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October 2011

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A full coach left the car park on a beautiful sunny morning. We had a very modern new coach and enjoyed a short break at a Garden Centre near to Gailey before continuing on to Ross–on-Wye for our lunch break. Then off to Cardiff to check in to our City centre hotel, The Cardiff Marriott, seeing something of the city en route.

After a good night‟s rest and a hearty breakfast, we assembled for a tour of the city, seeing many places of interest such as the Castle, the Millennium Stadium and the Welsh Parliament Building etc. The Stadium will be in use for the Olympic Games. We also visited Penarth where we had lunch.

A further delightful visit was to St. Fagan‟s National Museum (not to be missed). This museum is largely open air and there were very interesting old buildings and many reminders of times gone by. The afternoon saw us visiting the Rhondda Valley. A discreet view was made of the village of Aberfan, scene of the tragic disaster in 1966, when coal waste slid down from the mountain destroying a number of homes and engulfing the school. 144 children and adults died.

Next day we managed a very interesting tour of Cardiff Bay including a waterbus tour.

Friday – our last day – a large group of us watched the Royal Wedding in a large room with equally large screen TV and partook of a sandwich lunch. The evening saw a visit to Cardiff Castle where we had dinner, while being entertained by Welsh Dancers and singers, augmented by several brave members of our Group (unpaid!)

On Saturday, we enjoyed a comfortable journey home via Llancaiach Fawr Manor near Caerphilly where we stepped back in time to the year 1645. Here we learned about the traditional customs and the everyday life of ordinary people over 350 years ago during the time of the Civil War, before continuing our journey home, stopping en route at Ludlow, not it‟s usual quiet self as a very noisy fair had taken over the town.

An excellent break. Many thanks to Glennis who saw to all of our needs in her usual cheerful manner.

CARDIFF – APRIL 2011 – Frank Guy

FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

2011/12

www.alsageru3a.org.uk

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As I look back over my year as caretaker/interim chairman for the past year, I sense that we are entering a new phase in our branch of U3A. With sadness we have said goodbye to some of our founding members whose vision and enthusiasm brought this branch into being. From the acorn of that nucleus group, we have grown into the mighty oak we are today. We are in a time of transition as new people have come onto the committee. They bring with them new ideas and new ways of thinking.

During the past year, several people came forward to offer themselves for office. We arranged for them to shadow committee members to see how things are organized, and then they may take over that particular role after the A.G.M. Our gratitude goes to Tony Barson, Bruce King, Mike Painter, June Skidmore, Lyn Spooner, Christine Stewart and Shirley Thompson who have served in this capacity over the past year alongside those other longstanding members of the committee.

We owe a large debt of gratitude to the unsung backroom boys and girls (but mostly boys) who‟ve kept U3A not only ticking over, but thriving and growing. Now some of our long term members are deciding to take a well earned rest. Several have struggled with health problems. Who will take their place? Is there a task you could do? Are you good with computers? Could you go on a rota to help serve teas and coffees on a Monday morning? Could you man the photocopier? Would you be willing to be on the rota for the help desk?

All of us on the committee, trip organising team, serving teas or on the help desk are volunteers. We are in fact people like YOU. If you want this wonderful organisation to continue and thrive, we need more people who are prepared to give a little time to it.

Best wishes,

Rita Crumpton

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER - Rita Crumpton

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AN EVENTFUL JOURNEY (Cont’d) Rita Crumpton

I painted this small oil on canvas from a photograph I took during an Alsager U3A trip to Monet's Garden. I was drawn to paint it not only because of the unusual colour of the flower heads but also because of the statuesque shapes of the poppy heads and stalks. It now serves to remind me of a wonderful trip.

COVER PAINTING Sylvia Oates

TO ALL GROUP LEADERS

Shirley Thompson (Almoner)

ALSAGER U3A TABLE TENNIS - Stan Humphries

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the narrow lane at Dale Bottom was reached, most of us had already removed our anoraks, the long steep road forcing the remainder to do so. Mitchell Field with its protected pasture land was crossed to once more step onto Hathersage Moor travelling due south. The weather-ing of the exposed millstone grit was well illustrated by the sculp-tured lines of Mother Cap before we crossed back over the A6187.

