What you missed in December

Those present at the December general meeting joined in as “The
St. John’s Singers” provided a traditional rendition of festive
traditional songs and carols, amusing stories and jokes. Excellent
entertainment with mince pies and goodies too.

What you missed January - Eleanor Wasley

The January speaker was Sue Moulds and her talk was “We can’t wait for
Bevan, we’ve found our Heaven”.
Sue gave a fascinating talk on a little-known bit of
local history, which is rapidly being forgotten.
Prompted by discussions with her father, Sue based
her dissertation for her degree at Lincoln University
on the Post War Squatters of 1946. The title ‘We
can’t wait for Bevan, we’ve found our Heaven’ was
written by squatters on the side of the NAAFI at
Bottesford Anti-Aircraft camp.
After the war, there was a housing crisis. Over half a
million houses had been destroyed and another
three million had been damaged so badly they were
unfit for living in. The Labour Party manifesto had a priority of ‘A Home for
Every Family’. However, after eighteen months in government there had been
little progress as the Government had not appreciated the sheer scale of the
problem. No-one had anticipated the 11% increase in marriages and 33%
more births compared with the pre-war years.
People were desperate. In Scunthorpe there were 2000 families waiting for
houses – and people took matters into their own hands and began squatting
in the disused buildings of anti-aircraft camps in the area. Squatter
settlements grew up at the camp at Sawcliffe Hill as well as at Ferry Road
and in Bottesford. With around 50,000 abandoned huts on disused military
camps around the country, other groups of squatters soon followed.
At first conditions were very basic with no water or electricity although these
were gradually reconnected as local authorities recognised the important role
the camps were providing to ease the housing shortage.
Sue played recordings she had made talking to women who had squatted in
the camps along with a “Movietone” film about the Scunthorpe Squatters. It
makes fascinating viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD34Ng6QAyU

What you missed in February - Judith Proctor

Kevin Lennox was the guest speaker at the u3a February meeting, entertaining an
audience of 87 members and 7 visitors, with his talk on his travels through Western
Canada. Commencing at Saskatchewan progressing through Alberta, and British
Columbia and 4 National Parks. He gave us a flavour of each region describing and
illustrating the landscape, the history and characters with a few “quirky” aspects thrown in.
Kevin informed us that Canada is the second largest country in the world at 3 million
square miles and 42 million population. Saskatchewan (meaning swift flowing river) is 3
times the size of Great Britain and has miles of grassland and few trees, supporting cattle
raising and can have temperatures of -40 degrees Centigrade in the winter. The North
West territories are the “bread basket” of Canada where wheat, barley and grain are grown
in the Prairie Fields with beautiful colourful skies. The cities of the North West are
relatively young such as Regina which was built from 1907 onwards and where the Royal
Mounted Police are based. There is a statue of a Faberge egg celebrating the Ukrainian
influx. From Regina Kevin headed north to Calgary and into the National Park in the
Rockies, Banff and Jasper. From there he travelled to Alberta and the Waterton Lakes
national park on the American border, which has a population of 4.5 million. Here the
Bison are a protected animal. This park became a World Heritage Centre in 1995 and
covers over 195 square miles. Hell-Roaring Falls, Crypt Lake and Red Rock Canyon can
be found here with iron deposits and Cinnamon Bears, supervised in 1860s by an Irishman
called John Brown who had originally gone to Canada prospecting for gold.
He then travelled to Calgary, (clear running water), gateway to the Rockies, and Bar U
Ranch a 50-thousand-acre ranch commemorating the history of ranching from where the
annual Calgary Stampede is launched. Calgary has 1.5 million population and is the 3rd
largest city in Canada and has a spectacular night skyline. Ice Hockey was invented in
Canada, and the Winter Olympics was held at Calgary in 1988.
Moving into the Banff National Park where Wild Bill Peyto was the pioneer, hunter, guide
and warden is the oldest Park with stunning scenery such as Lake Louise, Bow Lake and
the Three Sisters. Then into Jasper National Park at over 4 thousand square miles,
established in 1907 with the help of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Here there are the
Columbia Icefields with 300 inches of snowfall per annum. Mount Robson at 13 thousand
feet is the highest peak in the Rockies. The Canadian Pacific Railway unified Canada and
was used as a political tool to settle population along its route, such as Kootenay where a
fruit growing region has been established. There is a diverse wildlife in the Rockies where
you can see Bull Elk, Big Horn Sheep, Black Bear and Big Moose. Fort McCloud was
established as a base for the Mounted Police to protect tribes from Whisky traders from
the USA. Kevin passed through British Columbia with its 60 varieties of grapes for wine
producing and its own “Nessie” known as Ogo Pogo in Lake Okanagan. He finished his
tour in Vancouver a city which grew from the Gold Rush of 1860s, originally established by
Captain G. Vancouver in 1792. The city has superb views of the mountains, Stanley Park,
the second largest Chinatown in North America and a clock powered by underground
steam.
Kevin’s talk was packed with interesting information and left the audience with a snapshot
of Western Canada and a desire for more information about the area.

