The Vintage Cheddar Rock Band does it again.

The Cheddar Valley u3a’s very own Rock Band held a very successful Winter Dance, raising a smashing £500 for the Cheddar Village Hall Restoration Fund. Our audience were very animated filling the dance floor, and generously donating to the retiring collection. The band would like to thank all the volunteers who helped set up the hall with seating, decorations and general assistance on the day and evening. Our thanks also to Geoff Farnie for his sound system and Ewan McClumpha for the lighting. That concludes the band's gigs for this year, now for a rest before next year's campaign raising monies for local charities.

Board Games Fiesta

48 of our members gathered together to play a selection of board games and cards. Some had come to join with friends to play a specific game, others came to try something new. There was also a word quiz for individuals to try and achieve the highest number of words. This was planned as a time filler in case anyone had a few minutes to spare between games, in the event there were some that concentrated very hard on the quiz. There were prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd highest numbers scored.

A separate room held the scrabble competition, where players were a given list of words, related to Cheddar, eg gorge, to try and fit on to their board. Prizes were given to those who achieved this.

Canasta attracted quite a few players with at least 3 games going on at any given time, with at least three members new to the game who came especially to learn how to play, and two of these will probably be joining the existing Canasta group to continue learning to play the game.

The afternoon was broken up by a half hour tea of strawberries and cream, picked for us by the local strawberry growers.

At the end, many had said how much they had enjoyed the afternoon and when would be the next one!"

The idea first came from a couple of members who talked about how much they missed the competitive element and skill of playing board games. So the idea grew, and as a result one or two similar afternoons a year will probably develop. See below the photos for the next date.

Thanks to Margaret and Moira for the photos.

From our chairman - "The ‘Board Games Fiesta’ was a thoroughly entertaining experience. Congratulations to both the committee and the team of helpers who created such a brilliant event.

Next year's board games fiesta

This is planned for Thursday 29th January 2026, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon, in Cheddar Village Hall. The cost will be £3 per person, which will include refreshments. Although with no formal Scrabble Competition, the format will be similar to last time, with a large number of board games available, including the following: Scrabble, Rummikub (words and number versions), cards, for Whist, Crib, Canasta etc, Chess, Draughts, Halma, Monopoly, Trio-minoes, Upwords, Connect 4, and Mahjong, as well as many others. There will also be a Brain Teaser word quiz, for individuals, with a prize. So do come along and join us, there will be members there to help with some of the games when necessary. Come on your own or bring a friend or two, or even more. Put the date in your diary if you are interested. It will be a ticketed event, so we know rough numbers and these will be available at the Coffee mornings on Thursday December 18th and January 15th, or from Margaret Farnie - by email or phone on the address or number published in the latest Newsletter. If you have a card table you could bring or lend for the morning, or if you have games that you think might be suitable, or willing to help any way at all, please let Margaret or a member of the Social Team know.

2025 Craft Fayre

Thank you to all the u3a stall holders and all the members who supported the fayre. What talented members we have in our club! I'm sure lots of unique items were bought that day. I had news that Cardaholics raised £44.60 for Somerset Sight, Barbara's cakes raised £115 for Parkinson's and Sewing with Sandra raised £40 for McMillan. May I also thank meeters & greeters, refreshment group and furniture movers for accommodating 106 people that morning. - Janet Hillman.

Moderate Walking group 7 May 25 in glorious weather. Why not join in on the next walk?

Spring Variety Show

Our Spring variety show was a complete sell out. Opening with our very own team of singers just for pleasure, the music continued with a duo on clarinet and keyboard, part of the Vintage Cheddar Rock band. There was instrumental music and singers galore. There was poetry seriously emotional from Christa Loughrey, and poetry comedic from John Morgan. Noel Sweeney warmed us with a performance on his guitar. He seemed to have more fingers than the rest of us, to play like that. Jeff Monks entertained us with his words and then sang his own version of Hallelujah, with the audience enthusiastically joining in at the end. Our handbell ringers and glorious singers contributed their rhythmical timings and vocal talents. The photography group had an unexpected contribution to make. A series of their best photographs illustrated a beautiful piece of poetic commentary. Another unexpected event happened when Roy Fisher arrived to clean the windows - with crashing effect. The giggles continued when he translated some computer jargon into "proper" Australian outback language. Adding to the "unserious" side of the show was a performance by a disparate group of actors. Volunteers drawn from our active general membership, that started with a petty crime and ended with most of the countries first, second, and third responders arriving by police car, ambulance and helicopter. Chris Barker's solo performance on an enormous number of handbells was a full dance routine in its own right and left the audience in silence - stunned by the magical quality and astounded by the difficulty of handling so many instruments in the right sequence at exactly the right time.

Everyone was singing along with our regular teams of singers for pleasure at the beginning and two or three extra choruses from the Rock Band and additional singers and performers to finish off the show .

A member of the audience called it a 'rip roaring' success. We all thank Margaret Farnie. Well Done ! You put a huge amount of work into creating, organising, and the unknown work behind the scenes in the planning and running of the whole show. Thanks also to Geoff for the "sounds", the acoustics, and probably more.

A large number of people were involved over the course of the afternoon, including, refreshments, welcoming group, furniture movers, clearer uppers, ticket sellers, etc, etc. as well as the performers. All helped to create the lovely warm atmosphere within the audience. Everyone did our u3a proud. Thank you so much for your contributions.

Our Singing For Pleasure Group gave a performance to a packed house of the Cheddar Vale Lions Club Senior Citizens tea party at Shipham Village Hall last April. Everyone enjoyed the performance of traditional and modern songs and there were many requests for encores!