26th October 2025

 

           Dear All,

After swimming on Monday the “10 Turning Points in European History” topic was “1517 Martin Luther and the breaking of Christianity”. Luther was fortunate to survive when others like Jan Hus were executed but he was protected by his local ruler Frederick the Wise, the Holy Roman emperor Charles V was preoccupied by other issues, many other German rulers found what he said appealing and printing was getting underway and people could read his arguments.

I had an Events Committee in the evening where we reviewed the last year’s events and planned a Games Evening in November.

The Local History session on Tuesday was entitled: “Bedrooms, Banquets and Balls” given by a very good speaker where he traced the changes in stately houses through the ages and how they altered both externally and internally. Esther arrived in the evening staying for the night as she had a work session at Orwell where a manufacturer was demonstrating various bed and chair aids for handicapped people. Unhappily someone ran into the back of her car on the way home which understandably shook her up. I believe the car is only superficially damaged.

I was gardening on Wednesday clearing the greenhouse tomatoes and barrowing compost then sowing Broad beans direct and in modules. I also scarified the lawn.

The weather was so foul on Thursday morning that we skipped the organised walk. We had 14mm rain the most in a day since March 15^th. However it was the wind that was most off putting. It actually blew down an ivy laden tree at the bottom of our garden.

 

 

Stricken Tree

 

Thursday Mornings Weather!

 

However the weather improved dramatically in the afternoon so we did a local walk via the village pond and Mustill’s Lane allotments. The pond is causing concern as it is practically empty and there is a worry that nearby building work has blocked off a spring.

 

 

Dried up Pond

 

 

Colourful Allotment

 

 

Tidiest Allotment

On the way back we called on Tony and Jenny Miles. Tony is now painfully thin and being kept going by blood transfusions.

The “Biographies” subject on Friday was “Kitty Duchess of Atholl”. She was the first woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Scotland, despite having campaigned against women's suffrage before it was granted in 1918. She was the first woman to serve in a British Conservative government. She later found herself at odds with her party and resigned the Whip in 1935 over the India Bill. She became strongly anti-fascist in the 1930s and criticised authoritarian regimes in Soviet Russia, Italy and Spain as well as Nazi Germany. She was given the nickname 'Red Duchess' for these views .She was an incredible woman who served on countless committees and held views ahead of her time – but hardly anyone has heard of her.

 

 

Kitty Duchess of Atholl

Over won 3 v 0 at Milton which I watched without my mate Dave as he has a combination of Alzheimer’s and a split rectum.

Best wishes

 

Mike & Kate

 

19th October 2025

 

           Dear All,

As a follow up to last week’s report of the Quiz for the Old Folks Day Centre we raised £1288.

 

 

Quiz underway

 

After our swim this week “10 Turning Points in European History” this week “The Age of European Exploration” all the boats setting out initially from Portugal and Spain searching for spices and spreading Christianity starting in the 1490s. Bartholomew Dias, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama etc. Access to Spices was very lucrative with the prices expanding exponentially:

Spice Island 1

Malacca 2

Calicut, Indian 4

Alexandria 80

Venice 250

The Pope Alexander divided the world between Portugal (Africa) and Spain (South America) to try and stop them fighting.

On Tuesday after a trip to the dentist I met up with a few ex NIAB folk for lunch at Girton Golf Club and we were briefly joined by Tom Webster’s close friend Jock Sneddon who reached 100 years last month. Kate meanwhile was studying the Stars in her new U3A course. Later the outside drain blocked and while Kate puggled it free I made a new cover to stop the leaves entering again.

 

 

Drain Cover

 

On Wednesday I finished digging at the allotment and caned the Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Norman Ingle came for lunch and after I tuned into a U3A talk about “Cricket in Cambridgeshire”. In the evening the Over Garden club speaker was a Mr Honey who spoke on “Wasps”. It was a very interesting talk with some excellent visuals. There are evidently 9,000 species of wasp in the UK including social, solitary, burrowing and parasitic ranging from 0.5mm to 3.5cm. His message was do not kill them they do an enormous amount of good killing huge numbers of pests in your garden.

 

 

Bees, Wasps & Hornets

 

Kate has been busy planting a new strawberry bed from runners of the new variety we planted last year Malling Centineray.

