Newsletter

Carlton, Gedling and District Issue 108 May 2021

Chairman’s Message Covid rules are gradually easing and from 17 May we should be able to meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors, socially distancing of course, so that gives us the opportunity to get together where possible, and for the walking and cycling groups to be together rather than split up as we have had to do previously. That is if everyone feels comfortable in doing that. I personally am looking forward to be able to sit in a pub, have a hand pulled pint of real ale and a good old chat to people I haven’t seen now for over a year. I have had my second vaccination now like a lot of you I presume, and I feel safer because of it, but until everybody who can be is vaccinated then we still have to abide by the rules. I was contacted by the Richard Herrod Centre the other day to let me know that they will not be opening this year at least, as they will continue as a vaccination centre as long as necessary, but then will have to have a deep clean and have maintenance work carried out. I contacted everyone on email regarding acceptance of a revised constitution, so can I urge you please to log on to the next special General Meeting as we need a quorum to vote on this. We will be having a speaker as usual, so please see separate article. I will be sending the link nearer the time. I emailed you all about scammers, but for those not on email you may get phone calls about Your National Health number being suspended or texts which supposedly come from the Post Office or DHL or another delivery company, please do not give out any personal details to these people as all they want to do is access your bank account and take your money. If you fallen victim to these types of calls then contact the police ‘Action Fraud’ by dialling 101.

Take care Richard

National u3a Day - Weds 2nd June Many thanks to those volunteers who dodged the showers and helped tidy the Sensory Garden on Carlton Hill in preparation for our display there on u3a Day. We hope you’ll be dropping in on the day. We could still do with some volunteers during the day to meet our visitors (including the mayor). If you can, please contact Lesley Mosley Email: [email protected] Phone: 0775 1354 654 or 0778 742 7200

http://u3asites.org.uk/carlton-gedling/home Page 1 Notices

YOUR MEMBERSHIP – May Update You will know, following emails and newsletters, that our annual membership expires on 31st May and renewal is now available; thanks to the many of you who have already re- subscribed. For this year only, the fee for current members is an amazing £5 for Full Membership (£3 for Associate Membership) in grateful appreciation of your loyalty during this difficult time. The subscription for new applications and lapsed members (ie those who did not renew last year) is, as before, a very reasonable £10 (£6.50 Associates). Please renew online by following the instructions on the membership page of our website. Payment is via our Paypal account; you need no personal Paypal account and there is no additional cost. You can renew together if you share an address on our database, but please pay separately if you are both tax payers and wish to donate Gift Aid; do please check that your Gift Aid status is correct. If online payment is impossible, please forward a cheque to me, made payable to Carlton & Gedling U3A. Confirmation of renewal is by email if available, but I will otherwise text an acknowledgement to your mobile number. Please let me know if there are any changes to your personal details (including Gift Aid status) in order that I can keep the database up-to-date. Any problems, feel free to contact me via the website, text (or phone if necessary). Your patience would be appreciated, however, due to the volume of renewals to process at this time and some new personal responsibilities which allow me less free time. Best wishes to all; we look forward to getting back to our lovely meetings as soon as possible. In the meantime, enjoy ‘Zooming’ with fellow group members, if you can!

Susan Morley Membership Secretary 42 Redland Grove, Carlton, Nottingham NG4 3EU Tel: 07960 461942

SINGING FOR PLEASURE When restrictions ease we have decided that we will only meet one Wednesday and one Friday each month, until that time we will try to arrange some Zoom Meetings.

The 1st Wednesday at NETHERFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH HALL and the 3rd FRIDAY at ST.GEORGES CENTRE, NETHERFIELD AS USUAL - JUST FOR FUN – TIMES - 10am till 11.30am Kind regards from Gwen and Allan.

