1 Welcome to the December Edition of our Newsletter Who would have thought, this time last year that we would be preparing for a slightly different Christmas in 2020? Hopefully the end is now in sight and let us hope that it’s not too long before we can safely meet up again. I would like to thank all our members who have contributed to our newsletter since it started in March and I am looking forward to receiving lots of interesting items for our January edition. Don’t forget our next edition will be published on Thursday 21 st January and will hopefully be another bumper one so please remember to send in your contributions by 15 th January. I would like to wish all our members a very merry Christmas and best wishes for 2021. Edition 24 – December 2020 Please send any contributions to Karen: [email protected]
Transcript
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Welcome to the December Edition of our Newsletter
Who would have thought, this time last year that we would be preparing for a slightly different
Christmas in 2020? Hopefully the end is now in sight and let us hope that it’s not too long before
we can safely meet up again.
I would like to thank all our members who have contributed to our newsletter since it started in
March and I am looking forward to receiving lots of interesting items for our January edition.
Don’t forget our next edition will be published on Thursday 21st January and will hopefully be
another bumper one so please remember to send in your contributions by 15th January.
I would like to wish all our members a very merry Christmas and best wishes for 2021.
Classical J S Bach: Christmas Oratorio This is one of three oratorios which Bach wrote. His Christmas Oratorio is in six parts. This excerpt is from the first section, ‘The Birth’. It is a lively and ebullient choral piece, reflecting the joy of Our Lord’s Birth. The German title of this first chorus is ‘Jauchzet, Frohlocket’ - ‘Celebrate, Rejoice’. The whole Oratorio is around three hours in length. This excerpt lasts just a few minutes. It is played by the Orchestra and Choir of the J S Bach Foundation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtiCWAkaQA Archangelo Corelli: Christmas Concerto This music was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and published posthumously in 1714 (Corelli died in 1713), with the music first being performed some 24 years earlier in 1690 for the Cardinal. This concerto was one of twelve written by Corelli and is arguably, the most well-known. I find this music to be more restrained than the previous Bach piece. It is generally calmer, but does contain sections of faster music. In this clip, I particularly like the focus on the players, but apologies for the poor quality of the recording. The Frieburg Baroque Orchestra brings Corelli’s music to life. Playing time: 15 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFQ2oTYp5Z8
Choral Hector Berlioz: The Shepherd’s Farewell This beautiful carol comes from Berlioz’s oratorio “ L’Enfance du Christ”, depicting the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. I really love this carol. The oboes add a wonderfully melancholic atmosphere to it. This recording is admirably performed by the Royal Choral Society at the Albert Hall in 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBTNlbRbeM Adolphe Adam ‘O Holy Night’ Composed in 1847 and based on a French poem, this carol has a very personal memory. Tain Choral Group sang this for the Christmas Concert of 2019. The choir found the timing of the second verse which starts ‘Fall on your knees’, somewhat challenging to get right. Mercifully on the afternoon of the performance, we got it spot on. I remember seeing the face of Lydia Jackson our Musical Director, light up in a wonderful smile in acknowledgement of our achievement. Such is the popularity of this carol that there are many versions. Having listened to several, I think the King’s College Cambridge rendition is the one I prefer most. This performance comes from their Christmas Eve concert in 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTFG_nvreol
Contemporary Chris Rea: Driving Home For Christmas
Contemporary Chris Rea: Driving Home For Christmas I’m sure that many of us will fondly remember making our way home to celebrate Christmas with our families, either from College or work. Chris Rea released this single in 1986. It was never a major hit for him, but for many of us, this evokes our happy memories of travelling home. I particularly like the accompanying video, which shows a snowy road, capturing the mood of the season so well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDt3u2Ev1cl Paul McCartney: Wonderful Christmastime I make no apologies for choosing this song. I know that for some it may come across as rather saccharine and trite, but I love the upbeat, jolly sentiment behind it. I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas time, bringing to a close a difficult 2020, and looking forward to a much more positive 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Ye-3C1FC8
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From our Chairperson, Franca
Newsletter Prattle
Hello All Well we have more or less made it to Christmas although I do have to pinch myself at times to be reminded that the Festive time is nigh! It's particularly sad for the children as they are missing out on so many fun things but there's always next year I guess! It appears that the majority of you are having a very low key Christmas and some of you are on your own although many of you are having virtual family and friends meetings. That appears to be a good decision because although we are relatively safe up here visitors from other areas could easily bring the dreaded virus with them. It feels like we are now so close to getting some protection with the vaccine that waiting another few weeks or even months doesn't seem so bad. As one of our members told me Easter will be the new Christmas! Anyway whatever you are doing please look after yourself and if you are feeling a little lonely or just want a wee "chat" feel free to email me on [email protected]. I'm always there for you. Meanwhile Happy Christmas and a very safe, healthy and peaceful 2021. all the best Franca
This year has been traumatic, Of that there is no doubt - But instead of sitting brooding, I’ve urged you to come out. I’ve guided you through woodland Where worries disappeared And walked with you along the coast Until your spirits cheered. You found comfort in my presence As we wandered near and far, My joy has been to help you - Yes, I’m your Christmas star!
