Newsletter 35, March 2015

News from Knole
Knole U3A can be found at—http://www.knoleu3a.org.uk
Chairman's Notes
Amanda Birch
You may recall that a decision was taken at the
2012 AGM to cap our membership at 350 so
people can get to know each other well and Knole
maintains a friendly atmosphere. Whilst
endeavouring to keep waiting lists to a minimum,
we have been able to hold several most successful
new members’ meetings. But with continuing
pressures from new applicants we now have 378
members with 10 people on the waiting list. In
order to get back down to our 350 cap, new
applicants are being told that there will be no
spaces until next year.
I find it deeply uncomfortable that we have to turn
people away or require them to wait for a lengthy
period before joining. Many of them are friends of
existing members or people who you have
introduced to U3A. Since last September, of 6 new
groups formed, 5 have been started by new
members. New members bring energy,
enthusiasm and new ideas and they are to be
encouraged and cherished.
We are not obliged to follow National Office policy;
however we are under the umbrella of the Third
Age Trust. Their aim is to honour the wish of the
U3A founders by making membership available to
all third agers, and caps and waiting lists go
against these aims.
So I would like us to consider easing the 350 cap
to perhaps 500 which is the limit set out in our
current Constitution. I do not foresee a rapid rise
in numbers but it will give us more
headroom. Knole is a friendly organisation and I
cannot envisage that changing. But allowing more
space for the continued intake of enthusiastic, proactive and dynamic members will help to ensure
we continue to flourish and diversify and bring in
people who will rapidly become new friends.
Committee members and I would welcome
your views on this proposal so please let us
know what you think.
March 2015
No 35
All change at the Community Centre
Sevenoaks Town Council is beginning the process
to replace the existing Community Centre with a
new building. This will include a large community
events space for up to 250 people, a small hall,
kitchen area, nursery facilities, toilets lift, external
play area and storage to the ground floor; on the
first floor there will be a staff room, offices,
meeting/functions rooms, toilets and kitchen.
There is to be a design competition for the new
centre and it is hoped that a shortlist of 5 will be
invited to submit design concepts and will receive
an honorarium. In May 2015 there will be a public
exhibition of the designs in the Large Hall at the
Community Centre
It is proposed that the existing centre will remain
functioning until the new build is completed on the
adjoining land. It is believed that the plan is to
relocate the Town Council offices from their
present site to the new centre.
David Small
The clubhouse at Sevenoaks Outdoor
Bowling Club, Hollybush Close, Sevenoaks,
TN13 3UX - is available for hire. There is a
fully equipped kitchen, tables and seating for
around 50. It is available Monday and
Thursday mornings to 12 noon and other times
by arrangement. Good parking. Hire charge
£12 an hour. Enquiries to the Hon
Secretary 01732 460231.
Coffee Mornings are held on the 2nd Thursday
of the month at The Bullfinch in Riverhead,
from 10.30am to 12noon. Next dates for your
diary are
April 9th, May 14th, June 11th
These are very sociable gatherings, open to all,
and a nice way to get to know members from
other groups.
Jean Paige
1
Forthcoming Speakers
th
Monday April 27 : Michael Smith on
Shackleton
Michael spoke to us last year about Tom Crean the
explorer. He has now written a book about Sir
Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton was among the
greatest explorers who made four voyages of
discovery to the Antarctic a century ago. He
marched to within 100 miles of the South Pole in
1909 and led the dramatic battle to survive when
his ship, Endurance, was crushed by ice.
Shackleton was a charismatic figure who loved the
icy wilderness.
Monday 18th May: Dr Chris Pond on Curiosities of
Coronations
Dr Pondis an author, local historian and county
councillor in Essex. He retired a few years ago after
33 years at the House of Commons library. This
talk was researched to mark the 60th anniversary of
the 1953 Coronation, and concentrates on some of
the unusual events and little ironies which have
occurred around the ceremony over the last 1000
years or so
The full programme of talks for the Science
Group is set out in the Knole U3A Handbook and
on the Knole U3A website. A programme of
technical visits for Summer 2015 has also been
organised.
The Science Group committee is currently putting
together its October 2015 to September 2016
programme of talks and visits. If there are any
particular topics you would like a talk on for
future programmes or suggestions for technical
visits please contact Alan Heyes (see below).
