islington
LATEST NEWS
Last
Monthly Meeting
June — Jean Willson
OBE, ‘Growing Up in Islington After the War’.
Jean gave a wonderful talk about her childhood growing up in Islington, drawn from the memoirs she is writing in the iU3A Creative Writing Group. Her family first lived near King's Cross so during the war experienced the repeated bombing of the station area and as a child her playground was the many bomb craters of the area. Her family later moved to the Lower Holloway area, where Jean still lives. Her Nan was a formative influence in her life with exacting standards of behaviour and appearance, and the centre of her extended family life. Jean recalled many details of their daily life after the war which prompted memories in the IU3A audience: the coal man delivering sacks of coal, the rag and bone man with his horse and cart, Vick for chest complaints, bread and butter pudding and the pleasure of toasting bread on the coal life, Saturday cinema for children, and family entertainment at home, with singing and dancing. The 1950s brought changes, with immigrants arriving in the area, a fish and chip shop opening and the excitement of lining up in the Mall to see the Queen after her Coronation.
For notes of previous recent monthly meetings, see here.
Summer Party 2018
In June we
held our annual
Summer Party for
all members.
The venue was the Olden Gardens and it was looking
its best. This tranquil haven is a glorious backdrop
for our jolly party. All tickets were sold out with
100 coming on this beautiful sunny evening. The
booze lasted to the end this year so all were happy,
in fact the challenge was getting people to vacate
the gardens at the end when our time was up. Much socialising
and milling around had been possible — to chat to
friends and make new friendships. Thanks to Lesley
Delacourt for again bringing the bubbly back from
France at a very low cost allowing us all to benefit
by the low ticket price. Thanks also to Diane Austin
and Sue Welsford for organising this event. But also
to all our Volunteers who helped out on the
day as
well.
Group Coordinators' Meeting
We recently
held a 'thankyou' meeting for all our Group
Coordinators. 36 attended, a good majority of the
total we have. They were all thanked for the efforts
they provided in running their groups. Our activity
groups make up the majority of what we offer in iU3A,
so we are highly dependent on these volunteers. At the
meeting there were several subjects covered, one of
which was an interactive session under our succession
planning initiative of "It Depends On You".
Coordinators worked in groups to develop their
feedback on subjects including 'Why They Liked Being a
Coordinator', 'Why They Volunteered', 'What
Improvements Could iU3A Make?'. This will be fed into
our general forward planning. Other subjects covered
included a presentation on 'What GDPR meant to Group
Coordinators' and discussion on the need for
Coordinators to use Beacon for their group membership
and waiting lists. With it being a hot day, all were
glad of the refreshments and a chance to chat with
fellow Coordinators. A big thanks to Sue Welsford for
organising the event.
iU3A Outings
June — this month we had an enjoyable outing to two houses in Twickenham: full report with photos here.
May — Kempton Park Racecourse: the sun shone on the 18 members who embarked upon their researches into the mysteries of the "Sport of Kings". The travel arrangements from Waterloo were, so I'm told, seamless. This set the tone for the day. The Panorama Restaurant, which overlooked the winning post and provided a menu, appealed to all. The opportunity to stand by the Winning Post was taken by many and the excitement enjoyed by the winners was truly infectious. Those few who claimed to be ingenues had luck riding with them; those who claimed some knowledge were deserted by "her Ladyship." As the card ended around 4:30 the journey home was in reasonable comfort. Those who attended all asked for the event to become a regular fixture in the iU3A calendar.
In April iU3A held its first 'Outing': Eltham Palace has for centuries been a royal palace, and is now an unoccupied royal residence owned by the Crown Estate. Since 1995 it has been managed by English Heritage, who restored it in 1999 and opened it to the public. Internally, the Art Deco house is "a masterpiece of modern design". There is also a magnificent Great Hall, a survival from the mediaeval royal palace. There are 19 acres of beautiful gardens, with a rock garden, a moat crossed by London's oldest working bridge and a sunken rose garden. Full report and photos here. Thanks to Angela Treves and David McPhail for organising this one.
Boating Outing: in November
2017 eleven iU3A members enjoyed a narrowboat trip
out of the Islington boat club. We were well looked
after by our skipper, Amber, who steered us off in a
Westerly direction. We very quickly negotiated our first
lock and then headed directly to the Islington tunnel
(more info here).
Various members of the group took turns at steering the boat in a good straight line through the 960 yards of the tunnel. This was very much a highlight of the trip.
