Summer 2014 - East Lothian U3A

SUMMER 2014
East Lothian
Newsletter
U3A needs - your vote
The AGM will take place on Wednesday June 18 at 2pm in the
Town House Haddington and members votes are needed to
ensure that we are in compliance with our constitution. Last year
we needed to hold an Extraordinary General meeting to bring our
constitution up to date to represent more realistically our
circumstances and our increasing membership. Now there is
provision for members who are unable to attend the meeting
personally to vote by proxy. A proxy form was sent to every
member with the AGM notification letter so if you are unable to
come to the meeting, please send your signed Proxy voting form
to the secretary, Irene Hopkins at 27 Burnside, Haddington EH41
4ER. If you have mislaid your proxy form please contact Irene,
telephone 01620 823206, email [email protected]
Following the AGM the lecture will be
Flora Celtica – Scottish Native Plants
Greg Kenicer of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh will tell
fascinating tales of the history and mythology of our natural heritage
of plants.
Never mind the Baftas – look to U3A
In March the opera group organised a group outing to a Scottish
Opera performance of Verdi’s Macbeth. As usual we wished to
familiarise ourselves with the work beforehand and decided to
invite the Reading Shakespeare group to join us. To our delight
they agreed.
The Shakespearians read excerpts from the play and we then
watched the equivalent opera section on DVD. As Verdi wrote his
opera before he had actually read the play, this was most
interesting and enjoyable with memorable interpretations by the
Shakespearians. It is hoped that we might collaborate in future
as a good time was had by all.
In May the group went to The Perth Festival of the Arts for a
production of The Magic Flute by English Touring Opera. We also
have some interesting speakers lined up in coming months.
Estelle Morton
To find out more about the Opera Group or any of the other
active groups go to the website
www.eastlothianu3a.org.uk/groups
U3A Strictly come dancing Following suggestions at a
coffee morning, the first EL U3A ballroom dancing group has
been formed. Would you like the opportunity to learn the waltz
or the quickstep ? Perhaps you already know these dances and
would just like to dance and maybe help beginners ?
If you are interested, please get in touch with Celia Coulson
[email protected] mobile 07921 355128
Friday fortnightly walks
The photographs show a few of the interesting
places the Intermediate Walking Group have
visited.
In March some stalwarts braved the high winds
and exposed pathway up to the lighthouse at St
Abbs Head. Our reward was seeing newly born
lambs who were awaiting their jab for the
prevention of Orf (scabby mouth, a very contagious viral infection).
The walk on the 2nd May was a
circular route round the Winton
Estate in Pencaitland and although
the weather forecast was not good,
an enthusiastic 22 people turned
up. Walking through the village, we
passed a very picturesque natural lake and
an illustrated poster recollecting the Macmerry Branch railway line. It
was opened in March 1870, the final section closing in 1960. Enroute
we passed the stone showing history of the Meadow Pit which made
fascinating reading.
On 16 May we walked through lovely scenery starting from the
north end of the Whiteadder
reservoir around Penshiel Hill
and returning via the old Herring
Road, a distance of about six
miles.
Just to show it isn’t all
walking, the group enjoy lunch
at the Goblin Ha’ last year.
Joan Bell (who also took the photographs)
Pay up and play fair all members were notified that the
£10 subscription to EL U3A for 2014 was due in May. Our
hardworking Membership Secretary is a volunteer and reports
that there are still a lot of unpaid fees. Please will you check if you
have paid and if you have not, please send your outstanding fee
immediately to the Membership Secretary at
26 Somnerfield Grove, Haddington EH41 3RR.
Signing a Standing Order form will mean you will not overlook this
in the future so why not request this at the same time.
Apology and correction in the spring newsletter the
telephone number given for the French Beginners group was
incorrect. The number is 01875 819707 and the group
coordinator is Harry Hamilton.
Science Group visit Queen Margaret College
Dr Douglas McBean, Senior lecturer in Physiology and
Neuroscience at Queen Margaret University, invited the Science
Group to visit QMU. Dr McBean had previously given a very
informative and entertaining talk to the group on aspects of the
Cardiorespiratory System which included lots of hands–on
experiments and machines to play with, so we were really looking
forward to our visit – and we were not disappointed.
