February 2026

A Change is as Good as a Rest!

That phrase, in the title, comes from a poem widely published in newspapers and journals around 1857, the first two verses of which are reproduced below. The poem, which the unkind might call doggerel, goes on in similar vein for another nine verses – I'm sure you get the gist. The name of the author isn't known. However, these first verses read:

´Ye votaries of sofas and beds Ye sloths who exertion detest,

This maxim I wish to drive into your heads A change is as good as a rest.

Ye children of Fashion and Wealth, With countless indulgences blest,

Remember that indolence preyeth on health A change is as good as a rest.'

With all the Epstein news at the moment I guess that a lot of people in high places may want to reword that doggerel to: ‘A change is to escape from arrest!' (Excuse the topical pun!)

Anyway, moving swiftly on, in our case it was a ‘CHANGE' of venue to the Middle Hall at the United Reformed Church away from our usual Museum home. The reason for the change being that the heating there had failed, necessitating us to unfortunately postpone the January meeting to February. We felt we had a duty of care to our members not to give them hyperthermia after the (Christmas) wrapping-up necessary for our December meeting. However, the heating is now repaired and for the ‘REST' of the year we shall be back at the Museum.

At our February meeting we had a good turnout with 23 of us hearing about: ‘When Amy met Frances; the lives of Amy Krauss and Frances Hodgkins, their circle of LBGTQ+ artists and those others who supported and sponsored Frances Hodgkins.

These women and their circle have been the subject of a great deal of research over almost 25 years by Mike Allen, who gave the presentation. That depth of research may explain why this was a longer presentation than usual with a refreshment break after an hour and then continuing after the break for another 30 minutes or so. Even so most members stayed the course and seemed interested in the content asking many interesting questions afterwards. This broke our normal format for the meetings where we usually have an hour on the main subject followed by 30 minutes of: ‘I Collect….'.

Frances Hodgkins leaving her cottage, Corfe Castle 1945

Potting Barn and Redlane Cottages, Corfe Castle. Home of Amy Krauss and where Frances Hodgkins often stayed. (Photo Mike Allen 2OO2)

we will be ‘putting the boot in' when we look at the history design and youth sub-culture prop that is the Dr Martens Boot, in a presentation titled: ‘Dr Martens: German Roots, English Boots. The story that led to Rebellious self–expression.´ The story starts in Germany at the end of World War 2 and a skiing accident that led to the invention and design of a new type of sole, the growth of the concept and the licensing of a product to be designed and made in England in the area famous for boot making, Northamptonshire; and where even the Northampton Town football team is called ‘The Cobblers'. Let's hope that the talk transcend that name and not also be - well again you get the gist!

After the break one of our members, Sheila Warner will be taking centre stage for the ‘I Collect….' spot. Sheila will be telling us about her collection of not snuff boxes, but snuff bottles. These items, diminutive in scale, made sometimes of precious materials, and often highly decorated, have become an important art form and are now collected. This should be an interesting presentation with examples from her collection on display.

If you want to come along to our group then we still have space and you will be made very welcome. If you want more information about our past and future programme then please contact us by email at deliaallen2@aol.com If you are a u3a Member attending one of the other groups but have a particular interest in any aspect of Art, Architecture or Design or an interesting collection within these topics then maybe you could come along to a meeting and give your own presentation to the group?

One final point, we try to post regularly about our group, and group subject-related matters, to the u3a Burnham Facebook page. If you haven't visited yet then please do so and maybe give us a ‘like'.

Delia and Mike Allen

December 2025

C is for Christmas and also Caravaggio!

We extended a warm welcome to our members on Friday 19th December at the monthly meeting of the Group with our attendance fee waived as a Christmas gift. Well, a warmish welcome, because there is still no heating in the Burnham Museum Cole (nicknamed ‘Cold') Gallery. Luckily it was a sunny morning and the solar gain, along with two small heaters and 18 bodies, helped to get the room to a reasonable temperature. The members declined to start with a work-out session suggested as a warm-up and instead chose to keep their coats on (and hats, gloves and scarves). Let's hope the Museum gets the heating issues sorted in time for our January meeting otherwise, if the weather turns too cold, we may have to cancel or find a temporary alternative venue. We'll let you know what's happening in advance by email and on also Facebook.

We were a little down on numbers attending at only 18 due, mostly due to seasonal duties taking precedence. The meeting took the usual format with the main talk first. In this instance we explored ‘An A-Z of Christmas Art and Design' with those attending trying to guess who the Christmas-related art work was by. We kicked off with a couple of Art related Christmas Cracker jokes which for your entertainment are reproduced here. And a look at a real Christmas artist – well in name if nothing else; William Ernest Christmas 1863 – 1918, an Australian artist who painted all around the world, eventually dying in Hawaii.

There was a deathly silence when it came to Z. But we learned that Z was for Oksana Zbrutska, a Ukrainian artist who with her father, Andrii Zbrutskyi has fled Ukraine and, as part of the Nightingale project, are living and working in Canada. And yes, the surnames are spelt correctly. It seems that in Ukraine some names have differing masculine and feminine forms meaning people in the same family will be inflected with different suffixes to the surname hence Zbrutska and Zbrutski. This Ukrainian artist delivered a fitting end to the presentation in the form of a quote from Gerhard Richter, the German visual artist, who wrote: “Art is the highest form of hope”.

