The North West Region of U3As

Myerscough College, Bilsborrow, just off the A6 between Preston and Garstang, is a most attractive rural venue offering excellent facilities on a large campus. There are extensive gardens with a garden centre open to the public, a 9-hole golf course and leisure complex.

Accommodation is in modern single en suite rooms with a shared kitchen. The residential blocks are situated adjacent to a car park but are a 200 metre walk from the dining room, lecture theatre and study rooms. The latter are very flexible and are well equipped with facilities for presentations. Although there is some walking involved between the different areas wheelchair access is available throughout the site.
                                                                                             Golf and Accommodation blocks

The school will start with registration from 10.30 to
11am on Tuesday 26th April and run until 4pm on
the 28th. In addition to the daytime courses there
will be evening activities including a walk, social
evening and presentation on ‘The Halle and Me’
by a former member of the orchestra who plays
the cello to illustrate her talk.






Lecture room with study group


The all inclusive cost for full board, morning
and afternoon refreshments and the study
courses will be £185 (except for golf which
will require a supplement and will cost a
total of £215). Day participants can attend
with lunch & dinner included at reduced rates.


Most courses have limits on the number of participants and allocation will be on a first come first served basis. Some courses are almost full so act quickly!



The following courses will be offered:-

Archaeology – The course will explore the archaeology of Britain from the early Neolithic to the later Bronze Age. It will be suitable for both beginners and those with some knowledge of the period. The evidence of early settlements and burials will be summarised by discussing excavations in various parts of Britain, including Wiltshire, Orkney and Dartmoor. We shall build further on this by looking at detailed aspects of life, trade and warfare in prehistoric times. The emergence of complex social networks around the working of bronze and gold will be discussed.
Tutor Carol Allen

Astronomy – Very much for beginners but will include modern techniques and discoveries about how the universe developed. Designed for those with little knowledge of science. All that is needed is a wish to explore the enormous amount of knowledge the space age has given us about the huge extent of the universe, its structure and its development.
Tutors John Ellison, Tony Kelly, Derek Melluish

Creative Writing – Let’s get writing! Lost for ideas? Our lives provide material for fiction – plots, characters, settings, dialogue. Suitably disguised, they can become short stories or even novels. Come and experiment – borrow from other’s life experiences as well as your own. We will work in small groups and alone, with ample time to write, gain feedback and read aloud. Bring your own writing material and any books you have found useful.
Tutor Maggie Smith


Geology – The Lake District is a glacial-eroded anticline with intensely folded rocks of Ordovician/Silurian age in the centre, surrounded by flat-lying Carboniferous limestones and Permo-Triassic sandstones. We shall concentrate on the eastern edge of the National Park in the Penrith-Shap area to investigate the forces and processes which formed the slates north of Kendal, the Shap granites, the unconformity beneath the limestones at Shap Wells and the red, desert sandstones near Penrith. A field trip will be supported by practical indoor sessions using rock and mineral specimens and geological maps to build up a geological history of the Penrith-Shap area. `
Tutor Chris Arkwright

Looking at Pictures –  This will be an extended workshop examining the contributions of biography, history and theory to the appreciation of paintings. It is hoped to include a visit to Manchester City Art Gallery. No previous experience will be assumed but all will be welcome.
Tutor Meg Shaw

The Victorians – To many Victorians the benevolent God of earlier ages had gone, and nature seemed “red in tooth and claw”. As our toiling masses seemed just as poor and ignorant and desperate as the French, was a Revolution possible? We will look at 2 or 3 writers to see how they reacted to these and other problems.
Tutor Trevor Roberts




Please return this form giving your preferred course (first and second choices) together with
a non refundable deposit cheque for £30 payable to ‘NW Region of U3As’. To be sent to
Kathleen Mercier, 9 Pipers Court, Caroline Place, PRENTON CH43 1TR
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE

NAME                                                                         U3A

ADDRESS




POST CODE

TELEPHONE NUMBER                                              E MAIL ADDRESS

Will you be Resident?
              or  Day only?

Accommodation preference - Ground Floor
                                                   First Floor/ Second Floor

Special dietary requirements

COURSE
                 1^ST choice
                 2^ND choice

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION











Bedding is supplied by the College but residents need to bring their own towels