“One of the BBC’s ex-roving reporters paid a visit to the Barrington Centre on the 4^th of March and entertained 102 members of the FU3A at

one of our First Friday Coffee Mornings.

Alan Jones has spent many years reporting on news items on the South coast for BBC Radio.  He said these run into the thousands but he only ever talks

about the ones that nearly went wrong – because they are the funny ones.  Then just to prove it he nearly forgot to turn on his microphone he’d just

been given to present his talk.

Stories of his visits to warships out at sea, a visit to a snake venom specialist and an opportunity to meet the Queen kept his audience laughing with

one of the funniest and most interesting talks we have been privileged to receive for a while”. 

Keith Banks – Committee

Did you guess  the murderer? 

What a wonderful afternoon.  14 talented individuals and groups entertained us with song, recitations and sketches.

The judges critiqued the acts but the final results were with the audience vote.

Tea and cake rounded off a lovely afternoon.

Well done to everyone who took part.

“Another Z5 Short Saturday Walk was held on February 5th at Upton Country Park, Poole.

The day was bright with some sunshine and a light chilly breeze when 14 FU3A members (and 2 dogs) met in the car park at Upton.

Clare Clayton led the group around some interesting wooded trails which often gave way to glorious views over the Holes Bay Lagoon, giving plenty of opportunities for some bird and duck spotting amongst the reed beds.

A nice hot mug of coffee was enjoyed by most afterwards in the on-site tea-rooms and café.

This walk took about one and a quarter hours, was enjoyed by all and ended with a vote of thanks to Clare and Bob for the organisation”.

On Friday 28th January – 33 intrepid explorers from the Discovering Wessex Group went on guided tours of Romsey Abbey and the King John’s House Museum, Romsey.

Despite being the end of January, the weather was bright, dry and mild. This was a car sharing visit and all members stopped off for a coffee in Romsey town, before splitting into two group. One group went to the Abbey first led by Keith. The other group went straight to the museum led by Richard. After a pleasant lunch break the trip continued with the two groups swopping over.  Both locations supplied us with excellent tour guides who showed both groups around the premises and were very knowledgeable, pointing out multiple items of interest.

The visit was voted a success and was much appreciated by all the group members, with many thanks to Richard Tucker for an excellent job of leading the Romsey topic – talk and walk.

Keith Banks – Leader – J1 Discovering Wessex Group.

On Friday 28^th January – 33 intrepid explorers from the Discovering Wessex Group went on guided tours of Romsey Abbey and the King John’s House Museum, Romsey.

Despite being the end of January, the weather was bright, dry and mild. This was a car sharing visit and all members stopped off for a coffee in Romsey town, before splitting into two group. One group went to the Abbey first led by Keith. The other group went straight to the museum led by Richard. After a pleasant lunch break the trip continued with the two groups swopping over.  Both locations supplied us with excellent tour guides who showed both groups around the premises and were very knowledgeable, pointing out multiple items of interest.

The visit was voted a success and was much appreciated by all the group members, with many thanks to Richard Tucker for an excellent job of leading the Romsey topic – talk and walk.

Keith Banks – Leader – J1 Discovering Wessex Group.

This is the first stage in the development of a Woodland Copse, to commemorate the Queen’s 70 Jubilee in 2022 and enhance the general environment around West Moors.

Armed with their own spades and boundless enthusiasm, 25 volunteers met our Councillors and Dorset Council (DC) Open Spaces team members – Daryl Pearce and Sam Traynor, just before 10am, in the not so pleasant weather!

Those present included local residents of all ages, 7 members of the Ferndown U3A (led by Bob Reeves) West Moors Town Council’s Chairman Keith Wilkes and Cllrs Mrs Carol Holmes (Chair of the Climate Emergency Working Party), Mrs Penny Yeo, Alex Clarke, Steve Linford and Mike Hawkes.

Despite the persistent rain, spirits were high and sapling planting was in full swing very quickly. Supervised by DC and the Grandson of one of the Ferndown U3A members, trees planted included hawthorn, dogwood, silver birch, rowan and hazel.

The final tree to be planted was a Flowering Cherry tree, a ‘Prunus Snow Goose’. This will mark the Queen’s 70-year reign, a milestone she will have reached on 6 February 2022, becoming the first British Monarch to do so.

The support from both the local community and Dorset Council has been overwhelming. Tree planting is so important because it helps to fight the effects of climate change, helps us to replace trees lost to ash die back and planting a mixture of species throughout the woodland helps to increase diversity.