Most groups meet monthly. Any extra costs beyond the general membership fee (which you have paid!) are indicated - apart from a contribution of 25p. towards any refreshments provided. It is helpful, particularly for groups held in members' homes, if you inform the group leader in advance that you hope to attend a meeting. The group leaders are happy to supply further information to members who are interested.

The committee are always interested to receive suggestions for new groups and volunteers willing to convene them.

We meet monthly on the second Monday at 2.30 pm. Venues are either my home at 15 Deans Park, South Molton or Ted Isbell's, Fairmile, Exeter Gate, South Molton. Members tell us about their interesting holidays either by showing slides or by using the video-projector which enables snaps, postcards, etc. to be shown on the screen. We like to have holiday hints about the places shown, the best time of year to go, etc. Six sessions take place in the winter from October to March and for 2003/4 the programme was – Egypt, Grenada (in the Caribbean), Polynesia, France (the Languedoc) and Guatemala. We have had to limit numbers to 18 because of room sizes but if more people are interested and will commit themselves to a subscription to cover the cost of hiring a room, enquiries will be made. Please see me if you would like to present a holiday programme in the 2004/5 season. We have been active for some years, and may be getting short of presenters.

The Art History Group meets at Lamaton Park on the first Wednesday of each month from October to May at 10.30  am. The use of Information Technology enables us to view paintings in galleries across the world and to access information about the artists and their work, and we are now coming to the end of the U3A download course on Italian painting from 1400 to 1600.

The group meets on the third Tuesday of each month usually at 10 am at South Molton central car park where car sharing is arranged to the chosen site. Studies include flora, butterflies and other insects. Habitat includes estuary and dunes as well as moors and woodland. There is generally an optional pub lunch. Indoor studies - birdsong videos, discs, tapes and photos - take place in members' homes in inclement weather. New members welcome.

Business and home - We have a laptop with both Windows 98 and XP on it, and which is not subject to the constraints of a network in a college environment. We can therefore provide problem-solving sessions or merely hands-on experience in both operating systems and in the more common applications; please ring Tim.

Images - This small group meets at 2.30 pm on the fourth Thursday of the month at Hannaford Barton, mainly looking at advanced applications such as Paint Shop Pro and Cute FTP. Our web site is http://freespace.virgin.net/u3a.sm.

This group meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 2.30 pm in member's homes, and we welcome everyone with some knowledge of French, however rusty. We try to talk as much as possible in French, but in order to increase confidence and familiarity we read and listen to French writers and speakers, revise grammar, and try to learn more about France and the French way of life.

A programme of garden visits for the season is produced for the April meeting with details of dates, times and meeting places clearly marked. In the height of the season we generally meet twice a month on varying days and mostly for half-day trips.

Meetings are held on the third Monday of the month at 2.30pm, starting in October. We continue to look at mediaeval history, which takes us over many borders – Scottish, Welsh, Irish and French. We are studying the reigns of Richard I and John, events during which still haunt or reward us. New members are very welcome.

Meets every Friday afternoon for an hour from 14.50 at South Molton Community Centre. There are two sessions - September to December and January to March. The fee is £ 10.50 - 11.00 per session to cover accommodation and instruction costs. The class numbers about twelve because of limited space. It is presently full, but tell Ian if you would like to join when there is a vacancy.

The Lip-reading group meets on Friday mornings from September to Easter at the PIP Centre from 10.15 to 11.45. It is open to anyone with hearing loss or wanting to know how to cope better living with someone with hearing loss. We keep up to date with information regarding the latest aids and when they become available on the NHS. We also practise lip-reading and discuss our problems. 50 pence is charged at each meeting to cover the cost of refreshments, hire of the room and the occasional purchase of a book. It is wonderfully relaxing being in the company of friends who share hearing difficulties and have some good ideas about how to deal with them. Do come along and give lip-reading a try.

We meet on the first Monday of the month from 2.30 to 5 pm. It is more accurate to call ourselves a Book group than a Literary group. However in our discussions we do consider the social, cultural and economic background of the period in which the novel is set, as well as the characters and their influence on the narrative. The group is limited by the space available at Marjorie’s house and by the number of books available from the library in sufficient quantity. However with fewer members the discussion is more coherent than it would be with a larger number.

