December 2013 and January 2014

TOTTON HISTORY GROUP 

 December 2013 and January 2014 

Meetings Report 

 We have had two very interesting meetings. The first was on 16th December 2013, when we heard from Jack and Joan about the Inca people, and their achievements. They were a very successful people, whose empire was centred in Peru mainly, but also stretched across the Andes Mountains down into Columbia, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina. They built roads, terraced the land for farming, and had a sophisticated system for irrigating the crops. Their inventions are amazing. They discovered how to freeze dried foods, build aqueducts and hanging bridges across ravines and rivers, which sound terrifying, and developed a sophisticated measuring system, among other things. They were also skilled in making gold artefacts. Machu Pichu was rediscovered in 1911 having been abandoned and left in the jungle for many centuries which has been a source of much of our knowledge of the Incas. Unfortunately, in the early 1500, European invaders unwittingly gave the Incas Smallpox which killed nearly 90% of the Inca people. The remainder were defeated by the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco Pizzaro in 1532. Today, the descendants of the Incas still live in Peru and carry on the Incan language and customs in food, music and religion in remote villages.
 We then had a very interesting account of the French influence on America by Myra, who told us that the American constitution was modelled on the French constitution when they were planning to become Independent of England. It is estimated that 4% of Americans are French speaking. We also heard that many of the cities of America have names that are French influenced names derived from Indian names – Chicago, Detroit, which was founded by Mr Cadillac., Arkansaw Illinois, etc.

 Monday 20 January 

 Yesterday we started by discussing a proposed trip to the American Museum near Bath. Myra has kindly agreed to see what arrangements we can make for travel there by train and taxi. We have provisionally fixed the date for our June meeting on 16 June.

 We then had an enlightening talk from Leslie regarding the connection Bristol has with the slave and sugar trade with the West Indies and America. Bristol was about 100 years ahead of Liverpool and London in trading with America in slaves and in 1670 William III made it a royal company. One Bristolian left £15 million. Many buildings, including the Theatre Royal was built using the proceeds of the 3-way trade between Africa, America and England. There was a huge ship-building business in Bristol – it is estimated that 2108 ships left Bristol. Glasgow was also built on the slave trade, and in 1833 £20 million was given to coloured people by the British Government.

 Leslie has also agreed to look into the feasibility of organising a trip to Bristol to see the building legacy in Bristol.. Our next meeting will be on February 17 at Holmwood when we will look at the life and times of George Washington

December Wine Group

WINE APPRECIATION GROUP REPORT

Our group met on Monday 16^th December at Sue Huckers house for wine tasting and also an American Supper to celebrate the year of our group activities, and also Christmas and New Year.

The first wine was an Australian wine which obtained an average mark

Of 7 out of 10.

Many thought that it was a clean smelling, very nice light wine, Also it

had a good body to it and a balanced acidity. With regard to the fruit

flavour there was a mixture of answers covering gooseberry, lemon,

raspberry or grape.

Our second wine was a Hardy Merlot and the majority thought it had a

blackcurrant flavour. It seemed to have a strong clean flavour with a

slight tart taste with a musty feeling. Some thought that when swallowing

it was too sharp, and also a sharp twang to nose and back of throat.

Sue confirmed that this wine came from Australia with an average mark

of 6 out of 10,

Our next meeting on Monday 20^th January 2014 and will be at Mike’s in Totton and Liz will be hosting the wines.

It was decided that for the next three meetings we will be tasting wines

from South Africa, so we can learn a bit about them.

Michael Page

TOTTON U3A HISTORY GROUP

At our first meeting in October, it was agreed that for the next series of sessions each member would research a specific subject connected with the History of America. Our next meeting was held on Monday 18^th November where two very interesting topics were discussed. One was the discovery of North America by the Vikings, and much interest was shown as to how they actually got to America, and whether they had any influence on the native population. The conclusion was that both communities kept themselves apart and it was interesting that the Vikings settled in America for about 700 years – up until after 1066.

The second part of the morning was devoted to the Native Americans, their way of life, and how they adapted to the various terrains they inhabited. We were surprised at how many different tribes there were, and interested at how they solved their differences between them, as although they did fight among the tribes, they were not in the habit of killing each other.

Our next meeting is on 16^th December at 10am at Holmwood, Bartley.    

August Meeting

Our latest meeting  was at Val Westalls on the evening of Monday 19th August.

There were 7 members present, apologies were received from the other three.