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Easter Ross and Sutherland u3a Book Group
Easter Ross and Sutherland U3A Book Group
We held our first Zoom Book Group meeting on December 11th
. It was agreed by all that it
went well and that we definitely want to continue this way until we can meet in person again.
This month we read Alan Bennett's book ‘Keeping On, Keeping On’. We got to consider
various questions before the meeting and each of us was allocated one question to comment
on with the others chipping in with their views afterwards.
Questions varied from What do you think of the book’s title? to What other title might you
choose? to Why do you think the author chose to tell this story?
As most of us really did not like the book, finding it tedious and repetitive, the answers to the
question, What other title might you choose? received some interesting repsonses like
‘Going on Going’on and ‘Ad Naseum! It's good to see that despite the difficult times we
live in we haven't lost our sense of humour!
Our next book to read and discuss is “The Other Einstein” by Marie Benedict. This appeals to
me, at least, much more than Alan Bennett did.
We are about to put forward our next ideas for the books for us to read for next year so if any
of you have read anything good over lockdown please do let me know as we are always
looking for new recommendations.
So far our list to choose from is:
The Island Nurse, Mary J Macleod
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
Sea Poppies, Amitav Ghosh
The Love Child, Rachel Hore
Cartes Postales from Greece, Victoria Hislop
An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
Love is Blind, William Boyd
Guernica, Dave Biking
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell
Bird Cage Walk, Helen Dunmore
Wave, Somali Deraniyagala
If any of you have read any of these please let me know what you thought. Also I have
included this list in case any of you are looking for suggestions of books to read.
If any of you would like to join us please let me know as you would be very welcome.
We gathered at the far end of Hilton and agreed we would walk as far as we felt comfortable
with. The weather was beautifully sunny although cold. We didn't really notice that too much
because we were all too busy getting our weekly “fix” of chat!
It was lovely along the front. We saw a few cormorants sitting on rocks, wings spread, drying
their wings.
Catherine told us various bits of information about the history of Hilton while we watched the
waves breaking on the rocks and the sun glistening on the sea.
The walk started at the site of what is thought to be the fisher village of Cadboll. Pottery
shards etc have been found on site. To the left of the field is the site of a medieval chapel
known locally as Our Lady’s chapel.
The beautiful Pictish cross slab, known as the Hilton Stone was originally taken from the site.
It is now the centre of the Exhibition “Scotland’s People”, at the National Museum of
Scotland in Edinburgh. The stone depicts a hunting scene featuring a Pictish queen on
horseback, her retainers, trumpeters and dogs. Behind her can be seen a shadowy outline of
a man on horseback. There is also elaborate Pictish knotwork, a Christian cross and an
image of Daniel and a lion. The stone was carved around 700-800 AD. A replica stone stands
on the site now. There are two other cross slabs in the area, the Nigg and Shandwick stones.
They are originals and are important internationally.
There is thought to have been a sculpture school in the area perhaps allied to Burghead
where there are fabulous carvings of bulls. The stone was originally thought to have been
brought over from Burghead but it is thought now that it was quarried locally.
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There is a carving of a horse’s head on a rock below the shoreline just beside the first bothy
and some odd holes carved in a regular pattern. It is postulated that these are practice
carvings.
These two pictures are courtesy of Douglas Gordon from Bindal Farm
The view over the Firth to Nigg
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Before we knew it we had gone past both the fishing bothies and arrived at the gate to the
next leg of the Hilton to Rockfield walk. We all agreed this was where we would turn back.
