To join a group please contact the group leader to check on vacancies and programme. To join a proposed group speak to Enid, Groups Co-ordinator at the Monthly Meeting or contact the group leader. To suggest new ideas for groups speak to Enid at the Monthly Meeting. Would group leaders please keep Enid informed of any changes to the information given above.

Although it has yet to get started Enid has received a lot of requests for a Ballroom Dancing Group. Any assistance in this regard would be very welcome.

Reg of Bookham U3A is keen to start a Creative Writing class. If you are interested contact Enid for details. To encourage members to have a go the Newsletter Editors will print a three part story in three successive publications. The idea is that each issue could have a part of the story submitted by a different author. Might be interesting to see how the story develops.

Patricia

Date for your diary:
Group Leader's Lunch Friday, 28th March 2006 at Fetcham Reading Rooms 12:30 to 4pm.
Come along and join in the discussion about how our Groups are run! Your ideas are valuable to us!

When the weather was fine we took the opportunity to paint scenes in the garden. When it rained we were moved to take inspiration from the talk on Velasquez and attempt self portraits. A display board is being assembled for exhibition at a Monthly Meeting, showing a range of paintings of plants, animals and scenery.

2005 has been a year of steady progress but we would still welcome additional members. We still meet on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. — contact Janet for details.

During the summer the group has enjoyed visits to Somerset House and the Watts Gallery and Mausoleum, preceded by lunch at Jenny's house. We have also been to the Stubbs and Pictures in Britain Exhibitions in London.
The events in July prevented us from going up to the V&A in London. In September we had a wonderful visit to Charleston Farmhouse, home of Vanessa Bell and the Bloomsbury Set during the 30's and the war. We were totally amazed by the paintings and the objects that had been painted as we were taken around on our conducted tour. We followed the visit by having lunch at the Cricketers pub Berwick before looking around Berwick church which contains commissioned paintings by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant done during the last years of the war. Charleston is near to Polegate and Eastbourne. We finished the year by having a Xmas lunch at Blubeckers in Gomshall, this was shared with the Music Appreciation Group. We are currently enjoying the Renaissance lectures being given by Leslie Pitcher and as none of us wants to miss any of these lectures we are waiting until they finish before we resume our visits.

With the advent of the Winter months the group has retreated to the comfort of members homes with viewings of aviation videos and a taxing quiz relating to events dating from the Wright Brothers until the present day, which was won by Graham. A visit to the RAE Farnborough Airfield Museum in conjunction with the Industrial Heritage Group is scheduled for the 16th January and also a visit to the RAF Museum Hendon is planned for March. Amongst future events mooted are a gliding experience day and a visit to Duxford Airfield for one of their excellent displays and viewing of the magnificent aviation heritage there.

Although we have quite a few members showing interest in Ballroom Dancing we have yet to find a member who is willing to spend time teaching a group, thus my appeal for assistance is becoming daily more urgent.

The Book group started off this month with members’ choice of poetry readings. These ranged from the hilarious story telling of ‘Old father William’ to the sombre story of the ‘Highwayman’. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and it is nice that the choices were so varied and entertaining. One of our members read out a verse written by her aunt, so was different to those poems written by established authors.
Our book reading starts this year with ‘The Book Reading Group’ by Elizabeth Noble which follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to discuss books. Over the course of the year these women become entwined both in the books they read and within each others lives. (Sounds familiar) Other books listed so far are: ‘The Winner’ by David Baldacci, ‘Winston’s War’ by Michael Dobbs and ‘The Secret life of Bees’ by Sue Monk-Kidd.
There is space for 1 or 2 new members if anyone is interested in joining us.