The path continued via Hallow Gate, across Burbage Brook to enter Granby Wood by the NT's roadside information barn. The final mile was easy walking through the extensive grounds of the Longshaw Country Park. Walk over; it was a very short drive to the Fox House Inn for a welcome drink before the journey home.

We had started walking just after 10:30am and were back at the car park by 4:30pm. The walk had taken just under 6 hours and has been measured (by GPS) at 11 miles This was yet another excel-lent, varied walk expertly planned and led by our leader Maureen, and a suitable precursor for the group‟s Lake District adventure planned for early October, of which more in a subsequent issue.

"You won‟t want to go on the trip to Cardiff will you?" But we did! It‟s the place of our birth and although we left the city 46 years ago, we visit regularly to see our relatives and friends. But these are duty visits, with little opportunity to enjoy the treasures the city has to of-fer. We had been part of the planning for the U3A trip; making alter-native suggestions to the skeleton itinerary Glennis had been given. It was a full programme.

When you are with people for whom this is a first visit, you view the city with fresh eyes. Many times I wanted to take the microphone at the front of the coach and say "Do you see that…" and tell the story of what we had seen. The first day we had an official Cardiff Guide. He was knowledgeable and told us a great deal about the history of the city, but he was not a Cardiff man and so had no "hwyl" for the place.

For me, this was a sentimental journey. We drove past the civic buildings, grand and impressive. When we were teenagers, the City Hall was the place to be on a Saturday night, for here we danced to a live band on a wonderful wooden floor having walked down wide marble stairs from the entrance. The sheer grandeur of the building encouraged correct behaviour. What a contrast to the sleazy night-clubs of today. We drove along roads which in my youth were ca-nals, now covered over as they were no longer needed to carry cargo to the docks. Travelling into the north of the city we went past

Monday mornings at the Civic Centre, 11.15 to 12.15

7th November 2011 to 19th March 2012

7 Nov LH Lyndon Murgatroyd – Plague, Pox and Pestilence.

14 Nov TT Wendy Darker – Artist

Wendy originally studied fine art at Northampton Art School and to degree level at Edinburgh, before setting up her own art and design business in the mid 90s. She has licensed her artwork in many countries around the world. Her work can be seen on a large array of products such as greeting cards, mugs, calendars, posters and home furnishings.

21 Nov LH Derek Poulson – It‟s not what you say but the way

that you say it.

9 Jan TT Ian Macpherson -„Mustang‟ – The Forbidden

Kingdom.

23 Jan TT Liz Morris - Five Great Gardening Myths.

6 Feb TT Dr Peter Floyd - Alaska, Glaciers, Gold and

Wildlife.

20 Feb TT Andrew Bowman - Radio Stoke.

5 Mar TT Kevin Dronfield - Industry in the Goyt Valley.

19 Mar TT „Ladykillers‟ – Alan and Betty Hayhurst

Please come along – we would love to see you.

August Bank holiday and it is like autumn! I have just seen on the TV, hurricane Irene hitting New York; three weeks today and those on the holiday to America and Canada should just be landing there! I am writing this early because of the three weeks in September that I am away on the above mentioned holiday. When you read this, those of us who went should be able to inform you of how we got on!!!

TALK TIME & LOCAL HISTORY - Lynn Spooner

OUTINGS AND VISITS SUMMER 2011 - Glennis Roper

AN EVENTFUL JOURNEY Rita Crumpton

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The full day walking group began their autumn programme by trav-elling to the Longshaw Estate in the Peak District's Dark Peak. As many of the group were members of the National Trust (NT), ad-vantage was taken of the free parking perk at the Visitors' Centre which occupies a small portion of the extensive Longshaw Lodge.

The Lodge was built in 1827 as a shooting retreat for the Duke of Rutland on his Longshaw Estate. In 1927 the estate was put up for auction and Sheffield Corporation purchased 3,000 acres of the moorland, primarily for the collection of water. In 1931 they sold the area to the National Trust which still owns and manages the land.

Our party of 19 were forced to put on waterproofs by a persistent moor land drizzle as we donned our boots. We moved off North West through the wooded grounds to cross the A6187 at Burbage Bridge and onto Hathersage Moor heading directly for Carl Wark.