After the refreshment break, of mince pies, sausage rolls etc. with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, we played a game of Basic, Better and Best the idea courtesy of The Antiques Roadshow. Sadly though, there were no prizes just the Christmas Joy of taking part!

All being well, next month on 16th January, we shall look at ‘When Amy met Frances'. This is a talk that came about because of a chance purchase by the Allens in 1992, of a vase potted by Amy Krauss. Research for an article and an exhibition led to an interesting story of how she met and became a lifelong friend of Frances Hodgkins, the New Zealand artist. These two women and the circle they moved in make for an interesting look at a group of mid- 20thcentury artists sharing a common ‘secret'. Although, perhaps "Love in a Cold Climate – the story of Nancy Mitford” may be more suitable given the Cole(d) Gallery issues! But we're saving that one for a rainy day!

As for the ‘I collect…' session after refreshments, it will likely be Glass – and Dartington Glass and the designs of Frank Thrower but we are still working on that one.

Happy New Year and hopefully see you in January!

Delia and Mike Allen

November 2025

Meetings Past and Meetings Yet to Come

Our November meeting could well have been about ‘Surviving an Arctic Winter' as the heating in the Burnham Museum Lower Gallery had been condemned. However, despite the Museum's kind attempt to solve the problem with electric heaters, this led to problems of its own. It seemed that the electric supply to the kitchen and hall are on a shared circuit and the load from heaters and kettles combined just kept tripping the fuses. There not being time to work out the loads (Andy did this during the meeting) the only answer was to turn off the heaters to avoid crashing the laptop and projector being used for the presentation. But, equally as important was to ensure that the kettles worked for hot drinks at the break. We discovered also that the Lower Gallery actually has a name – the ‘Cole' Gallery - and we wondered if the ‘e' in Cole should be replaced with ‘d' for the foreseeable future? The Museum team are on the case and we have been promised that our December meeting maybe a little warmer!

Seeing our prewarned (or should that be pre-warmed') audience wearing a range of ‘winter warmer garments' led nicely into our presentation which was being given by one of our members, Jan Moreland. The title was A History of Weaving – 98,000BCE to November 21st 2025. Jan's knowledge, presentation skills and audience engagement were superb and the audience became so engrossed that the low temperature became incidental. Jan took us through the development of textile from the very beginning and we looked at how the craft of weaving of textile can be so artistic that it has to be considered art. After the obligatory refreshment break, Jan continued to wow the audience with a tour through some of her collection of weaving related items. However, hold the front page, despite her vast collection she hasn't yet got a spinning wheel.

We hoped that Jan's presentation would inspire other members to share their artistic and design knowledge and it seems that this has happened as two other members have now stepped forward and volunteered to give presentations in the New Year on Chagall and also on Silk.

But for the time being next December and January the group leader will be returning to centre stage. The 19th December meeting will be titled ‘An A – Z of Christmas in Art and Design and, rather than just listening, the members will be encouraged to guess the artist from the letter of the alphabet and an example of their Christmas contribution. As it will be almost Christmas the refreshment break will reflect the season with some festive treats and maybe a glass of something too. We shan't have a ‘I Collect…' but maybe a simple ‘Basic, Better, Best' competition similar to the Antiques Roadshow. This should give us more time for a social chat before we say goodbye to 2025 programme. A programme in which we have invited into the room, amongst others, Arne Jacobsen, Gerard Hoffnung, Grayson Perry and Joseph Emberton. We have examined collections of Scandinavian Glass, Harmony Kingdom Figures, Enamel Jewellery, Ruskin Brooches, Briglin Pottery and yes, even Toast- racks. The Toast-racks inspired a short presentation about how a toast rack figured in one member's family history research. I think we can say that our meetings have been diverse

and eclectic. Delia can confirm that she has made around 300 cups of tea and coffee; and from a random survey has deduced that chocolate bourbon is the most popular biscuit!

In January we shall kick off 2026 with ‘When Amy met Frances' - the story of Amy Krauss and Frances Hodgkins their lives and works. These maybe less familiar names to many but their roles in 20th Century pottery and Modernism was quite considerable. Our interest in them came about by the chance purchase of a pot around 1991. The research into the maker took us on a journey around Dorset and an memorable interview with the great potter Mary Spencer-Watson who personally knew both of these women. The links widened to include Dorothy Selby and Elsie Barling and a realisation that this network of unmarried women artists held its own story.

If you haven't tried our group as yet, and you are interested in ‘this kind of thing' then do come along and join us, you will be made very welcome – you may even be able to give us your own presentation!

However, all that remains to be written now is Merry Christmas and we hope that you are your own architect of an artistic and well-designed New Year.

Delia and Mike Allen

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In this month’s newsletter we thought that rather than dwell on the past, we would look forward to the future. Yes, you’ve got it, no report on the last meeting (what’s gone is gone

- although we will mention that it was about Liberty of London and then Carn Pottery), but a heads-up on the more exciting aspect of what’s to come.

At each meeting we have asked if any of the other members would like to present the main feature. Well, this coming month, November, one of our members, Jan Moreland has taken up the baton and is giving us a presentation titled ‘A Brief History of Weaving – 98,000BCE up to 21st November 2025!’ Yes 100,000 years in 60 minutes, quite a task! Jan also collects items associated with weaving and will be showing us and telling us about these after the refreshment break. If you have any weaving items in your collections then maybe bring them along.