As we retraced our steps we commented on how lucky we are to live in this beautiful, wild
area of the country especially with the pandemic raging.
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Easter Ross and Sutherland U3A Walking Group
November 2020 Clashdu Circular
This walk is a relatively unknown little gem. To get there coming from the south turn off the
A9 left at Tomich, go up the hill and turn right onto the road signposted Kindeace. Carry on
that road until you reach the turn off left signposted Heathfield Cottages. Before you reach
the cottages, there’s an opening to the left of the road and the car park is signposted Clashdu
Woodland Walk. The closest grid reference is NH 70 73 for Wester Calrichie (a small group
of houses) but you should reach the car park before then.
The actual circular walk has only been in existence for a couple of years and is approximately
3 kms long but we added in another couple of side tracks making the total walk about 6 kms.
We followed the road up past Wester Calrichie cottages and entered the fenced path area
which winds its way to a picnic area beside two ponds. Carrying on along the path we had a
great view over the Firth.
Here we are ready for the off – when we can
stop chatting that is!
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As we descended back down the track we passed lots of large boulders in the field.
Where's Peter with a geology
input?
There are lots of fishing lochs. We
thought that they are probably
related to the holiday lets.
We admired the stonework on the
holiday cottages.
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We then turned off the actual Clashdu walk, to the left, passing a couple more houses and
going through a gate. Here we walked along a track which crosses typically boggy scrub
land. We turned right when we came to this gushing stream.
As we walked along what became two streams, over a bridge, and left along another track we
began to wonder what was going on. It wasn't natural surely that two streams would run more
or less parallel to each other. We then spotted an old sluice gate and surmised that there had
been some kind of canal built but why? A number of theories were put forward.
Further along the path we were very surprised to find wooden chalets, a field of deer and a
play park. We were at the back of Hoseasons Holiday Complex!
Having commiserated that the the cafe wasn't open we returned by the same path to the
gushing stream and turned off to the left through mature woodland, again following this very
straight stream. What was going on? We were in the back of beyond or were we?
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We then arrived at a beautiful, serene loch. Here we all agreed there was a feeling of
calmness and tranquillity. We stopped for a little contemplation, snack and of course chat.
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Richard was a star because he did some research when he got home and found out the
following about where we had been walking.
Loch Catrina (the beautiful, serene loch where we stopped) is a man-made loch. It does not
exist on old maps up to 1950. The water diversion we saw higher up may be how the loch was
filled with water. The water channels around that area have been disrupted since Victorian
times.
There was a water mill at Delny but no archaeology remains. However the water channel
down from Kindeace is sometimes described as a mill lade and there is a mill dam marked at
Priesthill Farm. Priesthill is so called because originally it was the manse and glebe for the
pre Reformation Catholic minister, who had a chapel at Delny, to minister to the laird. No
signs of the mill, chapel or medieval castle at Delny.
There is a further marked mill lade running from around where we parked down to Broomhill
Farm, but no historic evidence of a mill. There is historic evidence of a dam and mill at
Tomich.
Historic records show a lime kiln at Wester Calrichie, but again no remaining archaeology. A
number of farm houses and buildings have been on Delny Muir for a long time, but nothing of
major importance.
Huge thanks to Richard as he had more or less solved our mystery. If anyone else has more
information about this area please let me know.
A huge thank you to Jeanie for organising this walk.
Catherine told us about the lovely smell
from this Balsam Fir when you rub some
needles between your fingers.
We then returned by the same route to the
holiday cottages and turned left down the
road to the car park. We all agreed it had
been another great walk and way to
socialise. We were however still left
puzzling over that waterway structure.
What had gone on in the past in the area?
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Easter Ross and Sutherland U3A Strolling Group
Averon River Walk
December 2020
We parked at Crawl Park in Alness and walked back up the hill to cross the road at the
Averon Centre. We then crossed the Averon by the foot bridge and walked down the side of
the river. It was beautiful because it was in spate.
We admired the water gushing over the weir and the fish ladder. We then continued down to
the old turn off for Redwoods Care Home.
We walked along this to the Home where we decided to turn back instead of investigating the
Redwoods Woodland path as it was so wet and muddy.