This well-known Iron Age fort sits on a promontory of millstone grit high above Burbage Brook which once formed part of the historical border between Derbyshire and Yorkshire. At 1200ft, it occupies a fine natural defensive position over a vast area of moorland. Archae-ologists now tend towards the view that some of the massive fortifi-cations at its western entrance were probably constructed in the Ro-mano-British period, giving the fort a long and complex history of occupation. With a long day ahead of us, we decided to forego an exploration of the fort and continued onto Higger Tor before de-scending to cross two minor roads, near to the Fiddlers Elbow.

Climbing rocky outcrops once again, we ascended the southern end of Stanage Edge which is almost 4 miles in length and 1500ft at its highest point. It is the longest of the gritstone cliffs that overlook Hathersage and provides an exciting playground for rock climbers of all abilities. Approximately midway along the Edge it is crossed by an old Roman road, the Long Causeway, which ran from Navio (Brough in the Hope valley) to Danum (Doncaster) and we made use of this wide bridle-path to leave the Edge. Lunch was taken shel-tered from the wind by a small plantation alongside Dennis Knoll, a bronze age encampment.

We then continued in a southerly direction passing the impressive property of Green‟sHouse. As Brontë Cottage was approached a view of the tower of North Lees could be seen amongst the trees. North Lees has long been thought of as being Charlotte Brontë's model for Thornfield Manor, Rochester's home in her novel „Jane Eyre‟. In fact much of the action in the recently released version was filmed at North Lees and in the surrounding area. By the time

I think that those who joined in the days out this summer will agree that we have done remarkably well with the weather again this year. The exception being our visit to Bodnant Gardens and Llandudno in May. Spring was early this year so the Rhododendrons and Azaleas were over, the weather was awful and we were nearly never seen again in Llandudno as it was so windy. However, Alsager U3A members are made of strong stuff and all said that they had enjoyed their day; of course they could be just being polite!!

The weather was lovely at Speke Hall and that is a gem, if you have never been it is well worth a visit. Our day in the Cotswolds was beautiful and on both of the Morecambe days, the weather was identical; a poor morning but a delightful afternoon. Most of us posed with Eric Morecambe and did the silly walk!! I think that we all would have liked a short break at the Midland Hotel

Possibly the highlight of the summer was the day on the Welsh Highland Railway from Caernarvon to Portmadoc, when we had absolutely fabulous scenery and perfect weather. My apologies to the two people we left behind in Kidsgrove and also to those who did not manage to obtain any food on the train. There were 106 of us and I think we overwhelmed the catering staff.

Our day at the Buxton Gilbert and Sullivan was again hugely popular. Our seats this year were not as good as previous years and that was unfortunate, but we do have to enter a ballot for tickets so it is the luck of the draw. This last week saw us in Oxford where most of us enjoyed a guided walk around the historic city centre and had a glimpse in at least one of the Colleges, I expected to see Inspector Morse or even Sergeant Lewis a round every corner but I was out of luck.

There is just one remaining outing still to do on the summer programme, a highly popular one too. The Mersey River Festival on September 8th with 106 people in two coaches joining the waterfront festival. This comes highly recommended by none other than our friend Rodger Burgess, complaints to him if you do not enjoy it!! Before that the autumn term starts with another lot of outings to book and to look forward to. Thank you for your company this summer, and I hope that those of you who took part enjoyed the outings as much as I have done.

ON THE EDGE IN THE DARK PEAK A. Walker

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It is always very encouraging when someone comes forward offering to lead a class.

A new group is proposed to look at the lives of famous people from history. The leader has listed Lady Hamilton, Charles Dickens and others but would welcome suggested topics. If you are interested, please sign the list on the board in the main entrance hall on a Monday morning. When there is a viable number, a venue, day and time will be arranged for next term.

There is also the possibility of an archaeology group some time in the future if there is enough interest.

If you have an interest or a passion for a topic, please tell someone on the help desk on a Monday morning or a committee member. We will then put a notice on the board to assess interest. Don‟t hide your light under a bushel!

PROPOSED NEW GROUPS - Rita Crumpton

THINGS CHILDREN SAY

In this world there are millions of people

And one thing about them is true:

Some see cups as half-full, some half empty;

Which one of these people are you?

When it‟s a freezing cold evening

And you‟re settling down in your chair;

Then the lights all go out in the district

Are you left fathoms deep in despair?

