Tavy District U3A 2016.pdf · Britain was grimly reluctant to take Jewish refugees. He needed to find sure employment for them and he had no job himself. After months he secured jobs

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Tavy District U3A

Newsletter No 79

May 2016

www.tavistocku3a.org.uk

Waiting for the train at Calstock viaduct.

Photo: John Noblet

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Message From The Chair

A s the sun warms us and the flowers come through, our Tavy District

committee starts its new year and I would like to thank our retiring members who have finished their term.

Sally Hill, Sheila Byworth and Sue Hutton have helped run your U3A for the past three years and I hope they enjoy their free time. In their place we have four recruits

Caroline and Andrew Paskins, Christine Pleydell and Barry Smith.

Our first new committee meeting went well with much laughter which bodes well for

the year while we administer the organisation and try to think of ways of keeping up the high standards set in the past.

Our new administration system “Beacon” is up and running and there is an article in this magazine by Randall Williams to explain all. Please take a look.

We had a cancellation by our July speaker but I am delighted to announce that Geri Parlby has agreed to speak on “The Emperor and the Prostitute - Justinian and

Theodora, the most notorious couple in the history of Byzantium and the art they inspired” so keep the afternoon of the first Wednesday in July free.

Please take time to read this newsletter to see what’s on, whatever the weather, and enjoy the many activities we offer. This morning’s radio has been full of advice on

keeping busy in later life and I am pleased that Tavy District is helping you to achieve this.

And now to cut the grass for the first time of 2016……

Hilary

Tavy District U3A Newsletter

Don’t forget the U3A Coffee Mornings

on the third Wednesday of the month

The Chair

As you may have read in

the last Newsletter, the chair in the image at the

top of this page was made by William Birch and Son of High Wycombe between

1895 and 1905.

The company was owned

by Hilary’s great

grandfather.

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Tavy District U3A

New U3A Online Membership System

I n case this causes panic among those of you who have chosen not to venture into the world of computers, I’d like to assure you that you will be able to continue to

renew your membership in person or by post, using the same payment methods that you have to date. Your membership confirmation will look different but

everything else will remain the same.

However, for those with internet access, joining the U3A, updating your information

and renewing will be possible online. This is through a membership system (called U3A Beacon) that has been developed by volunteers from within the U3A movement and is

being made available free of charge to U3As with support from the U3A national office.

New members are now able to join through our website and the website also has a link to a members’ portal where you can make changes to your personal details or renew

membership. Payment is made through Paypal, but this doesn’t mean that you need a Paypal account – you can simply use a debit or credit card.

It will make life considerably simpler for your treasurer and membership secretary, who

will both be able to access a single database rather than having to co-ordinate two separate databases. Once the system is bedded in, we will also consider using it to

support interest groups – individual group programmes that are put online are automatically consolidated into a comprehensive calendar which can be personalized

for individual members.

To log in, go to our website (www.tavydistrictu3a.org.uk) and follow the link on the

membership page. You’ll need your membership number, which from now on will remain the same from year to year. If you no longer have a note of your number,

please check with me on 859167 or [email protected].

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be able to check your personal details, update them if necessary and even upload a photo if you want to! Make sure you click the button at

the bottom of the screen after you’ve updated your details.

You won’t have an option to renew your membership yet but this will appear shortly before subs are due.

I’ll remind you how it works in the November newsletter.

Randall Williams


See our seasonal recipe on Page 16.

Have you got a summer recipe that you

would like to share in the next

Newsletter?

Email to :

[email protected]

as soon as possible

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W hen I joined the U3A several

years ago I attended one of the excellent coffee

meetings for new members. Several team leaders asked me about

the groups I planned to join, and on looking at the impressive

list I noticed that there was no cycling or welding.

After asking about groups the conclusion was I would

have to start my own cycle group. My wife later

bought me a welding experience course, so that

has also been covered.

From a small beginning of less than half

a dozen riders over not many miles, the cycle group has expanded in both

numbers and distances covered. Rides are generally on trails and old rail lines

that Dr Beeching kindly provided for us.

Busy roads are avoided and we have

developed a premise for all rides which is "we brake for cake"!

The main reason for writing this article is that the cycle group is successful and

has a waiting list. The present members show no signs of

cycling off into the sunset soon, so if someone would like to start

a new group they will get all the help and encouragement they

will need from me. Just give me a ring on 01822 859204.

