Maldon U3A
Maldon U3A
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Home > meetings > Past meetings > 2019 Meetings

2019 Meetings

Click on an underlined title to go to a report of that talk.

DateActivity
20th January 2019A Peep behind the Scenes
Marion Pettet
Marion will give an illustrated talk on her life as a stage manager and director, including her years with Chelmsford Ballet.
18th February 2019Grenada at Chelsea
Suzanne Gaywood
Suzanne will be talking about her creations exhibiting successfully at Chelsea with her stunning designs showcasing fruit and flowers from the island of Grenada.
18th March 2019A Year in the Life of...
Eve Regulous
Eve has for many years been a successful booking agent to many celebrities. This light-hearted talk will reveal details of some of the events she has organised and some of the people she has worked with.
15th April 2019The Social & Political Satire of Gilbert & Sullivan
Bernard Lockett
Bernard is an authority on the pair and has written widely about them.
20th May 2019The History of Chocolate
Tony Diamond
His talk includes myths and beliefs surrounding its discovery and enjoyment.
17th June 2019
A G M

15th July 2019The Crop Circle Mystery
Andy Thomas
Andy is an internationally renowned authority on conspiracy theory and strange phenomena like crop circles.
19th August 2019The Silk Road, China
David Whiteing
16th September 2019Pounds, Shillings and Poverty
David Williams
21st October 2019Old Time Music Hall
Arthur Brooks
Arthur will be giving a light-hearted talk to give a taste of music hall, with some music.
18th November 2019My Solo Walk across Africa
Fran Sandham
Fran is an explorer and professional speaker who writes and talks about his adventures.
16th December 2019 Christmas meeting

 

February Monthly Meeting

Suzanne Gaywood was introduced as the lady who does the Grenada Flowers at Chelsea.

U3A February 2019 Meeting
Suzanne Gaywood.
Photo by John Bowen

She started her presentation by saying that she was born and raised in Grenada, married an Englishman and moved to Woodham Walter near Maldon.   She used her flower arranging skills to arrange flowers in the local church and then in 1989 she assisted the Windward Islands team in exhibiting at Chelsea.   RHS Chelsea Flower Show first started in 1862 and moved to the 21 acre site of the hospital in 1913.

Using the experience gained, she decided to exhibit in 1998 for Grenada and was awarded Silver followed by Silver Gilts in 1999 and 2000.   Once allocated an area, one has to design a theme - in 2001 this was around a wooden hut built by Poulton Portables of Danbury but modified on-site to satisfy the judges at Chelsea.   One side of the hut was open to the public - the whole area was covered with beautiful exotic flowers from Grenada and for this she was awarded her first Gold Award.
In total she was awarded a Silver, 5 Silver Gilts and 10 Gold Awards - what an achievement!

Flushed with success, she arranged to exhibit again but her husband reasoned that they could design and build the next "set" in their back garden with the assistance of neighbours.   They called themselves "The Chelsea 8".   This was the format adopted for the next 16 exhibits.

Each year, Suzanne had to think of an exhibition theme such as churches, sandy shore lines, water wheels, special buildings used to dry nutmegs (Grenada being the second largest producer in the world), representation of the dreadful Hurricane Ivan which hit Granada in 2004, 'Island in the Sun', to name but a few.

U3A February 2019 Meeting
Cast Away.
Photos by kind premission of Suzanne

U3A February 2019 Meeting
Tropical Paradise.

U3A February 2019 Meeting
Spice Island.

U3A February 2019 Meeting
Nutmegs and Other Spices.

The Grenada Tourism Authority has been a leading sponsor of the exhibition.   Typically 80 boxes of flowers are flown in each year with some 80% grown by Suzanne's friend, Denis Noel who exports Ginger Lilies, Heliconias and other exotic flowers throughout the World.
This exhibition shows to the typical 150,000 people who visit each year what a wonderful Country Grenada is to visit with its trees, lush vegetation and flowers.

In 2011 she was made a MBE in Recognition for her Services to Tourism in Grenada and to Horticulture.   She showed a slide of her investiture by the Queen, who had a few words with her at that time.

She showed a number of slides of each year she exhibited and with some of the Grenada born personalities at Chelsea including Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC, Ainsley Harriot, Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley, Sir Trevor Mc Donald, & a host of other celebrities including our Queen, who was a regular visitor, the High Commissioner for Grenada, Mr Joslyn Whiteman, and Mrs Catherine John to whom she passed the baton to continue exhibiting in 2015.

Suzanne now uses her knowledge of the island and horticulture to show groups of visitors around private gardens in Grenada in November.
Click here to see the website for Suzanne's tours: http://www.gardentours.co.uk

A lovely afternoon of photographs of beautiful flowers, interesting stories told in a pleasant manner.
We trust your cold was not worsened by your presentation which was very much enjoyed.

Report by John Bowen with grateful assistance from Suzanne.


June AGM and 21st Birthday party

This year was our 21st birthday, so after the brief business of the AGM, members enjoyed (alcohol-free) sparking wine and food while being entertained by banjo player Steve Galler.

Beryl McDonnell, one of the founding members and first Chairman cut the cake.

