WIRRAL: UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE Registered Charity No. 1042342 www.u3asites.org.uk/wirral WINTER 2014-15
Interesting but tiring Could have done with a sit-down halfway through How clever to recycle heat from the fridges to heat the building Good to see they were trying to protect the environment What impressed them? Extremely interesting & informative Fancy shampooing the coathangars in a Welsh factory run by Poles. Amazing what they ve done with living walls & bringing light into the building 5 days after their conducted tour of the M&S superstore at Cheshire Oaks each U3A participant was asked for a one-liner comment. First off everybody mentioned having to stand for the entire 2 hours. You can t all say the same thing, they were told. So this is what they remembered after some prompting. A more detailed report can be found further on. O ctober was a busy month. First came Heswall Science Day. Three members of our Everyday Science group attended. Sadly I missed most of the first lecture. I d never before thought about how tiny creatures struggle to move through water. Because of its density it must be like trying to swim through treacle. The oceans hold fifty times more.. mites carbon dioxide than does the atmosphere. If this gas can be shuffled off to the ocean depths it can take 1,000 years to get back up to the surface again from the depths. The more this gas is dissolved in the water the more acidic the water becomes which is bad news for calcium lovers like corals.
Primates were one of the earliest mammals to appear, beating dogs & cats on the scene by a mile. All primate groups are very social & they tackle problems communally. However the brain limits the extent of our social interactions. When organisations gets bigger than the optimum size humans are geared up for, trust breaks down, reciprocity goes out of the window & altruism... mates disappears. That bit of brain above your eyes determines how many friends you can manage. Many species bond through grooming which consumes 20% of their time. Our erect stance allows us greater control of our chest muscles enabling laughter, singing & speech. So clever humans engage in multiple grooming sessions through laughter, singing, dancing & religion. Mary Green reported on The Iceman- the story of the body found high in the Alps near the Italian-Swiss border, the cause of an undignified squabble about ownership of the body won by the Italians by 90 metres. We were treated to a fascinating account of the forensic findings. The body was well preserved a man of about 56, well dressed and well fed and carrying a ceremonial axe made of copper. He seems to have been buried with some ceremony, with many grave goods and so must have been of... murder high status. His last meal contained meat, cereals and vegetables. Analysis of his teeth showed that he had grown up in a valley some miles from the burial site. He had been shot in the back by an arrow whose head was lodged near his heart. Death would have been quick. There was a partly healed wound on his right hand possibly a defence injury inflicted just a few days before death, suggesting that there might have been a successful challenge to his leadership resulting in him being deposed and leading to his ritual murder a few days later. The body was found in a high pass which would give good views another indication of high status.
Two of our Science group were able to answer when the speaker asked the audience to define some of the unique characteristics of water. It can store lots of heat. Our speaker likened oceans to a flywheel which drives climate. Having given us the gloomy news about tipping points if all Greenland ice melts & methane is released from frozen tundra he cheered us up some what.... mayhem There have been some exciting breakthroughs in carbon capture with the development of new materials. Photo-voltaic cells are becoming more efficient & can be made of renewable materials. There was lots more in this lecture & it seemed to be the most well received of all despite problems with the equipment. T hen came the North-West Network s In the Mood Day at Hoylake. - Diane Adams sent in this report. I had signed up to go on this U3A event so set off to find out what I was going to learn. The first thing I learned was that the coffee was quite good and there were a few familiar faces in the room. The day was looking up already. After a brief introduction from Gill Russell we were introduced to our first speaker, Dr Alex McMinn. Although I have heard him speak before he still provides interesting information on health and wellbeing in later life. His talk was thought provoking and entertaining. ( later life, I wonder if he is talking about me? Yes I think he probably is). After his talk we were guided towards the lunch room for a very tasty and varied buffet. I must admit that when I saw that an hour had been allowed for lunch my first thoughts were that this was rather a long time, but of course when I sat down with people I had not met before, well, the conversation just took over! The first part of the afternoon was broken up into three half our sessions and I had signed up for the Meditation, Tai Chi and Humour groups. All were interesting but most importantly I had the chance to try something I