We hope that seeing another member giving the presentation will encourage others to share knowledge about their interests, whether it be Art, Architecture or Design, in the form of a talk and presentation. And we can expand these terms, especially ART, to encompass not only the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in any visual form such as painting or sculpture, but also to other forms of creative artistic activity such as music, dance and even literature.

If as a member you haven’t visited our group yet, please do, you will be made very welcome. We are getting around 30 to our meetings but can probably welcome up to 50 – provided there are enough cups in the Museum’s kitchen and somebody gives a hand with the refreshments.

Our next meeting is on Friday 21st November at 10.30 in the Lower Gallery at the Museum. Maybe see you there. If not then our Christmas meeting on 19th December will be ‘An A-Z of Christmas Art and Design’. And the ‘I collect …’spot, well that’s still a work in progress so keep an eye on our Burnham u3a Facebook page for an update.

-Delia and Mike Allen

September 2025

Not Just Cutlery …

This was the title of our main presentation at the September meeting when 30 of our members looked at the life and work of two British designers; Roger Welch and David Mellor. Contemporaries in so many ways, we heard that these two young men forged their careers through the optimism of 1950s Post War Britain. Although their career-paths developed in slightly different ways, Mellor mostly industrial design and Welch mostly domestic, they each designed ranges of cutlery. And it was for this that the Council of Industrial Design brought them together in 1956 in a unique experiment for the two designers to jointly design and manufacture a fresh range of cutlery promoting British Industry. The concept was that Walker Hall, for whom Mellor designed, would manufacture and Old Hall, for whom Welch designed, would finish and prepare for sale. The ranges were an immediate success although the public were confused as to why identical stainless-steel cutlery should be called Spring by Walker Hall and Campden by Old Hall!

Today, their respective sons, Rupert Welch and Corin Mellor, both excellent designers in their own right, are each carrying on their fathers' businesses after their deaths, such that

today they remain cutting edge, successful design companies keeping the names of Welch and Mellor alive.

After the refreshment break with Chocolate Bourbon biscuits back by popular demand, pottery took centre stage in the form of the studio potter Roger Cockram. In a short video, Roger helped to explain the inspiration behind his pottery style, designs and glazes which theme on water, the sea and marine life. He had also replied to an email to the Group Leader in which he further elaborated on his career path and informed that now, in his 50th year of potting, he would be retiring next May and selling the contents of his studio.

We also had a discussion about possibly starting our meetings a little earlier but as no consensus could be reached, for the time being they will remain at a 10.30am start.

So, with that in mind, at 10.30 on 17th October we shall meet to look at ‘The Shop that Docked in the High Street'. The story of Arthur Liberty and his store Liberty of London and how he promoted the Aesthetic Movement in Art during the last half of the nineteenth century and up until his death in 1917. His store was branded as ‘more than a store' as it became synonymous with the finest art in Britain and the best textiles from around the world showcasing the unique Liberty style.

The ‘I Collect‘, spot after the break, will feature Carn Pottery by John Beusmans. Carn is instantly recognisable but often seen as the poor relation to Troika.

Come along and join us, you will be very welcome.

Delia and Mike Allen

July 2025

‘The Art World's Wife'

"The day after I married John I ran away. I ran up Exhibition Road and grabbed a bus; I got my hand on the thing and one foot on the … thing. John came up behind me and pulled me off and dragged me all the way back again. I kept calling help but nobody bothered”.

Adding she was terrified of her husband: "We all were,” she said. "I used to tell lies so that I didn't get beaten up.”

This was the moving testament that 25 u3a members heard at the Art, Architecture and Design Group during the July meeting. It was from a clip of Jean Cooke being interviewed about her life with John Bratby. He was a sex-obsessed alcoholic bully who painted psychedelic portraits of the Sixties' biggest stars and, in a portrait of the Royal Family, gave the Queen a black eye! He was also, and it is difficult to admit, one of the UKs greatest modern painters. He told Jean: ‘You belong to me,' and made her sign her work Jean Bratby until she started selling her work when she had to revert to signing Jean Cooke.

Bratby was just one of the male artists that featured in the illustrated talk; The Art World´s Wife; Six Women Overshadowed by the Other Half. When Jean eventually managed to break free of Bratby she went on to become a truly accomplished and recognised artist in her own right.

But only five of the women discussed were ‘the wife', the sixth was Gwen John ‘the sister' of Augustus John. She is now considered to be an even bigger talent than her brother who like the husbands, overshadowed her but perhaps not intentionally. Gwen John was almost uncredited in her own lifetime during which she never had a solo exhibition.

Each of these women were talked about for ten minutes at the meeting but we realised there was so much more about them that we had yet to discover. Consequently, we intend to revisit some of them at a later meeting and expand on their life and achievements.

After the break, in the ‘I Collect…' segment the subject was Enamel Jewellery where, in an illustrated talk, we looked at jewellery from as well as the UK the east, from America, Mexico and from Scandinavia looking at the different styles and techniques. The collection discussed is extensive but from all the different enamelling techniques we centred on Cloisonne, Champleve; Basse Taille, Guilloche, Cold Painted Enamel and Painted and Fired. The speaker had prepared a framed selection of works to pass around showing the different techniques as well as another box showing examples of two UK manufacturers - Fish Enterprises and Sea Gems.

