Hello Everyone.

Here we are into 2026 and one month gone of our 40^th year already. Hope you all had a happy Christmas, enjoyed good cheer and celebrated entering 2026. One sad event that took us all by surprise over Christmas was the passing of our Vice-Chair. RIP Heather.

Key events since November:

The Stitchcraft 1 and Ukulele groups each submitted a Christmas Tree at the St Edburg’s Tree Festival. Handmade tree decorations were beautifully crafted and The Ukulele tree festooned with miniature ukuleles. Look at our website photos.

The Ukulele group performed at the festival and were roundly applauded. So much so, that Bill Jeffries and his band of musicians were instantly asked back next year.

Christmas lunch was enjoyed by around 85 members at the Littlebury Hotel with a raffle, Val Day’s challenging quiz and a heads and tails game. DJ presented prizes to the joint first place winners of the “Shadows” photographic competition: Kathy Gedling with two entries and Richard Herbert were all equal firsts.

The Stratford upon Avon Victorian Christmas market trip took 50 members to enjoy the stalls and lights at this delightful Warwickshire town.

Our AGM has been delivered. There were 106 members in attendance.

The Groups Showcase event on 24 January was a splendid day with nearly all of our groups attending and either performing, exhibiting or showing their activities to others. So well attended by members and visitors, I found it difficult to get around and talk to everyone. Apologies to those I didn’t speak to on the day. Feedback has been really positive with so many groups having members enquiring about joining or just finding out what others do was exactly what Anthony had hoped for when he suggested the idea last May. I hear that there may be a few who wish to join the u3a. So well done to Anthony and all the team that helped make it a success. We have already been asked to do it again.

2025 was a busy year with lots of fun. Trips, events, meetings to arrange, all the group activities, finance, secretarial, programme & membership management, PR & newsletter, website refreshment, groups support, charity & GDPR compliance, teas, welcomers and raffle volunteers, just a few of so many things that well managed, make our u3a so successful for us all...and the first month of 2026 has been a terrific start to our 40^th celebrations. There are plans in place and I would welcome ideas from any of you on celebrating amongst your groups or for the membership as a whole.

That’s all from me. Enjoy your newsletter and the contributions that everyone makes and thanks again to Helena your editor.

Kind regards, Garth.

... and don’t forget the 3 L’s

Trips and Outings

Day trips have been popular with members for many years. Joy Saville has put together a Day trip in July (see below) which looks really enjoyable. Do contact her as soon as possible if you are interested as I'm sure it will be well subscribed.

At the present time, there are no other trips in the pipeline but if you have any ideas for a day trip later in the year, please do get in touch and the idea will receive consideration. If you are willing to help with the organisation and planning of the trip, your help will be much appreciated.

Audrey Luff, Book Group Leader

Trip to Highclere Castle - Stepping into Downton Abbey

A visit to Highclere Castle balances drama and history, whether you come as a Downton Abbey devotee, a history lover, or a curious traveller, the castle has something for everyone. For more information click here.

Trip to Stratford Victorian Christmas Market

For details please click here.

Residential Holiday

Bookings and deposits have already been paid for our holiday this year. We will be based at the Queen Hotel in Chester. Departing in June, our excursions include Port Sunlight, Bodnant Gardens and the Pontycysylite Aqueduct. We have a day in Liverpool with a guided tour of the city and a "Ferry across the Mersey". A free day in Chester, when the Driver has his day off, gives us the opportunity to explore the beautiful Roman city.

I have already been asked where we are going on holiday in 2027! At the present time, I have no idea, but you may have somewhere you would like to visit, or revisit perhaps. I am more than happy to accept suggestions so do let me have your thoughts.

Audrey Luff, Book Group Leader

Treasurer's Report for 2025

It’s been a good year for our u3a finances and despite trying to spend some of the money we have in reserves, we ended the year having increased our overall funds by approximately £600. Last year our final figure was £9016.36 and for this year it’s £10215.61. That shows an increase of £1199.25, but £602.50 of that came from a credit note from last year which we held with a local coach company.