On
reaching the Kings Cross side we
performed a “u-turn” (a non-trivial exercise) and then
went back through the tunnel
to Islington. We then headed East for a while before
returning to dry land at the boat club. Most
of the group then enjoyed a drink at the Plaquemine Lock
pub (more info here)
where there was a live jazz band.
There was a lot of enthusiasm for an all-day trip, to include a picnic lunch, in the Spring. Watch the "What's On Page" for further info......
Pub Quiz
We
held our annual pub quiz in
January 2018 in the Angelic
pub at the Angel. Although
it was a blustery wet
evening 50 members came for
this enjoyable event. Our
numbers seemed to overwhelm
the staff at the beginning
and service was
frustratingly slow but no
one was in a great hurry.
Jez Worsnip with his
professional
standards was
our
Quizmaster for the evening.
Jez designs the questions
especially for iU3A and of
course the judges' word is
final! As always it's a
great opportunity to test
the grey matter and get to
know other members.
Nine teams
battled it out with mixed
fortunes. Some of the early
leaders from the first half
slipped away in the second
half and no tie break (or
obscure football questions!)
was necessary this year to
provide a clear winner. The
winning team to collect the
'delicious surprise' prize
were the 'Inkspots'.
So another successful event
enjoyed by all — thanks to
Julie and Isabel.
Theatre Visits
Computer/ Tablet/ Smartphone Sessions
We have now
held over six of these popular drop-in help sessions.
These sessions allow iU3A
members with any query they have regarding their
computers, tablets or smartphones to drop in and
receive guidance from other iU3A members. The
last session was held in June 2018 with members requesting help
with a variety of query areas.
Again
we had a wide range of queries and problems. Some
simple ones (to some) were easy to give guidance on,
others were harder to solve with much cross-learning
and use of Google search. Again all the "clients" went
away very contented and with increased confidence to
try things for themselves.
Thanks again to all the volunteers who came along to share their knowledge with other iU3A members. A general tutorial on some points raised previously is available here.
See the 'What's On' page for details of the next of these sessions (if there is one scheduled). Or for any help with your computer, tablet or smartphone you could try our help line. Send your query with details to computerhelp.iu3a@gmail.com.
Open Day 2017
In October our Open Day was
also our 4th birthday celebration. Again this proved
very popular and enabled non-members to meet us and find
out about all the things iU3A does. As in previous years
there was an excellent turnout with 155 members and 75
non members attending. Out of the 75, 34 joined iU3A on
the day and many others took away forms so we hope to
hear from them again soon. The existing members who
turned up used the chance to see if there were any other
groups they might like to join. Everybody also enjoyed
our delicious birthday cake and had a good natter. This
year the 'star' to cut our 4th birthday cake was our
latest volunteer, Liz Connell, who has volunteered to
set up and run a 'Green Issues' group.
With
over 50 interest groups on display there were
many great displays. Visible and audible
displays charmed the audience as they strolled
around. All the existing Group Coordinators did
an excellent job of explaining what their group
did and hence encouraged many to sign up.
Hopefully this exercise also encouraged more
members to be brave enough to volunteer to be
Coordinators.
A special thanks must go to the sub-committe that organised another successful day, particularly to Diane Austin and Sue Welsford for coordinating the whole event. The Open Day is our major showcase for members and to the public who might be interested in joining.
To see more photos of the day click here.
Previously: To see more of our previous events and outings look here.
June — Jean Willson
OBE, ‘Growing Up in Islington After the War’.Jean gave a wonderful talk about her childhood growing up in Islington, drawn from the memoirs she is writing in the iU3A Creative Writing Group. Her family first lived near King's Cross so during the war experienced the repeated bombing of the station area and as a child her playground was the many bomb craters of the area. Her family later moved to the Lower Holloway area, where Jean still lives. Her Nan was a formative influence in her life with exacting standards of behaviour and appearance, and the centre of her extended family life. Jean recalled many details of their daily life after the war which prompted memories in the IU3A audience: the coal man delivering sacks of coal, the rag and bone man with his horse and cart, Vick for chest complaints, bread and butter pudding and the pleasure of toasting bread on the coal life, Saturday cinema for children, and family entertainment at home, with singing and dancing. The 1950s brought changes, with immigrants arriving in the area, a fish and chip shop opening and the excitement of lining up in the Mall to see the Queen after her Coronation.
For notes of previous recent monthly meetings, see here.
Summer Party 2018
In June we
held our annual
Summer Party for
all members.