We retraced our steps back to the car park. The walk was approximately 1 mile but the length
wasn't important it was the fact we were out exercising in the fresh air and getting good chat.
A big thanks to Jeanie for organising this stroll.
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Easter Ross and Sutherland U3A Walk
Contin /Rogie Falls
December 2020
We did this walk on a very cold but bright day. We met in the car park in Contin signposted
Woodland Walks. The entrance to the car park is just to the right before the main road turns left
to cross the Black Water bridge. You have gone too far if you pass the Achilty Hotel/guest house. On
the far side of Contin you'll see the forest signs on your right. Turn here and follow the road through
buildings to the car park at grid reference NH 451 570. Nearest postcode for SatNav users is: IV14
9EF.
The place names of Contin and Achility are of Ancient British/Pictish language origins and
demonstrate the antiquity of the place.
Contin was on the cattle drove trail to Muir of Ord from Lochcarron, Aultbea and Poolewe
and in 1792, Kenneth Morrison of Torridon offered to build the road from Contin to Ullapool.
It cost £4582 which was very low and so it was poorly built, Thomas Telford was recruited to
build it properly and built the bridge at Contin, which still stands as a footbridge. Later the
road from Garve to Loch Carron followed.
Contin Parish Church is on an island on the river and can be accessed by a traffic bridge and
a footbridge. The church is dedicated to St. Maelrubha (644-722) who founded the monastery
at Applecross and there has been a church in Contin since the eighth century. However the
current building is Georgian with medieval walling.
The larger Contin Parish has two "Parliamentary Churches" at Lochluichart and
Strathconon, built to a Thomas Telford Design. There are 30 of these identical "flat pack"
churches in the Highlands, more famous ones are at Ullapool (now the museum)
After our usual greetings, social
chat and Covid rules reminders
Richard updated us on some
historical facts about Contin.
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Amongst the chat we were able to appreciate the beauties of nature on a cold day.
We set off on our walk through the
forest.
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We enthused about the tumbling waterfalls and winter light amongst the trees.
Snowy Hills Ice glistening trees
This incredible phenomenon is called
“hair ice” and is formed by a fungus
called Exidiopsis effusa which grows on
decaying wood. It forms on cold humid
nights and disappears when the
weather heats up. (info courtesy of Pat
Rae)
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Eventually we came to the Rogie Falls which were looking particularly beautiful on this cold crisp
day.
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We all agreed it had been another great walk, physically and mentally boosting our
wellbeing.
A huge thanks to Catherine for leading the walk, Jeanie for doing all the paperwork and to
Peter, Sheila and Richard for their amazing photos and research – a great team effort!
We returned to the car park tired
but totally refreshed!
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Crafty Ideas from Members Have you been busy with crafty activities over the last few
months? Please share your ideas and photos with us on this
page.
Helen Campbell created this beautiful
Christmas wreath display after
gathering foliage from the countryside.
She is making them for the windows of
Fearn Abbey so she has a few more to
do.
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Just for fun
Edition 23’s ‘Guess the Object’ was, of course a shuttlecock!
Can you guess what this object is? Answer in the next edition of
the newsletter.
Thanks to Rhoda Malloy for this month’s interesting object
Autumn colours at Aldie Burn
Glorious autumn colours
Nigg sky
at night
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Nostalgia
These articles were sent in by Jackie Rother whose daughter found them in a
December 1968 craft magazine.
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Thanks to Rhoda for sending this in
Christmas Cheer
There has been precious little to smile about this year, but despite the pandemic, entries for the national annual competition for Christmas cracker jokes has been remarkably high. Comedy critic Bruce Dessau led a panel of judges in a search for the most amusing of these comedy quips. He said, “Amongst one of the strangest and most turbulent years yet, we can always rely on British humour to pull us through”. Here are some examples of the successful entries this year:
1. What is Dominic Cummings’ favourite Christmas song?
‘Driving home for Christmas’, by Chris Rea 2. Did you hear that production levels were down in Santa’s workshop? Many of his workers had to elf-isolate! 3. Why are Santa’s reindeer allowed to travel on Christmas Eve? They have herd immunity! 4. Why is it best to think of 2020 like a pantomime? Because eventually it’s behind you! 5. Why couldn’t Mary and Joseph join their work colleagues on a conference call? Because there was no Zoom at the inn! 6. Why can’t Boris Johnson make his Christmas cake until the last moment? Because he isn’t sure of how many tiers it will need! 7. Which government scheme supports the nation’s Christmas dinner? Eat sprout to help out!