Next month, August, we are looking at Joseph Emberton, Britain's foremost modernist architect and the inspiration behind and the architect of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Clubhouse. A man who has proved rather difficult to research outside of his professional life.

After the break in the ‘I Collect…' segment it will be ‘I Collect Stainless Steel Design (subgroup) Toast Racks'. I hear some of you say ‘Really?' Please don't switch off and please bear with, because the design of the humble toast rack has been tackled during the 18th Century by top silversmiths, by Christopher Dresser in the 19th Century and just about every other top designer including Robert Welch and Arne Jacobsen in the 20th Century. Stainless Steel began to take over from plated metals around about 1911 when it was first discovered - although experiments to develop a non-corrosive metal had begun in the late 18th Century.

It was however only a few years after 1911 that toast racks were designed in the new material.

Hope to see you at the next meeting on Friday 15th August at 10.30am in the Lower Gallery of Burnham Museum.

One last thing - on the issue of the start time, and because many of our members have to leave early for other meetings and commitments on Friday afternoons, at the next meeting we shall take a poll to see if members would prefer a 10am start rather than 10.30.

That's all folks.

Delia and Mike Allen

June 2025

Reminder: after a break for the Art Trail, we shall be back again on Friday 18^th July with two more subjects.  Our main illustrated talk will be The Art World’s Wife: Seven Women Artists Overshadowed by ‘the Other Half’.  For the second part, ‘I Collect…”, we shall look at a collection of enamel jewellery including early Adie and Lovekin, Monet brooches, Japanese cloisonne and hippy bo-ho pieces from the ‘60s.  If you have any enamel jewellery, and are coming to the meeting, bring it along and we can discuss the date, design and style.

Delia and Mike Allen

May 2025

A is for Art…!

M may be for May – but not in the A-Z of Artists that was the main topic for the May meeting of the Art, Architecture and Design Group. In fact, M was for Piet Mondrian, and writing about ‘fact’ the subject of each Letter in the alphabet came with five facts. The most amazing fact came with Z for Zoffany. He is the only Royal Academician to date that was also a cannibal! This came about when he was shipwrecked and, without food, a lottery was held to establish which of the ship’s crew, they would all tuck into. But, as one of our members rather amusingly contributed: “The only RA cannibal? Well as far as we know!”

After the refreshment break, in our “I Collect …” spot Sue Holmes introduced us to her collection of Harmony Kingdom figures and ‘treasure jests’. These are small resin figurines and boxes made with a recipe that imitates ivory that are produced from hand-carved plasticine originals sculpted by Peter Calvesbert in his garden-shed studio.

June will see the return of the Burnham Art Trail (always the last week in June) and those of you who follow this will know that the Lower Gallery at the Burnham Museum is taken over to exhibit work by several of the artists taking part. The gallery is also housing work by students at the Ormiston Rivers Academy who have been inspired by Fauvism and the Expressionists. As the set-up is done the week before the exhibition opens, there will be no meeting of the Art, Architecture and Design Group during June but we are happy to stand down as the whole town of Burnham becomes a canvas!

However, that isn’t the case for July when we shall be back again on the third Friday as usual, this time Friday 18th July with two more subjects. It became obvious as we were working our way through the A-Z that the art world was male-dominated and that often their equally talented wives (and in the case of Gwen John, their sister) were often left in the dark. Artists such as Tirzah Garwod, Lee Krasner and Jo Hopper, each talented artists in their own right, received little recognition whilst their male partners were alive. So, with this in mind, and after a request from one of our members, our main illustrated talk in July will be The Art World’s Wife: Seven Women Artisits Overshadowed by ‘the Other Half’. There will be a little artistic licence here (see what we did - artistic?) because as previously mentioned, it was Gwen John’s brother, Augustus John who overshadowed.

For the second part ‘I Collect…”, we shall look at a collection of enamel jewellery including early Adie and Lovekin, Monet brooches, Japanese cloisonne and hippy bo-ho pieces from the ‘60s. If you have any enamel jewellery, and are coming to the meeting, bring it along and we can discuss the date, design and style.

On a different note, you may have found the Burnham on Crouch u3a Facebook Page which has been relaunched; if not then have a look because our intention is to use this to post regularly as a means of communication to a wider audience and to create general interest in the activities of all of the local u3a groups. So, please hop onto our page and ‘Follow’ us and give the posts a ‘Like’.

So, remember no meeting in June (but enjoy the Art Trail) and back again on Friday 18th July for two more topics. Hope to welcome you there.

Delia and Mike Allen

April 2025

Sir Grayson Perry was the subject for the substantive part of the April meeting of this group. Delia and I put together this talk on the complex development of Sir Grayson Perry from his unhappy childhood, through his early journey with cross dressing, and his developing success on the London art scene in the 80s and 90s. This build-up to his winning the Turner Prize in 2003 he has called ‘the Pre Therapy Years’. In his own words he was: ‘…the first transvestite potter to ever win the prize.’ In context he was in fact the first ‘potter’ to win the prize, the art world not really recognising pottery as art, rather as a craft.

From that point his success blossomed being honoured with a CBE in 2013 and his Knighthood in 2023. In true Grayson style he attended both ceremonies dressed as his alter ego, Claire. The fact that he is ‘an Essex lad’ with connection locally to Bickenacre, South Woodham Ferrers and also Broomfield and Great Bardfield added to the interest. Grayson has made the point that he is: ‘…just a bloke in a dress.’ He uses cross-dressing as a way to explore his own masculinity and as a form of artistic expression, often appearing in public as ‘Claire’, and this allows him to explore themes of gender, identity, and social class through a different lens, often in a way that is both humorous and provocative. There is still a lot more to tell about Sir Grayson Perry and his later work and it was welcomed when we said that there will be a part two to this talk possibly later in the year.