Do you get very edgy and angry

Huff and puff and stomp off to bed?

Or do you light up all the candles

And tell a ghost story instead?

Do you say when you‟re planning the dinner

And you find you‟ve no meat and no fish,

"I‟ll make something healthy and veggie,

A delicious surprise of a dish"?

Or do you get mighty frustrated

And think you‟d best open a tin;

But no-one can fancy the sardines,

So you chuck the whole lot in the bin.

Life is real; it is earnest and taxing,

And it can put your chin on the ground:

But a little pizzazz and good humour

Keeps day-to-day wheels going round.

So if you‟re disposed to be crabby,

And things seem too awful and grim,

Just picture those cups on the table,

And try to fill yours to the brim..

LIFE’S OPTIMISTS Pam Freeman

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dressed my ear, and told me that there shouldn‟t be any lasting dam-age. There wasn‟t.

I have sounded at Grosvenor House, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul‟s Ca-thedral and at most of the major events throughout the country. The last big job I did was the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. Many a time several of us would partake of a sumptuous meal, just for playing fanfares at ceremonial banquets. Eventually I rose to the dizzy heights of Trumpet Major which meant I had the job of teaching the new re-cruits. Sometime after moving to Nuneaton, I was approached by the Coventry School of music, and asked if I would teach youngsters of 9 to 16 to play the trumpet. This was a voluntary position which I did in the evenings. Some of my students played for the unveiling of the statue outside Coventry Cathedral, which was still being rebuilt following the wartime bombing.

My next move was back to St. John‟s Wood, when I became No. 1 of A Sub. The RHA is the senior regiment in the whole of the army, so my new position meant that during big parades, my gun was in the prime position at the front, leading the rest of the army. The RHA has no col-ours; its guns are its colours. So where other regiments will salute their colours, the RHA salutes the gun.

In 1966 I was told to report to the medical officer for examination. As a result I was declared unfit for service and medically discharged from the army, although as far as I was concerned, I was in good health. This was due to cutbacks in the armed forces under Harold Wilson's government. At just 35 years old, with a wife and two chil-dren to support, I was left with no job, and nowhere to live.

I was devastated and had no idea what I was going to do. I went to the Royal Mews to look for a job, and was referred to the R.S.P.C.A. who needed someone to drive a Horse Ambulance at various agricultural shows job that came with family living accommodation. Fortunately, I had been trained to drive heavy vehicles whilst I was in the army.

In the meantime, we had applied to several Councils for a house. In 1975 Alsager came up first so we moved to Alsager. Although I ap-plied for jobs locally, whilst waiting, I continued to work for the R.S.P.C.A in London, commuting by National Express Bus. Eventual-ly I got a job with the P.M.T bus company as a bus and coach driver and remained with them until I retired.

ARMY LIFE (Cont’d) - Clive Pretty

I believe there are a number of reasons. The main aim of our organisation is for its members to continue to learn, whatever their age, whatever their ability, in a friendly way and always in good company.

What makes this group so much different than any of the other groups? It enables you to visit places and do things which without U3A, you would never choose to do. Things you would continue to put off or make excuses for. For instance, who would choose to go to Liverpool time and time again and never once to have time to visit the shops? But with Rodger Burgess it is always different. He always has something new to show you, and then there's lunch at The Adelphi !!

There are city visits to Manchester and Birmingham; rural visits to Derbyshire, the Lakes, North Wales, the Cotswolds and Yorkshire. There have been theatre visits to Hanley, Manchester and Buxton, and four or five day breaks to London, Cardiff, Northumberland, Edinburgh and Kent. Longer visits to India, South Africa and the United States have also been enjoyed. These are but a sample of what there is on offer. I can only speak for the past five or six years. What went on before is history, so they say. So what is the point of this article, you must be thinking, we know this already?

The point is that the people who benefit most from these activities are the very people who, if it were not for U3A, would probably stay at home. How many single people, widows and widowers do we have? How many people have lost the will to do things on their own or have lost the confidence to plan and make arrangements just for themselves? How many think they are just too old or not as fit as they were? Some of these things probably apply to most of us in one way or another.