Last year we virtually broke even once that credit note was taken into account, so we’ve made £600 more this year. Comparing the results year on year, the main difference is that this year we took in nearly £400 more from membership subscriptions. The other big difference is that the Groups’ balance, which theoretically ought to come to zero, has increased again this year. That’s partly because some groups which collect weekly contributions from members to pay for hall hire have grown in number and so have made a small profit. (This will, of course, eventually be spent by the group.) However, the increase is largely due to the Ukulele group going out and performing and bringing in donations.

Equipment costs are higher due to the hire of the defibrillator, plus other items including the u3a banner which is on display at monthly meetings.

With regard to Gift Aid, the u3a central office advised that we should stand back and wait to see what happens with their petitions to HMRC on behalf of those branches which have been affected. That means there is no entry for Gift Aid once again in this year’s accounts. However, we received further advice from central office recently and I have put in a Gift Aid application for 2025. If it is successful that will add a further £875 to our coffers and eventually we might still receive the £850 for 2024 if u3a’s discussions with HMRC prove fruitful.

In terms of the overall picture, we now have over £10000 in our account, and as we work on keeping £3000 in reserve there is still £7000 which we can spend if we need to. For this coming financial year we have previously stated that we will devote some of that money in celebrating our 40^th anniversary and my aim is to try to be able to sell tickets for the summer Anniversary event at a discounted level of £10 and possibly to do the same with another event, should one be possible. Also membership fees will remain at £15 per year as long as possible.

Finally, I just want to mention that Lloyds Bank stopped offering free banking for Charities in November. The Committee agreed that we should stay with Lloyds and pay bank charges at least during 2026 given that they still have a branch in Bicester and we collect quite a lot of cash from the monthly raffles which needs to be paid in. As previously requested, from now on can you please pay for membership and trips using BACS. That does not prevent anyone paying with a cheque, but you do need to realise that it will cost the u3a 50p for every cheque we pay in. We have a new card machine to allow people to pay by card on the day and we still accept cash but we also have to pay bank charges for both those methods and so payment by BACS whenever practical is king.

Please note that the signed off annual accounts can be viewed on the notice board at monthly meetings or by personal application to the Treasurer.

Anthony Lock, Treasurer

Gill’s Quiz Corner

What's Next - answers near the end

Monthly Meetings

For information about the monthly meetings please click here.

New to monthly meetings?

Please come and chat to us if you are new to the u3a. We will be happy to introduce you to another member of the Bicester group. Our welcomers are: Richard Herbert, Mary Herbert, Wyn May, Juliet Ralph, Alex Sharpe, Marguerite Scott, Pauline Smith and Joy Saville.

Group Coordinator's Update

The new Current Affairs Group 2 is up and running with Gill Hawkins as Group Leader. Given the demand for this activity, Mary Gough kindly agreed to lead Current Affairs Group 3 which began on 19 January. This allows for more manageable numbers in each group.

The new Marmalade Making pop up sessions which were due to take place on the 24 and 25 February have been postponed until March/April to allow Pam Wakeling time to recover from her recent surgery. We all wish her a full and speedy recovery.

I hope to set up another Wine Appreciation Group. I have a volunteer to act as Joint Group Leader but need another volunteer to share that role. Please email me if you would be willing to help.

The recent 40^th Anniversary event highlighted the range of activities and interests encompassed by our groups. It resulted in a number of groups gaining new members. It also revealed considerable demand for other activities that are currently over-subscribed and have waiting lists including Arts and Crafts, Book and Bridge Groups, Camera Club and Qi Gong. There is therefore a need to set up second groups for those activities. If anyone is interested in acting as Group Leader for those topics, then please contact me by email: group.coordinator@bicesteru3a.online.

In addition, I will shortly be looking into progressing a new Poetry Group following a good suggestion by two members. There is also a new ‘A Capella’ singing group in the offing following another member’s kind offer to run this group.

Finally, I hope that you continue to have fun and benefit from your group activities in 2026!

Wendy Smith

Any Type of Good Music

For our November meeting we listened to a selection of tragedy/death songs. It’s amazing how many of them there were, especially from the '60s. I don't remember it being such a depressing time to justify this number of tragic songs.

A small selection of what we listened to included: Endless Sleep by Jodie Reynolds, Teen Angel by Mark Dinning, Tell Laura I Love Her by Ray Peterson, Ebony Eyes by The Everly Brothers, Moody River by Pat Boone, Leah by Roy Orbison, Dead Mans Curve by Jan & Dean, Terry by Twinkle, Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las, plus many many more.

