WEA Summer program

An excellent line-up for the summer - perfect for the Garden of England!

Hurry to book your places - contact details below.

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LITERATURE

Poetry of Seasons and Gardens

Tutor: Ron Dodge - 10-week course

Green thoughts in green shades or seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness. We have these and other less well known but fine poetry in this course.

Thursdays 10 am – 12 noon from 24.04.2014, fee £79.00

Meeting in North Room, Christ Church, William St. Herne Bay, CT6 5NR.

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LOCAL HISTORY

Kentish Men and Men of Kent

Tutor: Deborah Cole - 5-week course

We will look at archaeology, place names, literature, places and connections, administrative areas and new research in linguistics and genetics. Does a pattern emerge of cultural regions, and what about their origins?

Tuesdays 2.00 - 4.00 pm, from 22.04.2014, fee £39.50

Meeting in Beach House, Beach Street, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5PT

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GARDENS

The Story of the English Garden

Tutor: Sally Berkeley - 5-week course    

The English Garden has evolved over two millennia. What did various invaders – Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Normans – bring to our gardens?

Thursdays – 2.00 to 4.00 pm, from 24.04.2014, fee £39.50

Meeting in Beach House, Beach Street, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5PT

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For further information or to book a place on a course please contact:

Graham Woolnough - 01843 822971 - HerneBayWEA@gmail.com

Eye-popping variety at the WEA

What does lifelong learning mean for Herne Bay?

Quite a lot, really. And I am not referring to the resources of Canterbury, or Faversham, or even Whitstable. I am referring to adult learners in Herne Bay finding within their own town the possibility to go on learning, discovering, exploring throughout their lives.

I wish every form of learning throughout adulthood represented in Herne Bay would advertise itself during that week in every medium. Many people would be surprised at the wealth and variety of resources available. I, personally, would like to concentrate on the courses offered in Herne Bay by the WEA.

The WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) was founded in 1903, to support the educational needs of working people who could not access further or higher education. It is at present the major voluntary adult education organisation in Britain and provides courses for all kinds of adults, without losing sight of its original mission.

It operates at local level through its regional offices and volunteer-led branches. The Herne Bay branch has been in existence for 30 years and has been providing an eye-popping variety of courses over the years.

As all the courses are held during the day, most of Herne Bay students, though not all, are retired, but still enthusiastic about learning. And they can do it without the time and effort required to go to another town, a very real advantage as you get older.

The tutors are fully qualified and they need to be, as adult learners are there to learn, and if you cannot hold their attention, they do not come back!

The programmes are chosen in consultation between tutors and students. and the courses are more like seminars, guided conversations, trips of discovery that leave you with a smile and eager for more. And no exams at the end.

To all this, add the therapeutic effect of keeping your brain active, expressing your thoughts and listening to others, making contact with others in a very civilised way.

As always, these courses will depend on sufficient attendance, so please come if you can, tell your friends, support your local Herne Bay branch of the WEA.

What other small town would offer such an array of courses, given locally by such good tutors?

One-day courses at St Andrew’s Church Hall. Hampton Pier Avenue. Fee: £20 each including refreshments and light lunch.

Marcel Duchamp.
Saturday July 13th, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Sibelius.
Saturday November 23rd, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Myth and Fantasy in Western Art.
Saturday January 25th, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Poems old and new about the Age of Chivalry, Myth and Legend.
Saturday March 22nd, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Ten week courses at the North Room, Christ Church, William Street. Fee: £79 each.

Joseph Haydn.
Starting Tuesday September 24th, 10am to noon

The Brontes.
Starting Thursday September 26th, 10am to noon

Oscar Wilde.
Starting Tuesday January 14th, 10am to noon

Music from and Portugal.
Starting Tuesday January 14th, 10am to noon

Poetry of Seasons and Gardens.
Starting Thursday April 24th, 10am to noon

Five-week courses at Beach House, Beach Street. Fee: £39.50 each.

Kentish Man and Men of Kent.
Starting Tuesday April 22nd, 10am to noon

The Story of the English Garden.
Starting Thursday April 24th, 10am to noon

To book a course, or for more information click HERE.

HB Times 2nd May 2013

Ancient Persia: The Royal Road - Xerxes to Darius

WEA Herne Bay branch Day School

Ancient Persia: The Royal Road - Xerxes to Darius

Persia (ancient Iran) occupies an important place among the great civilisations of the ancient world. Civilisation began early in Iran and at this day school we will not only explore the society of the times but also investigate the amazing legacy of Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius.

• Tutor: Christine Humber
• When: Saturday 18th May 2013, 10:30am to 3:30pm
• Where: St Andrew's Church Hall, Hampton Pier Avenue, Herne Bay
• Fee: £20 (includes lunch and refreshments)
• Contact: Phil Rose (Branch Secretary), by email at HerneBayWEA@gmail.com or by phone on 01227 365 942

Oxus chariot model, Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC

WEA Poetry Course

Day school: Hughes and Heaney - A Poetic relationship

A Dayschool suitable for all those interested in poetry and its appreciation. We shall explore some poetic connections between the works of Hughes and Heaney, the friendship, influences and differences between the two poets.