TOURS TRIPS AND VISITS - Mike Elkin

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After my training, I was posted to the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artil-lery, (RHA) in London. „The Troop‟ as it‟s known, is Her Majesty the Queen's ceremonial Saluting Battery. All its soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull the state saluting guns. Duties in-clude the firing of Royal Salutes in Hyde Park on Royal Anniversaries and State Occasions, and providing a gun carriage and a team of black horses for State and Military funerals. Other ceremonial occasions in-clude Remembrance Sunday, the Lord Mayor's Show and the Queen's Birthday Parade. The King's Troop is also trained as fighting soldiers, but I never fired a gun in anger, and I managed to miss all the conflicts and mini-wars during my army life.

I had several horses during my service. My favourite was "Sabrina". She was such a sweet natured horse. However one blister-ingly hot day, as I bent to remove her harness, she got hold of my ear with her teeth and threw me across the stable. I thought I was going to lose my ear. The vet was nearby and he looked after me,

Having resumed our journey, we arrived at the Jaguar Visitor Centre in good time. All Jaguar car production of the XF, the XJ and the XK, is carried out on this site which, during WWII, was an aircraft factory. That is a story in its own right! The current Jaguar range now ranks with the world‟s best cars and the XF is credited with being the virtual saviour of the Company in recent years. It has won over sixty awards and is a class leading car, as is the recently introduced luxury class XJ. Without question, this is a British motor industry success story.

Jaguar cars are not inexpensive and therefore, we were not going to see frenzied activity on the production line. Because the XK body is riveted aluminium there are no welding sparks and visitors can get very close to the action. Therefore, that was the car that we were to see being built.

After an introductory film, we were divided into three groups and, with our earphones for the commentary, plus the obligatory high visibility jackets, we took the short minibus ride to the factory entrance. It was then only a short walk to the first of the cages containing the robots that rivet the body together.

Each robot carries out several operations, using tools as required. Several small pressings are assembled into larger components that are later mated with the wings, roof etc. All the major parts of the shell are then clamped together and riveted, after which it goes into a large jig to be held rigid whist the robots tack rivet it sufficiently that the jig can be removed. Then they can complete the process. Their twists and turns to get into the tiny gaps to carry out each operation are really fascinating.

JAGUAR FACTORY OUTING - MAY 2011

Roger Withenshaw

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Shortly after WW2 ended, there was a knock on the door and my moth-er said "Oh it‟s your father." I didn‟t know I had a father until then. He had been evacuated from Dunkirk, but didn‟t get any home leave, being promptly redeployed. At the end of the war, he was in-volved in the Liberation of Italy. He should have been demobbed around the time that the war started, so he was one of the first to come home. He had spent a total of 28 years in the army having volunteered at the start of the First World War at the age of 14, telling the recruiting officers that he was 18!

After he was demobbed, he applied for various jobs and ended up as a policeman at the munitions factory here in Alsager. When we heard that we were going to live up North, we children thought we were going to live in an igloo. My brother and I went to Bankside School on the Radway estate, where they were doing long division, and I couldn‟t even add up!

My brother Fred joined the Royal Navy when he was 15. In 1952, on my 15th birthday, a big brown envelope arrived from the army. Un-known to me, my father had applied for me to join; I really didn‟t have any choice in the matter. I joined as a Boy Trumpeter with the "Boys Battery Royal Artillery." The main purpose of the boys unit was to turn out trumpet players for the regiment. Those that didn‟t qualify became gunners. One day the Trumpet Major appeared. All the boys that had previously played a bugle in the Boys Brigade, Scouts or Ca-dets were sent to the other end of the parade ground leaving just 4 of us who had never played in our lives before. A trumpet was pushed into my hand and I was told "Blow into that as hard as you can". I did as I was told and that was it. From then on I was to be a Trumpeter. Until that time, I‟d had no particular interest in music. All the boys had to have a hobby, and we four boys were told that our hobby was to be Sounding – playing the trumpet. We became firm friends, and remain friends to this day.

We had to practice an hour in the morning, an hour in the afternoon and every night from 6 until 7; this was on top of training to be sol-diers. By the time I was 16, we were considered good enough to play at the Empress Hall in London for the first El Alamein reunion. We had to play Fanfares for the arrival of Lord Allenbrooke, General Mont-gomery and Sir Winston Churchill.

Every shell is then checked against 150 measurements and any rare discrepancy will stop the line to resolve the problem. Having passed that test, the doors are hung, weighted to simulate the built-up doors, so that the body lines all marry up. That done, the bonnet and boot lid are fitted and off goes the car to be painted.