There are about thirty members and we meet on the second Wednesday of the month. In winter months (October to April) we meet at the Methodist Hall at 10.15 am. for coffee, followed by a talk or slide show on various interesting North Devon topics. For these six meetings members pay a subscription which covers the cost of the room hire and the speakers' charges. We then pay 50p. per meeting for coffee. Non-members who come infrequently can pay £ 1 per meeting. In the summer we have six outings to places of interest, generally travelling by car. We try to have communal coffee or lunch on these occasions. We are open to new members at any time – our winter programme is full of varied and interesting topics.

Meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month at The Stag's Head, Filleigh at 11.30 am. for a discussion on current affairs and related subjects of moral and political nature. The group is small and everyone has a chance to bring a subject they would like to discuss with the rest of the group. People stay for lunch if they want to.

The group meets on the third Thursday of the month from 2pm, as shown in the newsletter. We remain a small group of loyal and friendly folk and would welcome any newcomers. We have just embarked on a programme of listening to/viewing Opera through the Ages. At our last meeting we saw a video made at Glyndebourne of Monteverdi’s "The Coronation of Poppeia". Several of our group enjoy regular visits to concerts locally and as far afield as Symphony Hall in Birmingham. This group is dormant while the Abells are away.

Members enjoyed the past year’s activities, making quilts and cushions which were raffled to benefit four youth organisations in South Molton. This year we aim to make small quilts for the Linus Project or other charities, as well as continuing our own personal work under the professional guidance of Julia and Ann of Step by Step Patchwork Centre. We meet on alternate Wednesday afternoons at 2 pm. Please come and join us.

This group meets at Coleford House on the third Thursday at 2.30 pm. We read poetry of the members’choice one month, alternating with popular plays the other.

The group meets on the first Tuesday of every month (weather permitting) at 9.45 am in the South Molton carpark. Walks vary from 4 ½ to 7 miles and we take a packed lunch. It is hoped that some extra walks can be included; all details are in the newsletters.

The Scrabble group meets on the third Tuesday of each month at the home of Lucy Aldridge, 12 Raleigh Park, South Molton from 2 to 5 pm. We have 12 members with an average of 10 attending. We are a happy group; we have some knowledgeable players, but the games are enjoyed by all, with many new words used. It is a popular group, so it is advisable to ring Lucy if you wish to attend and are not a "regular".

Meets at the Old Coaching Inn, South Molton every third Sunday of the month. Present cost is £5.25 for Carvery meal only. Sweets £2.95. We have ten members who regularly come, occasionally more when they bring visitors, and the standard of food at the Old Coaching Inn is consistently good. Members are asked to let Ruth Greaves know at the monthly meeting whether they will be coming that month and there is a request in the Newsletter for people not at the meeting to telephone her as soon as possible. This is because the venue is so busy and we need to reserve a table as early as possible. The third Sunday usually falls after the monthly Tuesday meeting at the Assembly Rooms, but occasionally it is a week later. It is a friendly occasion and gives a lift to those who normally eat alone and we offer a warn welcome to anyone wishing to join our little band. The best time to arrive is around 12.20 pm to avoid the rush.

This new (May 2004) group meets every Wednesday at 4 pm at South Molton Secondary School Gymnasium. Please bring your own bats and appropriate footwear. Do not refer to it as Ping Pong.

This is a well-established group. We visit Plymouth or Exeter theatres seeing shows that match London West End performances. There is a pantomime in January, and then two or three musicals later in the year that we think that members will enjoy. Our coach leaves Cooks Cross at 9.45 am and behind the Pannier Market at 10am for the matinées, giving us time for lunch and some shopping or sight-seeing. We arrive back at South Molton around 7 pm.

We are still combining with Barnstaple U3A and North Devon Coast U3A theatre groups to organise theatre visits to Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth, Taunton and Bristol. In the past year we have been to over a dozen performances of ballet, opera, musicals and plays, from Hamlet to Charley's Aunt, and we always welcome suggestions from our supporters.

This is the provisional title given to the revived singing group (with apologies to Harry Christophers, founder of the Sixteen). The idea is that the group, meeting on the first and fourth Tuesday afternoons of the month, will sing a variety of secular and sacred works. The group will not prepare specifically for performance but will rejoice in the joy of singing. All members of U3A are encouraged to join in this co-operative venture if they feel that in any way they might enjoy letting themselves go vocally in a controlled way. It is hoped that whatever the balance of voices, interesting music will be sung.

oooOOOOooo