The Newsletter is published by The Carlton, Gedling & District U3A. (Reg. Charity No. 1157211) Views expressed are not necessarily those of the U3A or Editor

Page 2 General Zoom Meeting 10:30 Thursday 20th May Including “Secret Wartime Britain” a talk by Colin Philpot

During the Second World War, thousands of sites across Britain were requisitioned to support the war effort. Additionally, countless others were built from scratch regardless of cost. Often the purpose of these locations was concealed, even from those living close by. Colin has compiled a fascinating collection of examples of hidden places all over the country, many of which still exist today, albeit often now used for different purposes. They include underground factories, storage sites and headquarters; spy and communication centres; interrogation and POW camps; dummy sites; research facilities for chemical and atomic weapons; treasure stores in stately homes and even royal retreats in the event of invasion. Colin's talk reveals where these sites where and examines how successfully they were kept secret.

April General Meeting Our April Zoom General Meeting was well attended and our guest speaker was Steve Dimmer. He introduced his subject , Agatha Christie, by pointing out that her books are the third most read books in the English language (after the Bible and Shakespeare), her works have been translated into 123 languages and she has sold over 4½ Billion copies! He then went on to give a detailed account of her colourful life, her books, her characters and the many actors that have successfully played them on stage,screen and television. A very interesting and entertaining talk

Please send contributions for next month’s issue by

Sunday 6th June to [email protected] Articles for the website should be sent to Graeme Bunting

Page 3 Notices

Litter – it seems to be a growing problem. Litter Either walking down your street and seeing a discarded container or driving along a motorway with plastic bags caught on the branches of trees, litter seems to be a problem that blights many public spaces. Individually many people have been aware of this for a long time, but recently it has been brought to the national conscience by pictures of parks and beaches left with vast amounts of litter after the crowds have gone. Why is litter such a problem? Partly of course it is because there is simply more of it being manufactured. Take- away outlets present their food in a large amount of packaging, which has to be disposed of somewhere. Also, it’s a question of attitudes: when you’ve finished that take-away coffee do you put the container in the bin or just drop it in the street? While a lot of people wouldn’t dream of dropping it, obviously there are others who think this is perfectly acceptable. One partial solution would be to empty over-flowing bins and clean the streets more often. Because of financial constrains on councils though, this is not at present likely to happen. Another approach could be to attempt to heighten public awareness by introducing a slogan such as the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign of the past, which tried to instil the idea into the public consciousness. This would need a government initiative, and there doesn’t seem to be any plan for this. From talking to various groups of people recently, it is apparent that there is a lot of individual concern over rubbish on our streets. It seems though there are local groups and individuals, trying to be proactive in doing something about it. This made me wonder, are there members of the U3A who would be interested in forming a group/groups to work together in rubbish clearing. My idea would be to meet in a group at a specific place, and try to clear up a small area. Which area this was could be decided upon collectively and by mutual agreement on place and date. I have contacted the council and they will provide volunteers with bags, although I’m not sure about the grabbers. It may not be a glamorous activity, but we’d probably feel better about our environment!

If you are interested you can email me at [email protected]

Christine Russell

Did you know it's now possible to recycle empty blister packs from medications and Bosch Tassimo coffee pods (Tpods). Both are via Recycling News TerraCycle who have hubs around the country with partner businesses. This is from their site:- TerraCycle have set up systems for recycling lots of previously 'hard to dispose of’ items. It’s worth having a look at their site to see the full range of items. They have partnered with Tassimo and L'OR to create a free recycling programme for Tassimo T DISCs, outer packaging, L'OR capsules, Kenco Eco Refill packs and coffee jar lids. This is through their Hub and Spoke model. We have two places locally to drop off these items - both John A Stephens branches. One is on Castle Meadow Road (drop off in a bin by the office) and the other, on Radcliffe Road beside the turn to LadyBay bridge(leave in store in a tied bag). On the TerraCycle website you can find other places depending on your location. The second recyclable, the used blister packs, are also recyclable at two local sites - the NHS pharmacy at the City Hospital (ground floor) and Lady Bay Pharmacy, on Trent Boulevard in LadyBay. In other parts of the country there are other groups involved - e.g. Superdrug branches with an on site pharmacy. Terracycle site covers lots of other things - such as the used packs from contact lenses! Well worth a look through if you are on the internet.