The painted bodies are fitted out on a large moving platform where the final assembly takes place. However, the first thing that happens is that the doors are removed and hung on frames on the side of the platform which progresses slowly along the line. A team of men installs everything inside the car. Protective covers protect vulnerable parts of the body. Each team member is his own quality control supervisor and he (or she) can stop all activity if he sees anything wrong.

The queue of cars is quite random in terms of body style (coupé or convertible), colour and destination country. The whole process is computer controlled from the moment that the customer ordered his car. The parts arrive for each car according to the order placed and the legal requirements in the destination country.

Whilst attention has been focussed on the body, the doors have been built up with window lifts, in-car entertainment (ICE) speakers and trims. Then they part company with the body and are raised on a conveyor to be reunited later. The body then goes on to have the engine, gearbox, transmission, suspension and brakes installed. Finally, the wheels are fitted and once the doors are attached, we see the car intact for the first time.

However, although the car now moves under its own power, there are still checks to be carried out to ensure that the panel fit is correct and that everything works as it should. Any faults are noted to be rectified later.

The car undergoes a leak test using water with an ultra violet ingredient and a team with special lights checks the interior. After this, the car is dried off, polished and another superb advertisement for Britain is ready to be delivered to the dealer, wherever that might be.

Back at the Visitor Centre after the tour, several of us took the opportunity to "buy the T shirt" although no one actually ordered a car!

ARMY LIFE Clive Pretty

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On Sunday 5th June, 45 U3A members set off for the 1,000 year old City of Prague, situated in the heart of Europe and undamaged by the wars that have occurred in neighbouring countries. As with many capital cities it grew around a major river, the Vltava, and promised many wonderful sights. Our guide Blanca, a Czech national who had spent many years in the USA, met us at the airport and organised the transfer to the Ibis hotel with military precision in order that we could have dinner virtually as soon as we arrived.

On our first day we were greeted with clear blue skies and a pleasant temperature for the tour to Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral, situated high above the City on the far bank of the river. The Cathedral is a magnificent structure containing beautiful stained glass windows and a massive silver tomb.

PRAGUE - JUNE 2011 - Michael Painter

The same pattern and performance is repeated every year and the soggy mess is set fair to undo the goodness of a few days ago.

Sensibly the leaves should have been swept up, bagged and removed to the compost heap before the heavens opened.

But No.

Do our political pundits consider it to be an expense not worth applying?

How long before someone slips and falls in a manner more appropriate to a skating rink?

Meanwhile there is a strong army of individuals waiting at her Majesty‟s pleasure who would undoubtedly benefit from the opportunity to make

full use of the hours at their disposal.

Has anyone considered the possibility?

Frankly my dears, "I don‟t give a damn"

appears to be the attitude.

Someone near and dear has just slipped and fallen.

I‟ll report in due course.

Where‟s my solicitors‟ telephone number…

ONE MONDAY MORNING – John Rowland

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For dinner, it was inevitable that the group would split up as no restaurant could accommodate all our members. Some dined in the Palladium Centre, with its wide choice of restaurants; others took their meal at the edge of the Old Town Square where a similar choice of meals was available at a reasonable cost.

Tuesday saw us visiting Karlstein Castle, an hour‟s travel from the hotel. This too stood on a hill above a river. The coach parked by the river and our final ascent was made by horse and trap, each carrying 8 people. We travelled through the village to the base of the Castle. Although, the latter‟s outer walls remained untouched, the interior had been much modified in the 18th Century. Following the tour we were left with a steep descent retracing our route through the village to take lunch in a café or restaurant.

In the evening the majority of the party joined a river cruise with dinner, the others taking a similar cruise incorporating lunch the following day. This proved a wonderful experience as we took to the upper deck to view Prague by dusk as floodlights illuminated the buildings.

On our last full day, many of us took a riverside walk. We enjoyed magnificent views of the Castle and surrounding buildings before reaching the Charles IV bridge with its 18th century statues high above the 14th century structure. Others ascended the tower with its panoramic view of Prague, or took coffee in the Imperial Hotel Café, a magnificent room in its own right. In the evening, we visited a folk festival which was a delight, with excellent food and an endless supply of wine and beer. Members of our group were invited to join the dancing which many did with great enthusiasm.

