Monthly newsletter – June 2026

In this newsletter:

Dates for your diary
News
The amazing Sarah Shaw and "Isobelle"
Open day in pictures
Short story
Quizzes

From our car park wardens with the red and green ping pong bats to stall holders and their wares, from outdoor activities in the sun to singing on the stage, we want to extend a big:

Thank you

To all members who helped make the day a big success.

Dates for your diary

June 18^th – Roger Browne – Not Father O’Malley. Currently a Manchester Jaz Pianist and President of the Stockport Operatic Society as well as Director of the Manchester Athenaeum Drama Society, Roger will give an account of growing up in Salford and the music that inspired him to learn the piano. Told with facts and amusing anecdotes.

June 21^st – 'Music for midsummer' organised by Ems Valley u3a – half is classical and half is folk music. Tickets are available: on the door; from the Emsworth Community Centre; or from "Bookends" in Emsworth High Street. Cash on the door £12.00 (pre-booked £10.00).

July 16^th – Jeﬀ Evans – The Quiz Show. The talk will trace the history of TV Quiz shows from 1930 up to the present day, with illustrations. Jeﬀ will give an insight into how the shows have developed along with big winners and losers as well as cheats.

July 18^th – My Fair Lady and Chichester Festival Theatre back stage tour - no longer booking.

August 20^th – John Perry – How to avoid being scammed

August 25^th – Visit to Bletchley Park is now open for booking. Bletchley Park was the home of the World War 2 code breakers. It will be a long day out, price £46 including entrance to the site. More details and booking form here.

September 17^th – Hayling u3a AGM

October 15^th – Ian Worley – Racing through the southern ocean. Ian was chosen to crew on Great Britain II in the 1977/78 Whitbread Round the World Race as a watch leader, taking over as the skipper in the Southern Ocean on a temporary basis. The race was completed after a number of setbacks such as being knocked on her side, several breakages and damage as well as ferocious storms and being struck by lightning.

November 19^th – Andrew Negus – Winchester: Bishops, buildings and bones. He will cover history from 1100 BC and the development of cities from iron age huts to cathedrals.

December – Christmas Party

After good response to last years party, it is hoped to again have a party to celebrate Christmas.

More information to follow when the temperatures start to come down.

News

Facebook

Those of you who use Facebook will have seen a big increase in posting leading up to the Open Day, as the postings have increased, we have seen a steady increase in hits to our web site.

The page has now 150 members and growing. We are looking to keep you up to date on all Hayling u3a activities. You can join our Facebook adventure by logging in to Facebook and searching for "Hayling +Island U3A" or use address: facebook.com/HIU3A

Change in newsletter layout

The newsletter layout is bringing the artwork and style into line with “Facebook” and other U3A activity.

Web site

If you are new to Hayling u3a visit out web site. This is where all the information is available to you seven days a week and 24 hours a day. The calendar will show you all planned meetings for all groups or you can log in and see a compressed list of dates and times for your interests (menu option Events → Your calendar).

Walking cricket

Free to Hayling u3a members: walking cricket every every Monday at 10am in Hayling Park, Station Road, PO11 0HB.

Contact Emma at haylinghurricanes@gmail.com.

The amazing Sarah Shaw and "Isobelle"

We were delighted to welcome Sarah Shaw with her husband Tim from Guide Dogs for the Blind. They had with them their current young dog “Isobelle,” a Golden Retriever who came to them when she was about 8 weeks old.

From that moment on Sarah and Tim were involved working with Isobel where ever they went, cafes, parks, buses and trains, crossing roads, and using every opportunity to develop skills. Isobelle already will have met a variety of sounds and smells but Sarah and Tim begin to develop behaviors such as ignoring other dogs when out on a walk always rewarded when she gets it right.

They use the local railway station to learn to ignore people on the platform, and to extend this by putting down cheese at intervals and rewarding her when she ignores it.

The pigeons soon get rid of it! They visit lots of cafes to practice avoiding obstacles and showed us a particular skill by Isobelle putting her head on the seat of a chair on command, to show her owner how high it is and to help her sit down.

This and many other behaviors often result from Isobelle doing something by chance and Sarah/Tim immediately rewarding this so that repetition again and again fix it.

The dedication of these two trainers is extraordinary and all consuming, but they maintain a balance in their lives as Isobelle goes with them everywhere and everywhere is a training opportunity. Sarah commented however that they do drink rather a lot of coffee!