The building itself is quite outstanding, built by Scottish
architects, Dyer in 2007/2008 at a cost of one hundred million
pounds and transformed from 35 acres of low grade farmland, it
sets a new benchmark in sustainable design and exceeds
environmental standards. It contains 800 rooms but also has large
open plan areas with an intriguing central pod supported on poles
and containing four of the classrooms.
continued on next page
Science Group visit contd.
Over six thousand students study at the university in Arts and
Social Sciences and Health Sciences. There is also a Research
Centre.
Along with some of the students, we attended a lecture
by Dr McBean on Diabetes. In his usual style, it was both
interesting and very entertaining.
Science Group member, Adeline Doonan comments:
“I had a really good time at QMU all thanks to Dr McBean. He
made us welcome and I did enjoy the lecture which he made
fun as well “
Member Margaret Gordon summed it up for us:
“It was good to have the opportunity to experience a
modern, hi-tech university in action and to learn about it
from such an enthusiastic member of staff. I was particularly
struck by the fact that of all the hundreds of students
working away at their computers or working in groups
around the building and even in the busy dining room, I saw
only two using a mobile phone! The buzz of Learning was
very impressive.”
We discovered that the public are welcome to make use
of the library and, for a small subscription, can also join the
gymnasium and use the Trim Track which leads to a lovely
central lake. I, for one, will certainly make use of these
excellent facilities.
We finished with an excellent lunch and a fond farewell to
Douglas McBean. It was a very satisfying visit and well worth
doing.
Rose Johnston
For more information about the Science Group:
[email protected]
Reversing an Ageing Process
Research at Queen Margaret University
From Christos Theodorakopoulos
As we grow older we tend to lose lean mass usually in the form
of muscles and bone minerals and gain fat mass especially
around the waistline. This condition can increase the risk of
falls, bone fractures, physical disability, heart disease and
diabetes. The outcome of this ageing process is impaired body
functionality, low strength and walking speed and
deterioration of quality of life. People that suffer from this
condition are gradually discouraged from going out and
participating in social events, which in turn can affect their
psychological and emotional status.
At Queen Margaret University we will try to reverse this
process in order to help people over the age of 65 enjoy a life
of high quality. I am delighted to be able to work with
members of East Lothian U3A in this research.
Please keep your eyes open for more specific details
regarding dates and locations in the next U3A newsletter and
on the notice board of www.eastlothianu3a.org.uk. In the
meantime, if you are interested in the project please send an
email to Peter Cleat, member of the U3A committee at
[email protected] or if you have any further questions
regarding this condition and how to manage it please email me
directly. Finally, I would like to thank everybody that attended
the U3A Open Lecture on 16 April and gave me the chance to
present my research.
Christos Theodorakopoulos,
BSc (Hons) Nutrition, MSc, ANutr, PhD candidate
Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences
email: [email protected]
The U3A Big Dance Pledge – we did it
The Big Dance Day this year was created by Scottish Ballet with music
and choreography online to download and have fun with. It is part of
an initiative to get people of all ages and abilities dancing. Groups in
24 countries took part included the U3A Creative Dance group who
spent an afternoon improvising to the music which included
everything from Reggae style to traditional Scottish Dance. To learn
more about it go to www.bigdance.org.uk
getting in the mood and
limbering up
we did it - our way
The group are having a summer break but will start up again in
September and meet fortnightly at the Bridge Centre.
Note to Christos at Queen Margaret University - we’re already on to it!
Sheila Shillitto [email protected] telephone 0131 6579918
A clandestine plant
In April the Gardening
group had a private tour
of the Edinburgh Botanic
Gardens, learning about
the plant conservation
work there, some of it
conducted by volunteers.
The photograph shows
the group examining a
plant of interest, common name toothwort but posh name Lathra
clandestina. One view put forward is that it is known as clandestina as it
disappears completely in winter only to unexpectedly pop up again in
the spring.
Photograph by Joan Bell
The next issue of East Lothian U3A Newsletter will be published at the
beginning of September. New notices and diary dates will be shown on
the notices page of www.eastlothianu3a.org.uk
Please send your articles, notices and photographs to the address below.
Newsletters are published by East Lothian U3A Communications Team,
Sheila Shillitto, Nicola McNeill, Margaret Gordon, Peter Cleat and
Richard Morton who is Webmaster of
www.eastlothianu3a.org.uk
Contact the editor at [email protected], telephone 0131 6579918
or write to: 40 Coillesdene Avenue Edinburgh EH15 2JR
The East Lothian University of the Third Age
Scottish Charity SC 028953
Supported by East Lothian Council