On Monday 23rd June our u3a History Group visited Newcastle upon Tyne for a guided tour of St Nicholas Cathedral and the nearby Mining Institute.

The Cathedral dates largely from the 15th Century and was originally a Parish church. It was designated a Cathedral in the late Nineteenth century and now has a beautiful carved Cathedra or Bishop’s throne.

The guide took our u3a group around the nave; first, and explained many of the memorials that still survive.

In the South Transept was the memorial to Admiral Collingwood, who took charge of the English fleet at Trafalgar after Nelson was mortally wounded – he led the fleet to victory.

After the tour and an excellent lunch the group visited the Mining Institute where the guide led a tour, first to the beautiful library and function room, and then to the lecture theatre. Many famous faces of engineers and scientists were there including George and Robert Stephenson.

The tour ended in the reading room where staff had kindly put on display documents relating to the Londonderry family and the building of the town of Seaham.

Stained Glass Window at St Nicholas Cathedral in blue and white.

A bust of Admiral Collingwood

George and the gang enjoying their seminar.

Our luncheon club met today at the Fox and Tree in Dalton le Dale. Thirty seven members of our U3A were in attendance and all agreed that the food, the company and the ambience were splendid! Well done Mike, another excellent venue!

The weekend away was arranged by Seaham Harbour u3a and we were joined by members of our sister u3a, Seaham and District. A total of 39 members took part, accompanied by our wonderful driver Steve, whose driving skills would come into play as the weekend progressed.

Our journey by coach took us south first to Oxford, the city steeped in history and renowned for its prestigious universities and captivating architecture. Some folk chose to wander the quaint streets and revel in the ambience that inspired the magical world of Harry Potter and was home to Inspector Morse. Some visited universities where grandchildren had studied. Some elected to visit the exquisite Ashmolean Museum, an experience not to be missed. By chance some members even spied the Emperor and Empress of Japan coming out of the Bodleian Library. (Perhaps he was returning some books he had borrowed whilst studying at Merton College in 1983! The Empress studied at Balliol College). Continuing our journey south we arrived at the Hilton Hotel, Reading, for our two nights stay. Some of our more energetic souls went swimming before dinner, others took liquid refreshments.

Saturday dawned, a beautiful sunny, but not too hot day. We travelled to Hever Castle, experiencing some very heavy traffic, and Steve showed us how he could turn the coach on a ‘sixpence’ as someone had most inappropriately placed their advertising banner of a church fete across the road sign to Hever.

Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, their daughter becoming Queen Elizabeth I. The castle is a moated 13th Century castle, filled with 16th Century furniture and tapestries. Over the centuries the castle fell into disrepair. In 1903 it was acquired and restored by the American millionaire, William Waldorf Astor. His Italian garden is breath taking and displays his collection of statuary. Over 1000 men worked on the garden design and around 800 men took two years to hand dig the 38 acre lake. In 1983 the Astor family sold the castle to the Guthrie family.

Sunday saw us heading north from the hotel to Bletchley Park, home to the codebreakers of World War II, and one of the best kept secrets of the war. We were to learn how the achievements of the codebreakers helped shorten the war by two years. The organisation started in 1939 with one hundred and fifty staff but its numbers grew rapidly until nearly ten thousand people worked in the Bletchley Park organisation. A small group of Americans were also involved. Famous codebreakers, included Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman and Bill Tutte. Dilly Knox and Nigel Gray had started their code- breaking careers during the Great War of 1914-1918.

The team worked tirelessly trying to break the German coded messages. They famously devised machinery to help with decryption, which speeded up the process considerably. “Colossus”, was the world’s first electronic computer. Their work in breaking the coded messages sent through the German “Enigma” machine, saved a great many lives.

A fascinating end to an enjoyable weekend.

Gordon A

Our walking group met this morning and we had a lovely walk around one of the Blue Plaque trails in Seaham. We set off from North Beach cafe and completed our circular walk in just over an hour and a half taking in much of the history of Seaham. The weather was delightful, the company excellent and the refreshment on our return was most welcome!

