Limebrook u3a enjoys action-packed June

Limebrook u3a enjoyed a busy June, with the club's many groups getting up to some great activities throughout the month.

Music Group

Limebrook u3a's Colin Flight reports that the Modern Music Appreciation Group had a great afternoon, chatting about the member's chosen songs all around the theme of 'songs that make us smile'.

They went off on lots of musical tangents. Some of the songs included were Fields of Gold by Eva Cassidy, 2-4-6-8 Motorway by The Tom Robinson Band, Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi, Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, Blowin' Free by Wishbone Ash plus a wide range of other artists and a variety of tunes from the 60s right up to date and not a duff one on the chart.

June's topic is a Rock Family Tree, following a meandering route through a series of songs which are somehow linked and as the DJ spins the discs, the rest of the members will try to identify the connections.

Nature Group

The Nature Group have been to the Wat Tyler Country Park, near Basildon, which was the venue chosen for their walk.

Set in 125 acres of open space that has a rich and varied past, having been a grazing marsh, a centre for gunpowder manufacturing, a MOD storage facility and now a Country Park run by Basildon Council.

They used the Merlin app that enables them to identify a variety of bird songs and birds that they couldn't name. The views were beautiful and the ruined industrial buildings were softened with green overgrowth. There were several marked trails but they did not follow any particular route.

After refreshments and a look around the Visitor Centre, they walked to the New Life Wood, a centre where this charity helps disadvantaged adults learn new skills and build confidence using reclaimed timber to make hand-crafted wood products such as bird boxes, nest boxes and bug hotels.

Margaret Mitchell says she had not been to this Country Park before and will definitely visit it again.

Social Sciences Group

John Salisbury's Social Sciences Group had a talk entitled "A Rubbish Talk, Lifting the Lid on Waste and Recycling" which was led by Stephen Bates who is one of the world's leading behaviour change communication experts working in the waste management sector.

All agreed that not only was it interesting and informative but also it was the first time we had enjoyed a "rubbish" talk!

Photography Group

15 members of the Photography Group gathered at Ingatestone Hall, and were treated to a very interesting and informative guided tour of the house. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in the house.

Graham Churchill said this was made up for after the tour by a wander around the beautiful gardens, where the cameras came into action and the shutters were clicking away.

Peter Thorpe with his two trophies.

The monthly competition was won by Peter Thorpe with an excellent interpretation of the subject which was "Triangles."

Peter Thorpe 'Triangles'

Tim Stubbings was voted second with his spiral staircase and David Sansom's entry in black and white followed in third place.

Tim Stubbing's spiral staircase image.

Peter also came out winner of the Amended Photograph version, this is the first time we have had the same person winning both categories so well done to Peter!

Wine Group

Both "The Wine tasting Group" and "The Winers" enjoyed sampling various wines this month, with the first's selection coming from Argentina and the Winers choosing South Africa as the country of origin.