Cheddar Valley is the home of the famous cheese, matured in caves in Cheddar Gorge!

If you are no longer in full time work or raising a family - we call it your third age - u3a gives you opportunities to develop your interests, make new friends and have fun. We have more than 500 members making the most of life by continuing their creative, educational or social interests in a friendly and encouraging atmosphere.

The annual membership fee is really very little and you can join as many groups as you wish. From Day-Trips to Dance; Philosophy to Photography; Tai Chi to Table Tennis, and Poetry to Patchwork – there are over 40 groups to choose from.

The u3a is a large international movement dedicated to learning for retired people. It was previously known as The University of the Third Age and was originally set up in France in 1973 as an extramural university activity with a strong academic focus.

The movement reached the UK in 1982 and adapted itself to this country with a focus on shared learning in a more social environment, without the formal university links of the French model. The main purpose of u3a is the advancement of education, and in particular the education of older people and those retired from full time work. This is done primarily through interest or activity groups, which provide a wide range of activities conducive to learning and personal development. The ethos of u3a in the UK is learn, laugh, live.