Herewith dates etc. for U3A Bridge.
Subscriptions were due on or before 5 January 2006 and include coffee/tea and biscuit as usual. Because there are now more members the subs have gone down and are now £12 for the whole year or £1 per meeting. Cheques should be paid to F. Sinnock who has a separate account for U3A Bridge.
Please continue to sign the attendance book and newcomers are asked to leave their name, address and telephone number plus U3A name so that contact can be made if necessary.
Dates for 2006: (usually second and fourth Thursday mornings from 10.00am to 12.30pm) Rubber on the second Thursday and Chicago on the fourth Thursday.
5 and 26 January, 9 and 23 February, 9 and 23 March, 13 and 27 April, 11 and 25 May, 8 and 22 June, 13 and 27 July no meetings in August 14 and 28 September, 12 October, (no meeting on 26 October), 2, 9 and 23 November, 14 December.
Frank is very appreciative of your help in clearing away after the meetings and for your help in running the Club.

The number of Silver Surfers continues to grow in Fetcham. The short course Graham arranged using Bookham library’s computers for accessing the internet and e-mails was well received. Using these excellent facilities is a good way for members to gain access to a computer at no cost and with assured security.
For our more experienced members the course at Howard School in the autumn provided something for most tastes. Thanks must go to Graham, Hugh, Michael and Tony who covered a diverse range of topics from the basics of file handling, formatting and templates, to the complexities of Excel, PowerPoint and mailmerge, all with the latest edition of XP which, as we discovered, differs substantially from earlier versions.
At the Group’s December meeting at the Barn Hall, Colin showed in a most creative way how to use Excel as a database and he was followed by a lively interactive session (after the wine) with the “expert” panel giving their best solutions to our latest computer glitches. The next meeting will be in March/April when we hope to persuade Michael to give away his scanning secrets.
By the time this is published the Digital Photography course at the Howard School should be under way with Peter Bolton giving the talks. More than 25 people have registered so all seats are occupied. We should see some excellent photos in 2006.

The Cookery Group has gained a number of new members during the year. We have had some very enjoyable lunchtime meetings exploring various recipes for pates, cold starters, etc. On a lovely summer’s day we picnicked at Polesden Lacey and in November our topic was “Stuffings” for Christmas turkeys. This turned into an early Christmas-type lunch with roast chicken, vegetables, bread sauce, as well as a selection of stuffings. In December we had tickets to see a recording of “Ready Steady Cook”. Sixteen people piled into a minibus complete with packed lunch and we had a lovely day. We all expected the actual recording to be quite different to what one actually sees on TV, but they really do cook everything in twenty minutes. However, what appears to be a seamless broadcast does have breaks for “chefs’ thinking time” for recipe ideas and also for the voting. We now have to make plans for next year.

January saw a day at the Victoria and Albert Museum owing to the heavy rain, followed by a walk along the Westbourne River (now largely underground) and Chelsea in March with an unexpected tour of the Royal Chelsea Hospital. We also visited Richmond, the Lea Valley Canals and theatreland.
Despite the anxieties following the July bombings, we continued our monthly walks although we did visit Arundel, Eton and Windsor, Runnymede and Carshalton using our cars rather than the train!
Our December event took the form of a walk around Shere and ended with a lunch in the Lucky Duck.
To start the new year we are visiting the Cabinet War Rooms and walking around the Mayfair and Piccadilly area.

During 2005 we held our usual monthly afternoon meetings and also visited the Surrey History Centre in Woking, the Family Records Centre in Islington and the Latter day Saints Research Centre in Crawley. Members continued to make progress with their individual family history researches and several unexpected new contacts occurred not only from within the UK but also from Australia and Canada.
At the end of the year we started our planning for our programme in 2006 which will include visits to the Public Records Office at Kew and the Society of Genealogists Library.
One of our founder members. Neville has kindly offered to help start a second group as we now have a waiting list – please check the list at the monthly U3A meetings for details. Would somebody be prepared to act as co-ordinator?

Both groups have continued to meet approximately twice a month to discuss a broad spectrum of topics ranging from French current affairs and personalities to members’ personal experiences in China, Croatia, Singapore, Uganda, Russia and Sheila’s daring sponsored climb of the mast of the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s tall ship.
Highlights of the year were our joint celebration of Bastille Day on July 14th followed by Keith’s splendid day trip to France. There we enjoyed a magnificent seven course déjeuner gastronomique in Wissant, followed by a walk on the beach in glorious sunshine and a very successful trip to the hypermarket.
Bonne année à tous!

