Here is a video of Spire u3a's Onward discussion of 5th November 2021
Saturday 6 November 2021
Friday 22 October 2021
Friday 8 October 2021
Saturday 2 October 2021
Spire u3a Annual General Meeting 2021
Spire u3a Annual General Meeting 11th October 2021 10am
Our Monthly meetings in Harnham Memorial Hall have not yet resumed.
Following guidance from U3A head office, our meeting will take place on Zoom.
Members have received relevant information in advance by email/newsletter. Those who do not have internet access have been sent paper copies.
Agenda
Welcome
Apologies
Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting (August 2020)
Matters Arising
Adoption of a new constitution proposed by the chairman
Chairman’s Report
Thanks to officers who are leaving
Secretary’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Proposal to raise the membership fee to £15 per annum from April 2022
Confirmation of Accounts Examiner
Membership Secretary’s Report
Webmaster’s Report
Communication Officer’s Report
Election of the Committee 2021-22
Any other business
Reports from Group Leaders
Reports from our group leaders
Playing Simple Music: Malcolm Simmons
I hope this 'report' from the PSM group isn't too late for the AGM. With much regret I've now decided that I can't be group leader for that group as health matters have forced me to admit that I can't put in the energies needed. If someone else would take-up the baton, I would be very happy to give support as a player or scribe and give access to any material that we've accumulated since 2003. For me, I've had a lot of fun and made many friends as well as to gain motivation to dust off minor music skills dating from my school days.
Poetry Reading: Beryl Paton
During the last year the Poetry Reading group had several successful Zoom meetings and latterly several actual meetings - which were much appreciated by us all and hosted by Jo and Malcolm Simmons in their garden and on their verandah. Recent topics covered included "Gardens" and poems by John Clare and John Betjeman. We will be reading poems about Autumn and Harvest at our October meeting.
Canasta: Christine Hill
The Spire Canasta Group continues to go well. We meet every two weeks to do battle with melds and Canastas, with red threes and jokers. We have two sets of rules operating that gives a bit of a variety in playing.
Drawing Tuition Christopher Browne
This
group has under reported to Spire, please forgive: we are in many
ways rather a wild-card group, but do continue to function monthly
and have attenders both from Spire and from other Salisbury u3as. We
meet at the home of a group-member who has a large screen, which is
used to summon up images of various works of art (mainly but not only
paintings) which come into the discussion of the day. The other main
resource for our work is my own personal and accurate visual memory
of art-works, through having been an art-history teacher for many
years, including at Salisbury College of Art when it was in New
Street many years ago.
A
loose description of a session: the business starts with Homework,
set at the end of the previous session. Each person in turn shows
what they brought (often more than one piece, sometimes many). But
there is no judgment of the quality or talent of the drawings, and no
competition for praise. It is all a matter of what ideas the (very
different) homework contributions bring to the discussion of
the homework theme the were done in response to.
So,
yesterday's meeting (September 27th) the homework was to draw in
whatever medium or style a visual theme to be suitable for a really
big chalk-drawing on a hillside to be carried out in the manner of
the Wiltshire White Horses, or the Cerne Giant in Dorset. The results
were very varied and interesting, and led us on to further discussion
of iconic qualities in art works, and the importance of offering
clear memory-impressions with the image, rather than realistic
representation of a subject. And how iconic imagery works not only
for Greek orthodox church screens, but for computer screen desk-top
icons.
You
see our thoughts range quite widely: good exercise for the surviving
grey cells.
I
hope this gives you some idea of what we do and how we set about it.
I don't know if, in this form, you would think it useful to circulate
Around The Spire? Speaking of that phrase: has our Harnham Chapter of
u3a expressed any feeling of linking with the sculpture in the
northeast corner of The Square?
Monday 26 July 2021
French
The Spire u3a French group is reduced in numbers due to age and infirmity and would like some new members.
We belong to the Spire conversation french group and we have continued to meet this year in our gardens. There are still four of us left!
Contact Martin Shalders, please. 01722 743083 and mametzwood@btinternet.com
Wednesday 9 June 2021
u3a Science Network virtual meeting Wednesday 11 August 2021
u3a Science Network virtual meeting Wednesday 11 August 2021
10:30 AM to 3:00 PM
About this event
A science-based learning event with 3 presentations of 45 minutes followed by questions after each presentation, with a break for refreshments and for lunch. The meeting will start at approximately 10:30 (doors open at 10:00) and ending with a short plenary session at 3 o’clock.
To book a place on this Free event, click the following link or copy and paste in your browser:
If any of you have not registered for the event, please do so. Here's the link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/
u3a Science Network meeting – Wednesday 11 August 2021
Session timings: 45 minutes for speaker presentations, 15 minutes for Questions sent and collected via Chat
10:00 – Meeting room open to allow people to arrive and check in
10:30 - Welcome and Introduction Mike Hollingsworth, Science Subject Adviser
10:35 – 11:35 Gunpowder Technology - Geoff Smith, Horndean & District u3a
10 minute break
11:45 – 12:45 Flint - Ros Mercer, Broomfield u3a
12:45 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 14:30 SETI – the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence – Leigh Edwards, Exeter u3a
10 minute break
14:40 – 15:00 Plenary session for those attending to suggest any changes and details of the October meeting.