Links https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/ https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades/tassimo-lor

(I believe that Tassimo are begining to tackle the recycling issue themselves soon - with free bags and download able labels. That's a "watch this spot" one at the mo!)

Una Evans

Page 4 Group Reports

During lockdown we have had weekly meetings with a regular attendance of Grouchy Girls 17 or more. We enjoy serious debates and light hearted topics, share our ‘green tips’ and admire each other’s craft work. I like to think we now know each other better, feel safe to debate differing views and have become a group of friends.

Flag Waving It was pointed out that Morrisons is packaging British products in our flag to such an extent that some shoppers felt uncomfortable. Group members said they felt it was because of associating flag waving with far right extremist groups, bearing in mind they use the St. George flag. We already have the ‘red tractor’ label on an extensive range of products including meat, poultry, dairy, breakfast cereals and fruit and vegetables. It shows that products were produced and packaged in the UK. So, are these flag decorated products a subliminal pro-Brexit message or just a marketing strategy? For good reasons we thought the old slogan ‘Buy British’ could encourage us to have food that has not used up fossil fuel to travel around the world. We also felt more confident in our animal welfare standards and workers’ conditions. Some members said it was time to be more patriotic and proud of our country. It was even suggested that all food packaging should have the flag of the country it originated from so we can make informed choices. One member reminded us how successful the campaign to boycott products from South Africa was, as a protest against apartheid. We are often bamboozled by claims of ‘seasonal’ or finding that a product travelled round the globe and labelled ‘packaged in UK’. It was felt we need to produce more of our own food and thereby create employment too.

Fiddling while burns? While the biggest iceberg on our beautiful blue planet is now breaking up, NASA has awarded $2.9 billion to billionaire Elon Musk, to work on space trips to our moon and back. Shouldn’t we be cleaning up the pollution not only on our planet but floating around it instead? Is it just a space race with China or is there gain to the enterprise? $2.9 billion would go a long way to narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Shirley is in the queue to live on Mars as one day the sun will burn us up. We think she just wants to pair up with a Martian, as Mars will burn up too! Lesley wonders whether travelling to other planets could cause cross contamination as explorations on earth has done in the past. On the other hand, valuable minerals could be discovered. Some feel we should always be pushing boundaries while others feel that as the deepest parts of our oceans are unexplored we should go there first .

Was a 1% pay rise an insult to the NHS workers? We must take into account that the NHS employs 1.4 million staff with a budget of £100 billion. Our resident nurse, Sheila, back at work part-time for vaccinations, feels pay is acceptable for nurses and doctors, but other staff e.g. cleaners, who took the same risks from Covid, deserve better pay and conditions as theirs is not a vocation. The pay gap is huge. They, however, are employed by private companies. This week it has been on the news that many doctors and nurses are leaving the NHS. This is of great concern as, if they work for agencies, it is extremely expensive for the NHS to employ them. NHS staff do get some perks, for instance discounts in restaurants but maybe more incentives are needed if the country can’t afford pay increases. In Scotland all NHS workers receive a £500 bonus. As ever, the Girls have ideas; maybe a lottery to give freebies to all workers, gifts not money, or free public transport that would have the knock on effect of freeing up parking for patients. We recommend ‘This is Going to Hurt’ the diary of a junior doctor by Adam Kay as it shows that the pressure of work, not the pay, is why many doctors crack under the pressure of their workload. Plus, who wants to be treated by an exhausted junior doctor?