After a shortened tea break in order to allow us to get to the u3a Group Leaders’ Meeting later on, we continued our series of “I Collect…” and this time it was pepper mills or pepper grinders as they are also known. There was some amazement that we collect pepper mills and have almost 300 examples, and I suppose on the face of it this may seem an odd thing to collect. But there are others in this area of the collecting world, although surprisingly no books on general pepper mill collecting. The pepper mill as we know it today has its roots in 1874 when Peugeot invented the first pepper mill. Peugeot have been making them ever since, and they are reckoned to be the best you can buy. We looked at various other makes, Cole and Mason, Peter Piper, David Mason and Dansk amongst others. We looked at examples ranging from simple wooden mills to exotic solid silver, and at how design, materials and size all play their part. It was difficult to work out which to talk about and which example to show but we displayed 14 each with different qualities in functionality and design. One of our members also brought along two examples of his own – whilst he said: ‘I’m not a collector,’ we pointed out that two of anything, in our opinion is a collection. Then we remembered we have two children! His point was that although you can pay substantial sums for Pepper Mills (and the Dansk Mills do fetch into the thousands of pounds now) his favourite and most used is an Ikea clear mill costing a few pounds –as he said: “It is functional.”

This group is still growing, even today two members dipped their toes for the first time; at the moment we can accommodate most members who want to come along. Although we have 50 names on our register, usually only around 26 attend. We could be limited eventually by the fire regs certificate for the room and this is something that I need to establish from the museum, but at the moment all are welcome.

Next month’s meeting is only 3 weeks away so we’re offering an A to Z of Art for the main subject. And we are thrilled that for the ‘I Collect…’one of our members, Sue Holmes is going to share with us her passion for collecting Harmony-Kingdom models, figurines and tiles.

That meeting is 15th May, the third Friday in May. Whilst talking dates, please be aware that we have no meeting in June due to the venue, the Museum Lower Gallery, setting up and then hosting the Art Trail Exhibition.

So next month A is for Abstract, or maybe Art Deco or even Andy Warhol – or would that be W – who knows? Why not come along and find out for yourself?

Delia and Mike Allen

March 2025

TIME MARCHES ON….!

Unbelievably, our March meeting was already the seventh of this newly formed group. As you may know it is a relaunch of the Architecture Group, but with a broader subject base which, as well as Architecture, encompasses Art and Design. The three subjects are often now the Department name at Universities and Colleges, so we believe this rename makes good sense. The broader base also enables a much wider and diverse range of subjects. We now average 23 members attending each meeting and this last month we peaked at 27. Our email circulation list has 47 names on it.

Arthur Romney Green

After our short refreshment break in the ‘I collect….’ half hour section we looked at Mid-20th Century Glass design and in particular the Scandinavian glass designers Per Lutken, Oiva Toika, Timo Sarpeneva and Erik Hoglund. Two of our members brought in examples of glass. One piece of which was by Ulrica Hydman Vallien, the designer artist wife of Bertil Vallien and quite a rare piece. The other two as yet remain unidentified – but we are working on it.

Bird by Oiva Toika

We usually meet on the third Friday of the month but next month, April, because of Bank Holiday Good Friday falling on the third Friday we have moved our meeting back to the fourth Friday which will be Friday 25th April. Please make a note if you are intending to come along.

Advance warning too; the June meeting (which should be on Friday 20th) clashes with the Art Trail set-up in Lower Gallery where we meet at the Museum, so we will have to rethink that meeting date. We’ll discuss how to get around this at the April meeting. Which brings us nicely to a conclusion by informing you that at the next meeting we shall be looking at Essex born and bred artist, Sir Grayson Perry. And in the ‘I Collect…’ section the subject will be Pepper Mills/Grinders and yes, we do collect them having almost 300 examples to talk about - something not to be ‘sneezed’ at!

We hope to see you at our next meeting and, if you haven’t already tried us – please do come along.

Delia and Mike Allen

February 2025

Our February meeting saw 18 members attending, a few less than at previous meetings where we have had over 20 members present. The most so far has been 26 and our register now lists 40 members who have been at least once. Consequently, we are managing to pay for our room hire and refreshment and have accumulated a healthy balance which we can use to perhaps buy-in a speaker or have an outing. We are not going to rush into spending the balance because to date we have only had 6 monthly meetings and we need to establish that there is an ongoing interest in the subjects and at the moment, our illustrated presentation.

As it takes me around 50 – 60 hours to research and prepare ‘slides’ for the monthly talks anybody wishing to ‘have a go’ will be welcomed with open arms from me! I have the projector and if anybody wants to ‘have a go’ but is unsure, I will be happy to assist.

At the last meeting our subjects were ‘The Genius that is Gerald Hoffnung’ and for the ‘I Collect’ spot we looked at the subset of Briglin Pottery from our extensive studio pottery collection.