Our fist wine was a red French Burgandy- Pinot Noir Grape- medium bodied.

the average mark out of 10 was 6 1/2 and it cost £7.18.

some comments were that it was sharp,strong tarty and heavy, tasting of blackcurrant with a clean smell.

some members thought it might have come from Germany or Australia. one member thought that after tasting there was a cherry hint.

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Our second wine was a Merno from New Zealand- costing £10.00

Young Brains  main  comment  was "I like it"...fine ..it could therefore have been a very short meeting.

comments thought it was a bright healthy wine..bit sharp/tarty at times- the flavour lasting   whilst one member thought it was Italian,  but Michael for his

sins thought that it was "Bulgarian"

It was a very good socially based evening and our thanks to Val for hosting it and providing a good selection of cheese and biscuits.

Our next meeting will be on Monday 16th September at Kathies.

June Meeting

"Our group at met Brian and Margaret Gilbys on the evening of Monday 3rd June for another pleasant and enjoyable evening. As usual there were two very different wines to enjoy, the first was a white wine called "Casa Roscoli (12%) Pirot Origio 2012...this wine is described as fresh and zingy with light apple and citrus flavours. Dry and refreshing in style. served as an aperitif or with light dishes such as chicken or seafood. Pirot grapes grown in Province of Pavia in N.Italy.(price £4.99). some members commented that it was a sweet and sharp and bright and a well balanced medium wine. it was awarded 6.6 points out of 10. Brians comment was "It was very nice" which probably summed it up quite well. Our second one was a red wine called Saint Vigni(13.5%).Cotes du Rhone 2011...this wine was described as a blend of different grapes, typical of Rhone origion. Dark fruit aromas are complimented by a soft palate of cherries and light spices.(price £5.99). some members commented that it had blackberry/blackcurrant taste, also it was tarty,heavy, some depth medium wine. For this one our group voted only 3.6 out of 10 so it was not so popular, indeed I commented that this would be "an ideal wine for alcoholics as it would give them a kick".

Our grateful thanks to Brian and Margaret Gilby for their hospitality and the technical details of our two wines. The next meeting will be on Monday 15th July at Lyns commencing at 7 pm.
Michael Page

On Monday evening-commencing at 7 pm - the group met at Michael Page's house for their monthly meeting.

present were..Michael Page, Lynn Sleep, Val Westall, Jean Symes, Sue Hucker, Lesley Bywater, Margaret Gilby, Brian Gilby and Kathie Horner.

Our first bottle of wine was a white Chardonnay Pinot Grigio 2011 from Italy..

Top marks to Jean Symes who correctly guessed the wines origin.

Some of the comments from our group were that the wine was bright, light clean smell, maybe yeasty, nicely balanced, slightly tarty with a hint of

gooseberry or apple.. a pleasant wine overall

average mark of 7 out of 10.

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the second bottle was a red wine called Dreamtime Ridge from Australia.. no year was shown on label. but it was described as a fresh, fruity, easy drinking red,

great with pasta, pizza and grilled meats(is this what Aussie's live on ??)

this scored an overage mark of 6 out of 10. there were no correct guesses for its origins.

some of the comments were clear, bright, dry medium wine.. tarty or smokey with a hint of plum, blackberry or cherry.

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It was again a very enjoyable evening and our next meeting will be on Monday evening the 3 June at Margaret's and Brian's.

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Michael Page

18th March History

Our latest meeting was held on the morning of 18th March at Michael Pages- and the subject was "Old Hampshire" To start the meeting a friend of mine who runs the Copythorne Parish History Group came and showed us a sort film made in the early "50's , about the New Forest- and it was lovely to see all these lovely scenes about life when we were young. We then re arranged the chairs around the edge and had a good discussion about Old Hampshire. After refreshments the meeting finished by noon and all the members left having had once again an interesting and pleasant morning. The next meeting will be on Monday the 15th April - at Michael Pages - starting at 10 am and the topic for discussion will be "WW1. Causes, effects and the lost Generation"

Michael Page

18th March wine meeting

Our latest meeting was held on the evening of the 18th March at Lesley Byewaters house in Bartley. As usual we had two bottles of excellent red wine to" sample our delights" As it turned out Lesley had been very clever in that both bottles were "Australian Chiraz" but of different verities- this really tested our skills in this very enjoyable hobby.
 The first wine was the lighter of the two with a slight blackberry(and cherry-Jean) flavours with a balanced acidity and not too intense. for this the average mark out of ten was 7. The second wine was thought to "cling to the glass"- with a bright, deep ruby flavour , with a strong sharp flavour. for this the average mark out of ten was again "7". Everyone enjoyed the evening and our thanks go to Lesley for hosting the evening. The next meeting will be on Monday the 15th April at Michael Pages, commencing at 7 pm. ====================== Michael Page =====================

