Newsletter from your Chairman July 2023

Dear members,

Another u3a year draws to a close.  Thank you to all the new members who have joined us this year and I hope you have enjoyed your time with us.  Thanks also to the many of you who have renewed your membership for 2023/2024 already – details of how to renew your membership are on the website but I have included them in this newsletter as well.

Our June speaker, Janie Ramsay, talked about the ‘Life of Windsors’ once they had moved to live in exile in France. What a lifestyle!  One thing is for certain none of us in the audience would ever experience such luxury!

Our July meeting on the 26th will coincide with our AGM which will be  followed by a talk by Paul Dickinson on some of the History around Arundel Castle. This is the home of the Fitzalan-Howard family who have connections through the Royal family and the incumbent is better known as the Duke of Norfolk. 

Apart from living in the castle he is best known for being the main organiser for large ceremonial occasions – the funeral of our late Queen and the coronation of King Charles.

Many of you may have visited the castle and its gardens – truly worth a day’s visit if you are down that way in Sussex.  Apart from the very picturesque castle there are wonderful gardens in its grounds.

Close by is the Weald and Downland Living Museum at Singleton ( home for the “Repair Shop Workshop” as seen on BBC TV) where there are over 40 buildings that have been lovingly taken apart from their original home to be re-built in the museum park.  Of particular interest is the ‘Bayleaf Farmhouse’ which dates back to the early 15th Century.  Originally it stood  in the valley below Ide Hill and was donated to the museum in 1968 by the East Surrey Water Company as the creation of the Bough Beech reservoir threatened it’s destruction.

At last we have had a few drops of rain which has livened up the garden. It’s that time of the year when our ornamental Passionflower is beginning it’s flowering season.  The structure of its flower parts are truly amazing the way they stand up in the middle. The flowers are also a good source of nectar and is always being visited by both honeybees and bumbles. Unfortunately, the fruit formed after pollination is not edible!

Now to the AGM on the 26th – this is the time of year when some of our committee members finish their periods of service/ allocated time.  Estelle, our membership secretary is standing down after ten years in the post – she will be sorely missed. Peter Welch is standing down as treasurer where he has managed to keep our finances in sound order.  The third member of the committee leaving us this year is Sue Farrell who has managed our website through a period of change and also has sent out the monthly newsletters to you all.  As you all know our committee members are all volunteers and we thank all three for the time they have given up fulfilling their roles on the committee.

The AGM provides an opportunity to appoint new members to the three roles, the presentation of the annual accounts and the opportunity for you to raise any issues important for the smooth running of our group.  A reflection of the latter is that we have been able to reduce the membership fees for the next year.

It is also a time for us all to celebrate the ten years that Edenbridge u3a has been running. 

I hope that we will be able to move through the agenda quite quickly so that we can listen to Paul Dickinson’s talk on Arundel Castle.

Finally a reminder – it is time to renew your membership for the next year. With everything else going up in price your new membership represents extremely good value at the new lower rate.   From 1st July 2023 Single membership for the next year will be just £15, Joint membership will be £25. Payment may be made by cash, cheque or by direct bank transfer.

Details for bank transfer:

  • Bank Name : Lloyds Bank
  • Account Name : Edenbridge  u3a
  • Sort Code : 30 94.66
  • Account number : 25131468

including your surname and initials in the reference box

That’s all folks – stay safe and stay healthy, see you on the 26th

Best Wishes

Chairman                  Email ([email protected])

 

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Previous editions  of our newsletter can be found in the Newsletter archive