Open day in pictures

Arriving at Hayling Island Community Centre cars were greeted and directed by a band of willing members, red and green ping-pong bats in hand directing traffic to the parking area, the lucky early arrivals even got to park in the shade under trees.

The Open day started at 10.00am however members were on site from early morning setting up stands, sound systems and refreshments.

Pins and sticky tape at the ready, a display of crafting, and exhibits soon made for a very colorful and interesting display.

Everything was ready for the grand opening.

Opening was announced by our town crier (Rosie Raines) introducing the Mayor of Havant (Paul Tansom) to open the event.

He visited many of the activity tables as well as trying is hand on sone of the more energetic activities.

Arriving at about 10.30 our local MP (Alan Mak) visited for a tour of the displays and activities.

He has posted a very good video showing our activities on his Facebook page. Unfortunately, his cameraman did not manage to get me into the shot.

In the shade next to the car park bicycles were inspected for safety and checks carried out.

Musical entertainment was provided throughout the day by our U3A groups of players and singers.

First was the Ukulele band, The D’Ukes of Hayling with a mix of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s songs, followed by shanty singers, Island Shanty featuring well known sea shanty classics.

Both groups play and sing for fun raising money for various charities and visiting clubs and homes in the area.

The stage was quickly cleared for the highlight of the afternoon: The Amazing Sarah Shaw and “Isobelle.” (see above)

In a quiet room behind the stage sitting yoga was underway.

The main halls were crammed with displays showing all the groups within Hayling Island u3a.

We were lucky to have a nice sunny day this allowed some of the outdoor pursuits to take place.

Setting up is easy with a little space and a set of balls.

I now need some help: is this Boules or Pétanque? I don’t want to upset anyone for getting the name wrong. [It's Pétanque, Boules is a generic term for a type of game that includes Pétanque - web site editor]

Walking netball is more of a team game where the rules of netball are applied but without the running and jumping.

Lawn bowls, a perfect day of sunshine and with several games going on.

Short story

Consequences

The train was making good time considering the late start. It was speeding along the track and the train driver and his mate were enjoying the thoughts of a long cool beer when they reached the terminus. As it entered the tunnel which was carved straight through the side of the mountain, the bright sunshine from outside was abruptly cut off, plunging the carriages into relative darkness by contrast. One of the other effects of the tunnel was to cut off any signal from all mobile phones, which meant, as a consequence, that the text message saying “There is a killer on board” stayed in the phone queueing system. The passengers of course were unaware of the urgency of this message and carried on chatting and listening on their earphones to downloaded music or podcasts, and discussing the length of the tunnel. There was as always, a know all who claimed to have travelled so many times on this line that he could say to the nearest second how long they would be in the gloom.

The killer could not believe his luck. He knew this was a long tunnel and so he had plenty of time. He carefully felt his way along the carriages, counting them off as he went, till he came within two rows of his victim, who was conveniently sitting alone on the row of seats. Without hesitating, he unscrewed the nearest light fitting and using a small device from his pocket, he quickly and neatly shorted the light system. The carriage was then plunged into darkness and the killer was able to dispense his lethal action unobserved, joining in afterwards with the general hubbub of concern over the lights. Nobody appeared to have noticed that the passenger in row H had fallen sideways, or if they did, they assumed that he had fallen asleep.

The killer was able to make his way back to his own carriage and continue on his way as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t long before the tunnel opened out and the destination came into view. The train sighed into its allotted platform, where all the passengers but one, disembarked and went on their various ways. The killer disembarked also, feeling rather pleased with himself. Job done, the body wouldn’t be discovered till the cleaners came on board and by then, well, it could have been anyone. He stopped at a station stall and bought himself a paper and some fruit, then found an empty bench seat and sat down to eat and enjoy his read and his snack. After a few moments, he became aware that he had company in the form of a young lady, a rather attractive young lady. He smiled at her and offered her a grape from his bag, which she accepted with a dazzling smile. Distracted by this, he didn’t notice her drop her glove till she uttered a small exclamation of irritation, as she had a grape in each hand, and was unable to immediately bend down to pick it up. The killer immediately bent down to retrieve the glove at the same time as the young woman, and their heads briefly were very close together. Breathing effusive thanks, she stood up and, blowing him a kiss with her ungloved hand, she planted it near his cheek, just below the jawline. She smiled her dazzling smile once more and disappeared into the station crowds. The killer smiled back, putting his own hand on his neck where he felt a tiny bump, just before the darkness overcame him, sending him into oblivion, where, slumped sideways on the bench, people assumed he had fallen asleep. The consequence of a dangerous profession.