Prague proved to be a wonderful City; magnificent buildings, excellent food and drink, modern trams and no litter apparent. We must give our thanks to Regent travel, our tour guide Blanca, and Glennis, who, as always, solved all problems that inevitably occur on any trip.

"The falling leaves, drift by my window,

Now wait a minute, that‟s only part of the picture.

Church Road Alsager transforms into a scene of absolute beauty.

The time honoured tradition of kicking leaves as we walk through the stacks of leaves is discovered by one and all.

Unfortunately, the months of October and November are waiting in the wings, determined to unleash several hours of the wettest rain imaginable.

This is nothing new.

THE MYSTERY OF HARECASTLE TUNNEL

Arthur C Nixon

AUTUMN – Alan Powell

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The autumn term got off to a rousing start with both new music and new members. Rehearsals have started for the major St. Luke‟s concert, to be held next year in the Civic Centre, on Saturday 17th March.

A must day for the diary of every U3A member.

This is where Alsager competes with the Royal Albert Hall in providing our own "last night of the Proms". More on this later, but if you saw the recent "Hooray for Hollywood" Prom then you are in for a similar treat!

The orchestra has also been invited to take part in the lead-up to the nation-wide Queen‟s Diamond Jubilee celebrat-ions, playing a concert in Barthomley Church on 21st April 2012.

U3A Light Orchestra in Barthomley Church, 2007

The orchestra is now swollen by 22 new members, who are U3A members elsewhere, but have also joined Alsager U3A to become part of the orchestra. We still need further instrumentalists in the Flute, Oboe and String sections. Don‟t forget, "if you once played you can play again!"

Contact Bill Freeman on 01270 747848 or email him at pam.bill@talktalk.net

U3A Orchestra - Bill Freeman

Who was he? Well he was a Potteries man who was born in Goldenhill and usually called Colin. As a child he entered many competitions sponsored by Cadbury‟s Rowntree Chocolate Company, but was eventually banned from entering as he kept winning all the time. He worked for the Royal Ordnance Factory at Radway Green and served his country in the RAF. Later he turned his hand to writing plays for the Townswomen‟s Guild which were performed at local meetings and at the Mitchell Theatre in Hanley.

When he retired he joined the Alsager Writers‟ Circle under the leadership of Jacqueline Jackson and John Statham, writing books of poetry and prose which raised funds for the Cancer Research Fund. He is certainly remembered for his talent in making people laugh.

Betty, his wife, had a long association with the local Townswomen‟s Guild and was the long standing President. Many of you will have known her in this capacity and the good work she did. She is a widow now but has been a member of U3A for a long time. It is lovely to see her on a Monday morning and on the trips to the Clonter Opera and other outings. She very kindly brought me two books of her husband‟s to read – „Odd Odes‟ and „Worse Verse‟ which I thoroughly enjoyed and thought you might like to read „Townswomen‟s meeting‟ and „The Mystery of Harecastle Tunnel‟. In the forward of the book he says „The author would like to thank his wife for giving him leave of absence from housework, decorating etc., so that he could construct this book‟ Thank you Betty and Colin.

I hope that one made you smile.

ARTHUR C NIXON - Kath Nixon

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Page 15

A man cannot be ill alone,

He has to have you there

To sympathise and mop his brow,

He's sure it's something rare.

It's not a cold, it isn't flu

It's not something he ate,

It's obviously more serious,

He's sure he's losing weight.

You have to keep the children quiet,

So he can try and rest,

And stop the cat from creeping in

And jumping on his chest.

He isn't feeling hungry but

He thinks he ought to make

An effort, perhaps you'd like to cook

Some really tender steak.

He'd really like an ice cold beer

To ease his burning throat,

And could you wheel the telly in

And bring him the remote.

He needs to ring his office

To make sure he's being missed,

There's meetings that need cancelling,

Sit down and make a list.

He thinks some whisky in hot milk

Might help him take a snooze,

He needs the papers fetching in

To keep up with the news.

The light's too bright, it hurts his eyes,

He's lying in a breeze,

You plump the pillows, smooth the sheets,

While fighting back a sneeze!

HIMPATIENT - Maralyn Groves

The blood red fields of Picardy are ablaze once more.

