keen for the school to have a swimming
therapy pool, as many of the children were also physically disabled. It was felt
that this would be of great benefit to them all. The idea was put to the PTA
committee who agreed to look into it. The Local Education Committee were
consulted and agreed to provide the land. The plans were drawn up, all we needed
now was the money.
It
was decided that in order to get the project off the ground, we would borrow the
funds required, and the current Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer would
guarantee the loan. This was a massive undertaking for us and I shudder to think
what could have happened if anything had gone wrong. At the time, I don’t
think that I fully understood the implications of what I was doing. Perhaps it
was just as well.
We
were a small but dedicated group mostly made up of parents of children at the
school, along with some of the teachers. Everyone was equally committed to the
cause. The range of our fund raising activities increased. Anything that we
thought would make money was tried. Nothing was too small or too big for us to
attempt.
One
of the simplest but very successful fund raisers was the Diminishing Coffee
Mornings. If every coffee morning made a profit of just £10, over £50,000
would have been raised, and 10,000 people would have been involved. That was the
theory. If it had worked the way it should have done, we needn’t have done
anything else. In reality, only a fraction of the people who had undertaken to
hold coffee mornings actually did so. But those that did were so enthusiastic,
that each event raised far more than was expected. Raffles and bring and buys
were added to the coffee mornings, and tickets were sold to people who
couldn’t go but wanted to donate to the fund. Some people did it in style,
inviting a small number of friends to dinner and charging them a small fortune
for the privilege.
Big
or small, every one of those Coffee Mornings did two things. Firstly they
brought in much needed cash for the swimming pool, but perhaps even more
importantly, they spread the word about what we were trying to achieve. Articles
appeared in the local press; even Radio Stoke invited us to send along someone
to talk about our project. Then gradually, money started coming in from
organisations and people who had raised money for us. Many of these
organisations didn’t have any connection with the school, but had heard about
us and wanted to help. It seemed as though everyone in Crewe and the surrounding
towns and villages knew about our project, and wanted to help in whatever way
they could. It was wonderful the way the local community rallied round and
supported us in so many ways.
A
friend of one of our committee members, who attended Wells Green Methodist
Church, thought up another simple fund raiser. She made ‘sunshine bags’, and
gave them out to other church members. The idea was to put some money into the
bag on those days that the sun shone, the amount being left entirely to the
individual to decide. Periodically the bags were collected and the contents
donated to the swimming pool fund. Once the swimming pool was finished and the
loan paid off, the bags remained in use and the money raised continues to be
donated to Springfield School to this very day. The building of the swimming
pool is one of the things in my life in which I am very proud to have been
associated.
Kathleen
Large
The year was 1954, and as I
remember, it was a fine summer with plenty of opportunity to enjoy the
countryside. We were very keen cyclists then, with many weekends devoted to
Youth Hostel touring around the Midlands. One particular tour I well remember
was to the Peak District around Buxton and Edale. We had a fast ride up from our
Black Country homes, reaching the Hostel at Edale the first night.
The next day we set off along
a lane that we believed would be a shortcut over the hills to Hatfield. After a
short while the lane narrowed to a track and we were forced to start walking as
the gradient increased and the condition of the path deteriorated., (We later
learnt that the so called ‘hill’ was Kinder Scout, and even the hardy hill
walkers had a greater respect for the area. than we were showing. No cyclist
ever ventured up Kinder Scout unless they were mad or lost! OK we were lost!).
Well, we climbed higher
and higher still, pushing our bikes and, as you will see from the photo, it was
very, very challenging. Today this part of the path is called Jacob's Ladder
with a flight of steps and handrails! After pushing our bikes for four hours we
finally reached the top and were so relieved to be walking along flat land with
spectacular views all around. No signs of life except a lone walker in the
distance, sitting on a rock enjoying the views. As we approached he turned round
and with a voice of thunder shouted, 'What the hell are you doing bringing bikes
up here?'. When we told him that we had lost our way he calmed down and we
started a conversation about walks in the area. You
see he worked in a cycle factory in Barnsley, assembling bikes from morning till
night, and spent his weekends walking the hills away from bikes- that is until
we intrepid cyclo-walkers found his path!
John C Cartwright