humbling reminder at this time of remembrance. This enthralling evening ended with members chatting to Nick and family over cheese and wine wanting to know about Nick and sons’ next step, to travel back to the Ukraine to uncover their family history.
11th October 2018
October’s meeting was held in Doynton Village hall (due to building work at Dyrham). We were entertained by Pete Chaplin (a police dog handler and now author) ,with stories of his work ,with a dog named Major and many tales of his escapades whilst working on the force!
13th September 2018
As Autumn arrived we settled in to an enthralling historical evening celebrating 100 years of votes for women in 2018.
Lucienne Boyce, the esteemed author of “The Bristol Suffragettes” and speaker, shared her local knowledge of the history of the suffrage campaign in Bristol and the West Country.
Lucienne brought the story of women’s suffrage to life though the stories of The Horfield Prison 5. Through her fascinating stories of the lives of these five suffragettes we learnt more about the controversial faction of the movement who were nicknamed “Suffragettes” (by the Daily Mail) led by the inimitable Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst.
We heard how these ladies` frustration for equality for women led to their radical actions, which were often throwing stones, or setting fire to post offices! She also explained their terrible ordeals in Horfield prison as a result.
Lucienne also talked about the 50 years of tireless work by the suffragists on the road to representation. 1The suffragists were the law abiding faction of the movement; who were supported by local family the Blathwayts;
12th April 2018
Spring had arrived at last, as the hall was filled with the scent of hyacinths and colours of spring flowers! Members arrived armed with baskets of greenery from their gardens and even from local supermarkets! Christine, our speaker and florist, does a lot of floral arrangements for Dyrham Park. She showed us how to create a beautiful hand held bouquet out of spring flowers.
Christine taught us that daffodils should be kept on their own in vases, as their sap affects other flowers.
Christine talked about the different qualities of flowers. She taught us the important use of same colours in an arrangement and also foliage to create height and how it was used before using oasis. Christine informed us that bridal bouquets have gone full circle from formal/casual/ back to formal. Some posies were good enough for a bride!
The evening ended at 8.40pm.
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