Weston Turville U3A Newsletter – March 2015

Wt Church gateSuperstitions surrounding solar eclipses still exist today. Many people believe that solar eclipses can be a dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn child. In India, some people fast during a solar eclipse because they believe that any food cooked during the time will be poisonous, and in Italy it is believed that flowers planted during a solar eclipse are more colourful than those planted at other times of the year. A solar eclipse can only happen at new moon, when the moon directly blocks sight of the sun from certain places in the world. It can take place up to five times a year, though according to Nasa, only 25 years in the past 5,000 have had five solar eclipses. In the last 500 years

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Weston Turville U3A Newsletter – January 2014

 Wt Church gateI was going to wish you all a Happy New Year but it seems so long ago that I have forgotten all about it! January is also running out so I thought I would tell you about February instead… Did you know that Candlemas is celebrated on 2nd February? This is because it is based on an ancient festival which celebrates the midpoint of winter: it being halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. There is evidently some weather lore which surrounds this day which states that if the weather is good we have bad weather ahead for February and March and if it is bad

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