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The August Social quiz was postponed because of extreme heat. It will now be on September 10th, 2pm. Same place, same quiz-master, same questions, same prizes, same fun for all. See you there.

Please book or re-book your place/places as soon as possible. Online joining will be available here.

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Welcome to all those who have recently joined Stroud and District u3a. Wherever you're from, you're very welcome and we look forward to meeting you very soon. If you need any assistance, please contact Dilys Warren, our new member liaison.

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August 25th: 10.30 Coffee morning at the Old Nelson, Stratford Road

September 3rd, 2.30: Women in the Arts & Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds: Monthly meeting at Lansdown Hall.

September 10th: 2.30, Social Quiz; Congregational Church Hall, Bedford St, Stroud

September 15th: deadline for submission of articles to this newsletter

September 20th: publication of the September newsletter

October 1st: Lansdown Hall, 2.30: Monthly meeting: Liz Davenport, Woodchester Mansion - opening the treasure box.

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If you haven't renewed your membership in recent weeks, it's due by the end of August - eg NOW! You should have had a message from the Treasurer Sylvia Pearse which explains the situation and tells you how much to pay and how to pay it. To ensure you don't lapse, please find this email (or letter if you don't use email), and if you can't find it then contact Sylvia who will explain how to pay your annual fees (still just £12!).

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A not-to-be-missed date for your diary! In addition to the official business there will be drinks (including mulled wine), and a living history presentation of life in the English Civil War (hopefully not a metaphor for how the AGM itself goes!)

AGM papers will to be circulated shortly.

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If you haven't renewed your membership in recent weeks, it's due by the end of August - eg NOW! You should have had a message from the Treasurer Sylvia Pearse which explains the situation and tells you how much to pay and how to pay it. To ensure you don't lapse, please find this email (or letter if you don't use email), and if you can't find it then contact Sylvia who will explain how to pay your annual fees (still just £12!).

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Anyone interested in this? I would be happy to explore setting up a group in Stonehouse Any level, including beginners, welcome.

It would need to be in our lovely old local, the Woolpack, as they have the tables, a quiet room, with hot and cold drinks on tap. Contact Liz Green

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The Charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo,

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The Military History Group held its first meeting on 12th August. It was spent getting to know the expectations of the members and their main interests. Further meetings will be held at 2-00 on the second Wednesday of each month. The format is, at the moment, changeable. If you are interested in joining, please contact me. Knowledge of military history is not essential as long as you are interested in the subject. Clive Blackmore

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Dilys Warren is Stroud u3a's new member co-ordinator, and also organises events such as our stalls at the Stroud Fair and the recent Big Picnic in the Park. She is also a trustee of the organisation.

I. How long have you lived in Stroud?

35 years

2. What was your most enjoyable job before retirement?

A very interesting 13 years at Stroud Council and working on promoting Health and Wellbeing projects in the district.

3. What is your dream holiday activity?

Coastal walking in Devon or Cornwall

4. What is your favourite piece of music?

Lots of pieces but particularly love Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition

5. Do you play or enjoy any sports? Which?

Played badminton for about 25 years but now I like watching cricket and tennis on TV and have managed a Fantasy Football team for about 15 years. Great fun.

6. When were/are the best days of your life?

Now is the best time, when meeting up with our family, grandchildren and friends.

6. What is the next exciting thing you are planning?

A BIG birthday in 2027

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The Old Nelson, which has been the home of many u3a groups for the last few years, has been planning to close its doors in early September. [STOP PRESS It has just been announced that it's been bought by a company that plans to keep it open as a restaurant. It will be closed for refurbishment from 7th-23rd September. However, we don't yet know if, after that, it will still be available for groups like us to use without buying a full meal. Fingers firmly crossed.] So some groups are still scrambling for an alternative venue - ideally, in most cases, in the centre of Stroud or else with good communications and parking; not too expensive; not too noisy; but a welcoming environment.

Here are a few suggestions that may not have occurred to you, but which seem to meet most of these criteria:

Stroud Hotel, by the station, is already used by some groups.

Emergence, in Kendrick St behind the Stroud Subs Rooms, is a new community venue. They have a room upstairs which could be made available for free.

Stroud Sub Rooms include several that might work for our groups; for example the Studio Rooms upstairs take 12 people and cost £16 an hour, including wifi.