The present group is a joy to be with and it would be nice to think that

another cycle group could achieve similar success.

Anybody interested?

Neil Richards.

Why not start your own Cycle Group?

Tavistock’s History

T he new group "Tavistock's History" proved very popular. I was somewhat

alarmed being a "new girl” myself to have 32 people enrol for it! We have

met at the Tavistock Museum each time and covered such subjects on

Tavistock as, The Abbey, Education, Victorian Tavistock, etc. Meeting at the

Museum has been very successful because I have used the DVDs we have there, as

well all the artefacts being available to view.

Our walk around the Abbey ruins was very good with Alex Mettler helping me. It

poured with rain but most people enjoyed it. We have stopped the sessions at the

Museum now but I intend to take some walks around the town during the summer,

probably in the evening. More on this later.

I am hoping to run another group (maybe two) in September as the demand for this

course outran the places available. I know there are people already signed up.

I have really enjoyed meeting so many U3A people. It has been a pleasure seeing

the interest and keenness to find out more about our lovely town from our

members.

Linda Elliott

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Kinderleicht

D o your memories of schooldays

become brighter and sharper with age? Perhaps we jettison a

lot and polish up what remains.

One character from my past who becomes more vivid with the years is my

old German teacher, Dr. Martin Deutschkron. He was a very short, stout

man, almost as broad as he was high. He had a stern manner and a truly

stentorian voice. He scared nobody. In fact the louder he got the more likely the

girls in our class were to dissolve into giggles. Our difficulties in negotiating the

labyrinth of German grammar and word

order were as nothing to his total incomprehension as to why we did not

take like ducks to water to his native language. It was, he would tell us, so

childishly easy; kinderleicht, he would roar as the shoulders of another row of

girls would start to heave, KINDERLEICHT!

We couldn’t help but have affection for

him. We did, most of us, stumble through German ‘O’ level and a

succession of linguists were inspired by him over the years to go off and take

German at university.

He had hinterland, which especially

impressed me. He would turn up at Labour committee rooms at election time

to help ferry voters to the polls, but, I was given to understand, he was more

than just a Labour man; he was a socialist and a one time member of

something called the SPD. We knew this had to do with why he was forced out of

Germany in the thirties. He never went back, but he remained German to the

core, a lover of German culture and literature and from the fifties, when there

was still limited enthusiasm for it at least

in our small town, a dedicated and assiduous organiser of German exchange

visits.

My last glimpse of him was at the

wedding reception of a couple of school friends, one of whom had gone on after

school to study German. Poor old Doc was in a state of deep perturbation, his

wife clucking round him, because he had marched into the ladies’ toilet by mistake

instead of the men’s. It probably wasn’t his fault. There would have been those

silly signs on the doors instead of proper words. Sometimes things can be

altogether too kinderleicht.

Over the years I have made efforts to resurrect my German and for many

motives. Foremost amongst them these

days is to be a member of Renate’s joyous U3A German group, but always

somewhere in the background was that long held respect and liking for the

solemn little man who first introduced us to the language over half a century ago.

Even now, when I (frequently) get grammar or word order wrong I hear a

distant voice roaring; “Dickens! Dickens! Aber kinderleicht!!!’

A couple of years ago Renate led us on a

group visit to Berlin. I enjoyed it so much that I went back last year with my wife.

She wasn’t quite so sure about the

project but consented on condition that there would be days when she could

decide where to go.

So this was to be one of my tag-along days. Needless to say, Jen chose well.

We wandered round the Art Deco labyrinth of the Hakische Höfe and after

lunch I trotted dutifully behind as she sought out the Otto Weidt Museum.

It was located in what had been an old

clothing workshop run by Weidt. Operating during the war it had special

status, supplying material to the armed

forces. Weidt had employed blind and near sighted people, but it didn’t stop

there. He also sheltered Jews.

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An English born relative could vouch for

Doc and the plan was that he would arrange in London for his wife and

daughter to follow.

This was not to be easy. For all the talk these days of the Kindertransport scheme

Britain was grimly reluctant to take Jewish refugees. He needed to find sure

employment for them and he had no job himself. After months he secured jobs as

domestic servants for his wife and Inge in Glasgow, but as this

news arrived the Polish crisis broke and Britain and

Germany were at war.

