Minehead and District U3A

THE January coffee morning is traditionally ‘members day’, when a few offer to give a presentation instead of listening to a booked speaker.

This year, the theme was hobbies and the audience had the benefit of four very different presentations.

Colin Draper started off speaking about building your own wireless, one of the most important things seeming to be owning a shed, or hut, or shack where useful junk could be collected over the years, but not encroach into the family home - or not too much anyway.

Oli Twist followed with his hobby of woodcarving and had brought a number of his creations. He had been inspired by a carving he bought in Spain, and was determined to learn the craft himself, using the simplest of tools to begin with.

John Rock was known to members of the photography group, and to the nature ramblers; John said he felt a walk without a camera was a wasted opportunity. He told the audience about his time as a judge in photographic competitions.

Di Martin concluded the morning speaking about her hobby of patchworking. She had brought lots of examples of her work, and was wearing some. Di told members how she started teaching almost by accident, on TV and cruise ships, and most rewardingly her work for Project Linus, making quilts for critically-ill children.