Hoffnung died in 1959, from a brain haemorrhage; he was only 34 years old. Yet, in his short lifetime, he had become a real celebrity, long before the unearned celebrity status created by influencers, reality TV and social media. He had earned his celebrity status illustrating books, writing his own best-selling books, speaking on the radio and creating cartoons for many of the publications of the day including the much read at that time, The Radio Times.

His talk to the Oxford Union when he recounted ‘The Bricklayer’s Lament’ is legendary. I recounted that we had the privilege of working with his widow Annette Hoffnung, in 1992 when we organised the Christchurch Red House Museum Lecture. I was able to present some of her material at our u3a meeting as well as playing Hoffnung film clips and some sound bites from the public domain. Annette died in 2018 having survived her husband for almost 60 years during which time she travelled the world keeping his memory and genius alive in lectures, talks and orchestral performance. I hope she would have approved of our efforts in doing the same.

As many of us at the meeting are in our 70s, or older, several members remembered Hoffnung from their younger days and several said that it brought back good memories of listening to his broadcasts on the radio or his voice and music on vinyl.

After the break we looked at Briglin Pottery and its 42-years history between 1948 when it started out in a cramped basement in Baker Street in London and 1990 when it finally doused the kilns in Crawford Street having moved to much larger premises. During that time, it had produced many pots initially in white clay, and in the later 50s mostly in a form of high fired red terra cotta creating a deep red body. We looked at some examples of both the standard wares and the individual studio pieces with some members realising that they had pieces themselves. Briglin will never be rare nor worth a fortune, at its height it was producing almost 4,000 pieces each week, but it is extremely well made and the story behind it makes it well worth collecting.

Next month we shall be meeting on Friday 21st March when for the main feature we shall look at the Arts and Crafts movement in the early 20thC and in particular the work of ‘Renaissance Man’, Arthur ‘Romney’ Green. ARG, as he is known, was a major part of our life at one time when I provided the majority of research for his biography by Susan Elkin, Life to the Lees; and arranged for a blue plaque to commemorate his life and his workshop. For the supporting feature we are looking at ‘I Collect Glass’ – particularly Scandinavian glass where we shall look at the work of four glass artists/designers – which four we haven’t decided yet but will almost certainly include Oiva Toika and Nanny Still!

We always email a reminder of the following month’s meeting to those members who have attended, provided we have your email address. If you read this and either have attended and haven’t had reminders OR would like to attend then please either email us at deliaallen2@aol.com with your email address and we will include you. Or phone us on our landline 01621 784955 where, if we don’t answer, you can leave us amessage telling us your email address.

Hope to see you in March.

Oh, and just an early reminder, because our April meeting, (usually meetings are the third Friday in the month) will clash with Good Friday, we shall move it back a week to the following week, Friday 25th April.

Delia & Mike Allen

January 2025

Our first meeting of the new year got off to a frosty start with the gas heating in the Lower Gallery of the Museum refusing to initially fire up. However, it did fire eventually and the meeting warmed up with 24 of us, mostly with coats still on, in the Lower Gallery.

This was the fifth meeting of the group which, I suppose, means that it is not now a ‘new group’ and should more correctly be referred to as the most recently formed group. And it seems now that we have arrived at the established format of an hour on a related subject, tea break and then about 30 minutes on ‘I Collect…’. At the moment I am giving both talks but I hope as we progress other members may feel confident enough to take the helm.

There is certainly a lot of talent amongst our members who have diverse interests in art, design, making and collecting.

We kicked off with an illustrated talk about Arne Jacobsen (1902 – 1971). He is recognised as one of Denmark’s most significant architects and designers. His large and diverse body of work has left profound imprints on Scandinavian and international design and architectural history. Almost all of his buildings survive and are as fresh and modern today as they were when they were first conceived. His designs of chairs, lamps, textiles and other furnishings are still produced even today and were mostly designed to complete the architectural package he was delivering. We learnt what was a new word for most of us, Gesamtkunstwerk. A German word meaning a total work of art – the complete package as delivered by Jacobsen. This is what he strived for in the tradition of William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and probably his major influence after Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus.

We presented several items of Jacobsen’s stainless steel Cylinda Line which we have. This was designed for Stelton, the company started by Peter Holmblad, Jacobsen’s stepson and a range which, over 50 years later, is still going strong. And for a brief exposure, Christine Keeler was on the screen sitting in what was always regarded as a Jacobsen Series 7 chair. The famous or should that be infamous photograph by Lewis Morley. Except it wasn’t a series 7 chair, but a copy.

One of the last things that Jacobsen was quoted saying was: ‘Architecture tends to consume everything else. It has become one’s entire life.’ The talk on Jacobsen ended but his story couldn’t really end because there can be no end to Jacobsen who lives on in his designs and architecture.

After a welcome refreshment break and chat we reconvened with the subject ‘I Collect Ruskins…’, ceramic cabochons produced by William Howson Taylor’s Ruskin Pottery in Smethwick between the late 19th century and 1935. These were used in craft work, all forms of jewellery but particularly brooches. The unique quality of the Ruskin is its colour and glaze, the formulae for which Taylor had destroyed before his death, their uniqueness going to the grave with him. Many examples from our extensive collection were passed around and were generally agreed, I believe, to be things of beauty. We have many collections and are still adding as I explained in the talk with the Ruskins being increased by two only this

last week. But I explained that as Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983) the American philosopher and social critic wrote:” You can never really have enough of what you don’t really need.”

