APPLE and ELM BLOSSOM TIME

The apple is in the foreground but the light green behind is Elm in flower (not yet leaf). Dare we hope it will continue to defy the beetle which killed off the majority of these beautiful trees.












MUMBLES MOSTLY JAZZ and BLUES FESTIVAL
Who would have been aware of music let alone an important new departure for Mumbles and Swansea. We walked along the sea front from West Cross on Sunday and saw hardly any sign of such an event. The one poster tied to a signpost in the square did acknowledge the festival with pictures of some of the main attractions, but absolutely nothing gave a schedule of four days of concerts, not even the time, location, price and where to buy tickets. Nor was there any sound of music or any sense of festival, though there were times when it sounded like the venue of a motorbike rally. Tickets and details it appeared were available from the Tourist Office, but the Tourist Office is closed on Sundays.

Yet we already had tickets for the festival marquee, purchased earlier from Jazzlands in Swansea, to one of the most enjoyable concerts we have ever attended, everyone we spoke to seemed of the same mind. Jazz is the one arts idiom in which Swansea has shone during my forty years here, this concert was amazing.

Tina May sang beautifully with a style reminiscent of Cleo Lane. Tina stage managed the event so joyfully that she got the very best from her supporting four piece band, mostly interweaving her singing with solos from all the instrumentalists and the drummer Dave Owm. They were improvising on well known standards up to Duke Ellington's time.

Like her tenor saxophonist Mornington Locket is a top British jazz star and nothing surpassed the duet between her voice and his sax towards the end of the concert, passing by even her duet with bassist Alun Vaughan which showed off her low register, plus songs with conventional accompaniment from Dave Cottle on the keyboards - a skill I have never heard from him before. The Dave Cottle trio (keyboards, bass guitar and drums) are the backbone of weekly Jazzlands concerts, and they emphasised how lucky we are to have them here in Swansea.

It made up for the disappointment of the Saturday evening concert in the Ostreme Hall, when Laurence Cottle, who featured in this months Jazz UK magazine, backed Mornington Locket and excellent front line guitarist Paul Stacey. They were let down by a poor sound system in the Ostreme Hall, where even the magnificent bass voice of Jazzlands announcer Berry Ray was unrecognisable. Laurence's bass was scarcely evident, contrast the excellent sound for Alun Vaughan the following day in the marquee.

OUTDOOR THEATRE at ST FAGANS
Marjorie Vanston as usual has organised tickets and buses for groups to attend firstly The Gondoliers and a second day for King Lear. Having taken the bookings and paid in advance for the party she is now collecting £20 from those who signed up, which covers coach and entrance tickets.

CREATIVE WRITING 1
Jill Govier's new group have now transferred to Hazel Court and meet the 4th Monday morning of the month in the Exercise room. She is looking to consolidate this group and would welcome additional support. A non-U3A Art painting group normally share the Crafts and Hobbies room with U3A Italian on the 4th Monday.

POLITICS and CITIZENSHIP
The second session on 'Contacts with Europe' will be held at 2pm in The West Cross Community Centre on Tuesday 12 May. Gabrielle Suff will lead the discussion. The topic is very timely for those who, like me, are confused about the issues and importantly need to decide which party to vote for in June's Election of the European Parliament. The Credit Crunch and the resulting world recession has highlighted the scale of global interaction. International cooperation is vital in the modern world - what better place to start than Europe. You disagree, then come and argue your point in a well mannered forum.

This is a group with a large and keen membership but one which would benefit from the injection of some new blood. Come, I think you will find the discussion stimulating - I did.

The AGM
Is just around the corner and the committee are calling for nominations for Officers and Committee members. This year there has been a supportive influx of new members, who number about 20% of the total membership of 688, it would be wonderful to see some encouraged to take a more formal role. There are three vacancies on the committee, but all posts are up for election.

VOLUNTEER HELPERS required.
Maybe you have specific IT skills like Desk Top Publishing, Web Site Design, Relational Data Base Design, or are prepared to help maintain the website. Maybe you would be willing to help in less specialist ways like preparing the content for newsletters, stuffing envelopes ready for posting, or help with social events. In all cases please make yourself known to me or any other member of the committee.

THE CHRONICLE
Publication has been put back since posting will now be with the request for membership renewal at the end of August, which seems more appropriate than original plan of rushing it out for the AGM. In consequence the last date for contributions has been put back to 30 June. Please submit articles to

derrick.jenkins@ntlworld.com

or by conventional mail to
Derrick Jenkins
122 Belgrave Road
Gorseinon
SA4 6RB

OUTING TO WELLS on 8 JULY
Organised by Barbara Garnham, the committee member responsible for Outings. The cost will be £11, but make your own arrangements for lunch. Until the coach leaves Wells the time will be entirely your own to visit the cathedral, market, or any way you choose. The coach will return after the nominal lunch break and stop at the Clark's Outlet in Street, where there will be an opportunity for shopping.

To book a place please contact Barbara Garnham on 773072 after 6pm
or Mo Ellard on 363465

NARBERTH U3A JAZZ DAY 20 MAY

Featuring New Orleans Jazz study plus performance by the Ken Colyer New Orleans Heritage Band.
Cost is £14, including lunch, coffee and tea at The Nant-Y- Ffin Hotel, Llandissilio. If you wish to attend please contact Margaret Massey on 205028 who I feel sure will also try to arrange group travel by car. This is the final call for this event.

SUNDAY LUNCH?
With our 50th wedding anniversary coming up we have been looking around for possible venues for a small family gathering. In the course of which we were advised to try out The Smugglers Haunt Restaurant at Port Eynon which is run by no less than three young chefs. That advice came from my daughter but she got it from a friend whose mother turns out to be the wife of Steve Johnson (French Tutor). Anyway it was good advice though we finally opted for Welcome to Town in Llanrhidian, for its restaurant rather than gastro-pub ambience.

A beautifully cooked set lunch at the Smuggler's Haunt is £10 for two courses or £12.95 for three. In place of which there is a choice of fresh local fish on the blackboard outside, in fact they specialise in using local ingredients. The meal I chose was from simple, cheap ingredients but all beautifully cooked with subtle flavours, freshly scrambled Gower eggs with baked red peppers and herbs (it's been added to our weekend breakfast menu), then a risotto of sherry, spring onion and ginger, and finally lemon posset, in fact all three deserts offered were outstanding. Between the three of us we sampled 75% of the whole lunch menu and only Joan's choice of rump steak was found wanting - as an avid red meat eater that would normally be my choice of main course, but I thought it was better avoided at the price. I normally drink red wine with anything, but thank goodness on this occasion I went for the subtler taste of white wine or I would have swamped the delicious cooking. Highly recommended, they offer a more traditional set menu at a slightly higher price for Sunday Lunch, and of course serve evening meals.

We intended to take visitors yesterday (the Tuesday after Bank Holiday Monday), but found they were unexpectedly closed due to staff shortage, so phone first on 391257.