Our walking group enjoyed a splendid morning in Durham. We met at the Gala Theatre and, despite the rather wet weather we walked along the riverbank as far as Maiden Castle before we completed our circular walk and returned to the city centre.

For refreshment we visited the Hotel Indigo and we found the service and the food and drink on offer to be excellent! All in all, a lovely morning!

Walk around Seaton

We had a very pleasant walk this week around Seaton Village.

We met at the Seaton Lane Inn and set off away from the village towards the distant wind farms.

We walked through farm yards and stable areas before we returned through the fields on a circular route to the pub for refreshment.

It was a lovely walk but we certainly experienced the vagaries of the British weather. One minute it was raining then it was blowing a gale and then coats were being removed as the sun came out! All in all, a lovely morning!

Our August walk took place around the seafront at Roker, Sunderland.

We met at the Bungalow Cafe at Roker and Mike Bacon was our walk leader for the day.

We walked down through the marina and then followed the river until we came to the Glass Centre.

From here we turned inland towards Bishop Wearmouth church where Mike gave us the full history of the building.

We walked past the site of the now defunct Roker Park football stadium and into Roker Park itself. We strolled past the bandstand and continued through the park to the beach, returning along the shoreline to the start of our walk.

The weather improved as we progressed, Mike gave us some splendid history and we rounded off our morning with refreshment in the new gin bar! All in all, a splendid morning.

For our July 2024 walk we met in the car park of the Seaton Lane Inn.

I had the privilege of leading the walk and we strolled through the village before taking the path towards the Banktop in Seaton.

We followed the old railway line towards Murton before we completed our circular route back to the village.

On our return we visited the two most recent housing developments in Seaton in order to compare styles of new houses over the last twenty years, very interesting!

We then returned to the Seaton Lane Inn for well earned refreshment.

Alan S.

Our June 2024 walk began at Tommy on the seafront at Seaham and was led by Bob Crabb.

Bob led us in a southerly direction to Noses Point before we took the path towards Hawthorn.

It was a lovely sunny morning and we turned at the bridge crossing the coastal railway before taking the cliff path to return to Noses Point and then to the seafront.

We thoroughly enjoyed our post walk refreshment at the Lighthouse Cafe.

Many thanks to Bob for leading the walk and providing such excellent historical information as we progressed.

Our March walk began at Tommy on the seafront at Seaham and was led by George Fairweather.

George led us along the seafront before we turned left to St Mary’s Church and then passed to the rear of Seaham Hall.

We continued to follow the path past Seaham Harbour Cricket Club, Seaham Station and along Strangford Road to Dawdon.

George then took us through the back streets of Dawdon as far as Noses Point before, we returned past the docks to our starting point.

Many thanks to George for leading us on such an interesting walk.

I was due to be leading this walk around Durham but the day was massively affected by the shocking weather.

Overnight it rained and on the morning of the walk it was absolutely pouring down.

Many members rang up to give their apologies and I did not blame them at all- the weather was horrendous.

Anticipating, that I was completely wasting my time, I set off for Durham and when I arrived at the park and ride at the Ramside, I was amazed to see Doreen Fenwick waiting for me- what a star!

She and I completed the walk, soaked to the skin, but what fun it was!

We decided to reschedule the Durham walk for May and this time we were blessed with lovely, warm weather.

We set off from the Gala Theatre over Elvet Bridge, past the prison and the cricket ground before reaching Maiden Castle sports field and Houghall College.

We completed our walk on the opposite riverbank and returned to the city centre. A splendid walk with much excellent historical knowledge, from mainly Bob.

On May 16th, 17 of our members travelled north to Ashington and visited Woodhorn Museum, which celebrates the area’s mining heritage.

It was a fine day and we enjoyed ambling around the site and shop and chatting over coffee. We joined one of their free ‘Spotlight Tours’ of the gallery which houses the work of Ashington’s famous ‘Pitmen Painters.’

Our guide proved very knowledgeable, and did an excellent job of pointing out many aspects of the work which can so easily be missed by the casual visitor!

Then -off to the cafe again for lunch- where I think the staff were rushed off their feet, coping with the large number of visitors!

Carol A