News Sheet S U M M E R 2 0 2 1
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ESSEX FEDERATION NEWS SHEET S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 • Two Victorias • Design around the house • Watching the detectives • Ancient Greece • Ellen Willmott - the forgotten gardener ... and much more WALKS APPLICATION FORM INSIDE FROM THE CHAIR CONTENTS: ’m sitting here with the patio doors open and the sun pouring WEA Eastern Region in. It really feels like life is improving at last. Hopefully, June will Chairman’s Letter _________________3 Essex Federation bring normality although I’m sure, like me, many of you will still Summer 2021 I WEA Who’s Who_________________4 feel nervous about venturing out too far. I miss my trips to London, Federation Chair: visiting Galleries, museums and going to the theatre. However, fin- Billericay Branch: Joan Black gers crossed that is exactly what will happen very soon. In the mean- - Memories and More_______________5 time, we have organised two walks in Thaxted and Sudbury for Sep- - British Design 1850-1950__________6 Federation Secretary: tember. Please look for details at the back of the EF News. - The Rise of Detective Fever_________8 Lesley Naish We recently held two zoom lectures on ‘Plants that Shaped the - Herstory______________________11 [email protected] - Victoria Grandmother of Europe____14 World’ and Grinling Gibbons. Both were well supported, and we - Victoria’s Children - Episode 1_____18 EF News Sheet Editor: have one further lecture in June about the ways in which cinema has - Local and Family History_________20 Andrew Aitken brought the work of Charles Dickens to the screen. - The Lady of Warley Place_________22 Zoom courses, while not for everyone, have broadened our hori- - Friendship Tea__________________26 Send copy for the next edition to: zons. The ability to access courses on subjects not generally available [email protected] in our region, has offered endless opportunities. It has been interest- Chelmsford Branch: - Book Review __________________28 Essex Federation Website: www. ing to chat to course members from all over the UK, even if only to wea-essex.org.uk swap weather details! In fact, the zoom courses have been so success- Rayleigh Branch: ful that 39,175 enrolments have taken place over the last year. More - The Rise of Detective Fever (2)_____29 WEA Eastern Regional Office: than any other educational organisation. WEA has really stepped up 27/28 Bridge Street Cambridge to the plate. Zoom courses will continue but we are determined that Writtle Branch: CB2 1 UJ. face-to-face courses will resume in September, subject to successful - Greek Tragedy__________________31 Tel: 01223 417320 Health and Safety inspections of all premises. Colchester Branch: Email: [email protected] I recently joined the WEA awards evening, on zoom. WEA - Plants that Shaped the World_______33 received the most nominations ever this year. The winners were all The WEA is a charity registered in inspiring and well deserved. I must mention that we had a winner Tiptree Branch: England and Wales in Essex. Margaret Kirk from Billericay won the award for Student - Art in East Anglia______________35 (No. 1112775) and in Scotland (No. Community Contribution. Margaret gave a lot of support to her lo- SCO39329) Norman Buildings in Essex: ________37 cal members, especially assisting them to access zoom. Kate Jewell, a The News Sheet is mainly a very popular tutor, was runner-up in the WEA Tutor Support award. For Your Diary: __________________42 record of completed courses, Well done to all the winners. partly to give readers an idea Finally, please do encourage all your members to access the Essex Walks Registration Form___________43 of what they might like. Federation website, where lots of information about courses, events We welcome essays from mem- etc can be found. Mike Wall and Anne Mossman have done an ex- bers on subjects they think will be of interest to others. cellent job in updating and improving the site. Joan Black 2 3 WEA Who’s Who BILLERICAY MEMORIES As a current member of the Billericay Branch of WEA who feels supported and touched by the presence of this organisation during the pan- demic, I began to reminisce during one of the informal zoom tea party chats. Some 40 years ago, as a young mum, newly moved to Billericay, I knew no one. I remember musing about having ‘evening classes during the day’. I discovered to my delight that WEA offered classes in the morning and provided a crèche, Simon Parkinson is the CEO and General Secretary of the WEA, all in the Reading Rooms. the leading adult education charity. The crèche was in the large room where we Simon joined the WEA from Co-operative College where he was meet now. The class was in the small room at the Principal and CEO for 4 years and previously worked for 19 years front. We met weekly, coffee flasks in hand, for at the