Michaela Moody, Chair u3a Science Network organising team
If you have any queries, please send them to michaela.moody@u3a.org.uk
Thursday 27 May 2021
CROQUET for All
Would you enjoy some gentle outdoor exercise coupled with some friendly competition? Then croquet might be the sport for you.
Hamptworth Croquet Club has agreed to host a series of eight Monday morning sessions for u3a members starting on the 5th July.
No experience is necessary, all equipment will be provided (mallets, balls and hoops). Members need to dress in comfortable clothing (not too long or loose as this may get in the way of swinging a mallet). Ladies note the normal stance is to stand with one's legs slightly apart and swing the mallet between the legs, so slacks or shorts are preferable to skirts. Flat bottom shoes such as trainers are needed so as not to damage lawns. A rain jacket is also useful to continue to play in light showers.
For those entirely new to croquet some instruction and practice will be given on mallet grip striking balls, how to run a hoop and elementary rules of Golf Croquet. The idea is to get everyone playing as quickly as possible.
Hamptworth Croquet Club is set in the Hamptworth Golf Club at Hamptworth Road, Salisbury SP5 2DU. This is easily reached in a car by driving about 5 miles down the A36 south of Salisbury towards Southampton, taking a turning to the right where a brown sign indicates “Country Club”. Then into Landford Village and take another turning to the right indicated by a further brown “Country Club” sign. Continue for about a mile on the Hamptworth Road, past the “Cuckoo Inn” and the Club is on the right-hand side of the road. There is parking available and a clubhouse and changing room. Tea coffee, snacks and drinks can be purchased in the Club House, where there are also changing facilities. The Club House will be operated according to whatever co-vid rules are in place at the time.
There are five well-kept croquet lawns and a small pavilion 50 yards down a small hill next to the car park. The area is surrounded by woodland and has a feeling of spaciousness.
The activity will be limited to a maximum of 12 participants, who will be expected to practice outdoor social distancing and clean and sanitize equipment after use with soap and sanitisers provided.
Sessions will be from 10.00 to 12.00 hours on Mondays for eight meetings starting 5th July. After the u3a session, participants would be welcome to hang around until 14.00 hours and watch Club members play their Monday afternoon regular mix-ins, observe finer points of the game played by experienced players and the general ambience of the Club..
Cost will be £3 per session, which includes a green fee and the hire of a mallet. If a member has their own mallet there will be a reduction of £1 for each session. Members are expected to pay before each session. The Croquet Club is keen to welcome new members. If after their u3a croquet experience, participants are interested in joining the Club to play croquet all day, all the year-round, the Club would discount any annual membership fee by the amount paid for participation in u3a sessions.
If you want to get swinging (with a mallet). Contact Eric Crowter at mobile: 07538783041 or
Email: ericcrowter63@gmail.com. More information about Hamptworth Croquet Club can be found at https://croquet-websites.org.uk/hamptworth
Wednesday 28 April 2021
U3A Science Group News
May 2021 News
The meeting on 20th April went very well. There were 3 talks. One on the latest COVID situation. This proved both fascinating and interesting. So much so that Mike Trevithick will repeat but with an updated version in August. The talk on Chocolate was mouth-watering but sadly no tastings were possible!
During 2020 many science and technology groups have held their monthly meetings virtually which is great news. So the organising team thought it would hold three short virtual meetings in 2021 on Tuesday 20 April, Wednesday 11 August, and Thursday 14 October instead of trying to replicate our usual annual physical meeting as people may not yet be ready for this.
There will be 3 presentations of 45 minutes followed by questions at each meeting, with a break for refreshments and for lunch.
If you’d like to attend one or all of these meetings, please register your interest by clicking the following link www.tinyurl.com/2021-premeet or copying and pasting it into their browser. We can then get in touch with you.
Virtual meetings can’t be the same as physical meetings but they do provide an opportunity for members to get together and to chat during the breaks.
The High Street Project
The Steering group has now processed over 20,000 lines of survey data provided by members who walked their high streets across the UK in September and is assembling them for initial analysis. The results will be presented to the Trust board at their December meeting with proposals for local projects by U3As in 2021 and plans to create an interactive searchable database with map and photo front ends. The final report will be published to coincide with our 40th anniversary in 2022 but you’ll be able to read more about the project findings and proposals in the February issue of Sources.
Tuesday 6 April 2021
Phyll Babb - Her Story
You may not know Phyll but she has been an inspiration for many in the u3a in Salisbury.
She persuaded me to be the Subject Adviser for Photography and to write an online Tutorial on digital imaging.
Click on this link to read the wonderful story about Phyll and her connections with the U3A.
Thursday 21 January 2021
Governmentium Vaccination Rollout
Science News
Oxford University researchers have discovered the densest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium, which has the symbol Gv, has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton like particles called pillocks.
Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years.
It does not decay but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as a critical morass.
When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, symbol Ad, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many pillocks but twice as many morons.
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