The National Trust's Woodchester Park cafe, on Tinkley Lane, Nailsworth, is a bit further afield but spacious but fairly quiet, and does excellent scones (of course). You do have to pay for parking (unless you have an NT card).

The Blue Diamond Garden Centre, Nailsworth. Lots of space, not usually too busy, and nice cakes!

If you have other suggestions, please put them in the comments below.

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September 3rd: Kirsty Hartsiotis on Women in the Arts & Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds

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September 3rd: Kirsty Hartsiotis on Women in the Arts & Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds

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Kirsty Hartsiotis is a Stroud-based author, storyteller, and former curator of the Arts and Crafts collection at Cheltenham's Wilson Art Gallery and Museum. She is a regular lecturer on the often-overlook female designers and makers of the Cotswolds Arts and Crafts movement who worked alongside their better-known male counterparts. Amongst them was May Morris, an embroidery and jewellery designer and maker.  Born in 1862, she was the younger daughter of William Morris, and her accomplishments have tended to be obscured by her father's fame, and her devotion to him and his memory.

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October 1st: Liz Davenport on Woodchester Mansion - Opening the Treasure Chest

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October 1st: Liz Davenport on Woodchester Mansion - Opening the Treasure Chest

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A peek at a Victorian family and their mansion through surviving letters.

The unfinished Woodchester Mansion, near Stroud, was built for the weathly Roman Catholic convert William Leigh. As a Neo-Gothic mansion, it was an on-trend example of mid-19th-century architectural design that drew on the talents of Augustus Pugin, Charles Hansom and Benjamin Bucknall.

In 2005 a collection of Leigh family memorabilia was discovered in the attic of a house in Brighton. Comprising letters, photographs, accounts and some books, it casts light on this interesting Victorian family. Volunteer mansion archivist Liz Davenport will be delving into this collection and exploring the extended Leigh family, their problems and their accomplishments, and travel across the globe.

By opening up this treasure chest, Liz will be able to answer many unanswered questions surrounding this unique family and ambitious building project.

Liz Davenport has been a volunteer at Woodchester Mansion for more than 20 years and is also a trustee. She has written a comprehensive guide to the history of the Mansion.

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For July we had a real treat: two sculptors in one presentation.

Lisette’s first sculptor was Dylan Lewis, a well-known South African sculptor who is on a quest to explore ‘the untamed wilderness within us’ in order to live a more authentic life. These feelings are very much expressed in his art. He wants us to reconnect with ancient elemental forces of nature as this is where healing takes place, in order to be real.

Lisette led us to appreciate Dylan’s work as an emotional journey. He isn’t interested in making pretty, sterile statues, instead his work captures raw ancient energy. His style is deeply expressionistic and he is best known for his powerful bronze sculptures of big cats,as well as human figures and hybrid forms. These are shown off to perfection in his Stellenbosch Sculpture Garden near Cape Town.

Her second sculptor, Sir Antony Gormley, is one of Briton’s most celebrated contemporary sculptors, best known for large-scale public sculptures exploring the relationship between the human body and space. She chose four pieces of work in particular to illuminate his work and share with us:-

1. The Sleeping Place (his first creation)

2. Sound II (meditative figure in Winchester’s Cathedral)

3. The Angel of the North

4. Exposure (one of his recent works)

He won the Turner Prize in 1994 and has been a Royal Academician since 2003. He was knighted in 2013 and appointed Companion of Honour in 2025.

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Beacon is the system we (like hundreds of other u3as across the country) use to manage the Stroud u3a membership and groups database, and to record payments.

It now has a new online payment mechanism, and Stroud u3a will be one of the first u3as to test and deploy this. This new system should make payment online of your membership fees etc. far more straightforward.

The improved system should be live from 20th August and we will email all members once it is.

When you go to make a payment, you will be given an upfront choice of using your Debit/Credit card OR Paypal. At the moment you have to use Paypal and then (not easily) go through their process to use your own card without setting up a Paypal account. For those who wish to use Paypal, that option will remain.

We very much welcome this change in Stroud u3a, and hope that more and more of you will become comfortable with using this online payment method. But don't worry, all our other current methods of payment (such as bank transfer or cheque) will be unaffected and you can continue to use them if you prefer.