FRINTON AND WALTON AND DISTRICT SATELLITE
As you all know the aim of Frinton and Walton and District is to build on current
Tendring District U3A provision, focussing on members in that area, who would like
to be more interactive but who, for some reason, cannot or may be unwilling to travel
to Clacton. Our members in this area have expressed a need for more groups in
their own locality so the committee and working party have been responding to this
request and are in the process of developing some more groups. These groups will
give priority to members from Frinton and Walton and District before being opened
up to all Tendring District U3A.

Isabel and Geoff Empsom are hoping to start a Family History Group in
Kirby le Soken, on the 3rd Friday monthly at 10am commencing in October, if
there is enough interest.

Daphne Gilby would like to start a Travel Group where members can learn
from each other about interesting places visited. This will probably be on the
1st Thursday of the month at 2.30.

Paul Tomenius-Fletcher wants to set up a group on Feudal England which
arrived at the same speed as the Norman cavalry. It came with regime
change and at the point of a lance, but come it did and it came to stay. The
vestiges of the system survive to this day in the form of a healthy market in
manorial lordships at an average price of £10000, property that still brings
ownership of land and spawns disputes. Spectacular claims, like ownership of
the entire foreshore and seabed of Pembrokeshire, have been based on
these ancient rights! And then, of course, there is that right to carry the
monarch’s clothes to the coronation!!
But what exactly was the English feudal system? It was the most complete in
all of Europe, a tightly structured hierarchy from the King to peasant and
superimposed on what was already the most centralised state in Europe. It
was a dreamlike fantasy for all the monarchs of Europe save one, William the
Bastard, for whom it was a reality.
The group will look at this structure. What happened to the Saxon thegns?
What happened to the Saxon slaves? What was a manor? What did lordship
mean? Why was the law so central to the operation of feudalism? Why was it
impossible for a lord to leave his land by will?
This was an intricate system, not just the simple pyramid of schoolbooks.
Above all, it was fundamental to all social relations. It determined inheritance,
marriage and working life. The idea of this programme is to trace some of the
threads running through this maze and look at the people who ran this
system. The group will run a flexible programme together, use the internet
resources a great deal, have short introductions by different, volunteer
members of the group and grope their way to a greater understanding.
Maximum number in the group: 6.

Paul Tomenius-Fletcher also wants to start a group on Modern Cosmology
without the Maths! This programme is for interested amateurs, not
experts. The facilitator is an interested amateur and not an expert!
The 21st century has already become the most exciting time in history for our
understanding of the universe. The discoveries come with bewildering
frequency. The list of earth based and space telescopes runs to dozens and
the planned missions to many more; Kepler, Planck, COBE, VLT, ELT .....
What do they all do? Is there a link in this surge of international, scientific
endeavour?
There is, of course; it is our old friend, Big Bang Theory, with all of its ad-ons,
Inflation, String Theory, Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Then there is the
opposition, seldom in the limelight, the historic fate of all oppositions! Not
some fringe lunatic, but the eminent colleague of Stephen Hawkin, Professor
Roger Penrose.
The idea of this programme is to trace the thread running through this maze,
look at the controversies, look at the technology. We will run a flexible
programme together, use the internet resources a great deal, have short
introductions by different, volunteer members of the group and grope our way
to a greater understanding of these endeavours.
Maximum number in the group: 6.
Other groups in progress include table tennis and coastal navigation. If
anyone is interested in any of these or indeed if you are interested in setting up a
group in Frinton and Walton and District, you can email me at:
lorry.greenall@talktalk.net. For those without access to email, my telephone
number can be found on the inside cover of the Tendring U3A Newsletter.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Lorry Greenall Groups Co-ordinator