| High Lane U3A | ||||
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Newsletter |  |
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| Home | www.highlaneU3A.org.uk MAY 2007 |
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| 25 Years of the U3A in Britain | ||||
| In order to celebrate this momentous occasion Glossop U3A have invited members of the Pennine Link to join them on a visit along the Manchester Ship Canal. Coaches will leave Glossop at 8.40am en route to Salford Quays, where you will board the boat. The boat will leave at 10.00am to sail along the canal. There will be a commentary as you sail and the journey should take about 6 hours. Once in Liverpool you will be at Albert Dock and have two and a half hours free time. A coach will pick you up at 6.30pm for the journey home to Glossop. |
2nd August 2007 £29  |
| FOR MORE DETAILS or to BOOK, PHONE PETER FISH - 01457 762 557 | |
Environmental Conference
Are YOU concerned about the Environment ?
Surviving Armageddon by Professor Bill McGuire
Are YOU concerned about the Environment ?
| On behalf of the Pennine Link U3As’ High Lane U3A is holding an Environmental Conference at the High Lane Village Hall. Speakers already booked will be talking on issues such as Local Food and The Energy Crisis with particular relevance to Nuclear Power. A full programme will be drawn up nearer the time but it will include opportunities for members to put questions to the experts. There will be a small charge to cover the cost of the conference |
which will include refreshments The Date is Wednesday 17th October in the Morning. On Wednesday 16th May we will be showing the Al Gore film “An Inconvenient Truth” which gives an interesting insight into the whole subject of Climate Change and Global Warming. This will start at 10.00am and lasts for approximately one hour and 20 minutes. There will be a charge of £1.00 per head for this event which is primarily for High Lane U3A members |
although some Pennine Link members will attend. Please let either Steve Reynolds or John McCartney know if you wish to attend in order to assess numbers  John McCartney |
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| The
High Lane U3A held a splendid open Bridge Drive in aid of Village Hall
funds, which were depleted after the installation of a “Hearing
Loop” for those wearing hearing aids. |
The results were as follows:- 1 Steve Reynolds & Irvine Holmes 2 Enid Holiday & Beryl Jones (Glossop) 3 Peter Kress & John Hustwitt (Marple) |
Thanks to all those who worked hard for this event.
Editor |
Bowling Section
| The summer bowling season is underway, and what a superb start we have with the weather being very kind to us. On the 12th April 22 bowlers adjourned to The Crown at Hawk Green for an enjoyable lunch after bowling at Torkington Park. The group is growing in number and is approaching the limit for the green unless we change the way we bowl. We have now formed a small committee to make decisions |
on the bowling. Following our successful visit to Christleton last year it is planned to repeat the visit this year on July 26th. Put this date in your diaries and hope for a day as perfect as last year. We have been asked not to use the Top Green as the grounds man is doing the necessary work to prepare it for winter bowling. This will make instruction difficult if not impossible. |
A date will be fixed for a day bowling at The Nursery in Stockport including lunch. Ken Bentley.  |
| Frank Singleton It is with great sadness that I report the death of Frank Singleton. Frank was an active member of the steering committee which started the High Lane branch of the U3A. One of his main interests was gardening and he was the leader of the gardening group from the onset. He suggested that the group meet on a monthly basis in members’ homes to engage in informal discussion on many aspects of gardening. This exchange of ideas sometimes led to members making major changes to their own garden. Frank’s failing health never prevented him from attending meeting or garden visits. Frank will be missed by all of those who knew him, He was a true gentleman. Brian Allerton |
Summer School at Stockport College
| Stockport College have for some time been putting on Summer Schools specifically for the U3A in this area. Since the funding from the Government for adult education has been severely pruned we now have to pay a small amount for these courses. |
The courses are well run and the tutors are well versed in their subject, we do need to support these course to maintain the interest from the College in providing courses for your benefit, after all we are mainly a learning based organisation. If you are interested in any of the courses shown on the |
next page contact Doreen Scotte on for an application form
and further details. The subjects are both varied and interesting.
