IGO September 25 News Extra
September is the time for harvesting fruit and especially apples and there are a couple of apple pie recipes for you to have a look at in this issue of the News Extra. News Extra goes out once a month by email to all members of Interest Groups Online. If you wish to contribute just email the editor at
Potential Group Start-up Meetings
If you are a member of these potential groups please attend the relevant start up meetings
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FRENCH beginners 5pm 26th September
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GERMAN beginners 5pm 18th September
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SPANISH beginners 5 pm 25th September
Members of these groups have been sent an email invitation to the meetings. If you are not already a member, and you want to attend one (or more) of these meetings, you should join the potential group(s) via the Beacon Members' Portal.
New Group - Exploring Prog Rock
In Exploring Prog Rock, our group leader Paul Vickery, will join you every third Wednesday of the month at 3pm (not 10am!).
- We travel in the genre from 1969 to the present day.
- listen to tracks and watch videos.
- celebrate our favourites such as Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Moody Blues and the like.
Join via Beacon
Gorupdebesanez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
New Group - Tai Qi Gong
This new group will start on 15th October and will run weekly on Wednesdays. Sessions will provide a fitness regime to enhance your physical and mental health contributing to your wellbeing. Contact the group and its leader, Gordon Ross, via the Beacon Members Portal.
Join via Beacon
New Group - Italian
Group Leader Giovanna Carraro will work with you to practice your language skill every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Join the group and speak to Giovanna via the Beacon Members Portal.
Join via Beacon
New Group - Maps
This monthly meeting will take place at 11am on the 4th Thursday of the month. the group leader is Peter Revill and you can contact him and join the group to find out more.
Join via Beacon
IGO Recorders go Face to Face in Lichfield
Some of the people in the IGO intermediate recorders group have occasionally met in Lichfield to play the recorder in an in-person group. Recently, a few of us met again in Lichfield but, this time, we joined a playing day arranged by the Nuneaton Branch of the Society of Recorder Players (SRP). This meant that we played in a much larger group with a rather superior conductor, Helen Hooker. We may have found it challenging at times and perhaps tiring, but we were glad we went. Helen started and finished with two gentle pieces, Thomas Tallis’ O Nata lux de lumine and JS Bach’s Jesu meine Freude. In between, we played music covering several centuries and a wide range of styles. We played a contemporary piece by Steve Marshall. Helen had taken some photos, Steve had made paintings based on them, then written poems based on the paintings and music based on the poems. We also played Steve’s arrangement of Gustav Holst’s Brook Green Suite. Holst wrote this suite for a school junior orchestra and Helen commented that they must have been good. We did our best! We played a Fantasia by an Englishman, John Cooper, who decided to be fashionable and call himself Giovanni Coperario. We played a symphony by William Boyce. It was interesting to play and, fortunately, much shorter than later symphonies.
The IGO players either live in Lichfield or stayed the night before in a hotel in the city. That, of course, was a good excuse to meet for a meal in a local Italian restaurant. You can’t do that on-line!
All in all, an enjoyable experience.
Peter Stephenson, IGO group leader
Armchair Explorers
I have taken over the Armchair Travellers online group on a temporary basis because Chris Winner has had to take a break for health reasons.
We presently have thirty six members and have plenty of space for extra members.
Valerie Fillingham gave a first talk about a 93 day Indian Ocean cruise on Wednesday 20th August. She will continue her account of this cruise on Wednesday 15th October.
Our September session is scheduled for between 3:00 and 4:00 pm on Wednesday 17th September Keith Sinclair will give a further account of his travels in the United Arab Emirates, following on from his talk on 16th July
Other travels discussed in previous weeks have included:
● Kerala - David Tompkins – 18th June
● South Africa Garden Route – Mark Stein – 21st May
I would be delighted if anybody were to come forward with a topic for the 19th November session.
If no other speaker is available, I will talk about some Greek island experiences – particularly the shortcomings of Santorini and the attractions of Naxos, Corfu Town and Paxos.
If anybody would like to reserve a place in our programme this year or next to talk about a city, country or region which they have visited, please contact
Photos: Kerala, David Tompkins
Do you enjoy writing?
Could you write a piece for Wikipedia about your IGO group? – or indeed about any other subject for which you have an abiding interest – why not join our group in IGO dedicated to the art of editing Wikipedia pages. Here’s what Wiki says about IGO already in the section on UK u3a.
Interest Groups Online (abbreviated as IGO) is an online u3a community that gives people the opportunity to join groups, talks and courses from the comfort of home. In the same way as a u3a, the activities are run by members and are a great way to meet people from all across the u3a movement
If this strikes a chord with you, why not contact
- 1st September is World Letter writing day, but for many, letters have been replaced with emails – In the US 10 billion are sent each day – how many in the UK?
- 2nd September in 1666 the Great Fire of London raged for the following 5 days – but how many fatalities were there? 9, 90 or 900?
- 4th September 1962 was the first time the Beatles recorded at which studio in London?
- 5th September was Freddie Mercury's birthday – how old was he when he died in 1991?
- 13th September this year is the last night of the Proms – where is it to be held?
- 13th and 14th September this year, on the beach in Gosport, there's a Heritage Open Day event featuring the archeology of what?
- 15th September 1890 was the birthday of which famous crime writer, born in Torquay?
- 30th September 1938 – who famously said I believe it's peace for our time?
