Category: Groups
Parent Category for Groups
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April 2026 - Report by Jane Kenwright
Our April meeting featured two tables playing Cascadia and those at the third table played Qwirkle. All tables completed two games. The abstract game of Qwirkle consists of placing wooden blocks, adding on to those already played, similar to Scrabble. The blocks feature six different shapes in six different colours. The blocks must all be played in a line and… Read more
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April 2026 - Stranger Danger
We moved to the conservatory for our gathering this month. It’s lovely having the sun shining down on us as we concentrate. We were an uneven number so I was happy to sit and watch others battling it out. Then a stranger approached and asked if I wanted a game. He had been in the… Read more
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April 2026 - Snowball Earth - Dr Les Knight
Dr. Les Knight, a geologist whose career has spanned work in the coal industry, exploration for gas in coal measures and mudstones, and research with Nirex on long-term nuclear waste disposal, delivered a talk on the concept of "Snowball Earth" and the deep history of climate change. He opened by situating his subject within geological… Read more
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April 2026 - Poetry by American Writers
Six of us met to look at poetry by American writers. We started with a poem by Langston Hughes called 'Daybreak in Alabama'. This was published in 1940 and envisages the poet composing music which will bring together people of all races in harmony:'In that dawn of music when IGet to be a colored composerAnd… Read more
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April 2026 - The Use of Property Deeds in Family History Research
Eight members of the group listened to a talk by guest speaker Catherine Ryan on “The Use of Property Deeds in Family History Research”. Catherine has been conducting research for her PhD on 18th century property deeds relating to Richmond and a number of Teesdale parishes in Yorkshire, mainly in the North Yorkshire Archives at Northallerton.… Read more
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April 2026 - Report by Annie Clouston
Wimmin swimmers have now settled into a pattern of peaceful relaxed pleasure in the water. The health benefits for women are a bonus, these include: Ideally regular sessions enhance these benefits, so one of our aims in setting up the group was to increase our participants confidence in the water to be able to use… Read more
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April 2026 - Visit to Woodhorn Colliery
Report by Alan Kenwright; Photographs by Anne Newton, Val Reynolds, Pete Redgrave and Alan Kenwright. In April the photography group visited Woodhorn Museum, a former coal mine near Ashington, now converted to use as a museum and gallery space. Nine members of the group made the trip north of Newcastle and we were once again… Read more
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April 2026 - Health Service Latest
We met on a lovely springlike day and were able to enjoy a very good discussion of news items, including: the doctor’s strike; the possible closure of rural doctor’s practices; the use of Palantir technology in the NHS; the closure of Barney’s register office; shoplifters; the gulf states; the War on the West and chat… Read more
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April 2026 - Environmental Impact of Data Centres
We focused this month on the environmental impacts of data centres, the huge warehouses that house equipment for internet (cloud) storage and artificial intelligence (AI) queries. In August 2025, a BBC news report estimated that there were 477 data centres in the UK; planning research suggests almost 100 more will be built in the next… Read more
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April 2026 - Report by Kate Bailey
This month's book "Show don't tell" was a lively collection of short stories by a relatively unknown (in the UK) American author, Curtis Sittenfeld. Her earlier book "American Wife", based loosely on the life of Barbara Bush, was a best seller and these short stories similarly reflect Sittenfeld's apparent obsession with mid-life, college educated and… Read more