There are also courses run at Chester which may be of interest to some, keep a look out in the U3A magazine. Editor
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| Once again the venue was the Friends Meeting House in London and over 300 members from around the UK attended, including 6 from High Lane. Three very different subjects were presented by a well a known expert in each field. The content can be summarised as follows:- |
| The
Earth is like any other planet and due to the nature of its crust, it
is subject to earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis. Such events occur
all the time causing localised destruction and loss of life in various
degrees. Similarly meteors are continually colliding with earth but as
they are relatively small, they burn up in the atmosphere before impact. The real economy or even civilisation threatening |
dangers occur when their sizes are vastly increased to become super earthquakes, giant tsunamis, super volcanic eruptions or colliding asteroids. These are Global Geophysical Events (GGEs) and scientists all over the World are continually dedicated to identifying particular risk areas and monitoring the movement of tectonic plates and the trajectory of asteroids on near collision courses. We cannot stop these events but sufficient warning | can allow evacuation and in thecase of asteroids, the possibility of nudging them off course. GGEs are not remote possibilities, they have happened in the past and they will again – the question is when. The last super eruption was the Toba eruption in what is now Yellowstone Park. This was 4000 years ago and the resultant sulphurous atmospheric dust obscured the sun creating a 1000 year world wide freeze. |
| The Enemy Within-Oxidative Stress & CardiovascularDisease–by Professor Salvador |
| Biochemical processes in the body generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are normally mopped up by antioxidant defence mechanisms. Under certain conditions an imbalance can develop between the antioxidant defences and the formation of ROS. The resulting accumulation of ROS, called oxidative stress, causes their interaction with physiological mediators in the body which inactivate those | mediators and result in the formation of toxic products. An example of this is nitric oxide (NO), a blood vessel dilator and anti-thrombotic agent generated in the lining of blood vessels. This reacts with superoxide anion, inactivating the NO and leading to a condition where the blood vessels fail to respond normally to the beneficial stimuli of blood vessel dilators. This condition is predictive of cardiovascular |
disease and occurs in subjects with risk factors but no overt symptoms of the disease. The considerable research carried out over the last 10 years has clearly established the detail of these relationships and in so doing, it has proven that a very small dose of Aspirin per day can control ROS generation and so reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. |
The Truth about Hormones – by Vivienne Parry
| Hormones rule our internal world : they control our growth, metabolism, weight, water balance, body clocks, fertility, muscle bulk, mood, speed of ageing, whether you want sex or not (and whether you enjoy it), and even who you fall in love with. Their effects may occur in seconds and be over in a flash, or take months and last for 30 years. Whilst we can name some hormones, we rarely know what they actually do, but we are probably right in blaming them when we behave erratically. | Actually,
they are chemical messengers in the blood streamthey consist of
proteins, steroids and amino acids, (surprisingly and cholesterol is
actually needed to produce hormones). There are several hormone deficiency diseases, Addisons being one which was suffered by John F. Kennedy and probably by Jane Austen. This is a very rare disorder in which the body becomes incapable of reacting to physical stresses due to a failure of the adrenal glands. |
Synthetic
cortisone has become a successful treatment and was used by Kennedy but
as it was only developed in 1948, far too late for Jane Austen.
 Mike Snape
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 The last meeting of the group was held on 5th May "Haydn"Requests and suggestions and new members are always welcome We meet once a fortnight in High Lane Library, please contact Alan Leach for further details. Alan Leach
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Come and join us for a Good Read
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The reading group are meeting once a month on a Wednesday morning at 10am at Sue Dintinger's house.
 The next meeting is on the 16th May at 10am we are presently reading "The Commandants Girl". New members welcome. Sue Dintinger |
Oh no it isn’t -Oh YES IT IS - A NEW DISCUSSION GROUP
A new group is to be formed if sufficient interest is  shown from the membership. The group will be a'Discussion Group' and its aim will be to stimulate lively debate on any subject of the members choosing, nothing barred. If you are interested in taking part please contact Jim McDermott. |
Heritage Group
| There are a few places left on our 5 day holiday October 4th—8th in the North East. The cost will be £225 (single supplement £15 per night) 4 nights half board at the modern 4 star Thistle Hotel, Middlesborough. Visits to Beamish,Durham,Hartlepool Historic Quay, Bowes Museum,Captain Cook Museum, National Glass Centre. If interested please contact Margaret Dodd or Margaret McDermott. |
A Day visit to Brodsworth Hall June 20th. Cost £15. Brodsworth Hall near Doncaster, is one of the most complete surviving Victorian Country Houses showing how a wealthy family and their servants lived. The Hall is surrounded by 15 acres of beautiful gardens. Contact for this trip is Margaret Dodd.