We have had an excellent winter programme so far. The talks by members on maritime museums, Surrey railways and a Bookham factory were enjoyed by good audiences, who appreciated the effort that had gone into the preparation. Our day trips to Chatham and Portsmouth Dockyards, to the Black Country Museum and to the Chilworth gunpowder mills were all well supported. The most recent outing to the Farnborough Air Sciences Museum attracted thirty members including the Aviation group. Thanks are due to all who have organised the events. The future programme includes talks on railway safety and signalling, Brooklands aviation and motoring history and the water industry. We have members from Bookham and Leatherhead U3as and always welcome new members. There is strong support for a two-night trip to Ironbridge in early May and anyone interested should contact Lew.

With the Footsie touching 5700 the Investment Group is all smiles, valuations are looking good and rising. Should we take profits and find more undervalued shares? The perennial problem facing all investors. Prospects look good but the pessimists still forecast a market correction during the year, so something to keep us on our toes at our monthly meetings. There is room for an extra member round the table.

The Local History Group has started a major project based on the 1791 Tithe Map of Fetcham, a large document some 10 ft by 8 ft. The first stage involved laying a grid on the original map at the Surrey History Centre, followed by digital photographing, producing over 100 high quality images. This gives us accessible data for further work. This information is being matched to the Terrier of the same date (a Terrier is a detailed list of the landowners, their holdings, and details of size, value, usage etc.). It is then hoped to do a similar exercise on a later map of Fetcham, linking in with Census and Parish record data, and so study the development of Fetcham.

This past year has seen a vast array of differing musical choices by all of our members.
Jazz and Swing, Ivor Novello, Gilbert & Sullivan, Opera, Musicals and Cliff Richard to mention just a few.
We have had one type of Choral music and are looking forward to a differing style at a future meeting. There is even an evening of African music (with a difference) promised.
We also have had visits to the Leatherhead Theatre, Epsom Playhouse and the Dorking Halls for concerts where we can get to listen to the Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra and other performers. It makes for a varied and enjoyable program.
We are still setting our program for this coming year but even more variety is promised.

The Needlework Group has been working hard through the autumn to produce crafts to sell at a Christmas Coffee Morning held at the Church Hall in Ashtead to raise funds for Rianna’s Fund. This is the charity, set up in memory of Rianna, which has built an orphanage in Kenya, and for which the group produced quilts and teddy bears for each child last year. The coffee morning was a great success, and raised £2,500!
The craft stall displayed a wide range of goods, including jewellery and beadwork, knitted goods, cards, small Christmas gifts and decorations, and another beautiful quilt and pillow. The total raised by the stall was £330! Several of the group, led by Val, worked hard to set up and run the stall on the day.
Meanwhile the orphanage in Kenya is now up and running and we have received photos of the children’s beds, each covered with one of the quilts.

We can forget modernity, relax and enjoy classic wit and humour at Woking Matinees on Febuary 1st Richard Sheridan’s THE RIVALS, and on March 1st Noel Coward’s PRIVATE LIVES (star casts indicate good productions).
Spectacular costumes have made headlines in the Sadlers Wells performances of Matthew Bourne’s latest dance-drama EDWARD SCISSORSHANDS. Join us at Woking on the 29th March to see how this ballet meets the challenge of dancing with the fairy-tale boy who has scissors (no hands) at the ends of his arms.
We offer opportunities for opera lovers to come to three different venues: Strong passion in Puccini’s TOSCA when English Touring Opera visit the Hawth at Crawley on Monday 27th March. More light hearted music (although no can-can) in English National’s production of Offenbach’s LA BELLE HELENE in London on 13th April and 4th May. Returning to Woking the acclaimed company from Chisnau with their Ukranian orchestra perform a great favourite — LA BOHEME (Matinee on 14th June).
For details of prices, transport arrangements contact Sheila.

Parchment Craft Meeting on alternate Thursday mornings at 10 am. Next few dates are January 12th, 26th, February 2nd, 16th etc. Due to some people dropping out we do have a few vacancies and anyone interested should call Genie.