The venue was the Olden Gardens and it was looking
its best. This tranquil haven is a glorious backdrop
for our jolly party. All tickets were sold out with
100 coming on this beautiful sunny evening. The
booze lasted to the end this year so all were happy,
in fact the challenge was getting people to vacate
the gardens at the end when our time was up. Much socialising
and milling around had been possible — to chat to
friends and make new friendships. Thanks to Lesley
Delacourt for again bringing the bubbly back from
France at a very low cost allowing us all to benefit
by the low ticket price. Thanks also to Diane Austin
and Sue Welsford for organising this event. But also
to all our Volunteers who helped out on the
day as
well.
Group Coordinators' Meeting
We recently
held a 'thankyou' meeting for all our Group
Coordinators. 36 attended, a good majority of the
total we have. They were all thanked for the efforts
they provided in running their groups. Our activity
groups make up the majority of what we offer in iU3A,
so we are highly dependent on these volunteers. At the
meeting there were several subjects covered, one of
which was an interactive session under our succession
planning initiative of "It Depends On You".
Coordinators worked in groups to develop their
feedback on subjects including 'Why They Liked Being a
Coordinator', 'Why They Volunteered', 'What
Improvements Could iU3A Make?'. This will be fed into
our general forward planning. Other subjects covered
included a presentation on 'What GDPR meant to Group
Coordinators' and discussion on the need for
Coordinators to use Beacon for their group membership
and waiting lists. With it being a hot day, all were
glad of the refreshments and a chance to chat with
fellow Coordinators. A big thanks to Sue Welsford for
organising the event.iU3A Outings
June — this month we had an enjoyable outing to two houses in Twickenham: full report with photos here.
May — Kempton Park Racecourse: the sun shone on the 18 members who embarked upon their researches into the mysteries of the "Sport of Kings". The travel arrangements from Waterloo were, so I'm told, seamless. This set the tone for the day. The Panorama Restaurant, which overlooked the winning post and provided a menu, appealed to all. The opportunity to stand by the Winning Post was taken by many and the excitement enjoyed by the winners was truly infectious. Those few who claimed to be ingenues had luck riding with them; those who claimed some knowledge were deserted by "her Ladyship." As the card ended around 4:30 the journey home was in reasonable comfort. Those who attended all asked for the event to become a regular fixture in the iU3A calendar.
In April iU3A held its first 'Outing': Eltham Palace has for centuries been a royal palace, and is now an unoccupied royal residence owned by the Crown Estate. Since 1995 it has been managed by English Heritage, who restored it in 1999 and opened it to the public. Internally, the Art Deco house is "a masterpiece of modern design". There is also a magnificent Great Hall, a survival from the mediaeval royal palace. There are 19 acres of beautiful gardens, with a rock garden, a moat crossed by London's oldest working bridge and a sunken rose garden. Full report and photos here. Thanks to Angela Treves and David McPhail for organising this one.
Boating Outing: in November
2017 eleven iU3A members enjoyed a narrowboat trip
out of the Islington boat club. We were well looked
after by our skipper, Amber, who steered us off in a
Westerly direction. We very quickly negotiated our first
lock and then headed directly to the Islington tunnel
(more info here). Various members of the group took turns at steering the boat in a good straight line through the 960 yards of the tunnel. This was very much a highlight of the trip.
On
reaching the Kings Cross side we
performed a “u-turn” (a non-trivial exercise) and then
went back through the tunnel
to Islington. We then headed East for a while before
returning to dry land at the boat club. Most
of the group then enjoyed a drink at the Plaquemine Lock
pub (more info here)
where there was a live jazz band.There was a lot of enthusiasm for an all-day trip, to include a picnic lunch, in the Spring. Watch the "What's On Page" for further info......
Pub Quiz
We
held our annual pub quiz in
January 2018 in the Angelic
pub at the Angel. Although
it was a blustery wet
evening 50 members came for
this enjoyable event. Our
numbers seemed to overwhelm
the staff at the beginning
and service was
frustratingly slow but no
one was in a great hurry.
Jez Worsnip with his
professional
standards was
our
Quizmaster for the evening.
Jez designs the questions
especially for iU3A and of
course the judges' word is
final! As always it's a
great opportunity to test
the grey matter and get to
know other members.Nine teams
battled it out with mixed
fortunes. Some of the early
leaders from the first half
slipped away in the second
half and no tie break (or
obscure football questions!)
was necessary this year to
provide a clear winner. The
winning team to collect the
'delicious surprise' prize
were the 'Inkspots'.
So another successful event
enjoyed by all — thanks to
Julie and Isabel. Theatre Visits
We hold these at least once a year. These
are in addition to our two Theatre Groups that we have
(for more information see the GROUPS
page.