Poppies bloom in profusion where fresh earth was churned.

Memories of ancestors long dead are stirred by the restless wind.

The increasing warmth of the summer sun

Will cause the petals to drift away.

Shaken by the summer breeze,

The dry pepper-pot heads will scatter their seeds.

Then next year the pageant will begin again.

The beauty and the sadness mingle in the mind.

New wars, new losses, new sadness.

Such a simple lovely flower now calls to mind each year

Those who lost their lives in years gone by;

Yet still new names are carved on slabs of stone.

The poppy, symbol of the blood, the pain and loss

Of young lives blown away like fragile petals on an open field.

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Page 17

Behind my childhood home was a field and beyond that the grey spoil heap of a long-disused coal pit. A favourite pastime, when playing there with friends, was to gather twigs and start a tiny fire within a square of bricks. Sometimes we even managed to get a glow from fragments of coal scavenged from the pit hill.

Every year of course there was a proper fire – the bonfire. These were once built on top of the hill, like an Elizabethan beacon, but I think dragging all the wood up became too hard a task and in most years, it was piled in the field. We called the event Plot Night and searching for wood was "chumping". In my early years I could only watch and that mainly through the window in my pyjamas.

As I became older, I was more involved. Wood and tree branches were stored in gardens and watched over to prevent raiding by other chumpers. On Plot Night, older boys would come and drag everything out to the field, stacking the timber and old broken furniture into position. Somebody always made a guy from discarded clothes and one year we had two.

Dad brought a bag of paraffin rags from work to help start things and then the great moment of lighting came. The rags blazed and with a loud "whoof" the flames spread. It was the biggest fire I ever saw, flames leaping in a ragged curtain against the black sky, sparks wheeling away in flying storms as a piece of wood fell in the inferno, the roar and the crackle, the hiss and snap of burning bough and the red glow of the embers.

It was always a social occasion too. All the neighbours were there, faces illuminated in the stark, shifting light. People wandered around the circle of watchers with trays of plot toffee and parkin. One woman always brought out a huge pan of hot mushy peas and spooned them into dishes or mugs for anybody who wanted them. Large potatoes were pushed into the cinders around the edge of the fire, left for a while, poked with a stick and then kicked clear. With gloved hands we ate them, cooked or part cooked, blackened charcoal skin as well.

Through it all fireworks popped, banged and spluttered, creating twinkling cascades of silver, magenta, white, green and old.

Excited children waved sparklers, rockets whooshed fiery trails over the houses and Catherine wheels spun patterns against shed doors.

My mate‟s dad gave us lengths of "mill band" which was like grease-soaked clothes line. It could be held in a flame until the end glowed and the smouldering tip then very slowly burned its way along the rope. We swung the band in circles or zig-zags to make lines of fire in the night and when we were older, used it to light the touch paper on fireworks. These seemed bigger, brighter, louder and better than they do today. Perhaps it‟s true. Perhaps it was just the magic of youth.

A few of my fireworks were bigger though. As a special treat, mum would buy two or three giant ones from a city store and these were let off to give a short but spectacular show in the back garden. Finally, eyes red, teeth gritty, smelling of smoke, perhaps feeling a little sick, perhaps with the odd burn, I would be led away by mum to get ready for bed.

Later, if I was in the back bedroom, I could peep through the curtains and watch dad trail out with bucket after bucket of water to dampen the ashes. The next day was always sad – a circle of black rubble, the odd charred end of wood, a mattress spring, random rocket sticks and the empty blackened cylinders of spent fireworks. All over, until next year.

Rose lay awake, Matt was asleep. "He must propose this Christmas" she thought. Rose‟s Mum disapproved when they‟d moved in together. "He‟ll never marry you."

"So what?" Rose thought then, "But now...", there always seemed good reasons to postpone a wedding, "But still…"

"Wake up Rose: Happy Christmas..." -

Matt handed her a Christmas Stocking. Inside were perfume and other exciting goodies - lastly, a foil-wrapped object – a walnut.

Rose was not impressed!

"Open it" Matt ordered. A curtain ring fell out. "I‟ll change it for a wedding ring when you say „Yes‟, I‟ve always been nuts about you!"

BONFIRE NIGHT – John Rowland

A CHRISTMAS WISH – Pam Freeman