We meet in a member's house on the first Thursday of the month to talk about, and then read, a published play. We don't take it too seriously - the more mistakes there are in the "sight-reading" of the script the more fun there is, We need a few more "gentlemen actors" but, sadly, we cannot accommodate more ladies at present.

We meet occasionally (about once a month) in each others homes and mine hostess cooks a delicious meal for us all and then we share the costs. At the moment we have only four members (who get on very well together) and would welcome several more who think they would like to join in. Please contact Genie if you are interested.

Meeting at lunch-time on Sundays for a good meal which someone else has prepared continues to be popular, to the extent that there are now two groups in existence. We have explored many interesting venues where we have enjoyed good fellowship and good conversation on matters of current interest. Visitors are welcome when accommodation permits. Geoff can give you more information about both groups.

Since the last newsletter, we have walked over Epsom Downs, where we saw two young horses being trained in the use of starting stalls, Bookham Commons and Banstead Heath. We have been very lucky with the weather, in fact we sat outside a pub having lunch in bright sunshine after both the September and October walks.

Future walks planned area:
January 26th 2006 3.5 miles Holmwood Common. Meet at 10.30am in the car park of The Plough at Blackbrook. A fairly flat walk with some gentle inclines and no stiles, though possibly muddy in places. Refreshments at The Plough afterwards, if required.
February 23rd 2006 3.75 miles The Mole Gap. Meet at 10.30am in Swanworth Lane, by The Running Horses in Mickleham. The walk has some inclines, though none too strenuous, and one stile. Possibly muddy in parts. Refreshments in The Running Horses afterwards, if required.
March 23rd 2006 4 miles Brockham Meet at 10.30am on Brockham Village Green, by the pump (near Old School Lane). The walk is totally flat, with a number of stiles. Most of the route follows paths through fields, parts of which could be muddy. Refreshments at The Royal Oak on Brockham Green afterwards, if required.
Sheets with additional details are available at the monthly meetings, or from Jo & Ernie. Please note that walkers take part entirely at their own risk.

The group meets at 9.30 am on the 3rd Monday of the month at the Lower Shott car park, Guildford Road in Bookham. We then drive to the start of the walk in the minimum number of cars. Each walk is between 4 and 5 miles and any hills are taken at a gentle pace! Some of us like to round off the morning with a drink or a bite to eat.
New members of the group are very welcome. If you would like further information ring Margaret.
The next walks are on September 19th, October 17th, November 21st and December 19th. Put the dates in your diary!

Recently our monthly tastings have focused on rosé wines, (ending with a Cava) and then Christmas wines with two from the Pinot Noir grape and three dessert wines accompanied by mince pies and cake! In between we enjoyed the joint meeting of all the U3A wine groups in the Fetcham Reading Room, organised very successfully by Chris and Rosemary, leaders of Wine Group 3. The evening included supper and a most interesting and informative tasting of seven wines provided by the manager of Wine Rack in Cobham. In January we are going to La Meridiana Restaurant in East Horsley for a post Christmas lunch. We have recorded the six recent Richard and Judy’s Wine Club programmes so that in February we can watch them together and join in tasting the selected New World wines.

Friday 10th February 2006	Jane Austen Jill Anderton & Marion Dell, Open University To be held at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Stoke d’Abernon
Friday 10th March 2006	Industrial Archeology Alan Crocker & Paul Sowan, Surrey Archaeological Society To be held at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Stoke d’Abernon
Friday 12th May 2006	Views on a Changing World – Iraq, Afghanistan & China Gail & Roger, Phyllis May & Jean Thompson. All U3A Speakers To be held at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Stoke d’Abernon
Saturday 15th July 2006	Mozart: Salzburg & Vienna – A Celebration Janet Canetty-Clarke, University Lecturer, Conductor & Pianist To be held at the Banstead Community Centre

Booking is necessary and booking forms will be available at Monthly Meetings. Jennifer Anning acts as bookings secretary.

