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67 Interest Groups
Groups meet once or twice a month. Each group has a convenor who manages the group list and oversees its smooth running. The discussion/learning groups meet at each other's homes, groups averaging about 5-8 members. Some groups meet at venues.
The activity/recreational/walking groups are larger & meet at public venues or outdoors.
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Below is a round up of the groups. Click on which ones interest you to see what they do. Details on joining a group are in your Newsletter.
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Click on which Groups interest you to see what they do,
or scroll down.
Here is a printable PDF of the groups showing which have spaces in February.
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Art, Culture & all things creative
Antiques
Art/Painting
Craft 3 groups
Photography
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Music Broader
Music Classical 2 groups
Singing for Fun
Ukulele
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Book Club 5 groups
Play Reading
Poetry Reading
Writing for Pleasure
Languages, Discussion, History
French Conversation 2 groups
Latin for Pleasure
Spanish Improvers
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Science
Seminar
Current Affairs 3 groups
Climate Change 2 groups
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History 5 groups
Genealogy 3 groups
Writing Life History
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Activities, Games
Cribbage
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Scrabble 2 groups
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Badminton
Pétanque
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Birdwatching 2 groups
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Walking 6 groups
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Lunch Club
Sunday Lunch Club
Antiques
What do we do? Each month we encourage one or two members to select a related topic, research it, and talk about it to the rest of the group. This can be as varied as a particular painter, or a period such as Art Nouveau, or on collecting coffee spoons. We sometimes have quizzes based on all things antique. We also occasionally have a session where members bring in a precious or much-loved object, to talk about. And in the summer months we try to visit museums or galleries or antiques emporiums.
Photography
We decide on subjects for the whole year then take photos of the subjects. The subjects should take most of us out of our comfort zones. We show the photos to the group and we discuss how good or bad they are and (more importantly) how they can be improved. We’ve all learnt from this.
Art/Painting
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Craft 1
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Craft 2
This is a new group.
Music (Broader)
Caters for members who have an eclectic taste in music covering anything from Jazz to Chamber music/ Classical to Musical theatre, choral, ballet and more...
Members of the group are requested to host a meeting on average twice a year.
Music Classical 1
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Music Classical 2
When we do meet, we listen to Classical Music.
Singing for Fun
Singing a wide range of songs every fortnight.
Ukulele
An enthusiastic bunch of eight budding Ukulele players.
Book 1
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Book 2
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Book 3
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Book 4
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Book 5
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Poetry Reading
Playreading
Our group totals 10 people at the moment, our optimum is 12, so we would be delighted to welcome a further 2. Pre Covid we met on a first Wednesday morning of each month at the Corn Exchange. The choice of play is made by individual members of the group which assures a variety of genres. This year we have read plays by Ayckbourn, Stoppard, Brighouse, Chekhov.
Writing for Pleasure
This group is for people who enjoy writing for personal satisfaction: we take a lighthearted approach and are probably not for anyone with serious ambitions for publication. Each month we write up to 800 words at home from a choice of topics agreed by the members. Each of us is free to interpret topics and to produce a piece of prose or poetry, fact or fiction. In our monthly meetings we read our pieces aloud and enjoy listening to what others have written. We do not offer criticism, but give feedback on what we have enjoyed.
French Conversation 1
Our aim is to promote the use of French to communicate with each other. We celebrate and support each other sharing stories and generally enjoying ourselves. On s’amuse bien ensemble. The last year has made us appreciate our monthly meetings even more.
Vive la langue francaise!!
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French Conversation 2
This is an informal group for intermediate and above French conversation. The group does not have a formal leader or course book to follow. We may chat about all sorts of topics. Sometimes we may have a french novel or article to review together. We meet twice per month either at members' homes or a local café However, because of the informal nature of the group, there is no pressure to attend every meeting.
Please note that this group is not suitable for beginners.
Latin for Pleasure
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Spanish Improvers
A group for Spanish improvers to develop language skills, including some grammar.
Science
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Seminar
We take turns to host a meeting and give a presentation of choice over a wide range of subjects from science to arts, geography, history and life experiences and follow with interesting discussion over tea and biscuits . We have been going for 10 years.
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Current Affairs 1
This group met for the first time 10 years ago and started with a bang. Since then it always had a waiting list. The meetings took place in my house and I feared at times that the roof-tiles would go flying! The group members came from a variety of political, locally and national political parties.
We discussed all sorts of topics which filled the newspapers and the debates were lively to say the least. Come teatime we all calmed down and departed the best of friends. Some members researched particular subjects, but the members prefered to debate, a bit like the BBC "Question Time" program. We did learn to understand the reasons for the opposing views and to respect them.
Current Affairs 2
An opportunity to discuss and debate current issues in politics and the world.
Current Affairs 3
This is a new group.
History 1
We shall commence meetings in August.
Ron Hewstone will play some patriotic music to lift our spirits.