 

Kate Strawberry Planting

 

Our walk this week was a familiar route from Orwell round the Wimpole Estate. We had good conditions for walking cool, dry and no wind. Masses of fallen leaves. Our old leader Philip Shaw put in an appearance as it was his 86^th birthday so drinks all round!

 

 

Orwell Clunch Pit

 

Wimpole Charcoal Burner

 

 

Wimpole Church

 

 

Wimpole Hall

 

 

 View of the Lake & Folly

 

 

Autumn Leaves

 

“Biographies” on Friday featured “Marie Curie”

She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her husband, Pierre Curie, was a co-winner of her first Nobel Prize, making them the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize and launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.

 

 

Marie Curie

The garden is still producing despite to continued lack of rain. The fig tree has produced a second crop and there has been a few late strawberries and raspberries.

 

 

Today’s Harvest

Best wishes

 

Mike & Kate

 

12th October 2025

 

           Dear All,

It has been quite a busy week in Lake Wobegon! It began Sunday afternoon when we were invited to a Tea Party at the Friends Meeting house for leaders of courses that are held there to meet a new warden. We were taught how to make roti and entertained by a choir.

 

 

Roti Demonstration

After swimming on Monday I caught the guided bus into Cambridge for a U3A class entitled: “10 Turning Points in European History” led by Adrian Roberts who is an ex teacher and excellent lecturer. The first session was on the invention of metal type printing initially by Joannes Gutenberg producing the Gutenberg Bible in 1453. Previously Bibles had been copied manually by monks in Scriptoriums written on vellum typically needing 170 calf skins or 300 sheep skins per copy. Gutenberg had a checkered career but the printing press soon spread throughout Europe with considerable effects on language, literacy, spread of knowledge and questioning beliefs.

Meanwhile Kate attended Ruth Roberts’s funeral.

 

On Tuesday we both had flu and Covid jabs and ironically Hilary Foster had the appointment between us at Bar Hill Tesco’s. Kate then had a Zoom session on the stars.

Wednesday was my regular outing to Lincolnshire for the Seed Trade open days. This year I was accompanied by David Cook from walking and Over locals Richard Cox and Adrian Hart. We managed to visit seven demonstrations. I was expecting some poor plots after the drought but was agreeably surprised by the standard of the plants. Apart from the usual brassicas there was a heavy presence of pumpkins and squash this time.

 

 

Seminis Purple Broccoli

 

 

Tozers Pumpkins & Squash

 

 

 Hazera & Clause Cabbage plots

 

 

Sakata Veg Display

 

 

Syngenta Coloured Cauliflowers

 

 Syngenta Brussels Sprout

 

 

Elsoms Veg Display

 

On Thursday Kate and I were leading the walk we recced last week from Haddenham taking in Wilburton. It was a good day for walking – cool and dry.

 

 

Wilburton Manor

  

 Farm Drainage

 

Not too Robust Bridge

  

Maple Tree changing colour

We did not have time for the pub lunch as I had another new class this time on “Travel Writers”. Kate dropped me off in town for discussion about the book I mentioned last week by the Victorian lady Mary Kingsley in West Africa. Everyone was impressed not only by her courage alone in a difficult climate surrounded by cannibals but also by the humour with which she wrote.

  

 Mary Kingsley

 

It was “Biography” time again on Friday with new leadership and a larger class. The first subject was “Captain Vancouver” who gave his name to the city and island in west Canada. He was probably born in Kings Lynn in 1757 and went to sea aged 14 on Captain Cook’s 2^nd voyage which lasted 3 years and went further south than anyone previously. He then enlisted for Cook’s 3^rd voyage looking for the NW Passage which took in Hawaii where Cook was welcomed as a god. However when he returned to repair a broken mast he was killed. Vancouver rose through the ranks to become a marine surveyor initially in NW America then Tasmania and New Zealand before returning to NW America where eventually the island and city were named after him and another guy who was gradually dropped from the name.

 

 

Captain Vancouver

 

Friday night was the quiz which we organise to raise money for the old peoples Day Centre in the village. Kate thinks up all the questions and I was Question master. There were 13 teams and over 100 attending. It has raised well over £1000 in the last two years but we do not have the figures for this year yet. This was our 16^th year as part of the chapels support for the Centre.

  

Quiz Gathering

 

Over came unstuck yesterday losing 1 v 0 to Newmarket Res.

 

Best wishes

 

Mike & Kate