had not done before-meditation. The last speaker of the afternoon was the expert on meditation but unfortunately I had to leave early (no, it was not to go and meditate). Overall it was a very good day and one that I could recommend as excellent value for money. So much work must have gone in to organising it, I think the planners led by Gill Russell deserve our thanks. When another Day event comes along I can only suggest that you give it a go!! J anet Belton reports about the Posting to the Past event. In October I was invited to an exhibition of silk postcards from WW1 at the Williamson Art Gallery organised by Voluntary Arts England in conjunction with Radio Merseyside. Before I knew what was happening, I was sitting at a table and given my 'kit'. I hadn't even realized that WE had to make the postcards!! I took mine home and was able to send it in before the deadline. I didn't think any more about it till I received an invitation from the Lord Mayor of Liverpool to come to afternoon tea on Monday 3 rd November. It was a very pleasant afternoon looking at other people's wonderful creations. The exhibition of these post cards remained in Liverpool Central Library until Friday December 5th. Only I could choose a day when I had to fight my way through protestors outside the main entrance, agitating against closure of libraries. Finally on October 29 th a group toured the M&S Superstore at Cheshire Oaks. Only outranked by their Marble Arch branch it still has a larger selling area then the London store. Staff numbers 550. Supplies come in from their Crewe distribution centre. Planning permission was granted because of the number of jobs they created. They had to recruit a certain % of local labour so laid on a 2 week induction course at a local college. They also committed to subsidizing transport links for the next 10 years. Before building work could begin they spent 3 months rescuing about 300 Great Crested newts. Next the excavated soil was recycled for insulation. What wasn t used was donated. Some ended up on golf courses, some on a motocross site. The recycled granite tiles imported from Italy came in wooden packing which was given away with a template for constructing a
shed. Once the building was completed a local school got the security fencing installed for free. When erecting the walls they left spaces for nesting boxes for swifts. Blocks of locally grown hemp form part of the walls with a special cladding to which bird droppings will not adhere. Much of their heat is generated by burning bio-mass bales fed by automatic hopper and controlled remotely by a computer in Aberdeen. 30% of the heat used to warm the building comes off the fridges. Overnight heat loss in cold weather is only 1%. As part of the ventilation system the outside air is sent underground where the earth s heat raises its temperature by 3 degrees. To admit more daylight the upper floor does not extend right up to the walls. Roof beams are made of Gluelam. The artificial lighting dims down when natural light pours in through windows & skylights. The living walls around the car park building are planted with hellebores, lavender and strawberries. Birds have nested in them. The plants use vehicle emissions for photosynthesis. Waste food can be used up in the staff canteen. Leftovers used to be collected by charities after the store closed but since the it stays open till 10pm nobody was around to collect. This with other reasons was why head office decided to stop giving food away. So it is incinerated & the electricity generated fed in to the national grid. They recycle some of their plastic. Coat hangars go back to their country of origin, some as far as Hong Kong. Well travelled, some of them do the trip 15 times. When they wear out a Polish factory on Deeside remove the metal part & melt the plastic into black pellets. These go off elsewhere to be moulded into new hangars. No I don t have a better memory than the others on the tour. But I did have a notebook and pen! Social report C hristmas lunch at the Hollins Hey Hotel, New Brighton, yummy! The best Christmas pud I ve ever tasted. As many vegetables as you could eat. Highly attentive staff. Very convenient venue for trains & buses. Those arriving by car found the prom route blocked off as waves were breaking over the sea wall. Couldn t answer all the questions on Derek s quiz but fortunately on our table we had Sue who excelled at Dingbats. Left early so don t know how we fared.