What you missed in March -Judith Proctor

A programme of medieval music and songs from Spain played and sung by de Mowbray’s Musicke was enjoyed by a large audience including 10 new members to the Scunthorpe u3a. This was Peter Barnard and Kate Billmore’s second visit to the group and they entertained in full medieval costumes. The performance started with a loud “Trumpet Fanfare” down the hall with a bagpipe (without a drone) and drum commonly known as a nakers which caused much amusement.
Peter and Kate guided us through a programme of 15 songs and music which they sang in Latin, a Portuguese dialect and Spanish, such as the Pilgrim Song (Dum Pater Familias). Towards the end of the programme the music and songs became lighter with a drinking song (Oy Comamos y Bebamas) meaning let’s eat and drink for tomorrow we shall fast; and a Christmas Song “Cuncti Simus Concanentes” with the audience joining in the Ave Marias. The songs and music were from 12th, 13th,14th and 15th centuries. Some of the songs had stories attached such as a song honouring St James the patron saint of pilgrims and soldiers among other things. Some of the songs were informative such as telling the pilgrims what they will need on pilgrimage. Others were religious in nature or loud and used on the battlefields to frighten the enemy (at that time the Saracens). In 1280 Alfonso, King of Spain commissioned songs about the Virgin Mary. Peter gave a brief history of Spain where at this point in time Christians/Jews and Arabs were living in harmony.
Many of the instruments they played have Middle Eastern origins. The bagpipe having come to England in 1288 in the reign of Edward 1. There is information on de Mowbray’s Musicke website about the instruments used and members were able to have a closer look after the performance. Kate played a Portative Organ and English bagpipes and Peter a reeded and mellow sounding instrument (a Shawm) among others.
This was an enjoyable and informative afternoon of music, songs and history. Anyone wishing to find out more about the duo can look at their website www.demowbray.info or see them perform again at Kirton Lindsey Church on 23rd May 2026 or at Worcester Cathedral on 26th September 2026. Look on line for details.

What you missed in April -Judith Proctor

The audience at the April u3a meeting was transported on a journey around England and briefly to New York when Peter Mathers was the guest speaker, entertaining us with a talk on “Municipal Marvels” – the rise and fall of public parks. He spoke about the history and development of the public park starting with his own experience in Bradford where his parents ran a corner shop which had only a back yard so a trip to the local park was a means of seeing some greenery and in the autumn, he enjoyed jumping into large piles of crunchy autumn leaves there.
All towns have large parks which are free to enter and provide amenities and health benefits to residents often to people who do not have access to a garden. The first public park in the world was opened in 1847, in Victorian times, in Birkenhead after a large explosion of population in the Industrial Revolution. This was considered Victorian one up man ship by the Local Authority and so was followed closely by a new public park in Liverpool. Sefton Park was designed by the gardener at Chatsworth House, Joseph Paxton, who also rescued the Great Exhibition. He was paid £800 (equivalent of £65,000 today) to design Sefton Park and this became the template for many future designs and parks. Frederick Law Olmstead visited for ideas, and he went on to design Central Park in New York.
The public park in York is a microcosm of the history of Roman and Ecclesiastical York, being run initially by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society until 1961 when it became the property of the citizens of York. Known as the Museum Gardens they were laid out in the mid-19th Century with year-round interest and a philosophical and scientific bias, with an accurate time clock.
Peter related information about more local parks such as Pocklington’s Burnby Hall Gardens and the water lilies collected by Major Percy Stewart and planted on 2 artificial lakes. Hull has 2 public parks - Pearson Park with its connection to Philip Larkin the poet who had a flat overlooking the park. This park opened in August 1860 and had 30,000 visitors on the first day. Money to build this park was donated by an entrepreneur, Zachariah Charles Pearson an importer of cotton, who was a Councillor and Lord Mayor. The second park was Queens Gardens built in 1930 which houses a statue of Sir William Wilberforce.
In 1934 Sewerby Hall was sold to the corporation and the gardens re-opened by Amy Johnson in 1936 with many specimen trees, a walled garden and typical local authority planting in blocks. Holland Park in London, privately owned initially but in the 1950s was sold to London County Council and has an impressive display of dahlias imported from Spain and a Japanese Garden looking more naturalistic. Spa towns are linked to beautiful public gardens as are the gardens in Harrogate. Something different was the 1993 linear park in Paris echoed by the second one built on an old railway line in New York. The third linear park was built in Manchester, the Castlefield Viaduct owned by the National Trust, where a wildlife garden is being developed and measures 330 metres long costing £2.4m.
This talk evolved into a really interesting afternoon’s entertainment with lots of ideas for people to visit during the warm summer months.