Our group has been going for ten months now and has proved to be very successful.
We have five volunteer tutors, without whom we would never have got started!
If anyone is interested in joining us, we do have two vacancies, but it would be an advantage if you had some knowledge of the game. We are a mixed ability group though and those that can play help those that can’t.
We meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month (6:30-8:30 p.m.) in the Byron Bar at The John Godber Centre.
In July we did something a little different and it was our shortest walk to date- 1.5 miles.
It was in fact a ‘walk and talk’ based on the heritage of Wellow village. We met in the Wellow Church Schoolroom .This was built in 1854 in response to Queen Victoria’s Education Act of 1842. It now houses the village heritage centre.
Before the walk Denis a heritage consultant gave a short talk and slideshow about the village which set the scene for the walk.
Our walk guide, Heather, together with Denis led us around the various points of interest and historic buildings including her own home Cuckstool Cottage. At one time there were 11 farms and 5 pubs and 6 shops and was known as the thirsty village.
A centrepiece in Wellow is the magnificent maypole dating from 1835. The current pole is 20m high and was erected in 2011.Maypole Day with dancing is celebrated on Spring Bank Holiday Monday.
After the village tour we returned to the schoolhouse for part 2 of the talk about things we had just seen. In traditional u3a fashion we ended with tea and biscuits.
Before leaving we thanked Heather and Denis who is secretary to the Wellow Heritage & Tourism Group for their time and expertise. This visit is free and is suitable for other of our Interest Groups (e.g. History, GOD.Grumpies). If you are interested contact me for details. David Rose
Our next walk is on Thursday September 21st – no walk in August
We were pleased to welcome a guest speaker, Mr Ian Allen, at our July 15th meeting.
Ian is a local wildlife enthusiast who contributes to the county and national surveys on sighting, frequency and the identification of dragonflies and damselflies in our local wetlands.
He explained with the help of some wonderful photographs that:
Damselflies are delicate insects, with eyes on each side of their rectangular head. They have a fluttering flight, with the front and back pairs of wings equal size. When the damselfly is resting, the wings are usually held closed.
Dragonflies are larger and more robust, with eyes that meet in the middle of their spherical head. Their front wings are narrower than their hind wings and when resting both pairs are held wide open
Male banded demoiselle damselfly
Female emperor dragonfly
They are to be found in all wetland areas throughout the summer months.
Ian was thanked for his presentation and was able to answer questions from members.
No meeting in August but we meet again on Friday September 15th in the main hall of the John Godber Centre. Enjoy the break and there will be more details before the next meeting.