History 21st Jan

At our meeting on Monday morning the 21st January there were 14 out of the 22 members present and the topic for discussion was "Romsey on the Test" It was good how lively debate and chatter flowed at this meeting, as stories of Romsey past and present were told and explained. From its humble beginnings as an island surrounded by rivers and marsh it started to grow to the town we know today over a couple of thousand years. In about the 6th century Christianity came back to Romsey after a gap of several hundred years. then from 7th to 10th century it was an important for iron smelting. When metal was first introduced using bronze, tinkers would travel from village to village with lumps of bronze and then make items to order on small fires. However when iron came along ,it was found that much higher temperatures were needed to work it, so villages had to have their own permanent smithys to make iron items, using very high temperature forges. It is thought that the name of Romsey comes from..the "EY" ending comes from Old English word for island and the ROMS is thought to derive from the name of an important Saxon leader of about 8/9th century.

 There is no February meeting , and so the next meeting will be on Monday 18th March starting at 10 am, and the topic will be "Old Hampshire"
 Michael Page

November Wine

Our group met on Monday 19th November at Val Westals house in Causeway Crsecent and commenced at 7pm. Our first bottle of wine was an Italian Piccini (i Riserva) 2009..this wine was first made in 1882 and the average mark was 6 1/2 out of 10. "This wine comes from the specially selected Sangioves grapes from the Chianti area in Tuscany. Deep red in colour with intense fruity aromas of blackberries and a hint of spice. On the palate it is rich and robust yet remains smooth with soft tannins.best at 18 dg C" Our second bottle of wine was an Rawsons Retreat..Shiraz- Cabernet 2010, and received an average mark of 6 out of 10. "This wine is sourced from premium Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grape growing regions throughout South Eastern Australia. Showcasing appealing berry and spice characteristics together with choc mint and subtle oak, This classic Australian blend is best matched to grilled meat and vegetable dishes" It was a very good evening with laughter and some detailed and technical discussion about different wines and their merits. The next meeting at Michael Pages. Chinham Road will be on Monday the 21st January 2013 commencing at 7 pm, Michael Page

History Report for meeting on 19th November 2012

We had a total of 19 people attend our meeting-17 U3A members and two visitors from Romsey Bowls Club- to watch a digital presentation entitled "Romsey Remount" presented by Phoebe Merrick from LTVAS(Lower Test Valley Archaeology Society. The tallk lasted about 1 and 1/2 hours described how this camp was set up on the hill overlooking Romsey in 1914 to hold and train horses for the war- and when ready to ship them out from Southampton to Flanders. In addition to this camp there was an even larger one at Swaythling, and also one in Dublin for all the Irish horses. In addition a large number came from the U.S.A. One received the horses were rested,sorted into classes depending on what they were suitable for, trained and then shipped to Flanders. It is estimated that at the Romsey camp there were about 2000 army and civilian staff and about 5000 horses at any one time, The organisation necessary for this operation was massive but was necessary as in the first world war still-horses were the only way of moving everything around at and near the battlefield.. It closed after the end of the war, all the buildings were sold off, and the rubble was taken into Romsey and was an ideal mix with the wet ground of Sweetmead field to build up the land and so the Romsey Memorial Park came into existence in 1921. It was a very good talk and was enjoyed by all.
The next meeting is on Monday 21/1/13 and the topic is "Romsey on the Test"
 Michael Page
BBC News item
Tens of thousands of horses went through
 Romsey Remount Depot

Monday the 15th October 2012

Our group met for the second time on Monday the 15th October 2012 at Sue Huckers House, starting at 7pm and the following members were present: Michael Page, Kathie Horner, Lyn Sleep, Sue Hucker and Leslie Bywater. As before a small selection of cheese and biscuits were on the table to help our pallets. The first was a white one...An Italian called "Orvieto Classic" 2011 from Umbria in Tuscany. and the average score awarded by us valiant five was 6.9 out of 10. The second one was a red wine called "Mcguigan Cabernet Sheraz" from South East Australia with an average members score of 6.8 out of 10. IAll members had a good time with a lot of social banter throughout the evening. It was felt mainly that the red wine was more enjoyable than the white. Our next meeting will be on Monday the 19th November at Val Westals house commencing at 7 pm.
 Thanks Michael Page