A potted history of the group:

1996: Beryl McDonell read an article in a magazine about the U3A concept. She thought it was a good idea.
1997: When Beryl moved to Maldon, a leaflet came through her door which advertised the U3A in Chelmsford. Beryl later met up with her old friend, Barbara Arnold, they decided to go to the main meeting of Chelmsford U3A to find out more. Members of the Chelmsford Committee helped them to get the ball rolling.

1998: In April, with help from Bill Stitchbury, an opening meeting was held. 35 people came. Some of those present at first meeting were Beryl McDonell, Archie McDonell, Barbara Arnold, Ken Cox, Shirley Springett, Bill Stitchbury, Marion Condon, Catherine Stern, Jean Sharp, Jack Mulville, Monica Williams and Chris Shaw.

Several groups were started at the first meeting, including Walking, Local History, Creative Writing, Play reading and Scottish Dancing.

Members were invited to reminisce on memories of those 21 years; below are a few miscellaneous jottings:


August Monthly Meeting

A selection of photos from the talk by David & Brigitte Whiteing following a Silk Road trip in China during October 2018. They crossed the whole of China in three weeks.

David's China Presentation

Xiahe Labrang Buddhist monastery.

David's China Presentation

Xiahe Labrang Buddhist monastery.
The longest corridor of rotating prayer wheels in the world.

David's China Presentation

Part of the Great Wall of China which runs for 13,000 miles.

David's China Presentation

Beijing drum tower, an hourly show on the Big Drums - played here by Monks.
They can be heard for miles.

David's China Presentation

A Pedal Rickshaw - it produces about a ¼ of a horsepower but is nearly carbon neutral.

David's China Presentation

Beijing drum tower.

David's China Presentation

Beijing Temple of Heaven, 2.7 million square meters.

David's China Presentation

Beijing the Forbidden City, 980 buildings over 180 acres.

David's China Presentation

The great wall surrounding the city of Xian, 14km in length.

David's China Presentation

The Terracotta Warriors in Xian - first found by a young boy in 1976.
There are approx. 8,000, all unique and slightly taller than life size.

David's China Presentation

A Camel Train of the type which made the Silk Road between China and the West so famous.
To a Western person, camels can be quite dangerous because they go up and down in 3 stages.
Brigitte was thrown off a camel and still has the bruises.

David's China Presentation

Dunhuang Crescent Lake in the sand dunes, a tourist attraction.

David's China Presentation

Local Tribesmen in the Taklamakan desert entertaining the tourists.

Report by John Bowen with thanks to David Whiteing for the images and titles above.


October Monthly Meeting

Arthur said that Music Hall described the venues from their inception in the 1850s to the end of WW1. During this time the living standards were generally poor and the idea of an escape for a few hours to a Music Hall where you could eat, drink ale, smoke and be entertained was attractive. From 1953 to 1983, they were portrayed by the BBC TV with the series called "The Good Old Days" from Leeds Music Hall theatre with a compere.

The original ones were noisy affairs and the artist had to project him/herself, or die on stage.

Heritage open Days
Arthur Brooks
Photo by John Bowen

Marie Lloyd (1870-1922) was a famous performer although she was known to sing slightly risqué versions of her songs.   Our speaker had a small boom box and played a number of songs starting with "My Old Man's a Dustman", and "It's a long way to Tipperary".   Unfortunately the audience was not invited to join in - which was a pity because many knew all the words.

Heritage open Days
Marie earnt tremendous money during her career but was very generous to the homeless - buying beds, rooms and even hostels for them and subsequently died penniless.

For some 20 years she took a touring company to the Isle of Man and during this time introduced Flanagan (1896-1968) and Allen (1894-1982) as a duo - they sang such songs as "Underneath the Arches" and "Run Rabbit Run".

Arthur's Grandfather was a cabbie and told stories of how he ferried people to the Music Halls such as Wiltons, off Cable Street, London but he could also remember being taken on the trolley bus to such a venue, hoping the pantograph arm would fall off - watch the driver and conductor pole it back into position.   He must have been 5 or 6 at this time.   John Wilton bought it in 1850 when it could accommodate 1,500 but suffered a fire in 1877 when it was bought by the Methodist who used it as a Chapel until 1956 when it became a rag store. It has now been restored and it is used as an Arts and Heritage venue.

Harry Champion was another famous Music Hall performer who belted out with speed such numbers as "Any Old Iron", "Boiled Beef and Carrots" (maybe a forerunner of the Hay Diet?), "I am Henry the 8th I am, I am" and "I married the Widow next door who had been married seven times before".

From 1919 to the 1960s when television killed them off, the venues were referred to as Variety halls where the artist was allocated a time slot (typically 12 minutes) and thrust on the stage to perform. Arthur said he was a Member of the British Music Hall Society and was involved in preserving those which still remain today.

Arthur concluded his presentation by telling us about "Little Tich" (1867-1928).   He really was tiny and also slightly deformed with webbed fingers but had made for him very long boots with which he used to do all sorts of tricks.

Heritage open Days
Little Tich in Paris

Please continue to pressure the BBC TV to bring back Variety from Leeds Music Hall - we "oldies" want a bit of fun in the evenings!

John Bowen.