If you’re interested in listening to music and subsequent discussions you are welcome to join us. Contact me or the Groups Coordinator.

Richard Herbert

Art Appreciation

Thanks to our amazing members, we have a full agenda for the first nine months of this year.

At our November meeting, Gill Flynn told us about the Der Blaue Reiter group, which was formed in Munich in 1911 by the artists Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Although the group disbanded at the start of WWI, its members were important pioneers of modern art of the 20^th century and of German Expressionism.

December’s meeting was a Show and Tell, with members bringing along a piece of art and giving us a few words about it. We had a huge variety of objects, from silver candlesticks, through spiritual art on reclaimed wood, to Chinese silk. It gave members a chance to show off their treasures.

Kate Boyes gave our January talk, which was entitled The Glasgow Boys. They were a group of radical young painters who migrated to Glasgow in the 1880s and preferred to paint “real” people in their own environment. Kate also touched on the Glasgow Girls and we’re hoping to persuade her to give us a talk on them later in the year.

At our February meeting, Pauline Wainman will be giving a talk entitled Old Mistresses. If you want to know what that’s about, you’ll have to come to the meeting! And in March, Gary Willis will be presenting Pop Goes the Easel, about the artists who drove the British 60s Pop Art movement.

Also in March, we’ll be visiting the ‘Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals’ exhibition at the Tate Britain.

If you have an interest in any kind of art, be it painting, sculpture, architecture or whatever, we’re always happy to welcome new members to our group.

Come along to our next meeting or give one of us a call if you have any questions.

Steve and Val

Book Group

To see the books we read in November and January please click here

Audrey Luff

Bus Pass Adventures

Our October adventure was to Chipping Norton. It’s a long bus ride, but we all enjoyed it. We found a lovely café to accommodate our nine members and the staff were very helpful. I would recommend the Old Mill if you go there. They even reserved a table for our lunch 1½ hours later.

We followed the Chipping Norton Town History Trail, looking at all the old buildings, some dating back to the 12th Century. We were going to look at the ruins of the castle, but the track was very muddy, so we looked around the huge church and read the guide in the church.

We returned to the town and had lunch before taking the bus journey home.

Rennie Buxton

Creative Writing

The group continues to survive and grow. Last year we unfortunately lost two members: but successfully gained two enthusiastic replacements: and another keen to join us. I shall have to buy more dining chairs!

Much interesting work has been achieved by members and the spirit of camaraderie continues with enthusiasm and joyfulness. Our ethos maintains equality and a sense of fun in our work.

We embark on the year with the hope that inspiration will follow us and help us continue to achieve quality and drive our efforts to even higher attainment. A big thank you to all the members and all power to your pens.

Mike Wyatt

Current Affairs

Current Affairs seemed to be very popular with the news of a second group starting up. So much so that a third group is now up and running, led by Mary Gough. This success comes at a price, however, and both new groups are almost full already. Sadly, numbers have to be limited or it becomes a free for all. Our aim is not in-depth analysis or serious debating, more a lively exchange of ideas.

Gill Hawkins/Mary Gough

Exploring Classical Music

We continue to meet twice a month on Zoom. Earlier this month, it was my turn to present music worth exploring. I selected some of the wonderful and lesser-known music by Antonín Dvořák available online.

The last meeting before Christmas was in the ‘Desert Island Disc’ format. We heard short pieces of mostly classical music connected with the holiday season. Each member selected a short piece. We were surprised by how much beautiful music of this category existed beyond Vivaldi’s Winter Concerto!

Before Covid 19 there were enough local members in the group to meet at members’ houses. Now there are only two or three Bicester u3a members in the group. The remaining 18 are members of Interest Groups Online. These numbers speak for themselves: it simply makes no sense to have a local Exploring Classical Music group. The Groups Showcase event brought two new Bicester members to our group! I do not think that this is enough to set up a separate local group.

Tomy Duby

Family History

Group activity has been fairly quiet for the past couple of months. The Group is primarily designed for those starting out on their research, and also for those who are stuck and would like to discuss possible ways forward.   