For information about the Science Group talks
and visits
Contact: Dr Alan Heyes
Modern Maths for Grandparents
Partitioning, place value, number line
calculations, grid multiplication, chunking!!
Your grandchildren may know what this is all
about but do you?
David Small
________________________________________
Sevenoaks Jazz and Blues 2 is organising a
Snake Davis study morning on Thursday 28 May
at the Otford Village Memorial Hall at a cost of
£5. Snake will be demonstrating a range of
saxophones, flutes and whistles and telling us
about his instruments, their place in jazz and
popular music and what makes up the Classic
Sax. 9.45 registration and further details from
A short course covering the way in which maths
basics are now taught to primary aged
children. The idea is to have a small group of
about 6 people for about an hour and half for 4
consecutive weeks to introduce new terminology
and explain teaching methods. Time and place to
be arranged to suit the group.
Contact: Jenny Wickham
Harvey Mahn
__________________________________
News from the Groups
John Stambollouian
Science for all
The Science Group talks and visits are open to
every member of Knole U3A. The group aims to
raise awareness and discussion of a broad range
of science and technology issues with talks from
a mix of invited speakers and our own members.
The talks are held from 2.30 – 4.30 p.m. in
Sevenoaks Weald Memorial Hall, Weald, TN14
6PT on the first Thursday of the month from
October- May. Entrance £3, which includes
refreshments.
2nd April
The Science of Weather – Dr Liz
Bentley, Chief Executive, Royal Meteorological
Society
14th May
Science and Art – Dr David Peggie,
National Gallery
(The May meeting was moved to the 14th May
due to Polling Day being on the 7th May and the
Memorial Hall unavailable for meetings)
Music Appreciation
We now have vacancies for 3 new members. The
group started with a programme which examined
the development of European music and was very
successful. We have just finished looking at
modern composers. The next meeting will be on
the 3rd Tues. in April, which is April 21st when
we need to decide how we are going to continue.
I favour a structured theme such as the one that
we have just followed but the members of the
group should be able to contribute and the
majority view should be adopted.
There are a number of directions that we could
take so now is a good time to join the group. We
could trace the development of the symphony for
example. I have a number of other suggestions
which I propose to raise at our next meeting.
Meetings are held at River Hill
If anybody feels that they might be interested in
joining please:
Contact: Alan Burfoot
2
Snooker
The Sevenoaks U3A Snooker Group is now up and
running at the Olympic Centre in Swanley. where
there are 6 tables available for play. We have
reserved 2 tables from 2pm till 4pm on the 2nd
and 4th Thursday of each month. The Centre is
an easy drive from Sevenoaks and plentiful free
parking is available. Charges are an initial annual
joining fee of £11 and then a table charge of
£3.40 per hour
You are encouraged to join now before we start to
improve!
Contact: Liz Lucy
Bridge for Beginners
The Sevenoaks U3A Bridge for Beginners Group
invites members of Knole. Initially there will be
six lessons for complete beginners or lessons for
people who have some basic knowledge of ACOL
but who do not play seriously. We will then start
by revising basic ACOL and go on to more
conventions and card play. About half of each
lesson will be actual play. Wednesday, 1st and
3rd, 10am-12noon.
Contact: Jean Brown 01732 462675
Village Studies 2
The VS2 group would welcome a small number of
new members. Now in its third year, this friendly
group will be making study visits to Edenbridge,
Oxted and Chiddingstone among others in the
coming months. Working in pairs of members, we
have undertaken visits to many interesting
villages in Kent over the past two years. We are
now spreading our wings a little further, into
Surrey. As always we will end each visit with a
light lunch at a local pub /restaurant.
Contact: Olivia Lewis
London Studies 6
We had our first outing as a new group on 24th
February to the Elvis exhibition at the O2 and it
was very successful and we all enjoyed it very
much. Coffee and cake on arrival at the O2,
approximately two hours in the exhibition and
then a lovely lunch afterwards. As we are a new
group, we still have plenty of spare places, so
please do consider joining a very cheerful and
enthusiastic group. We are off the Bank of
England in March.
