Author Archives: marken86

Foodie Group Summer Picnic

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The foodie group met today for our annual summer picnic, once again hosted by Brenda in her lovely garden. As can be seen, we had a tremendous spread of food, both savoury and desserts, all made by group members. Food was devoured, the drinks flowed, there was a buzz of good conversation and we were lucky to have such a lovely sunny day after the overnight rain. Thank you Brenda for allowing us to invade your garden and I hope we cleaned up properly!  Thanks also  to all the group members for their contributions through the year and we will meet again at our usual venue on 20th September.

Pedal Pushers: 2 seasons in 1 day!

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Several of the Pedal Pushers, plus a couple of Easy Riders, met today from various points of Maghull at Robins Bridge, and rode to Scarisbrick Marina, a distance of just over 16 miles for a return trip. The day started pleasantly warm with lovely sunshine, and we cycled along country lanes, admiring the crops watching the farmers bring in their harvests, and sat in the sun at the Marina to enjoy a drink. The Marina was very busy with many boats moored there, along with some very interesting house boats which stay there as a  permanent base.  Continue reading →

Walking Group: the Tolkien Trail

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17 members of the walking group set off today to walk the Tolkien Trail, in the area of Hurst Green. Many areas of the UK aspire to have links with J.R.R.Tolkien, but the author certainly spent much of his time at Stonyhurst College, where we started the walk, writing his novel Lord of the Rings. Rumour has it he modelled Middle Earth on this area. Stonyhurst  is an independent college set in a 300 acre rural estate and is owned by the Society of Jesus. Certainly it is a very imposing building and students are very privileged to study in such a magnificent place. Continue reading →

Walking Group: Mow Cop

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10 of us set out this morning to undertake a 6.5 mile hike ( according to Phil) in the village of Mow Cop. This is an isolated village which straddles the Cheshire–Staffordshire border, and is divided between the North West and West Midlands regions of England. Atop the hill is a folly, which was the subject of a bitter dispute between two rival land owners several hundred years ago. From the NT car park we followed part of the Gritstone trail, and sampled some of the finest walking in Cheshire. Had it been a clear day we would have had stunning views in all directions from the gritstone ridges abutting the Cheshire plain. Sadly the heat haze obscured many distant landmarks but we were able to see the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank very clearly. Continue reading →

Pedal Pushers: On the Wirral Way

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5 Members of the Pedal Pushers cycling group took advantage of the shady paths of the Wirral Way today completing a 13 mile ride from Hooton to West Kirby. 95% of the route was off road, so we had a great ride through some lovely countryside and enjoyed a snack lunch at the local café in Thurstaston, just 3 miles from the end of our ride. Thanks Bill for doing a recce of the Wirral line stations noting step free access…If only Mersey rail could do the same!

Wine tasting at the Summer Solstice

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40 U3A members took advantage of the longer hours of daylight this evening and attended a wine tasting evening hosted at Scatchards, where we sampled Chilean wines. Two whites, a rose and three reds were tasted, accompanied by chorizo, goats cheese, crackers and olives. The evening was a great success with lively conversation, not all about the wine, and it was great to see several new U3A members attending the evening. Thanks to George Birchall for arranging the evening and transportation to and from the event.

Foodie Group: Who ate all the pies?

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The foodie group met today for our usual monthly meeting and sampled pies created by Dave, Brian, Ann and Lillian. Thank you all for your contributions. For savoury we tried corned beef and onion pie; and an unnamed creation that had no specific recipe but developed as it was being made! It might not have a name but it certainly went down well!  For desserts we had offerings of quick lime pie, Jamaican crunch pie  and cake in a mug. It can certainly be said no one goes home hungry from the meetings. After all the carbs we are sampling salads next month and finalising our plans for the summer picnic in August.

Nordic walking

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Eight U3A members recently took part in the free Nordic walk training provided by Sefton Council. This training costs the council £70 per person. To date only one of the people trained has taken part in a walk. This is a waste of council money and may prevent the U3A getting places in the future. It is important to consolidate the learning gained at the training by taking part in a regular walk. The health benefits are tremendous too!  Walks are available on Monday mornings (fortnightly) at 10:15 am from Maghull Leisure Centre. Next walk is on 25th June. This is 60 minute walk. There is also a weekly walk on Monday evening, 6:30  from Lydiate scout hut for 90 minutes. There is no need to book for the walks, just turn up 10 mins before walk commences. Poles are available to use.

Walking Group: Grosvenor estate

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14 members of the walking group, and Shelby the dog, set off from Chester Station to begin a walk around the Duke of Westminster’s Estate. Walking along the ancient city walls, and along the edge of the Shropshire Union canal, we approached the Roodee, the site of Chester  Racecourse. Just a short stride from here we walked into the tree lined paths of the Dukes Estate and enjoyed a little welcome relief from the hot June sun. Continue reading →

Foodie group go foraging

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Well actually the title is not quite true! Foodie group members and guests attended a foraging menu evening at L20 restaurant, the hotel school of Hugh Baird College, last night. The restaurant is a firm favourite of the group, and as usual we dined in style. Using the definition of foraging, the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing or gathering of plant material, the students developed a menu using foods which they had indeed foraged this week. Continue reading →