The subjects of our February meeting will be, first ‘The Genius that is Hoffnung’. Gerard Hoffnung (1925 – 1959) was an artist, a musician, writer and cartoonist best known for his contributions to Punch Magazine and his Music Festivals. This will be followed by, in the second segment, ‘I Collect Briglin’. A small London based pottery operating between 1948 and 1990 and which thrived in the swinging 60s and which Delia and I seem to have enough of to call ‘a collection’.

With this in mind please note our next meeting, and perhaps join us. It will be on Friday 21st February at 10.30am in the Burnham Museum Lower Gallery – it’s worth £2 for the tea, biscuits and company even without the talk!

Mike & Delia Allen

December 2024

Our December meeting was well attended despite the Christmas Holiday being almost upon us and the work that it entailed for those of us who were entertaining rather than being entertained. We had apologies from some previous attendees as well as welcoming some new members sounding out the group. A total of 22 of us paid our £2 sub to cover room hire and refreshments.

Given the Government’s interest in Greyfield Sites, we remained kind of topical for the first hour with our opening talk which was about Brownfield Sites. Well, not really the Government’s definition of a brownfield site, we were looking at the life of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and the over 170 sites that are accredited as being his landscape work, either partly of totally – tongue in cheek we can generically call these ‘Brownfield Sites’. We also talked about something that is not always realised, and that is the work that Brown also did as an architect; designing the building that would sit in his constructed landscape. So good was his landscape design that often he is not credited because what has evolved often appears to be God’s own work in creating the natural landscape. The term used to describe his work is ‘Aesthetic Minimalism’. We finished this first hour looking at how Delia and I had embarked on trying to find Brown’s work of 250 years ago at High Cliff on the Hampshire Cliffs (now Dorset) , a mansion that was swallowed by the sea but that had left some clues in the grounds of the ‘replacement’ that is Highcliffe Castle, a castle designed by William Donthorn for Lord Stuart de Rothesay sitting in some of the grounds which survived the demise of Lord Bute’s High Cliff.

After our refreshment break with seasonal mince pies our last 40 minutes followed the now regular theme ‘I Collect…’. At this meeting it was: ‘I Collect Christmas – Sort of!’ A look at how Christmas themed items can sneak into regular art and design collections such as glass, paintings and Scandinavian and Russian folk art. We concluded with a continuation of this collecting theme with a brief presentation titled: ‘More than One Way to Crack a Nut!’

In this we looked at how nutcrackers work (pump compression, screw compression, pressure fracture and hammer fracture) and how this engineering is translated into design. From Scandinavian teak embellishment, through animals such as dogs, crocodiles and squirrels and then the representation of characters such as Harold Lloyd and robots. One member brought along to ‘show and tell’ a cast iron dog shaped nutcracker that had been in her family for generations. It was an 1896 patent but was probably made in the 1920s/30s. Despite my keenness to add it to my collection it went home with the member!!

I hope that those attending are still enjoying the meetings and will join us again next time, Friday 17th January when, for the first hour, I will give an illustrated talk on Arne Jacobsen (1902 – 1971), a Danish Architect, Designer and Artist who for over five decades dominated Danish design through innovation and what is termed ‘Aesthetic Functionalism’. Jacobsen is probably somebody not always recognised by name, but almost certainly recognised through his designs, many of which are still produced years after their initial conception. ‘I collect…’ will be a look at what are generically called ‘Ruskins’ – a craft made pewter brooch which usually has a pottery cabochon made by the Ruskin factory at their centre. The

Ruskin kilns ceased operation in 1933. In addition, we will look at the derivatives spawned by these items. And yes, these are something else that we collect!

We hope to see you again on Friday 17th January at 10.30 in the Lower Gallery at the Museum. In any case we wish you each and every one, a happy new year.

Mike & Delia Allen

Friday 15th November: A Potter – but neither Beatrix nor Harry!

Friday 15th November saw the third meeting of our Art, Architecture and Design Group which, once again, was well attended with some new faces amongst our audience. We have seen over 20 members at each meeting which, apart from being encouraging, means that to date we are self-financing and building a small reserve which may enable us to buy-in a speaker or possibly subsidise a trip out next year.

After three meetings we seem to be developing an acceptable format of around an hour for our main topic which at the moment takes the form of a talk by myself with slides; the talk is aimed to be interactive with any questions asked during the talk as well as a ‘question and answer’ session afterwards. This is followed by a 20 minute or so refreshment break before a more informal, shorter session.

Our main subject in November was the potter Bernard Leach, the father of British Studio Pottery. We looked at his life, how he changed studio pottery and brought Japanese and Eastern craft to England, whilst taking English ideas and style to the East. One of our group, John Cassels, brought along a beautiful Studio Pottery plate made by one of his late friends and shared its story. This type of involvement by our members is what we are aiming to develop.

Our shorter session following refreshments is going to be a regular: ‘I Collect…’ slot. This is also currently being led by me but I am hoping that, as we develop the group, other

members may feel confident enough to share the story of their collections so that we can all learn. I am hoping for the same with the main topic and other members eventually giving a talk. In November I talked about some of our paintings or more correctly wall art and showed examples of discoveries of various kinds including an interesting coincidence. We have a painting by the artist Leonard Renton who I gave a retrospective exhibition back in Dorset where we lived prior to moving to Burnham. The coincidence is that he was a friend of the sculptor Geoffrey Wickham, when they were both members of the Islington Art Circle and of course, Geoffrey Wickham lived here in Burnham.