To say that the

survival of Inge and her mother over the

next few years was a miracle is to

underestimate the mortal risks taken by

a succession of Germans in hiding and

protecting them. The Otto Weidt workshop

was to play a pivotal role in this. Bombed out of their

last refuge, mother and

daughter were being sheltered by friends in a disused goat shed when

Berlin was finally overrun in 1945.

Despite their appalling wartime ordeals they had no idea of the scale of death

and destruction amongst friends and relatives until after the war was over.

Of the many other family members who

had seen Doc off at the Anhalter Station in 1939, not one had survived. Inge

writes of how, when the enormity of what had happened was finally revealed to

them, mother and daughter clung to each

other and wept for days.

There were still the panels and secret

places where they hid in times of searches. Weidt managed this partly

because of his workshop’s war production and also because of gifts and backhanders

to those in authority.

We found the museum along a narrow

alley, heavily covered with graffiti. Much of the exhibition was given over to Weidt’s

protection of Jews and of the treatment of Jews under the Nazis. Behind

glass there was an example of the identity card that

all German Jews were obliged to carry. I

leant down to look at the card and

was transfixed.

The face in the photograph, the

little cleft in the chin, a wave in

the hair, not then white, that

intense expression; I knew

him instantly. Underneath the

photograph was the name; Dr. Martin Israel

Deutschkron.

Doc’s young daughter, Inge had found out

she was Jewish only when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Her parents were

socialists first and foremost and religion of any sort wasn’t for them. Doc’s certainty

of his status as a German civil servant

was shattered when he was sacked, but his faith in Germany survived the

authorities’ foisting of the name “Israel” on him. He even refused a teaching post

abroad. The horrors of Kristalnacht finally broke him and when he was informed that

as a Jew he was not worthy of carrying a surname with ‘Deutsch’ in it – and this a

man who had fought on the Western Front – he knew they had to leave Germany.

Kinderleicht Continued

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Kinderleicht Continued

The family was re-united in 1946. Inge

studied in London left to return to Germany to pursue a career as a

journalist and a doughty campaigner against prejudice, racism, and anti-

semitism.

On retirement she became a voluntary steward at the Otto

Weidt Museum and, when they were

casting round for exhibits,

provided her father’s Jewish

identity card.

At the age of

ninety she was invited to the

German Parliament

building in Berlin and gave an

address to a full session of the German Bundestag. I can

see her parents hovering in spirit at her shoulder, with her father moved only to

whisper now and then; “Aber ein bisschen lauter Inge!

”Today, when a new tide of savagery and violence races across another part of the

world and flings its human jetsam on

Europe’s shores, it is a German government which runs huge risks to

take the lead in responding.

Along with others Britain appears to be

reverting to type. We seem to have lost the capacity to distinguish between hard

headed and hard hearted. There is a whiff of the late thirties in the air; Jews,

Syrians, just no more room.

A Swiss government representative,

slammed the door on Jews in 1939 using a phrase that makes us think now

uneasily of what is going in the Aegean;

Doc went to his grave with a deep pride

in his native country’s culture and an unshakeable faith in his fellow humans;

heroic? childlike? Well maybe both. What would he have said of the humanitarian

crises we face today?

These challenges after all are on a scale

of difficulty somewhat greater than German word order; hardly kinderleicht

but should our preoccupations be centred on the least we possibly can do?

Kevin Dickens

Orders is Orders!

Notice seen at the Royal Marine

Barracks by John Noblet

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Classical Music Appreciation Group 2

O ur music appreciation group

has been meeting for almost a year now, although it doesn't

seem that long – the time has passed very quickly. We decided to run

the group in a slightly different way from the other U3A music appreciation groups,

so that people have a wider variety of choice.

Each month, over a cup of coffee, we

watch a video or have a talk on a particular theme. This is followed by

discussion, after which we listen to a selection of members' own music on CD,

based on the theme. Mostly, we use the

extensive DVD library at the national U3A resource centre. This means that

members can learn about a topic from the experts, with minimal outlay

(postage and packing only). During the first year, we have discovered more

about the life and works of several famous composers, including Mozart,

Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky and Chopin. We have also had presentations on 'The

Oboe' and 'Advent Carols'.

There is no one group leader with all the

answers, instead we learn from the DVDs and from each other, with Google

conveniently on hand if an interesting new line of thought develops.