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Christmas Party

Our third Christmas Party was held on Friday , 9th December, at St. Mary’s Church Hall, Fetcham, and was an enormous success. It was attended by 120 members, all of whom had an extremely enjoyable afternoon. There was entertainment, delicious mulled wine, wonderfully festive food, a mental challenge, lots of laughter and excellent company, and a present to take home and put under the tree when it was time to leave.
The Social Events Committee had designed the seating of members at tables of ten so that everyone had a good view of the stage and plenty of people to talk to. The mental challenge was waiting on the tables as members arrived – “Name that Drink” – which delighted all the wine group members but did not necessarily help them with the answers! Favourite clues ran on the lines of “Pretend to be in agony” – answer Champagne – and “Mother bopper” – answer Martini – and “Browned off” – answer Tango!! Tables 1 and 12 tied with the most correct answers, and Table 12 won the prize after successfully answering the tie breaker. An excellent table quiz much enjoyed by everybody.
The mulled wine continues to be a popular feature of our Christmas Party. This year it was made by Geoff, who assured me the recipe was based on an old French recipe for vin chaud. This was drunk by him in his youth and was designed to warm up cold and exhausted skiers at the end of the day and help them pick their way safely down the mountain at dusk! It definitely still works.
Entertainment was provided by “The Golden Girls”, with Singer Daphne Fairbrass and monologue specialist Geraldine Horn accompanied by their pianist. They were wonderfully entertaining and gave us two sets of songs and recitations, one before and one after tea. Daphne sang many favourite songs and Geraldine rendered some original and very funny recitations as well as an exceptionally dramatic version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. They were joined in the second half by two aspiring performers, festively dressed – that is Graham looking jaunty in a red Fez, and Bryan looking very dashing in bauble style antlers – in a lively performance of “Jingle Bells”. The entertainment was very well received by everybody.

Geraldine Horn

Geraldine, Graham, Daphne & Bryan
The Christmas Party Tea was excellent. It had been beautifully set out in the side room and people helped themselves, table by table, and were delighted by the choice of savoury sandwiches and cakes and mince pies and delicious Christmas treats. The Social Events Committee would like to thank all members, both male and female, who contributed so much effort to the preparation of such an excellent tea.
At the end of the Party everybody was given a present to take home with them wrapped in festive Christmas paper and ribbon. The lovely table decorations, designed and made by Anne, were awarded by lucky ticket numbers drawn out of a hat.
I am sure all members who attended the Christmas Party will join me in thanking Winnie and Yvonne and the members of the Social Events Committee for all their effort in devising and organising the Christmas Party and for their hard work on the day itself to make it such an extremely happy and festive afternoon for the members of Fetcham U3A who were fortunate enough to be there.

Christmas Party

Patricia

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Restaurant Recommendations

It would be good to be able to put a list of recommended restaurants on our website. I have received some but it is by no means a comprehensive list and I am sure we have members who visit both local restaurants and those further afield and would like to share their experiences with others.
I would appreciate some input to make the exercise worthwhile. Please contact me by ‘phone or e-mail — I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Winnie

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Chinese Language 'Aide Memoir'

The influence of China in this modern world continues to grow daily. For those students who have a natural bent for languages we enclose an aide memoir which may help you to study one of the oldest languages.

1.	That is not right	Sum Ting Wong
2.	Are you harbouring a fugitive	Hu Yu Hai Ding
3.	See me ASAP	Kum Hia Nao
4.	Small Horse	Tai Ni Po Ni
5.	Have you been to the beach	Wai Yu So Tan
6.	I think you need a face lift	Chin Tu Fat
7.	It is very dark in here	Wao So Dim
8.	I thought you were on a diet	Wai Yu Mun Ching
9.	This is a tow away zone	No Pah King
10.	Our meeting is scheduled for next week	Wai Yu Kum Nao
11.	He is cleaning his car	Wa Shing Ka
12.	You smell a bit	Yu Stin Ki Pu

Newsletter End - Return To Contents List
Go to Previous Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 1, 25^th January 2005
Go to Previous Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 2, 24^th May 2005
Go to Previous Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 3, 27^th September 2005