Our next meeting is planned to be, for the main session, a look at the life and work of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, Landscape Designer and Architect. Back in 2014-2016 I was involved in The Capability Brown Tercentenary Celebrations and went in search of Brown in the gardens and grounds of Highcliffe Castle. Grounds that he had designed in the 18th Century for Lord Bute but that with development and ‘Councilification’ everybody thought had vanished. As the meeting is our December meeting, we shall spend some of our small reserve funds on mince pies for the break before we look at some ’Christmas Collectables’ and discover that there is ‘more than one way to crack a nut.’

That next meeting is Friday 20th December at 10.30am at the lower Gallery, Burnham Museum. It can be a bit chilly in there so, if you are coming, please wear something warm but, in any case if you come along, you will receive a warm welcome.

Friday 18th October was murder…

The second meeting of our new group that I am facilitating was attended by 26 u3a members, up by four on the inaugural meeting. I gave an illustrated talk about Francis Mawson Rattenbury, a Yorkshire born Architect who left England in 1892, aged just 25. After touring Europe, he settled in Victoria, Canada where his winning design for the Legislative Buildings there beat 66 other architects and earned him a fortune as well as an assured career as Canada’s ‘Foremost Architect’. His wealth, fame and career, for various reasons, faltered after WW1. His personal life was a tragedy and after a scandalous affair with a twice previously married 26 years old woman, 30 years younger than himself whom he married, he returned to England in much reduced financial circumstances. His wife’s sexual involvement with their 18-years old handyman chauffer, eventually led to his murder and her suicide leaving the 18 years old handyman facing the death sentence.

The story was turned into a play by Terrance Rattigan, the last that he wrote before his death, titled ‘Cause Célèbre’ which by an extremely strange coincidence was broadcast on the evening of Saturday 19th, the day after our meeting.

Following the welcomed refreshment break we discussed design and functionality of can and bottle openers in a discussion instigated and led by Terry Cassels, one of our group. The conclusion was probably if the initial idea is functional why alter it? I said this reflected what artist and sculptor, Eric Gill and arts and craft worker, Arthur Romney Green had battled over in a series of letters between them. Gill believed that the design was more important than the functionality whereas Green argued that functionally must come first. I think we probably all agreed that functionality is king, but I was remiss, as I was unsure of how to bring the meeting to a consensus - something I will work on for the next meeting.

The structure of these meetings is still a work in progress. The talk will remain the anchor at the next meeting which is on November 15th and will be ‘Bernard Leach, the Father of British Studio Pottery and his influence on Other British Potters.’ The question I will ask, drawing on the content of the talk, will be if the pot is wonky and flawed is it a failure?

It was decided by the group that after the refreshment break, Delia and I should perhaps share and talk about one of our many collections in a trial spot called ‘I COLLECT…’ If this works out, then this is part of the meeting that can be led by other members. The collection to be discussed will be… well no, I shan’t tell you; come along and find out for yourself! If you do then I hope you will enjoy this new group as much as I do.

…the next meeting will be murder…

Friday 20th  September saw the launch of a new u3a group - Art, Architecture and Design - in the Lower Gallery at Burnham Museum. The 19 members who came along went away with the full knowledge of what a ‘Clack’ is. The item, designed by Helmut Dolph, mystified all those present, with the exception of myself and my wife Delia – we facilitated the group and don’t count because we had inside information!

The new group almost got off to a bad start though when, after standing outside for what seemed like an age waiting for somebody to open up and after a few frantic ‘phone calls the gallery where the meeting was to be held remained locked. It was extremely fortuitous that one of the members happened, purely by chance, to have a key. Although I’d kept calm on the surface, in my mind I was rehearsing various scenarios to explain the cancellation of our very first meeting!

Once unlocked though and inside, and after introductions and expressions of expectations from those present, it fell to me to give an illustrated presentation on the A to Z of Architecture – but expanding on each letter to include not only the architectural style, but how art and design relate. I was, of course, merely the facilitator and there was a good deal of welcome interaction from those present. As I explained, although I’m interested in the arts I’m by no means an expert and it was clear that some in the room had deeper knowledge, which they generously shared.

On this occasion, there were no takers in response to my asking whether anyone wished to do the presentation at the next meeting.  I offered a selection of possible talks from my own repertoire: surprisingly, rather than pottery, art or pure architecture the subject chosen was ‘The Rattenbury Murder’.

Francis Mawson Rattenbury was an architect, and a man so out of balance with himself, it ultimately destroyed him. Credited with the skyline of British Columbia, on his return to England, he was murdered by his wife’s lover – or was he? You may find out if you come to our next meeting.

Initially at each meeting, unless developments alter the format, there will be a presentation and then a ‘show and tell’ session where members bring along an item and share what it means to them, and with others examine the design and/ or function. As well as that invitation to bring along random items to the October meeting, one member asked if everybody could also bring along can and jar opening devices to examine and then a discussion can follow on the best and worst designs.

The meeting seemed successful, with some encouraging comments from many of those present. The next meeting will be on Friday October 18th 10.30 at the Burnham Museum Lower Gallery. To cover refreshments and the £25 hall hire fee, £2 each will be collected from all present.

Oh, and one last thing, in case you are wondering what a Clack is, it’s a device designed in 1999 that took the world by storm and the top off boiled eggs!

-Mike Allen