Royal Mencap Society, including as Director of Education, lectures and discussions on sociology. Learning and Work. We made friends, the children made friends Passionate about education and its ability to empower and inspire, and we remain friends to this day. Simon believes that through working together, individuals can have a hugely positive impact on their own lives and the wider commu- AND TODAY …….. nity. I would also like to say how friendly and Simon is involved in a range of external networks including inclusive the Billericay Branch is, particularly Co-operative Council Innovation Network, where he is vice chair being led and spearheaded by you and the team. of the Values & Principles Committee and an advisor to the Execu- Thank you for a brilliant job. tive Oversight Committee. He is currently a commissioner on the Greater Manchester Co-operative Commission and is a trustee of Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice Eleanor Growing up in Salford, Simon attended both Salford University and Warwick University where he gained a Masters degree in Public Administration. 4 5 One Day Spring Term Course - March 2021 We covered so many subjects British Design 1850 – 1950 that there is definitely scope for Tutor: Rosanna Eckersley future courses. In fact, there were so many aspects of the course that could be focused on: Clarice Cliff, Architecture, Bridal Traditions, DESIGN IN A DAY the V&A Collections, designers’ lives, researching the people in a osanna Eckersley’s British Design 1850-1950 day photograph … the list is endless. course on Saturday 20th March Fortunately, we can pursue 2021 was excellent and totally en- our own research into the many gaging – the day went by so fast! subject areas, and we were given RSo many aspects of design were covered in book recommendations and a range from iconic pottery to house design. ideas of where to visit when The discussion around the items was great, and this awful lockdown ends and Rosanna asked pertinent questions. She places reopen. was encouraging and we heard attendees’ Thank you. It was interesting, The people in Victorian opinions as to function and form. enjoyable and totally absorbing. wedding pictures rarely look happy. Perhaps the What was particularly good about the need to hold a pose trumped everything else. course was that at- Course Student: Susie Flanders Like her output or not, Clarice tendees were able to Cliff’s designs are certainly participate; to show, distinctive. Pricey, too. The A great day, very well spent, inspirational and and proudly share their ‘Melon’ design vase below beautifully interactive. Rosanna brought Brit- might set you back a four own memories, photo- ish Design to life in an excellently crafted figure sum. graphs and items. way … I must do more research on Christopher Looking at wed- From the fighters and bombers Dresser. Thank you Rosanna. ding dress styles was of the RAF, to the functional styling of Utility furniture (chest Course Student: Christine Townley-Wakelin so interesting – to see of drawers/dressing table, above), how the styles had rarely has Britain valued design I have nothing to add, the above comments com- evolved and changed and designers as much as during pletely reflect how I felt about the day. over 100 years was World War 2. It wouldn’t last. Course Student: Sharon Walsh fascinating. We In the early 1950s, Terence Con- saw Bridal Suits ran’s innovations were initially met with a sea of indifference. Billericay Committee Comment - ‘Zooming’ for Courses may not for women mar- be everyone’s preferred option. However using the technology in rying during the war years, and I was able our own home brilliantly and sensitively managed by our tutor, to show my parents’ (white) wedding pho- Rosanna was a real bonus. We were all able as invited to ‘show and tographs in her book, My Story As I Remember tell’. A wonderfully engaging course in the best WEA fashion. It. 6 7 The Rise of Detective Fever spector Jack Whicher. He had been Tutor: Margaret Mills involved in the Bermondsey Hor- 8-Week course (Zoom) ror, helping to convict the guilty parties. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, an inquest had taken WATCHING THE DETECTIVES place and the body was buried. We considered Whicher’s e were delighted to welcome back Margaret Mills, investigations, his dealings with whose gripping course took us into the murky Wiltshire detectives, and sub- world of crime in days past. As is now the norm, sequent court hearings, in the this was via zoom. Perhaps as well - the course was context of what were then Wfull, with local students joined by others across the UK. modern policing ideas, the The focus was on two prominent Victorian cases, in the context differences in language and of the creation of the police force and of the detective department in interpretation in 1860, and the latter part of the 19th century.