Issue  21-05 (1 March 2021)

Dates for your diaries

Wednesday 2nd June is National u3a Day. An opportunity to raise awareness of u3a so we will be organising a series of events including Sunday 6th June when we hope to have a stand at the monthly food market on the Grove.

Ilkley Civic Society Blue Plaque Trail

188 people, many sharing a screen, attended this talk on Thursday.  We welcomed many friends of u3a members, Civic Society members & the general public. Select here and look for the Civic Society logo to see a recording of the talk..

A second talk in the series is at 10:30 am 25th March. Select here to register. As with the first talk, order up to five extra places to invite friends or family to the event.

Helping other u3a groups recover from lockdown

Members of Ilkley u3a have had plenty of online activities to enjoy over the past 12 months but other groups haven’t done so well. Select this link to see what the Third Age Trust is doing to help. Email Angie Grain (angiegrain@aol.com) if you would like to get involved with some encouragement for other local groups.

Improved layout to the website

There’s no point in having a website if you can’t find what you want quickly.  So we have radically improved the News section.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for, just enter your query in Search.  We will also shortly make it easier to find details of group activity in preparation for our emergence from lockdown.

Did you spot the zebra?

The picture quiz on the website home page for March features Silsden. See if you can find items that look wrong or unlikely. Select here to view and click on the picture to reveal the answers.

Forthcoming talks and events

Select here to view more information and to book the following:

10:30 am Tuesday 2nd March: Ulcers, bugs and the Nobel prize – presented by Mike Dixon, Emeritus Professor of Gastrointestinal Pathology, University of Leeds.

3:30 pm Thursday 4th March: From Hill Forts to Gunpowder – the Story of Castles presented by Robin Leleux.

10:30 am Thursday 11th March: Ask Ian McCannah – National Chair of u3a. A chance to meet Ian in the company of members from other parts of our region.

3:30 pm Thursday 11th March: A new members meeting that might be of interest to anyone who wants to know how an organisation like ours keeps going.

10:30 am Friday 12th March: Enjoy a poetic interlude with the u3a Poetry group.

10:30 am Thursday 18th March: The War of the Roses. Information about the decisive battle at Towton presented by Andrew and Susan Green of Barnsley u3a.

10:30 am Saturday 20th March: My Year in Italy presented by Maggie Poppa.

3:30 pm Thursday 8th April.  A guide to artificial intelligence by Professor Peter Cowling

This last talk is by the son of one of our members.  Our schedule will soon see presentations from u3a members in Craven and Newcastle upon Tyne. As we are committed to run talks over the next few months, we have plenty of places to fill.

Have you got a hobby or area of expertise that might be interest others? Reply to this News Flash with contact details & suggestions.  We sort out the technical stuff!!

Website links

Green Tip for March is all about limiting climate change. This is the last of these tips but they’ll remain on our website. Thanks to Gwen and Mike Pilling for all these contributions.

Quirky humour has yet more content to lighten your mood.

Ilkley Archive Scrapbook turns another few pages.  We are at 1971,  Who remembers the arrival of north Sea Gas?

Art for Fun has 140 artwork images to view. Prepare to be amazed at the talent within our u3a. Absolutely brilliant.

Thanks to Chris Dobson for the following pearls of wisdom

Why, why, why do we press harder on the remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

Why is it that when someone tells you that there are one billion stars in the universe you believe them, but if they tell you there is wet paint you have to touch it to check?

And to Peter Mate for this.

A recent study has revealed that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than men who mention it.

Stay safe.

John & Christine

Email NewsFlash@ilkleyu3a.org

PS. We have a very active presence on social media run by Helen Stevens. Select these links Ilkley u3a Facebook and Ilkley u3a Twitter to keep up to date with all things u3a and items of local interest.