Groups

Petanque to Social Events

Petanque

 

This group meets weekly during the season from April to November for players to enjoy and improve their game.

Petanque is a friendly game played by the French and discovered by the English. It is a simple game to learn but grows more interesting as skill is developed. Boules and instruction are, naturally, provided for beginners and new comers.

 

This activity is open to all U3A members and friends.  

 

We meet every Wednesday from 10.30am till 12.00 pm  on the level plateau outside the ‘Sporting View’ at the Sports Centre (April to end October)

 

Philosophy

 

This group aims to study and learn about the critical thinking which is central to philosophical enquiry.

 

At our monthly meetings we read set passages and articles and discuss them critically.  Follow up reading is sometimes necessary for clarification.  New subjects for study are chosen by consensus opinion. Our most recent topic studied was ‘What is art?’

 

We currently have space for new members.

 

Meetings are on the 3rd Thursday of the month 10.00am – 12 noon

 

Play Reading

 

This group meets once a month to share and enjoy play reading.  Acting experience is not necessary as this is a play reading group.

 

The play sets are borrowed from the Central Library and Hampshire County Library and, over the years, we have read a great variety of plays ranging from Restoration comedy to modern kitchen sink dramas, who-dun-its, and translations of French, German and Russian plays.  We read a different play each month and discuss aspects such as the plot, the author and the characters.

Although full at present, we are happy to accept interested participants on a waiting list.

 

 

This group meets on the 1st Thursday of the month from 1.00 to 4.00pm.

 

Poetry Reading 1

 

This group meets on a monthly basis and is attended by people who share a love of poetry. Individual members choose and research a poet, or subject of their choice, and during the session present their findings to the group. We then read poems aloud in rotation. This generates a great deal of discussion amongst the group.

 

Previous subjects studied include: Springtime, roads and railways, families and relations, John Masefield, Edward Thomas, Wendy Cope/Stevie Smith, U.A. Fanthorpe and John Betjeman.

 

The group meets on the 1st Friday of the month at 2.30pm

 

Poetry Reading 2

 

This is a small group of people who enjoy reading poetry and meet on a monthly basis.

 

Our tastes are wide ranging; we read both traditional and
familiar poets and modern and lesser known poets. Our readings are followed by brief discussion about the poems.

 

This group meets on the 1st Monday of the month at 2.30pm

 

Reading Classics in Translation

 

This group meets once a month to share a love of reading classics in translation.

 

During the sessions we read aloud from our chosen book in rotation with pauses for discussion and clarification. Books are chosen democratically. Currently, we are reading Tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Ted Hughes’ version – probably the best of both worlds. Previous readings have included:  The Odyssey, Paradise Lost and Regained and the Canterbury Tales. Canterbury Tales was followed up by an enjoyable visit to Romsey to see a modern nautical version of the play, the Canberra Tales.

 

New members are welcome to join us.

 

The group meets on the 2nd Monday of the month at 2.30pm

 

Reading 1

 

This group meets once a month with a view to gaining greater understanding of books we have read by means of discussion and review.

 

Books are chosen in rotation by group members from a pre-selected list.  The choice of books is varied ranging from classical to modern texts.  Although in the past we worked around themes, now our choice of books is largely determined by what is available from the public library!  Once a book has been selected, each member of the group chooses a particular character or topic from the book on which to make a presentation at the following meeting.  This is then followed up by discussion allowing everyone the opportunity to contribute and so to enlarge our understanding of the book as a whole.

 

The group is full at present but we would be pleased to set up a further group if new members contact us.

 

This group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 2.00pm

 

Reading 2

 

As a group, we meet once a month to discuss the book which we have read during the previous month.  The books each month are chosen by general agreement from a list of available sets which the library provides.  This invariably leads to a lively discussion, not just about the plot, style, characterisation etc but also on issues raised, which can include points of historical, political or social interest.  After the discussion, we award marks out of five and are often amazed by the wide range of opinions.

 

We are now in our tenth year and during that time our reading has included everything from the classics to modern novels.

 

We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 2.00pm.

 

Science

 

Our interests cover all matters scientific, and members are encouraged to choose a topic from time to time, to research and present to the other members. Recently, we have conducted group projects covering such subjects as ‘Plastic versus Paper Bags, which is the Greener’, (our findings may surprise you), ‘Finding New Ways to Reduce Energy Usage in the Home’, and ‘New Ideas in Water Conservation’. Each member researched a particular part of the project, and then presented their findings to the rest of the group. Not all of our members have scientific training or background, and so the technical level is never set too high. The group is at present full, but we have a waiting list

 

We meet from 10.00 to 12.00 on the third Tuesday of the month, except in July and August.

 

Scrabble 1

 

This scrabble group meets fortnightly at various people’s homes We aim to raise our personal targets through the combination of friendly support and competition.

 

We usually manage three games in an afternoon.  We prefer to play head to head although one or two ladies are prepared to play two games simultaneously.  We are coming to terms with the modern idea of English being an international language with new words of foreign extraction and variant spellings.

 

I think we all contribute in a small way to the social side and through the group new friendships have been formed

 

This group meets on alternate Mondays afternoons at 1.30pm

 

Scrabble 2

 

If you haven’t played Scrabble since childhood, or play just with the grandchildren, then this is the group for you! Don’t worry if you are a complete beginner, we welcome all. Ideally, we play in pairs. Members bring their own Scrabble board if they have one so that several games can be played at the same time. We use a Collins dictionary for reference at present, but do not use the Scrabble dictionary – although quite a few two letter words do creep into the games.

 

We meet on the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month at 1.30pm

 

Scrabble 3

 

This group was set up to cater for people who are new to scrabble or who have not played for a very long time and do not feel ready to join an established group.

 

We are a small, friendly group and would welcome new members.  We begin each session with a short business meeting to discuss anything that crops up regarding U3A meetings and arrange future meeting dates.  This is then followed by one or two games of scrabble.

 

Meets on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 1.45pm

 

Singing for Pleasure

 

The Group was formed as the result of many requests from members who enjoy singing and wanted the opportunity to do so, and yet did not feel they could meet the standards of a conventional choir.  There are no auditions, the only criteria for joining is to want to sing.  Our focus is to sing for personal pleasure

We meet twice a month under the leadership of a very experienced and gifted musician who chooses our repertoire, which is a mixture of traditional, folk, jazz and lyrics from the Shows. We are also accompanied by a very able pianist.  A small cost of £2 per session is payable by those who attend.

 

We meet twice a month at 2.00pm on the:

2nd Monday of the month at St James Methodist Church, Shirley

   4th Thursday of the month at Highfield Church Hall, Portswood

 

Social Events

 

All members welcome - see Newsletter for details.

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