In December 2017 we had another successful annual outing to the Park Theatre at Finsbury Park. We saw a revival of Joe Orton's wonderful black comedy Loot, which opened one week after the 50th anniversary of the playwright's tragic death. Over 106 iU3A members (& friends) attended this enjoyable evening. The talk before the play from the director to iU3A give us some special insights into the changing values and views from its original production. Again, many thanks are due to Sue Welsford for organising this event.
Clues Trails
We're into
2018 and planning for two of these popular events
during this year.
The first of these was held in June. A warm Sunday meant a very pleasant event with three teams this time (numbers a bit down from the last one). This one was based again around the city and followed byways and alleys that most people didn't even know existed. Great views over the river at one point. Most teams got the majority of the clues and got back to the starting & finishing point pub in good time. However the photo images were the differentiating aspect. No team spotted all the images during their route but the 'Poached Eggheads' saw the most and hence were the winning team.
In 2017 — in August on the day 22 members turned up to form five teams then followed the trail to seek out the clues. Additional points were awarded for spotting the location of some photographic images during the trail and a special round at the end back at the pub tested teams' knowledge of the London Guilds. Again everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event. Thanks to Elizabeth Mansbridge for organising this one — and we all look forward to the next one.
In December 2017 we had another successful annual outing to the Park Theatre at Finsbury Park. We saw a revival of Joe Orton's wonderful black comedy Loot, which opened one week after the 50th anniversary of the playwright's tragic death. Over 106 iU3A members (& friends) attended this enjoyable evening. The talk before the play from the director to iU3A give us some special insights into the changing values and views from its original production. Again, many thanks are due to Sue Welsford for organising this event.
Clues Trails
We're into
2018 and planning for two of these popular events
during this year.The first of these was held in June. A warm Sunday meant a very pleasant event with three teams this time (numbers a bit down from the last one). This one was based again around the city and followed byways and alleys that most people didn't even know existed. Great views over the river at one point. Most teams got the majority of the clues and got back to the starting & finishing point pub in good time. However the photo images were the differentiating aspect. No team spotted all the images during their route but the 'Poached Eggheads' saw the most and hence were the winning team.
In 2017 — in August on the day 22 members turned up to form five teams then followed the trail to seek out the clues. Additional points were awarded for spotting the location of some photographic images during the trail and a special round at the end back at the pub tested teams' knowledge of the London Guilds. Again everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event. Thanks to Elizabeth Mansbridge for organising this one — and we all look forward to the next one.
Computer/ Tablet/ Smartphone Sessions
We have now
held over six of these popular drop-in help sessions.
These sessions allow iU3A
members with any query they have regarding their
computers, tablets or smartphones to drop in and
receive guidance from other iU3A members. The
last session was held in June 2018 with members requesting help
with a variety of query areas.
Again
we had a wide range of queries and problems. Some
simple ones (to some) were easy to give guidance on,
others were harder to solve with much cross-learning
and use of Google search. Again all the "clients" went
away very contented and with increased confidence to
try things for themselves. Thanks again to all the volunteers who came along to share their knowledge with other iU3A members. A general tutorial on some points raised previously is available here.
See the 'What's On' page for details of the next of these sessions (if there is one scheduled). Or for any help with your computer, tablet or smartphone you could try our help line. Send your query with details to computerhelp.iu3a@gmail.com.
Open Day 2017
In October our Open Day was
also our 4th birthday celebration. Again this proved
very popular and enabled non-members to meet us and find
out about all the things iU3A does. As in previous years
there was an excellent turnout with 155 members and 75
non members attending. Out of the 75, 34 joined iU3A on
the day and many others took away forms so we hope to
hear from them again soon. The existing members who
turned up used the chance to see if there were any other
groups they might like to join. Everybody also enjoyed
our delicious birthday cake and had a good natter. This
year the 'star' to cut our 4th birthday cake was our
latest volunteer, Liz Connell, who has volunteered to
set up and run a 'Green Issues' group. With
over 50 interest groups on display there were
many great displays. Visible and audible
displays charmed the audience as they strolled
around. All the existing Group Coordinators did
an excellent job of explaining what their group
did and hence encouraged many to sign up.
Hopefully this exercise also encouraged more
members to be brave enough to volunteer to be
Coordinators.A special thanks must go to the sub-committe that organised another successful day, particularly to Diane Austin and Sue Welsford for coordinating the whole event. The Open Day is our major showcase for members and to the public who might be interested in joining.
To see more photos of the day click here.
Previously: To see more of our previous events and outings look here.
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