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Pat Webster sent this one in
And this from Lyn Dyke
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I saw this on a U3A Facebook page and thought it too good not to share!
Dear Tech Support
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend to Husband and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend.
In addition Husband uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance and Personal Attention and then installed undesirable programs such as Rugby, Football, Sailing and Continuous TV.
Conversation no longer runs, and Housecleaning simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging to fix these problems, but to no avail.
What can I do?
Signed
Desperate
Dear Desperate,
First keep in mind, Boyfriend is an Entertainment Package, while Husband is an Operating System. Please enter the command: 'http: I Thought You Loved Me.html' and try to download Tears. Don't forget to install the Guilt update. If that application works as designed, Husband should then automatically run the applications Jewellery and Flowers, but remember - overuse of the above application can cause Husband to default to Grumpy Silence, Garden Shed or Beer.. Beer is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.
Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).
Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband.
In summary, Husband is a great system, but it does have limited memory and cannot download new applications quickly. It also tends to work better running one task at a time. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food and Hot Lingerie.
Good Luck,
Technical
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ERAS Quiz Easter Ross and Sutherland Christmas Quiz Answers
W/c 1st December 2020
1. When was the first Christmas card printed?
1843 – a man called John Calcott Horsley printed the first Christmas card for the
friend that gave him the idea, Sir Henry Cole.
2. Which country donates the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square?
Norway – the city of Oslo, Norway, donates the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree to the
people of Britain each year since 1947
3. What ornaments do elves have on their shoes?
Bells
4. What colour are mistletoe berries?
White
5. How does Santa climb up the chimney after getting your presents?
Touches his nose, smiles and nods.
6. What were the first eight reindeer called?
Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Dancer, and Donner
7. What is the name of Ebenezer Scrooge’s partner in A Christmas Carol?
Jacob Marley
8. Which actor got the starring role for Jingle All the Way?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
9. What carol is also known as “the counting song”?
The Twelve Days of Christmas
10. What carol can you use to demand figgy pudding?
We wish you a Merry Christmas
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11. What were mince pies made with, in Victorian times?
Beef and spices
12. What holiday drink is made with milk, egg and sugar?
Eggnog
13. How does Santa keep track of all the fireplaces he’s visited?
He keeps a log book
14. What did 52% of Brits order for Christmas dinner?
No Brussels
15. The first royal Christmas broadcast – which monarch made it?
It was started by The Queen’s grandfather, King George V, in 1932.
16. How many tips do traditional snowflakes have?
Six
17. Which soft drinks company is the first to have ads featuring Santa?
Coca-Cola
18. Who wrote A Christmas Carol?
Charles Dickens
19. What carol warns you about Santa?
Santa Claus is coming to town
20. What fruit is usually placed in stockings?
Tangerines
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Easter Ross and Sutherland Christmas Quiz 17
th December 2020
1. Who invented the Christmas cracker? 2. Shakespeare wrote a play for Elizabeth I, as a Christmas present. Which one is it? 3. Stephen I was anointed king of which country in the year 1000, on Christmas Day? 4. What were the children drinking in the first commercially produced Christmas cards by
Henry Cole? 5. Who wrote the first ever king’s Christmas message? 6. Where does the name “Boxing Day” come from? 7. When was Christmas first celebrated in the UK? 8. By when should Christmas decorations come down, according to UK traditions?
9. What ancient people started the tradition of exchanging gifts?
10. Where does the tradition to hang gifts on the Christmas tree come from?
11. What is Santa called in France?
12. Who created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa’s ninth reindeer?
13. What female actress stars in Miracle on 34th Street?
14. Which Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale inspired the movie Frozen?
15. What is wassailing?
16. Which saint introduced carols in churches?
17. What was the traditional Christmas meal in England in Victorian times?
18. What was Christmas pudding originally made of?
19. What was the first carol broadcasted from space?
20. What reindeer is never mentioned in The Night before Christmas?
The answers to this quiz are at the very end of this newsletter so no peaking until you have answered the questions!