The group also shares information about

live music opportunities in the area – concerts, workshops and participation in

informal choirs and instrumental groups. DVDs and CDs are wonderful, but

sometimes it is good to augment these with the opportunity to hear, or help

create, the immediacy of live classical music.

In future months, we aim to continue to learn about different composers,

interspersed with other stand-alone topics – in July, for example, we will be

listening to classical music which has been given wider appeal by being used in

Films and TV programmes

Mary Hawkins

French Improvers’ Group

T he composition of the group has, inevitably, changed over the three years for

which it has been running but remains at six-strong. The material has also changed with an increased emphasis on French current affairs.

Discussion tends to blossom out from the text material and this appears to be very

popular. The group retains its friendly atmosphere whilst the wide-ranging discussions have ensured a lively momentum. It also continues to be the case that the relatively

small number of people involved makes it easier to support those who have done less French whilst not boring for those whose knowledge base is more extensive. Three

members come on alternate Wednesdays in order to have extra exposure to the French language and one of them attends both sessions.

Whilst trying to keep numbers relatively small, the group could fit in one or two extra

members. Anybody who is interested is welcome to try us out.

The main group meets every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 10.30am

Anybody who is interested can contact me on 01822 618387.

Geoff Luckman

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Plymouth Royal Citadel Visit

T hirty of us met Jane, the official

guide, outside the grand gate of the Royal Citadel on a bright,

sunny but wind chilled February 24th. Bags were checked by a Military

Policeman and we filed in with instructions to stay on the designated

path as laser beams criss-cross the high security areas and the soldier on guard

did have his gun at the ready!

Charles II commissioned de

Gomme, a Dutch military engineer,

to design and build a citadel to

defend the port

of Sutton and surrounding area

and building commenced in

1666. Over a hundred guns were positioned around

the citadel and it is said that some pointed over the town of Plymouth whose

population had remained loyal to Cromwell’s Parliamentarians after the

end of the Civil War.

None of the Citadel’s guns was ever fired

in anger and no original guns exist but we saw a number of similar aged muzzle

loaders in firing positions which gave good effect.

We climbed up to the ramparts which top a 70 ft high wall and offered fantastic

views. Originally a mile right round, some of the rampart had been

dismantled in Victorian times but we still

had a ¾ mile walk before descending.

The 17th century soldiers would have

lived very basically on the ramparts but the Victorians made the Royal Citadel a

garrison for artillery training and built barracks and an officers’ mess to

accommodate about 500 men.

The Citadel is currently home to 29

Commando Regiment, the Royal Artillery.

We were not

able to enter any buildings

within the

Citadel other than the lovely

Royal Chapel of St Katherine-

upon-the-Hoe, built in 1668 by

de Gomme and extended in

1845. Our guide

recounted anecdotes about the chapel, which can be attended by the

public for regular Sunday services, before leading us across the parade

ground.

We then passed in front of the guard

house back into civvy street.

We had been privileged to hear 350

years history of kings and guns in

anecdotes and story and we even stood where Drake might well have seen the

Armada whilst playing bowls!

All very interesting.

Peter Dixon

The Diner’s Delight Group are going to the Finnygook Inn

at Crafthole for dinner on Wednesday 18th May.

If you would like to join them,

speak to Barry Smith (07702 871671)

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D id John’s luck run out? Well, yes

and no.

For the first three walks of 2016

that John led for Tavy District U3A the sun shone. Bearing in mind we have just

endured one of the wettest winters for many a year that is quite some

achievement.

The first walk of the year in rare sunshine

was through the Bronze Age settlement on Leedon Tor, down on to the old railway

track near Yes Tor Bottom and then to explore the abandoned quarries at Swell

Tor, where the group posed for the photo in the last Newsletter.

The second walk, again in sunshine, followed the Devonport Leat high

above Burrator reservoir. Then onto the old railway line to cross the

bridge built last year over the Yelverton to Princetown road.

Third time lucky was the March walk which started in Bere Alston and

followed old tracks through the daffodil fields and woods to

Tuckermarsh Quay. A pleasant stroll

alongside the River Tamar and under the Calstock viaduct was just

in time to watch a train go over.

Some of the walkers had asked for a

longer walk so would the weather hold for the walk from Okehampton station up to

Dartmoor’s highest village, Belstone?

That is where the answer can be “Yes” or

“No”, depending on your outlook on life.