At the Groups Showcase Event, I had the pleasure of meeting many people who are interested in Family History.  A number of them have subsequently joined the Family History Advisory Group. 

Charlie Wrench

French Conversation A

The French Conversation A Group continues to meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Unfortunately due to ill health or holidays we were unable to meet in December. Fortunately, the first meeting in January saw a full house. We continue with no set agenda, which has not been a problem. We hear about a recent holiday or weekend activity which enables us to ask questions about the holiday or activity or any other subject which might crop up. Very rarely do we have nothing to say!

We have the maximum number of members so that everyone in the group has the opportunity to contribute to discussions.

Julie Evans

French Conversation B

The French Conversation B Group is still going strong. We have a high attendance rate and have been lucky enough not to have had to cancel any meetings. We make sure that everyone has a chance to relate what they have been up to, helping each other out with items of vocabulary here and there.

We now also have a Pub Quiz team all of our own, which we have called The French Connection. We won the Bicester Twinning Association's Quiz at The Shakespeare in November and look forward to enjoying our winnings at a meal out there soon.

Krys

Gentle Exercise

Our new venue at the church is working well and we have had a few new members joining us recently, which means that we are now a full group and anyone else wanting to join will have to be on a waiting list I'm afraid. 

Joy Saville

Mah Jong Improvers

We’ve welcomed four new members into this small friendly group, some of whom used to play a different version of the game. They are fast learners and have fitted in well. We’ve all improved our knowledge of the game and speed of play.

Alison Crutchfield

Murder Mystery Book Group

November 2025 - Divided House by J.M. Dalgleish.

Detective Inspector Nathaniel Caslin’s life is a mess. He works to the bare minimum, abuses substances to survive the day and drinks his nights away. A once promising career is in free-fall. Investigating the death of an ex-serviceman in police custody, reveals the disappearance of a young family. No-one noticed. No-one seems to care. In the grip of a bitter Yorkshire winter, a family home reluctantly offers up its grisly secrets. Out on the moors, a murder scene of horrific brutality demands Caslin’s focused attention. In the search for answers, is anyone who they claim to be? Haunted by ghosts from the past, Caslin is pushed to his limits. Will this case break him or be his path to redemption?

January 2026 - The Christmas Stocking Murders by Denzil Meyrick

It’s just before Christmas 1953, Grasby and Juggers are investigating a puzzling murder in the remote village of Uthley’s Bay. A fisherman has been found dead on the beach, with a stocking wound round his throat. Hundreds of pairs of stockings in neat cellophane bags soon start washing up on the shore. A blizzard cuts Grasby and Juggers from help and the local innkeeper is murdered. Any remaining Christmas cheer goes up in smoke as the villagers refuse to talk, leaving the two detectives chasing false leads in the snow. To make matters worse Grasby can’t stop thinking about stockings. Why does everyone seem to be enjoying strangely high standards of hosiery, even beneath their oilskins. Who is the sinister bespectacled man snooping around their hotel. And how can they solve the murder when everyone in the village is a suspect?

Mary Herbert

Pub Quiz

We entered two teams in the November quiz at the Littlebury, and both teams did well, even though one of the teams was a person short. We hope to enter two teams again in the January quiz.

At the Shakespeare, in November, we only entered one team, but did even better and came second.

We join in the Nightingale quiz most weeks but struggle against some tough competition, especially in the music round where the questions seem to be aimed at a younger age group. We do have fun though as we get excited when we get one right!

Alison Crutchfield

Short Walks

Stitchcraft 1

We were busy knitting Christmas tree decorations right up until the Christmas Tree Festival in St Edburgs Church from 12-14 December.  The theme for the tree was the poem, ’T’was the Night before Christmas’. We knitted all the characters in the poem, Reindeer and sleighs, including Santa Claus and his parcels, children in their beds, Christmas stockings, baubles and parcels. We enjoyed knitting them all and decorating the tree. We also have another project nearly finished for the u3a’s 40th Anniversary celebrations. With the help of other u3a members we have made a second banner showing the groups which have been formed in the last ten years. This will be unveiled at the celebration in June. 

Pauline Smith

Ukulele

Wider Horizons

We had a late Christmas lunch at our venue at the Torino Lounge in January and are now looking forward to our meetings this year.