History 2
We usually choose a theme for the year, each of us taking a turn at researching and presenting the meeting. We have been using Zoom throughout lockdown which has worked well for us. This year we are studying archaeology and our meetings have included Skara Brae, Sutton Hoo, Commonwealth War Graves and Masada with Grimes Graves hopefully in early August. We look forward to being able to resume meetings in person including occasional lunches at local restaurants.
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History 3
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History 4
History 5
Membership of our group has remained stable over the past three years. We have managed to meet regularly on the fourth Friday during lockdown. Over the past months it has been by Zoom, however we have now started meeting on a face to face basis. Initially we agreed on an overall theme for our talks which was The Movement of People. This encouraged some interesting talks. Recently we have deviated from the theme e.g Joe Lyons Company. We have a voluntary rota for deciding on a subject and who will give the talk. We have found that having a specific topic for our talks has proved fruitful in any following discussion.
Although we are only a small group we are blessed by the high level of enthusiasm of our members.
Genealogy 1
Researching back several generations and discovering extended family provides a sense of belonging to a wider group and often the opportunity to make connections with people all over the world. Sharing a common interest through a group and being able to connect, even remotely has been helpful both with research but also being able to share a few moments with someone other than your bubble.
Genealogy 2
Our meetings take the form of a forum for sharing new discoveries and helping one another with problems that we have encountered. All the members have been researching their families for several years and the basic structure of a family tree is known as far back as the 17th or 18th centuries. Our enthusiasm for the subject often takes us on to stories of ‘twiglets’, attached to the main ancestral line. Several members have also obtained information about their wider family through the use of DNA
Genealogy 3
This is a new group.
Writing Life History
The life history writers meet to read the stories that they have written either about their own life experiences or from their family history genealogical research.
Scrabble 1
We meet on the third Monday of the month at my house and if there are enough of us we have 2 groups with a game each and play 2 games if time allows.
Scrabble 2
Our format is to meet once a month at each others’ homes. Tea and cookies and friendly chat and as many games of scrabble as we can.
Petanque
Join in with the Petanque Wallingford club players at The Sports Park on a Tuesday morning and learn how to play!
Birdwatching 1
Birdwatching 1 is a friendly enthusiastic group of Birders, some of whom are very knowledgeable and others who wish to become more expert. We travel to various Bird Reserves for half or whole day visits depending on the distance involved. These trips usually involve a fair amount of walking. In normal times we would car share but this is not really possible at present. We usually start with a cuppa and break for lunch in a café. Our August meeting is when we plan the programme for the year as it’s not a good month for bird spotting. Places often visited include Keyhaven, Little Marlow, Slimbridge, Dinton pastures near Reading, College Lake near Tring and The London Wetland Centre at Barnes.
In May we usually have a 3 day trip further afield to such places as North Norfolk, Suffolk or Weymouth.
Birdwatching 2
Badminton
Cribbage
Shorter Walking
3-5 miles
Details of where to meet & what time will be emailed to group members.
Longer Walking Group
We tend to walk 8 to 10 miles at a good pace with pauses for a drink/snack and for lunch, and get back by mid-afternoon. We take a packed lunch except for our Christmas walk when we can’t resist The Bell at Aldworth. We take it in turns to lead.
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Moderate Walking 1 & 2
We do 6 - 7½ miles also at a good pace with a pause for a drink/snack, getting back about late lunchtime, so either we go home or if near a pub some of us stay for lunch and/or a drink, which is most convivial!
We reach the start of the walk by bus or by car-sharing. We take it in turns to lead.
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Moderate Walking 3
This new group will start in January 2022. We’ll do 5-7 miles at a slightly slower pace than Moderate 1 and 2, on similar terrain, so the hills won’t be less precipitous! We’ll get back about late lunchtime and can either go home or if near a pub some of us will want to stay for lunch and/or a drink, happy times!
We’ll reach the start of the walk by bus or by car-sharing. We’ll take it in turns to lead.
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Rambling
We reckon to do a walk of between 5 and 6 miles at a moderate pace (i.e. taking about 2 ½ to 3 hours ) on the third Thursday in the month starting from and finishing at a local pub for lunch!
(Dogs are not allowed on the Rambling walks)
Lunch Club
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Sunday Lunch Club
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Longer and Moderate Walks
All four walks start off at 10.00 am. Walkers are expected to take responsibility for their own safety and not put others at risk, and also to be sensibly equipped – these aren’t ambles through flat grassy parks! The terrain (and weather) is varied, a few gentle (huh!) hills, mud or rain, or even all three, not to mention stiles too high for little legs! But we enjoy magnificent scenery in our beautiful countryside.
We like members in each group to walk at least six times a year so that we get to know each other. It’s much more fun and consequently we’re a happy bunch, enjoy each other’s company, and the walks have proved very popular.
We also ask walkers to be prepared to lead walks after a while, to share the load. But we’ll offer help, support and advice so you won’t be alone. Currently it’s possible to be members of more than one walking group so let us know which ones you’d like to join.
We look forward to your company.
Long/Moderate Walks Photo Credit: John Viner