The group set off in sunshine and arrived

back several hours later also in sunshine. Most of the middle was in sunshine, too,

as the photo taken at the Nine Maidens stone circle demonstrates.

To be honest, there were one or two

squally showers but the group took

Did Luck Run Out?

comfort from the fact that most of the

dark clouds appeared to scud past in the distance.

It is a steady uphill walk over the A30 and up to Klondyke Corner. Not the site of the

Alaskan gold rush, but on the way to Fitz’s Well named after Sir John Fitz of

Fitzford in Tavistock. (The gatehouse to his mansion still stands close to Drake’s

statue).

Then to Cullever Steps to cross two rivers

on two bridges beside two fords with a bit more uphill to reach the appropriately

named Winter Tor. From there it was an easy walk with the wind behind us,

passing Irishman’s Wall before going to

the Nine Maidens and into Belstone. Although the teashop was closed the

group did manage to restrain themselves from putting the leader in the stocks on

the village green.

With the reputation for dry walking this

year almost intact it was (nearly) all

downhill back to the cars.

The next “longer” walk will be to the

seaside at Bude on the last day of May.

Fingers crossed for sunshine!

John Noblet

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A Visit to Stonehouse Barracks, Plymouth

A group of U3A members met

outside the main gate to the Barracks.

Our guide, a local historian, gave everyone a fine illustrated map from

1767, showing the area of the Barracks to be covered on the visit. He escorted us

around the site, outlining the history of all the main buildings and various locations.

We were able to enter the Long Room, a red bricked Georgian building faced with

Portland stone that had been designed by Sir Robert Taylor (1714 to 1788).

Originally, it stood on its own in pleasure gardens and was used for balls and other

forms of entertainment. This remarkable building is still in use today having had

various functions since the 18th century; Stonehouse Town Hall, a home for retired

marines, a boys’ school, a hospital, a base for the American army in the 2nd World

War, and a gym in the 1950s.

A large neighbouring house was later built

for the surgeon. Today it can be used to

house visiting VIPs who require a secure

place to stay in Plymouth.

The development of Millbay was explained

with references to Brunel and the railway. We were then shown a memorial garden

for marines who had died serving our country.

The Victorian communications building (constructed in 1860) survived the

bombing of the 2nd World War and a new building was built on top of it in the

1970s.

To me it was incredible how all the

modern equipment and vehicles were placed so efficiently on such a difficult

hilly site.

It was very inspiring to climb to different

levels and aspects on this site and see so many spectacular views of the coast, all

highlighted by remarkable sunshine; definitely a most enjoyable and

memorable morning.

Anne French

Garden Visit to The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum

O ver 20 members enjoyed a winter visit to The Garden House in Buckland Monachorum. We were extremely fortunate to be in the group taken around

by Head Gardener, Nick Haworth.

It was an Open Afternoon for visitors when the gardens were normally closed and well over 60 people arrived for tours.

Nick explained the winter tasks that he and his team have been working on. His aim was to make all parts of the beautiful garden accessible by tractor and trailer and he is

now well on the way to achieving this.

As well as structural changes he pointed out some tree felling that has become necessary

through diseased trees which has altered many views ... and the snowdrops and

emerging plants were a joy.

Jennie Youngs

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A t 11.00 am on Wednesday 13th April, a group of about thirty-five of us

gathered at the Mayflower Steps on Plymouth’s Barbican. On a cold but generally bright morning we were about to set out – a little less ambitiously

than the Pilgrim Fathers – for the Royal William Yard.

In groups of five or six,

each led by a member of the social committee, we

set off at a gentle pace but this was no casual

stroll. For the next two hours our well informed

guides were to direct our attention to the wealth

of history along the way.

We started where the

Tolpuddle Martyrs landed in 1838, we saw the

scallop shell marking the spot where the medieval

pilgrims set out for Santiago de Compostella

and learned about the

strategic significance of the seventeenth century Royal Citadel. We speculated on the future of the Plymouth Dome after Gary Rhodes and looked down on the art deco

Tinside Lido being cleaned ready for its spring opening. We searched the chrome bollards engraved with the names of famous Plymouthians to find Joshua Reynolds,

Brunel, Dawn French and many more.

Reaching West Hoe we discovered that for fifty years Plymouth had had a pier until it

was bombed beyond repair in 1941. Ignoring a few drops of rain we continued past the Royal Navy millennium wall, along the intriguing codeword pavements to the gold

bullion stack. It proved to be of iron painted gold but originally, we learned, the genuine article was regularly stacked on the dockside and guarded by one sole

policeman.