"Topical Talk" originally known as "Moral
Maze"
We are a small, very friendly group and we
enjoy nothing more than a good wrangle. We
have changed our name in the hope that the
new one will be less threatening to the
peaceable members of Knole U3A. So far our
discussions have ranged from, "The possible
use of untested drugs to combat Ebola" to
"Personal decisions and responsibility,
particularly referring to our health and our
choices" our next meeting will see us facing the
challenge of "Prison".
Tempted.....come and join us. We meet on the
first Monday of every month at the "Bullfinch"
on the corner of Bullfinch Lane, from 11:30am
till 1:30pm. However to add a little confusion
both April and May dates are also Bank
Holidays, so an exception is in place:
Our next meeting will be on: Wednesday May
6th, at "The Bullfinch. 11:30am till 1:30pm.
Subject "Prison" a little general reading is
useful.
A very warm welcome awaits you. Come and
put your toes on the water.
Contact: Sylvia Tillotson
Computer Group
On April 23rd, in addition to the normal reports
on news and innovations, John Phillips will be
giving a talk on using genealogy websites to
build a detailed family tree.
On May 28th the keynote topic will be setting
up and using a Skype account.
Contact: Simon McIntyre
French for Improvers
The French Group decided that we should hold
meetings once a week instead of twice a month
and several members thought that morning
meetings would be a good addition. So Lucy
and Roy will continue to host meetings on the
first and third Wednesdays of the month at
2.30 - 4.0 at 7c South Park. Hilary MacPherson
has kindly volunteered to host the morning
meetings. Discussions are still in progress
about which morning’s suit most people.
We have room for one or two new members
Contact: Lucy Hall
Contact: Alison Baldwin
3
Amblers
EXTRAMURAL COMMITTEE
and other visits or events
Visit to Waddesdon Manor on Thursday 30
April – we are pleased to say that the coach is
now fully booked and we are looking forward to
an exciting visit.
Shropshire Holiday – there will be a ‘get
together’ for everyone going on this holiday on
Friday 24 April from 5-7 pm at Holmesdale
Bowling Club. Sandy Hull will send an e-mail to
members who are going to Shropshire.
The Amblers group had a great walk around
Lullingstone on 9th March where we found this
very old tree.
We meet the second Monday in the month and
the walks, usually about four miles, are led by
each member in turn. We often finish the walk
near a pub, coffee house or visitors centre
where we can have a coffee or lunch. The
Amblers are a very social, friendly group and
we have been to some great places.
Visit on Wednesday 15 July to Highclere
Castle, Newbury where the TV series
‘Downton Abbey’ is filmed. All the details for
this visit are on the flyer enclosed with this
Newsletter. This is bound to be a very popular
visit, so make sure you apply promptly!
Visit to Kings College and the Fitzwilliam,
Cambridge on Wednesday 9 September.
Further details will follow, but please make a
note of the date in your diary.
Contact: Lesley Allum-Jolly
Map Reading Course
The next map reading course will be on
Tuesday 12th May 1pm – 4.30pm
Thursday 14th May 1pm – 4.30pm
Tuesday 23rd June 1pm – 4.30pm
Thursday 25th June 1pm – 4.30pm
If you would like to join the course you will
need to be able to attend all four sessions. We
will have one theory session, in Orpington, and
the other three sessions will be out walking
using the map and compass.
The course aims to give you confidence with
the use of a map and compass so you can plan
your own walks without the fear of getting lost.
LAST CHANCE TO BUY TICKETS
There are 23 tickets remaining for the Kent
Study Day on Saturday 11th April on
INTERRELATIONSHIPS: Literature, Music, Film,
Photography and Art which is being held at the
Sinden Theatre, Homewood School, Tenterden.
The flyer was in the January newsletter.
Please contact:( 01233 628255
7 sue.long930@ntlworld.com
Map Reading Refresher Course
This course is for anyone who has already
attended one of my map reading courses and
will be held on Tuesday 19th May or Thursday
18th June. We will spend the day going over
the use of map and compass, route planning
etc. and sorting out any problems you have
encountered with your map reading. If you
are interested please
Contact: Janice Smith
Knole Newsletter May 2015:
Because of the Bank Holiday, the May
meeting is one week early on Monday
18th May. Copy should be sent (with
email addresses please) by no later than
Friday 8th May to:
Michael Willsher
and
Pamela Gilchriest
4