Welcome to the September Newsletter. Where has the year gone, it must be something to do with getting older ( it’s only a number ). I am pleased to say for all the grandparents, the weather has been fabulous, so entertaining the grandchildren has been out in the sun , much better for everyone, why would you go abroad.
The Social Committee organised a theatre trip to the Harold Pinter Theatre - A Man for all Seasons starring Martin Shaw who played Thomas More and Gary Wilmot who played a series of different parts which glued everything together and added the comedy element. I saw this play many years ago with Paul Scofield and Robert Shaw. The production held my attention and time has not eroded the skilful dialogues and wonderful timing. I could not believe that Martin Shaw was 80 years of age. He is truly a treasure in the line up of great actors. Gary Wilmot was also a wonderful addition to the cast.
Recently we had a volunteer for the position of General Committee Member. The lady in question is Barbara Moore, she originally served on the Leatherhead u3a Committee and has been with Epsom and Ewell for three years. She is willing to help out wherever she can and lucky for us at Leatherhead organised tours, excursions and various theatre trips so she will be a great help on the Social Committee.
We also have two candidates for election for the position of Treasurer and Business Secretary. These candidates have been proposed by the membership and their names have been added to the AGM voting form. Voting will be open on the website from 1st September until September 22nd. The AGM is being held on 6th October 2025. Please support the candidates.
I was so pleased with the RUGS at the last monthly meeting, they did an excellent job of making sure everyone received their tea and coffee. The rota and the WhatsApp group are working well. Thank you to all the refreshment team good job, and as always to Cynthia and Elaine our meet and greet team and Christine who assisted Pam with signing in.
I shall see you at the next monthly meeting on 1st September, I propose to start a little earlier at 10.25 this will enable extra time for questions. British Women in Aviation – The Pioneers. The speaker is Guy Bartlett.
Take care of yourselves,
Kindest regards,
Sybi Trowsdale – Chair Epsom and Ewell u3a
AGM Monday October 6th - Bourne Hall, Ewell.
The AGM pack is now on the website and the voting form is open with effect from September 1st until September 22nd. Please support the members who are standing for election to our committee.
The group took the opportunity to see the first major buildings that were the initial development of Canary Wharf, from no 1 Canada Square to the Cascades and contrasting that with the two major transport developments that made Canary Wharf a success - the Jubilee Line & the DLR. We looked at the area as a community, visiting the gardens and linking areas to assess how this Isle of Dogs wasteland has become a thriving community. Next month our group will be taking to the river to view the architecture alongside the Thames from one of the Thames clipper services from Putney to Greenwich.
It's always good to explore a place you think you know.
Exploring London 13 visited Carshalton for their August Walk.
We started in Grove Park to view the River Wandle, the weir, and the mill as well as The Grove and its outbuildings. We then followed the now-dry canal up via the grotto to the site of the recently (accidentally) discovered WW2 air raid shelter in Carshalton Park and the enormous Amphitheatre like Hog Pit which is of medieval origins, but its purpose is unknown.
Opposite the beautiful Carshalton ponds stands the partly Saxon Old Saints Church, where we were lucky enough to be treated to a fascinating guided tour of the church by a local historian. Onwards we went to view the tallest plane tree in the country and the Carshalton Water Tower. The group finished up at the Hope for a tasty lunch.
Jazz Group - Please note change of date for September meeting.
New date September 23rd 2025
Our featured musicians for this month are Nick White/Trevor Whiting
On the 20th August 2025, Songbirds (previously known as Singing for Pleasure 2) had been singing their hearts out for the last 10 years! After all that singing and performing, we felt a celebration was in order. To this end, the Songbirds session on the 20th August was made more jolly by us singing all of our oldest songs from the start of Songbirds all those years ago and having some empty calorie treats at the interval. Then at 4pm 20 of us went across the road from Birchgrove to the Eight Bells pub for a wonderful buffet do, topped off by a lovely cake from All Things Nice. There was a 60s & 70s music quiz, sooo much lovely food and the bar was open!
A great time was had by all. Here's to the next 10 years. And next month Songbirds have their 4th Performance this year, so no resting on our laurels.