Arley Hall visit J ust an hour away by coach yet another world. The surrounding countryside of the Cheshire Plain was in drab winter mode. But not so the house. Colourfully decorated by students from 2 colleges the rooms & staircases were thronged with admiring visitors. We all remarked on the cold weather. Café and restaurant were packed but an efficient lady in the latter made sure everybody got a seat which is why I came to be sharing a table with 2 ladies from Widnes when I went in search of warmth. After a browse round a shop full of tempting goodies it was time for home. Chatting to 2 girls during my tour of the house I discovered they were from Wigan Leigh college. Level 3 students had decorated the Dining Room. As one of the team was keen on ballet the theme of the room was the Ballerina s Tea Party. Level 2 students decorated the West Doorway. Photos on back page. Group news ANTIQUES- STYLE FROM THE SMALL SCREEN - Lorna Moore sent us this report We met in the café at the Port Sunlight s Lady Lever Art Gallery prior to viewing this exhibition. Over coffee we looked at photocopied illustrations of fashions from the early 1900s. The exhibition consisted of costumes worn by actresses in the Downton Abbey series alongside actual costumes from the time including a couple owned by Mrs Tinne, wife of a Liverpool doctor. We were amazed at the skill of the seamstresses who must have spent hours embroidering, sewing on beads, sequins & lace. We agreed we would be prepared to wear many of them today but, in reality, we would probably have been below stairs, laundering & repairing! MATHS FOR FUN Maths group have been experimenting, making stars and trying their hand at origami. At our last meeting before Christmas some ambitious souls managed to create paper staircases. Did you hear of the origami group that failed and was wound up. The notice announcing their demise read Sadly the origami group has folded
STROLLERS This group meets usually on the 4 th Monday of the month for a 1 hour gentle walk starting at 11 am. Our group includes members from Heswall, Hoylake & Bromborough U3As. All are welcome. Details of walks are circulated by email, text messages or announcements & notices at the Williamson as well as on our website. The chart summarizes our activities in 2014. Date Area Turn-out Feb 24 Eastham Country Park 5 Mar 24 Arrowe Park 7 Apr 25 West Kirby 3 May 19 Heswall Bus station 2 Jun 23 Royden Park 6 July 21 Oxton Fields Queens Arms pub 6 Aug 18 Port Sunlight River Park 6 Sep 29 Coronation Park, Greasby 8 Oct 27 Wallasey Central Park 4 Nov 24 Bache-Chester 9 Walkers This group meets usually on the 2 nd Monday of the month at 10 am for a 2 hour walk. There is a small group of regulars who take turns in leading. The chart summarizes our activities in 2014 Date Leader Area Turn-out Jan 13 MAE Storeton woods & Bebington 6 Feb 10 Beryl Keggan West Kirby-Hoylake 7 Mar 10 MAE Stanney Fields, Neston 4 June 9 MAE Parkgate Old Baths CP 5 Jul 14 Chris Stockton Hadlow Road? Aug 4 Beryl Keggan Thurstaston Country Park 3 Sept 1 MAE Rivacre CP 3 Oct 13 MAE Irby 4
Nov 10 Beryl Keggan Brimstage-Needwood-Storeton 8
U3A Strollers at Port Sunlight River Park
Alphabetical Wordsearch Quiz with a Wirral U3A flavour. Numbers in brackets tell you how many letters in the answer. Reading unused letters down the columns vertically from left to right in the completed Wordsearch reveals a message. A it dressed up for Christmas [5/4] B novice river crossing [9/6] C new group for 2015 [5] D one of Derek s brainteasers [7] E one of U3A s aims [7] F will Mr Nicholson spill the beans about Mexico [5] G David s new role [7] H scrumptious food served here [7/3] I Diane was in the right frame of mind for this event [2/3/4] J Eric taught us how to fiddle [8] K you ve had 2 of them since September [3] L a group that enjoys reading [10] M eco-friendly superstore [5/3/7] N Andy s talk was out of this world [6] 0 what kept the Maths for Fun group busy [7] P edible speaker [3] Q you re doing it! [4] R where M&S got their heat from [12] S one of this group just ambles [8] T add an r for a job to adore [9] U where 3 rd agers supposedly go to learn? [10] V you re worth 10 times as much this way [9] W where to meet Bill s offspring? [10] X seen but not heard at the Medical Screening event [1/3] Y Favourite U3A colour [6] Z it s for living! [4]
B A N L V H A E R M O S W E N P E O L O O W R E T I D E Y R K R G T L L V O L M N A W E E E T O I U L E R L A T H C N F T A B G N I D Y O L H N S O R F H E R T N R C R S E A G S I A L D E E S E H T P M Y N M G R L U E E H Y R S A O P I A E C A C T R E P D S N O P N I R A H A E L Y N R S B D Y N L A C Y T R E A S U R E R N E L T E E E O S O R I G A M I J I O O L D K L E Z K N A R F D W R N R R Y T I S R E V I N U G A E A W A U L I T E R A T U R E M G I Q M N M I X R A Y S E R Thanks to all those folk in Wirral U3A who have worked hard during 2014 for our benefit.
WIRRAL : UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE The Wigan Leigh college students in front of the Ballerina s tea party tree. Below, the West Door which the college decorated. Photo top right taken in the chapel. Thanks to contributors Diane Adams Janet Belton Mary Green and Lorna Moore