The Millbay dockland proved interesting for the transformation that was taking place

there and then we were in the Stonehouse area with its elegant Georgian terraces and intriguing Sherlock Holmes quotations in the pavement celebrating Conan Doyle’s

short stint as a doctor in the area.

After a fascinating and highly informative two hours we had reached the Royal

William Yard. I have not mentioned the half of it. There is no end to what we now know about Plymouth’s waterfront thanks to the research, preparation and careful

organisation by the social committee.

David Voller

Plymouth Waterfront Walk

Photo: John Noblet

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Bird Watching

W e had a wonderful time at Steps Bridge in March. The weather was so

favourable that afterwards we were able to sit outside for our lovely lunch at The Hidden Garden in Dunsford.

The short walk from the car park across the bridge to the woods gave us a good view of some dippers in the river (the feathered variety as the water was far too cold for us

humans) which was an encouraging start. The information board at the entrance to the woods mentioned dormice,

daffodils, coppicing and butterflies so we had our eyes peeled for more

than birds.

No sign of dormice but several nest

boxes for them. I had never seen one before but they look like bird

boxes set much lower to the ground and have the entrance hole at

the back! The coppicing was much in evidence (less crowded areas)

which apparently helps to encourage the dormice as well as the undergrowth.

Not much in the way of butterflies but a profusion of daffodils. The picking of them is discouraged and no wonder as they gave a magnificent display of sunshine in that

woodland setting. A joy to behold! Oh, and over lunch we totted up all

the different birds we saw.

April found 16 of us at Lydford

Gorge hoping to see Pied

Flycatchers but in that we were disappointed. They come here to

breed but we were out of luck this time. In fact there were very few

birds to be seen, apart from the Grey Wagtail we were entranced with when

this group photo was taken!

Rosemary Edwards

Photo: John Noblet

Photo: Keith Penney

The next few outings planned by the Garden Visits Group are:

Monday 16th May: Illand Nursery and lunch at Cowslip.

Wednesday 29th June: Wildside, Buckland Monachorum.

Thursday 14th July: RHS Rosemoor.

Saturday 17th September: Two Quays House, Gweek.

Tuesday 18th October: Pinetum Park, St Austell.

Forthcoming

Garden

Visits

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Billy Eliott

B illy Elliot arrived in Plymouth as

the first venue on its national tour having completed a

triumphal 10 years in London. Globally the show has been seen by more

than 11 million people over 5 continents and has won 80 international awards.

Set in a northern mining town against the background of the 1984 -85 miners’

strike, Billy Elliot is the inspirational story of a young boy’s struggle against the odds

to make his dream come true, exchanging the boxing ring for a ballet class where he

discovers his passion for dance that finally inspires the community and changes his

life forever.

The show was gritty and raw, perhaps a

little shocking in the intensity of the actions and the language of the miners,

contrasting with the finely drawn characters of Billy’s family, and the

delightful ‘corps de ballet’ – a group of

very young dancers – ably coached by Annette McLaughlin as Mrs Wilkinson, the

dance teacher. The ballet rehearsals and routines became more sophisticated

through the performance, and for me the highlight was the ariel ballet danced as a

duet by Billy and his older self.

It is quite a challenge promoting a show

brimming with children as the law is very clear about how much time a child can

spend on the stage, so all 4 boys taking the part of Billy and the 3 boys playing

Michael have to be well rehearsed so they are able to drop into the part at a

moment’s notice, as happened at the performance we watched.

It is an inspiring story of succeeding against the odds, with wonderful humour

and dance contrasting with the fury and

despair of the miners on their famous strike. A very magical and highly

recommended experience.

Janet Hunt

T he Group has been running for a

number of years and we currently have 13 members, normally

meeting at Malcolm Ashfold’s house.

We are a self-help group. Members

volunteer to present a topic of interest, aimed at improving our images.

We mainly use Photoshop Elements for

our image processing, but some members use other similar applications.

This year we have discussed various

topics, such as:

Using a Light Box Pixels

Using Levels Making a Collage using Photoshop

Making a Christmas card using Photoshop Preparing a Slideshow

Taking Panoramas Changing a Sky

Each month John Dean, our Group

Leader, sets a photographic “challenge” topic and members display their images

at the next meeting.