Continued over…

Page 5 Feeling pressured by charities? It is sad when we are put off donating by the emotional blackmail of unwanted ‘free gifts’ when we wanted our donation to go to the cause. We’d like the people in charge to realise we don’t want pens, calendars and pathetic pens. Some of us are happy to buy raffle tickets or subscribe to charity lotteries but loath the ‘chuggers’ on the street wanting you to make a monthly donation. These people are paid and we’d rather have volunteers with collection tins. Most of us realise how privileged we are compared to others and make regular payments but when giving a donation don’t want to be asked to make another regular payment. Having had little success returning charity requests through the post, one member suggest ‘return to sender-deceased’ is more effective. We are put off fund-raising when charity executives are receiving excessive salaries, surely there are vocational people who would do the job for less. Keep giving, generous u3a folk, and don’t let the *chuggers get you down! *charity muggers

Green Tips from the Grouchy Girls is a regular feature.

NO MOW MAY is such an excellent idea and one less job to do. If you like everything to look neat then just edge your lawn this month but let the clover and daisies grow for the bees. Also there are tiny bugs that the birds need now they are nesting. Jill lets the grass grow long and has wild flowers amongst that she just cuts a path through. Beautiful, and prettier than a flat green patch. Bananas and roses? Cut up your banana peel and put around your rose bush as they have 42% potassium along with nitrogen and phosphorus. Eggshells ground up and put around seedlings when you plant them out not only discourage slugs but warn you to not tread on them. As the worms take them into the soil they feed the plants as they contain calcium; particularly good for tomatoes. They reduce the acidity of your soil and aerate it and help plants have strong stems. Birds need calcium for their eggs, so crush them finely and add to bird food. Sterilize them first by leaving in the bottom of your oven when baking or with boiling water. Coffee grounds help your compost to rot down and alliums like to have them sprinkled around them and don't forget to put your tea leaves around the roses too or line your hanging baskets with teabags to retain Moisture

Maggie Martinez

Striders Walks April 2021 Walk. Three groups of 5 enjoyed a beautiful spring day for our walk this month. Fortunately the mud from earlier in the year had dried up allowing us to walk on good surfaces. Two of the groups stopped for their picnic by the river looking across the river towards Ferry Farm at Hoveringham, while the other group continued a little further and stopped for lunch at the top of the hill enjoying magnificent views across the Nottinghamshire countryside.

May 2021 Walk This month’s walk is on Thursday 27th May and is a circular walk around Lowdham. It is about 7 miles in length and is mainly on good paths with a couple of short stretches of road walking. Meet in the car park at Lowdham Village Hall at the later time of 10.00 am and bring a packed lunch. We will make every effort to make the walk as Covid secure as possible and will walk in one group of six and one larger group which is allowed under the current government rules. Please bring a face covering, hand gel, any essential first aid equipment you may need and check the email I send out nearer the time, which will outline further details. Please let me know by Monday 24th May if you intend to join us and whether you prefer to walk in a group of six or a larger group, if it is still allowed, so that we can organise the groups in advance Convenor Brian Shield

Page 6 Grumpy Old Men

Our Chairman has the hopeless task of keeping us in order. He has a collection of newspaper cuttings, but increasingly we go off at a tangent. Good-hearted banter and appalling jokes usually open the first part. Then we select a person in the public domain who does not meet our favour to be “Put on the bus”. This month the new passenger is Lex Greensill, the chum of David Cameron and a failed financier at the centre of a Downing Street lobbying scandal.

We discussed newspaper reports: ● Motorists launching appeals against the parking penalties as powers to charge motorists for removing and impounding vehicles were introduced in 1984 but were inadvertently removed due to a drafting error in 1991-and no one noticed until now. ● Potholes mean a fifth of roads need re- laying in the next five years. ● Anonymity orders issued by the special immigration appeals commission (SIAC). ● The BBC admitted it does not make programmes specifically for older audiences ● The taxpayer having to foot the bill for the post office fiasco after it was deluged with claims from former sub postmasters in the wake of the computer scandal. [Has any action been taken to recover the costs from the computer manufacturer who sold the faulty goods?]

