Dukeries U3A – November 2026

November – ‘The month of the drowned dog’, as Ted Hughes once memorably described it, and it is (I think most would agree) a time of the year with little to recommend it.  Short, generally dull days, the curse of Guy Fawkes – for all those with babies and animals at home – muddy foot (and paw) prints on the carpet, and that perennial, seemingly never-ending quandary- ‘What on earth are we doing for Christmas this year?’

As I write, though, the day is light, bright and cheerful, and there is something of an unseasonal air of optimism out and about defying the merchants of doom and gloom.  Members of the Dukeries U3A, for example, continue to enjoy their Games of Bridge, Rummikubs, Mahjong and Scrabble.  The Sunday and Tuesday Lunch Club members relish the companionship and the good food (and drink!) at their Monthly get-togethers in local hostelries, the All Sorts & Gardening Group have been very busy making cards and constructing red and purple artefacts for Remembrance Day, and a number of our members thoroughly enjoyed a French Night at the Crew Yard in Budby.

The Ramblers – who are only very rarely deterred by the weather, I have to say – walked the Teversall Trail up as far as the Miner’s Statue then returned via the old railway track to the café where the sausage sandwiches proved irresistible.  Their second walk explored the Linby Trail via the waterfall and the grounds of Newstead Abbey.  The Jubilee Ukelele Group, under the indefatigable leadership of Linda Bond, were invited to play for the Blidworth Hub, a local community group, It was a really worthwhile afternoon by all accounts, JUGS were booked again for March next year, and the donation of £75 was forwarded to our adopted charity, the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.

The U3A movement is a good way to make new friends and socialise or learn something new. There are a lot of good things happening at Dukeries U3A which is open to all adults irrespective of employment status. Membership now costs just £12 pp and includes access to all activities and interest groups for the rest of the year to March 2027, including those of the North Notts Neighbourhood Group. To find out more please come along to up to two of their meetings on the 3rd Monday of each month at Ollerton’s Jubilee Hall, 12.30 to 3.00pm, for £1 to cover refreshments.

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Mike Mounsey