Lots of ideas for trips, which I will follow up, but one is planned for April already so interesting outings to look forward to.

We’re up to the capacity that we can have at our bi-monthly meetings so I will start a waiting list for anyone else wanting to join our happy gang.

Joy Saville

Wine Appreciation

For our November meeting we were treated to a selection of French wines from a supermarket chain starting with the letter T. Surprisingly, there were no outstanding wines from the country that claims to be the best in the world. There were no bad wines, but nothing stood out. The best three were a white Burgundy from La Chaufleure, a Beaujolais Villages and a St Emilion Montagne.

This year we held a meeting in December. Normally being so close to Christmas means we are all too busy, but the dates worked out for us. We were treated to a wine tasting allied to a cryptic crossword type puzzle based on the names. Makers or origins of the wines that eventually spelt out the word WINTER. The W was Whispering Angel, a white wine from Cotes du Provence which scored highly with all the members. The I was a wine labelled Icone, a Vouvray from the Loire Valley. This also scored highly. The N was Nellaluna, a Pinot Grigio from Italy. Sadly it didn't rate so highly as the previous two. We then moved onto the reds and the T came from a wine labelled Terre de Faino, a Primitivo wine from Puglia in Italy. This also scored highly. The E came from a wine labelled Errazuriz Reserva, a Pinot Noir from the Aconcagua Valley in Chile. This got a thumbs down from me. The R came from a wine made by Ramon Bibao which was a Rioja made from Tempranillo grapes in Spain. This to me was the wine of the night. A very enjoyable pre-Christmas evening livened up by a cryptic puzzle – well done to the hosts.

At the January meeting we tasted a selection of wines from the Wine Society. The standouts were a white Grenache from the Pays D'Oc in France and a Nebbiolo from Barbaresco in Italy. One surprise was an Austrian red wine using a mixture of indigenous Austrian grape varieties that suggested it ought to be served slightly chilled, weird. It was actually quite nice, and cold!

Also tasted were a South African Sauvignon Blanc, another Sauvignon Blanc from Chile and a Claret from the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, all of which scored differently amongst the members.

Our group is currently full, but hopefully enough interest in forming a new group will mean that a Wine Appreciation 2 can be started during our 40^th Anniversary year.

Richard Herbert

Gill’s Quiz Corner answers:

Bicester u3a General Notices

• News of members: If you know of someone who is ill, please let one of the Committee know so that we can arrange to send a card or perhaps have someone make a visit.

• Honorary members: When existing members reach the great age of 90 years, we mark the occasion by sending them a card and making them Honorary members of Bicester u3a. As we have no record of dates of birth, we rely on group leaders and friends to let us know when these happy events are approaching.

• Internet and email: If you have internet access and are able to receive future editions of the newsletter by email, please contact the Membership Secretary. We try hard to deliver paperwork to members with no email but sometimes it is necessary to use the post, which does increase costs.

• Personal details: The Membership Secretary keeps a master list of your personal details. Please remember to advise her if you move house, change your telephone number or email address in order to keep our records up to date and keep in touch.

• Equipment register: These items are available to borrow by u3a interest groups. Contact the keeper to arrange a loan.

• Equipment: Dave Jones, P.A. System and digital projector, screen, “iRoar” P.A. System and blue tooth speaker. George Edmundson, Nobo 3 panel desktop display boards (with cover). Audrey Luff, laminator and free-standing flip chart stand/whiteboard. Val Day, guillotine. Helena Tuckwell, 300 LED fairy lights.

• Clifton Centre: Hinged notice boards, floor standing projector screen, projector stand, u3a banner. tea urn with stand.

• Refreshments: Refreshments at monthly meetings are prepared by group members. Sue Wilde will approach leaders with a request for assistance and compile a rota. Please help if you can. Supplies are maintained by Sylvia Frydland.

• Raffle: The raffle at monthly meetings is awaiting new volunteers.

Press dates

Articles for inclusion in the May 2026 newsletter must be submitted by 30 April 2026.

Please note this is an absolute deadline. You can contact the editor by emailing newsletter.editor@bicesteru3a.online.

Bicester u3a - Registered Charity Number 1094759