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| A man was driving his car along a lane when it stopped, he discovered he was out of petrol. Just then a bee flew into the car and asked if he could help. The driver told him his problem and the bee flew away and came back with a swarm of bees who flew round the car for a few minutes. The bee then told him to start the car and it fired first time. The driver asked how this had happened & the bee said ‘it is running on BP’. |
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Recipe of the Month
Now from food to Wine with the Finance Group
| This is going
to be a new section in the Newsletter, it started at a Lunch with the
Dining Group and June Gibbs writes as follows:- A rather large group of us, from the Dining Group, enjoyed a wonderful meal at L’Ecole, in Heaton Moor Campus of Stockport College on Thursday 29th March. We were very spoilt with a varied menu with plenty of choice. For my Dessert I chose McMahons Gateau, which was so delicious That I asked one of the trainee chefs for the recipe. The details he gave me were a bit sketchy so this is my adapted version:-
Mix the crunched biscuits, melted butter and sugar (if desired) until fully combined, spread the mix into a 7in. loose bottomed cake tin and press down with the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours. For the filling Set aside about 8 raspberries, place the remainder into a pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until soft. Rub them through a sieve. Put the whole eggs, yolks and sugar into a bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of hot water and whisk until the eggs are thick and fluffy. Remove the bowl from the pan of hot water and set the bowl in a basin of cold water & whisk until cool. Dissolve the Gelatine in the 3 tablespoons of water, stir it quickly into the raspberries then whisk the raspberries into the egg mixture. Whip the double cream lightly in another bowl and fold into the raspberries and egg mixture When the mix is almost set pour it over the biscuit base and decorate it with the 8 raspberries and grated chocolate if desired.  June Gibbs This sound delicious. How about trying this ladies and don't forget YOUR favourite recipe for future newsletters. Editor |
Now from food to Wine with the Finance Group
| The next finance group meeting will be held on 9th May after the normal U3A meeting at 4pm The subject is "Investing in |
Wine and Wine tasting". The finance meeting after this is at 4pm on 11th July, subject for discussion to be arranged. Derek Hill |
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German Group
Needlework Group
Theatre Matinee Group BOOK NOW
| We continue to meet most Fridays at 42 Bowfell Drive. On 13th April we spent a very pleasant and relaxing morning cruising along the ASHTON Canal towards Hyde in a boat skippered byCliff Ranson, a newish member of the group, who had invited us along. We were fortunate to see some of the wildlife of the area , including an enormous terrapin which had managed to survive several winters in the canal. By the time you read this Newsletter a group of 10 of us should have returned from a trip to Cologne, |
a City new to us which has a lot to offer, A highlight should be a cruise along the Rhine to Koenigswinter. In June a group of 15 Germans from Forchheim will be visiting Stockport, most of them staying with members of High Lane U3A. During their stay we will be going to York on Thursday, 7th June and I should have a few places on the coach, which will be leaving the Village Hall Car Park at 9.00am returning by 6.30. The cost will be £12.00. If |
you would like to join us please see me at the May meeting, or telephone me. Marlene Brookes  |
Needlework Group
| Our next meeting will be on Thursday 10th May. We had a very successful sale of cards just before Easter and can now take orders for personalised cards—cards for special occasions Please give a months notice if possible. The raffle prize of a kitchen |
Sampler
was won by Margaret McLeod. The proceeds of £66.50 were
then donated to Cancer Research from where we had received the
unfinished piece of work which Margaret McDermott so skilfully
completed. Marlene Brookes |
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Theatre Matinee Group BOOK NOW
 |
BUXTON OPERA HOUSE Present Yeoman
Of the Guard |
For all Gilbert & Sullivan lovers On
Pat WhinnerahSunday 29th July At 2.30 pm |
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High Lane Gardening Group — New Members Welcome
Heritage Group Arresting Visit to Manchester
| High Lane
gardening group is in the capable hands of Lottie Minchin, anyone
interested in joining please contact either Lottie Minchin or Kath
Birkitt. The programme to date for the remainder of the year is as follows:— Tues 22nd May Trip to Tatton Meet 10.30am at High Lane Village Hall Mon 11th June Trip to Ashford Meet at 10.00am High Lane Village Hall Sat14th July Trip to Winster Meet 10.00am at High Lane Village Hall (South Derbyshire) Sat 18th August Disley & Lyme Centenary Show. - Free Continuous shuttle bus service from High Lane Library & Fountain Square Disley from 12.30pm Mon 20th August House Meeting The Allertons, The Paddock, Leigh Bank, Whalley Bridge 15th Sept. Harrogate Show Smiths Bus £10,25 per head 8.40 High Lane Bulls Head or 8.50 Carpet World October House Meeting Cromley Road |
Heritage Group Arresting Visit to Manchester
| 17 members visited the Police Museum on Newton Street. Our Guide Duncan Brodie gave us a very interesting commentary from th e custody room, where he showed us how handcuffs and truncheons have changed over the years. We saw the old cells with |
their crude furnishings , including a birching table, and pictures of several previous prisoners. Denton magistrates Court has been transferred to the museum with all the original furnishings and stained glass. There were badges and uniforms from across the |
world. If you have not seen the museum it is well worth a visit. Our donation to the museum was thankfully received and will be used towards the on going refurbishment. Margaret Dodd |
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Have you Ever Thought
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wetWhy doesn’t Tarzan have a beard What is the speed of darkness Whose idea was it to put s in the word lisp Why doesn’t glue stick to the bottle Can you cry under water If people evolved from Apes, why are there still Apes Why is it, people say that they “slept like a baby”, when babies wake up regularly at night. |
| Items always welcome — Remember IT’S YOUR NEWSLETTER If you would like items published in the Newsletter, please hand them in at our General Meetings, post or email them to Ken or Edna Bentley: kenedna@aol.com Closing date for copy for the next Newsletter is Wednesday 25th June 2007 |