Mindfulness
The next Mindfulness and Meditation Course will commence on Thursday 11th September 2pm - 3.30pm and will be for 4 weeks. It is held in Surbiton KT5 and there are 6 spaces per course. We explore Buddhist, Hindu, Japanese and MBSR (psychological mindfulness stress reduction) forms of mindfulness. We practice breathing and body scanning mindfulness and experience several different types of meditation.
Garden Visiting Group
This month our group took two trips to see gardens at their best. Our first visit was relatively close by in Guildford to Guildford Castle gardens.
The castle gardens are famous for their vibrant floral displays, centred on the 11th Century Castle Keep. It's a riot of colour themed bedding plants laid out to a very high standard and complex patterns, this year the colour was themed around orange flowered plants.
It's a relatively short trip so a few of us took a guided tour of the 17th century Abbots Hospital in advance of the visit.
Exploring London 8
For August Maureen led our walk around Holborn and Hatton Garden. We visited St Etheldreda's Chapel. The crypt is used for events and was laid up for a dinner.
We found this plaque in the church to commemorate the victims of the 1623 disaster.
Below are pictures of Ye Olde Mitre which is a tiny pub reached by walking up a very narrow alleyway. There's a cherry tree trunk in the main bar which according to legend Queen Elizabeth I danced around.
The last picture is the site of the infamous 2015 Hatton Garden safety deposit robbery, strangely enough carried out by a gang of pensioners.
Maybe if they'd joined the u3a they would have found other interests, either that or led some others astray!!
Climate Conversations
At the moment we have expanded to two groups at Birchgrove on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. Some people choose to come bi-weekly to both groups and some just once a month. As the topics are "stand alone" that works perfectly well and even new people seem to find that they are able to contribute and learn and be motivated by the session.
These groups are run in conjunction with our Epsom and Ewell Climate Action Network which have a number of other projects designed to make our local communities more resilient to climate change (and save them money). eeCAN will be attending the Epsom Eco fair 1030-230 on Saturday 20/9 at St Martins the Tours church organised by Eco Churches. Best wishes William
As a point of interest, I ran a similar virtual group during 2021/22 and had u3a members from across the UK.
Progressive Rock Music Group - Minehead & Dist. u3a
Open to any u3a members who have an interest in progressive rock music. Popular groups that would fall into this genre would be Genesis, Yes, Deep Purple (from the 70’s) and more recently Slow drive, Porcupine Tree, Airbag…. the list goes on! The meetings will be a regular virtual meeting on Zoom every 3rd Wednesday of the month starting 17th September from 3-5pm. All you need to do to register your interest is send me your name, u3a, and email address and I’ll send you the link to the meeting the day before. Initially I’ll be playing music from my extensive library and discussing various topics in anticipation that the months agenda will develop going forward.
We have received the following request from the local Schoolreaders charity.
I am contacting you from a national literacy charity called Schoolreaders. We find and match volunteers with local primary schools to support children in improving their reading and comprehension skills, as well as developing their confidence and social skills.
Schoolreaders has made strong connections with U3A groups in other regions so I am contacting you to see if you would be able to share some information about our organisation with your members who might be interested in our volunteering opportunities.
To make a difference to a child’s life chances by helping them make progress with their reading is such a rewarding experience for volunteers. Research shows that fewer and fewer children are reading for pleasure and 1 in 4 leave primary school below expected levels. This affects their ability to access secondary school education and has a life-long impact too. This is something that Schoolreaders, with the help of their volunteers, are seeking to change.
We have schools in Epsom who have registered with us and are waiting to be matched with volunteers.
Our volunteers must be able to commit to at least an hour each week for a full year during term time (although holidays can of course be taken) and will undergo an Enhanced DBS check, which is organised and paid for by the school. Volunteers must have a good standard of written and spoken English, but we do not require any specific qualifications and we do not have any age restrictions on our volunteers as long as they are over 18. Please visit https://www.schoolreaders.org/for more information about Schoolreaders and the work we do.
Volunteers can apply directly via the above website or can contact us at admin@schoolreaders.org if they have any questions.
If I can help in any way, please do get in touch. Best wishes Charlotte Foot