Venue: St Andrew's Church Hall, Hampton Pier Avenue, Herne Bay CT6 8DY

Tutor: Jane Ireson

Time: Saturday 23rd March 2013, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Fee: £20.00 (Cost includes morning coffee, light lunch and afternoon tea. Please book in advance.)

This course is currently enrolling. For further information, or to book your place, please contact:

Phil Rose, WEA Branch Secretary

• 56 Beacon Hill CT6 6JN
• 01227 365942
• HerneBayWEA@gmail.com

Adult Education - what do you think?

The WEA has teamed up with Canterbury Christ Church University to run a research project to find out what the residents of Herne Bay (and other parts of Kent) think about adult education... Here's what they say:

In addition to running classes in the Town through your well-established local WEA Branch, the Workers’ Educational Association and Canterbury Christ Church University are working together on a research project in Herne Bay.

The project was made possible by a local bequest in light of the work of the local WEA Branch. The research will help develop our future programme and how best meet the revealed needs from the findings.

Over the next few months, we would like to talk to residents of Herne Bay to find out more about their views on adult learning and the opportunities they want to see in their community.

If you are interested in taking part please contact Mrs J Mason on Tel: 07710 569685.

Have your say as your views matter!

New Courses from the WEA

The splendid people at the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) have just announced their new season of adult education courses - have a look and see what tickles your fancy.

There's Rachmaninov - Man and Music, E.M. Forster, Faces and Places, Music of the Renaissance, 19th Century ‘Terror’ Literature, and Laureate Poets and their Poetry.

Rachmaninov - Man and Music

• Music Tutor: Michael Chandler
• 10 meetings, on Tuesdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 25th September 2012
• Fee: £79

E.M. Forster

• Literature Tutor: Sarah Anthony 
• 7 meetings, on Thursdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 27th September 2012
• Fee: £55.30

Faces and Places 

• Art Tutor: Caroline Finucane 
• 7 meetings, on Wednesdays from 2pm-4pm, starting 10th October 2012 
• Fee: £55.30 

Music of the Renaissance  

• Music Tutor: Michael Chandler
• 10 meetings, on Tuesdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 8th January 2013
• Fee: £79.00 

19th Century ‘Terror’ Literature  

• Literature Tutor: Sarah Anthony
• 7 meetings, on Thursdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 10th January 2013
• Fee: £55.30 

Laureate Poets and their Poetry  

• Literature Tutor: Ron Dodge 
• 7 meetings, on Tuesdays from 10am-12 noon, starting 17th April 2013
• Fee: £55.30

Venue: North Room, Christ Church, William Street, Herne Bay. Contact the WEA Herne Bay branch for more details: HerneBayWEA@gmail.com

WEA Course: Egyptology

Ancient Egyptian religion has always been a source of mystery and wonder to Westerners. Why was a special god chosen to represent the Nile? What was the relationship between the gods?

ln this day school we will explore the racy, sometimes amusing stories associated with the gods which ultimately shaped, sustained and directed Egyptian culture in every conceivable way.

Course: Egyptology Day School

Tutor: Christine Humber

Timetable: Saturday 19th May 2012, 10.30 am to 3.30 pm

Location: St. Andrew’s Church Hall, Hampton Pier Avenue, Herne Bay

Fee: £15.00 - payable in advance please - includes lunch and refreshments. Prior booking essential.

Contact: Jenny Bennett (01227 372281) email: Jenny_Bennett@tiscali.co.uk

Music, Art & Poetry in Herne Bay

The Herne Bay branch of the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) is starting a new season of courses.

There will be a seven week course starting 17th April - one two-hour session a week - looking at poets and poetry between the two world wars.

Tutor Ron Dodge introduces the course:

Do you like poetry? Yes? No? Think again... Hitler and German rearmament. The Spanish Civil War. Grinding poverty. Ominous noises off. Was it likely that anything poetic could come from this 'low dishonest decade'? Yet poetry is always being written however turbulent the times.

In the 1930s a new breed of politically aware poets came of age, writing about the Spanish Civil War, about the increasingly urban sprawl, about the need to take sides, sensing the havoc of the coming conflict. People like WH Auden and Louis MacNeice were inspired to some of their finest poetry in this decade.

But as well as the so-called 'pylon poets' there were some notable others. The precocious Dylan Thomas was starting to make his mark. The mature poet TS Eliot wrote some of his finest work. Yet others, seemingly disengaged from the turmoil such as AE Housman and WB Yeats at the end of their creative lives made notable contributions.

Ron Dodge will look at the background of this uneasy peace between two wars to explore how the awareness of a world falling apart led some poets of the decade to come to terms with an unpoetic age, and how others seemingly did not.

Meanwhile, Caroline Finucane will take another group through seven sessions, starting on 19th April, on British Modern Art. She has already run a one day class, on Saturday 28th January, on The Origins of Modern Art.

On the subject of poetry again, the 17th March will see a one day course, led by Jane Ireson, which will be devoted to poems on the theme of Remembering. And another day course on Egyptology will take place in May - date to be decided.

And music? Well, the music course has already started, but there will be others, so keep an eye open.

If you are interested and would like to find out more, have a look at the WEA website for dates, times, venues and fees of courses in Herne Bay, or phone 01227 372281.