Both the presentations and the challenges

are voluntary.

We also venture outside on occasions. This month we are visiting a professional

photographic studio, where we hope to learn studio lighting techniques and also

how professionals photograph a model.

Next month, weather permitting, we are planning an outdoor session at Cotehele.

There is currently a waiting list for our

group as space is limited, but we always try to include new members as soon as

we can.

John Dean

Digital Camera Group

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The first, of what we hope might become a series of seasonal recipes, comes from

Caroline Lorenzi.

Have you got a summer recipe for the next Newsletter?

Elderflower Fritters

My husband's grandmother used to make "Elderflower fritters".

They are really easy to make and delicious.

Make a thin batter with eggs flour and milk, 4oz plain flour, 1 egg, ¼ pint milk.

Separate the yolk from the white and whisk the white and

combine at the end.

Combine flour, egg yolk and milk and beat well so there are no

lumps.

Pick fully open elderflower stems, wash well and drain.

Heat oil of choice in a frying pan or fryer.

Dip the flowers in the batter, shake and holding the stem, dip in

the hot fat until batter is cooked.

Dip fritter in a prepared tray of caster sugar. Cinnamon may be

added to the sugar.

Eat at once and enjoy.

I am not sure if this is an Austrian or southern German recipe. They used all sorts of hedgerow flowers and greens after the war

when food was really scarce. It became a favourite with my children.

Elderflowers are easily found in the Devon hedgerows or gardens. Don't pick them all. We made wine of the berries or added them

to blackberries while making jam. Leave some for the birds too.

Caroline Lorenzi

17


WALKSWALKSWALKSWALKS Tuesday 3rd May Diana

Walking from Burrator and through Sheepstor Woods. 4-5 miles.

Tuesday 17th May No walk as Launceston Speaker Day and Falmouth Social Trip

Thursday 26th May Jennie

To Double Waters. Open moorland and woodland paths with some ascent. Dogs on leads. 2½ hours. Optional lunch at Long Ash Garden Centre cafe.

Tuesday 31st May John A longer walk option. Walk from Helebridge to Widemouth Bay and Bude and back on

the canal. 6 miles. Optional extension on coast path to Northcott Mouth. 9 miles in total. Tea after.

Tuesday 7th June Diana

Walking at Bude. 5 miles. Please bring lunch.

Tuesday 21st June Barry A Summer Day Out in Cornwall.

Walk Lanhydrock woods, meet a steam train for lunch, then along the River Fowey and back to Lanhydrock House for tea and cake. 6 miles. Bring NT card for car park.

Thursday 30th June Tony

Walk from Norsworthy Bridge, on tracks/paths & open moorland. Cuckoo Rock,

potato cave and maybe a tor and stone row. Approx 2½ hours with optional lunch at the Royal Oak. Please indicate if having lunch. Tuesday 5th July Walking around Kings Tor. 4½ miles. Diana

The meeting place and time for all walks is the free car park at Pixon Lane (just below the Market Inn) at 9.40am.

We have had to change the speaker for July. In place of the advertised speaker, Dr Geri

Parlby will now talk to us on the subject: ‘The Emperor and the Prostitute - Justinian and Theodora, the most

notorious couple in the history of Byzantium and the art they inspired.’

It should prove to be an unusual and interesting topic and you will

remember Geri from our Study Day last October.

If you want to keep on top of all the

latest scams, go to

www.actionfraud.police.uk

for up to date news. It’s scary!

18


T he new theatre brochure is out and there are many exciting shows to consider

this season, and I have included short details about each as we have chosen very different genres and it will give you a chance to think whether each show

is for you!

We now have a confirmed booking for Red Shoes – the new Matthew Bourne ballet. We have reserved 60 seats in the circle on Thursday 24 November 2.30 £32.

These vary from row C to row F. This time we would like you to pay for your seat/s and then Carole will put you on the list. If you are not able to come to the

meeting you can send a cheque payable to Tavy District U3A for £32 to Mrs J Hunt, 6 Hessary View Tavistock PL19 0EZ.

