A party of 25 was warmly greeted by the Mosque Secretary, Mr Zahir Ahmed at the entrance where we were invited to remove our shoes and place them on a rack. Fortunately, they had underfloor heating!  The ladies also had to cover their hair.

We were ushered into a largish room to be seated for a general talk and question and answer session by Mr Ahmed   followed by an explanation of the 5 basic pillars of Islam, namely belief in one God and his messenger Mohamed, prayer, pilgrimage (hajj), almsgiving and fasting, from the Chief Imam.  Basic beliefs in the Old Testament, but an earlier version to the one we may be familiar with and the Koran both written in unchanging Arabic were compared to the various editions of the Bible. Apparently the Mosque caters for more than 30 different nationality groups who live or work in the Southampton area.

The mosque is named after Abu Bakr, the closest colleague to the Prophet, and they follow Sunni teachings which is the original version of the faith.

We were provided with a very acceptable lunch at a very modest price and then shown the pre-prayer washing procedure necessary to prepare the faithful for prayer.  There are separate washing facilities for men and women and the sexes also have separate prayer sessions.  The ladies were dressed all in black with flowing gowns and complete covering of head/hair.

Immediately following the washing procedure we were able to witness prayers.     The prayers were attended by men of about 16 or older and there was a fair number of young men present.  Prayers in Arabic lasted about 15/20 minutes and seemed to follow a pre-set programme.   Shortly after, the visit concluded.

Throughout the visit our hosts could not have been more welcoming or hospitable and did everything possible to make our visit both interesting and enjoyable.

Norma Bryan

Guided Tour of The Brickworks Museum Swanwick Thursday 16 May 2024

This will be a “guided tour” of The Brickworks Museum in Swanwick near Southampton ( https://thebrickworksmuseum.org/visit/) . It is the only steam driven brickworks in the UK to be Grade II listed.

This will be a self-drive trip meeting at Wickes at 09:30 on the 16^th May. This will enable people to car share reducing the number of cars travelling to the Brickworks. If you need a lift to Wickes car park let me know and that can be arranged.

The proposed timetable is the following:

• Leave Wickes 09:30
• Arrive at Swanwick Brickworks approx. 10:30
• Time available when we arrive for comfort break and orientate and make ourselves known to guide and maybe have a tea or coffee in the Café before starting the tour.
• The tour will start at 11:00 and will be fairly informal with questions being welcomed.
• After the tour there is a café available onsite with a range of light lunch options (attached is the menu)
• The site also houses the Southampton and District Transport Heritage Trust (https://thebrickworksmuseum.org/explore/steam-road-rail/) and a Penny Arcade (https://thebrickworksmuseum.org/explore/penny-arcade/) where the machines can actually be played on purchasing old pennies on site.
• The cost for the trip is £8.00.

If you wish to come on this trip, please pay £8.00 to the Anton U3A business account No: 71587986, Sort Code 40-08-28 with the reference Brickworks and your Membership No: I need to have final numbers confirmed by 30^th April 2024 as the Brickworks need notice to organise guides.

If you have any questions on this trip, please contact Kevin Barter at kevin.barter2@ntlworld.com or 07974 111551

Questers Haynes Motor Museum Guided Tour – Thursday 21^st March 2024

A small group of U3A members met up at Wickes car park at 09:00 and as previously arranged and we travelled to the Museum in Sparkford, Dorset in 3 cars arriving at about 10:15am. It was a venue that none of us had previously visited so we were all interested in what it would be like.

On arrival, just a short distance from the A303, we found a modern building clearly indicating the Haynes name above the entrance. The building had been redeveloped in 2014 to extend the facility and to provide a distinctive façade and enhanced facilities.

After coffee and a comfort break we were met by our 2 guides Stewart and Nick, who welcomed us and asked in particular what people were interested in as the collection of over 350 vehicles was too large to be completely covered during an hours tour. Specific items that were of interest to members were Jaguar and MG’s along with Morris Minors and a request to pick out cars that were “gamechangers” those that increased the take up of motoring by the wider public.

On entry to the museum there is a small exhibition about John H. Haynes who was the person who started the car collection. John Haynes had passion for building and driving racing cars and during the 1960’s when helping a friend rebuild his Austin Healey “frog eyed sprite” and finding the factory manual little help he hit upon the clever idea of creating a manual of the process of dismantling and rebuilding of the engine. From this the Haynes Publishing Group was created and went on to create car manuals for all makes of cars. John became a successful businessman and this enabled him to become a prolific collector of cars. He established the museum in Sparkford in 1985 and in 2014 an extensive redevelopment was opened to provide a large reception area, café, conference and hospitality facilities along with Haynes Workshop Services which carry out work on modern and vintage cars.

Moving on through the museum you pass through the Veteran & Vintage area with the oldest of the cars in the collection. There were some beautiful examples of early Rolls Royce’s. This leads into area for which the collection is most know the “Red Room”. John Haynes favourite car colour was red and this room has 50+ cars of all types in a similar shades of red. It makes for an impressive display.

Following this we were then shown Model T Ford the earliest assembly line-built car and a car that made motoring more affordable to the masses. The next few areas contained many cars that members were either very familiar with or had owned themselves. Thes included early Morriss, Jaguars, Anglia’s and Triumphs, a trip down memory lane.

The American section contained some enormous car from the 1960’s along with a 1931 Model J Duesenberg that was in John Haynes opinion the best car in the world.  We then saw John Haynes personal car which was a Bentley with number plate CAR 800K which looked like BOOK on the plate and was very appropriate to John.

There were sections on the Ferrari, Morris Story, Minis, Motor Sport and Williams F1 room. Outside there is a track with go karting which also doubles as an area where the car collection is driven by the team who looks after it.

The volunteers who showed us around were informative and knowledgeable and added to the day’s enjoyment. On completion of the tour we had lunch in the Café followed by a more leisurely look at the areas that interested individuals most.  At 15:00 we met up in the car park and returned to Andover.

Kevin Barter