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Walking Group One 25th April 2024
Five hardy souls collected today at Happy Valley for the first Hill Walk of the year .The temperature was cool with a North Easterly wind blowing and a hint of rain on arrival.
Off we set heading towards Russadale Quarry, spotting a Buzzard on the way.Turning into the footpath we remained sheltered from the wind all the way to the top of the hill.
The sun was out at the Quarry and a Greenshank was feeding at the edge of the Lochan. Then it was up the Peat road to the summit with spectacular views across Stenness and Harray Lochs, plus a view of the Closed Road beyond the Watch Stone. On the other side we looked over the Flow and down towards the Oil Platform and South Ronaldsay
Then it was back down after a stop for a snack and finally a walk around Happy Valley itself. The Daffodils planted by James and others were looking lovely and the Bluebells are days away from opening. Then it was on to a well deserved lunch at the Pier Cafe, having walked 4 miles and gone up 800 feet (and down again )
The next walk will be on Friday 24th May and hopefully more hills and views.
Keep moving.
U3A Annual General Meeting Report from the New Chairman
by Tim Wright - 09:14 on 21 March 2014
Dear Everyone,
Yesterday the AGM of Orkney U3A was held in the St Magnus Centre.
Richard Thomas stood down after three years as Chairman. He has done an excellent job and will be a hard act to follow .Many thanks to him for all his efforts in keeping the U3A here on track ,increasing the membership and dealing with the U3A Scotland demands.
I, Tim Wright ,was elected to the Chairmanship and I hope I can be as successful, as Richard has been over, the course of the next year.
John O'Shea remains as Vice Chairman while Hilary is the hard working Secretary for another year. Thanks to both of them for carrying on their good work and efficacy in getting the teas organized, the minutes out and the Committee meetings sorted out, amongst a mass of other essentials needed to keep the show on the road.
After Six years of being Treasurer and Membership Secretary ,Alan Way has stood down and is replaced by Sally MacKintosh. Many thanks are due to Alan who has beavered away in the back ground keeping the finances straight and the Membership up to date .You will be glad to know that this year's subscriptions will remain the same as last year's mainly due to his efforts at keeping a tight budget on our spending and biscuit buying !
The subscription this year is NOW DUE and is £ 10 for a single or £ 15 for a couple. Please pay this as soon as possible to Sally MacKintosh,cash or cheques accepted but not Luncheon Vouchers. We hope to have all the subs in by May so help Sally by paying soon ,so she doesn't have to waste time chasing you up.
The committee is already attended by all the designated Group Leaders and 4 ordinary members are elected on .Fiona Knox has indicated she will join these members and we have not heard if the other ordinary members are willing to continue .This will be discussed next week on Wednesday at 2.30 pm at Lindean ( Hilary's house in Dounby) at the first new Committee Meeting.
Reports were received at the AGM from the different Groups about their last year and their plans, in some cases, for this year.
The Bird watching group goes out different places once a month led by one of the members .Planned for this year are trips to Flotta and Egilsay amongst other destinations.
The Craft group meets every week and recently had a day in Marwick learning how to make very attractive baskets taught by Sue Topp.
The Art group and the Straw group meet regularly progressing their endeavours.
The Scrabble group meet weekly and are looking for more members.
My Photographic group meets monthly and the results of our work were seen at the General Meeting in February .Our latest show is now on the Orkney Communities Website under Orkney U3A.
John Graham was not at the meeting but his Photographic group also goes out regularly once a month and is looking for members.
The Botany group has been in a dormant phase recently but is about to spring back into action ,I hear.
The Music group meet regularly and having got to the end of the Alphabet are now listening to music with Watery themes .
The Play Reading group is still active and preparing for a explosion of Shakespeare in the coming months. They are looking for and would welcome new members .
The Ambling Group continues on its leisurely way but with Kate being absent ,we did not get a report. However there is usually a good account of their activities in the Blog on the Orkney U3A website.
Archaeology which had looked dead and buried is to be resurrected by Richard now he has cast off the Chairmanship. I am still hoping for a further trip to Caithness or Dunrobin , perhaps this year.
The Fishing group is being reconstituted after Dave's retirement as leader and with the better weather we hope to hook in to some fish over the Summer .
The Family History Group is still operating so if you want help in tracing rich grannies while avoiding poor cousins speak to Richard.
Lastly ,The band now named "The Gastric Band". This group is always looking for more members. They showed us what they have achieved over the last year by bringing the AGM to a musical finale. We had a variety of tunes and songs showing their varied background. We were able to join in the choruses of Waltzing Matilda, Woody Guthrie and the Black Velvet Band amongst others. Thank you to them for their efforts and we hope to have more from them in the future.
Well, that was the AGM that was.
Thanks to all those who came and supported us. If you have any interest in any of the groups or you want to pay your subscription ,information can be found on the Orkney U3A website or by emailing Hilary.
The next General meeting is Fran Holindrake talking about St Magnus on Thursday 17th April in the Library.
I hope to see you there,
Tim Wright
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