Mamma Mia is coming in February, the smash hit musical based on the songs of Abba,

just the tonic for a winters day! Tommy Steele is returning to the theatre in The Glenn Miller Story – a brand

new musical based on the life, fame and vanishing of America’s most famous band

leader, featuring a 16 piece orchestra. Let It Be celebrates the music of the Beatles – more than 40 hits, starting in the

Cavern Club. Chicago is returning to the Theatre Royal. Murder, greed, corruption, exploitation,

adultery and treachery, set in Chicago in the roaring 1920s. 1972: The Future of Sex is in the Drum. We were recommended this show as one

that would make us laugh uproariously, described in the brochure as ‘the theatrical equivalent of popping candy: blissful, colourful and multi-sensory magic’.

Alvin Ailey dance theatre group is one of the top modern dance groups, and recommended as a wonderful introduction for those who have not ventured into the

world of modern dance – the theatre is thrilled to have been able to book the group!

These are all the shows that can be booked at the moment;

Iolanthe 17-21 May 7.30 at Devonport Playhouse. Deadline May.

1972: The Future of Sex Friday 17 June 7.45 in The Drum (unreserved) £14.70. Deadline May.

Chicago Thursday 21 July 2.30 upper circle C £26. Deadline May. Let It Be Saturday 30 July 2.30 upper circle B £26. Deadline June.

The Glenn Miller Story Thursday 8 September 2.30 upper circle B/C £24.50. Deadline July.

Alvin Ailey Tuesday 20 September 7.30 circle row F £24. Deadline August. The Wind in the Willows Thursday 20 October 2.30 dress circle row G £35

deadline June. The Red Shoes Thursday 24 November 2.30 dress circle £32

Mamma Mia! Thursday 9 February 2.30 upper circle C £42.50. Deadline September.

Carole 618981 [email protected]

Janet 613088 [email protected]

THEATRETHEATRETHEATRETHEATRE

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS

19


Contributions for the Newsletter to John Noblet, please.

Email to [email protected]

Last date for inclusion in the next Newsletter is 20th June

Sunday May 8th

Invitation to play Petanque at Plymouth, 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm. Beginners welcome. See Social desk for further details.

Tuesday May 17th

Coach trip to Falmouth, river trip up the Fal to Truro, and return home by coach. Depart Tavistock 9.00 am. £18. Only 7 places left.

Tuesday May 17th

Launceston U3A Speakers Day. £12.

Tuesday June 14th Coach trip to Honiton and Exeter. Depart 9.00 am. £15.

Thursday June 30th Minack Theatre. Only waiting list available.

Thursday July 28th

John’s Annual Walk-About Town Quiz. Meet 6.15 for 6.30 outside the Town Hall. £2. Optional food at Robertson’s afterwards.

Future events being planned, with details to follow :

Coach visit to Penzance and Newlyn with opportunity to visit their Art centres

Guided tour of Royal William Yard

Energy from Waste at Devonport. Overview of the project and site tour

Visit to Devonport Naval Heritage Centre

Skittles

SOCIAL TABLESOCIAL TABLESOCIAL TABLESOCIAL TABLE

Plus There are also the regular Coffee Mornings at The Terrace on the 3rd Wednesday of the

month from 10.15 am

20

TAVY

DISTRICT

Tavy District U3A meets on the

first Wednesday of the month

at 2.00pm in Tavistock Town

Hall

Chair Hilary O’Neill 854565

[email protected]

Vice Chair David Palmer 612100

[email protected]

Business Secretary Liz Heaton 615129

[email protected]

Treasurer Randall Williams 859167

[email protected]

Membership Barry Smith 07702 871671

[email protected]

Groups Liaison Caroline Paskins 853377

[email protected]

Newsletter Distribution Christine Playdell 613054

[email protected]

Speaker’s Liaison Pat Dickinson 610658

[email protected]

Two Moors Liaison Hilary O’Neill 854565

[email protected]

Equipment Officer Nick Turner 834740

[email protected]

Catering Liaison Millicent Wallworth 610536

[email protected]

Social Committee Norma Woodcock 613597

Lillian Taylor 617720

Chris Webb 613884

Diana Smirles 612763

Janet Hunt 613088

The Committee .

Tavy District U3A Speaker Programme

Our Programme for the next few months:

1st June

The Oregon Trail Prof. Ian Barclay

6th July

The Emperor and the Prostitute Dr Geri Parlby

The latest

Groups

calendar and list of

contacts is on our

website

Tavy District U3A 2016.pdf · Britain was grimly reluctant to take Jewish refugees. He needed to find sure employment for them and he had no job himself. After months he secured jobs

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