The topics for discussion at our second meeting ranged from: ● St George, ● Water firms discharging raw effluent into Rivers. ● UK Foreign aid to China to be slashed by 95%. ● Bank frauds and scams. ● The potential shortage of Marmite. David Colyer

The birding group had its first meeting since December on the 9th April to Bestwood Country Park. The weather Birding Group was kind to us and we were all very excited to see one another let alone the birds! Unfortunately our feathered friends were keeping a low profile and while there was much bird song they kept out of sight! However a few excellent spots were made Black Cap, Chiff Chaff, Wren, Great Tits, Green Finch, Robins, Crows, Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds. The delight of the day were the Jays, several were seen chasing around in the trees and making quite a racket about it! But spot of the day went to Caroline who’s eagle eyes found a Buzzard amongst the branches frightening all the little birds into a whole host of distress calls! Walking back to the car park we heard the whooo! of an Owl across the forest but like it’s smaller friends was well hidden! All being well we will meet up on the first Friday in May and also June (which will be our last outing before September) Please get in touch re venue and time to meet up if you want to join us Contact Helen 07846079721 Helen Forrester

Page 7 Book Group Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain by Barney Norris Unfortunately, the debut novel by Barney Norris was not applauded by the Book Group members who participated in the latest Zoom meeting, despite the plaudits it received from many critics.

Set in modern day Salisbury, the story is based upon the first person accounts of five contrasting characters whose lives become connected by a chance event, reflecting the convergence of five rivers on Salisbury Plain. Norris attempts to create an individual style and form to reflect the age, social class and personality of each narrator.

Our Book Group members are generally a tolerant bunch and we like to look for positives, but the almost unanimous verdict of those at the meeting was that the book was contrived and unconvincing. The “voices” of the characters did not ring true and, overall, the themes of isolation, regret, loss and grief were felt to be depressing and repetitive. The structure of the story eventually cohered, like a jigsaw.

The writer, Barney Norris, forged his artistic career in the theatre and this novel, based on the monologues of five disparate characters, was likened to a five act play by one member of the group, perhaps reflecting the writer’s true genre.

Interestingly, feedback from some members not at the meeting suggested that they had enjoyed the book and its well crafted style, experiencing a sense of involvement with the moving personal stories of the characters. Diversity of opinion is always welcome in our responses to what we read. Maggie Doherty

Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore

We had all looked forward to this novel, Helen Dunmore’s last before her untimely death, as we have already read a number of her earlier books with relish.

Birdcage walk seemed to sit between historical novel and thriller, reflecting as it did upon life in during the French Revolution through the opposing voices of the political radicals of the main character’s family and her husband’s more moderate views. Entwined with this were the undercurrents of his past and the potential danger to Lizzie increasing in intensity as the story unfolded.

Helen Dunmore writes beautifully, rich in the description of the everyday aspects of the times and the view of the varying relationships that Lizzie held with each of the other characters. Some of the scenes were vivid, especially the visit to the vaults and her treacherous journey to the clearing at the top of the gorge. However, the consensus view of the group was that we felt disappointed by the novel, which opened with a scene that bore only a tentative connection to the story, but according to her afterword, was important to her:

“I wanted to write about people whose voices have not echoed through time and whose struggles and passions have been hidden from history…. I am writing about the ways in which the individual vanishes from historical record…… women’s lives in particular remain largely unrecorded.” Whilst we felt that she remained true to this we considered her long and repetitive descriptions of the details of daily routines was costly to the quality of the novel, seeming to insert huge passages that bore little or no relevance to the plot.

So, whilst there was much to commend within the book, we were generally disappointed in the novel. This month we are selecting our own Historical Novel to share with the group on June 1st. Colleen Bee

Page 8 French Beginners Group

Bonjour.

I’ve not reported recently but I bet you haven’t missed me. We have continued with our meetings via Zoom every fortnight all through the troubled time and have now split into two with this beginners group and an experienced half.

It’s never easy though to write a newsletter item for our group, because if I wrote it in French most would not understand me, and reporting on what we talk about would be so boring. However this is your opportunity to come and join the beginners group to take part, and progress, even just a little.

Most of us did some French study in our younger days, so just to hear it and say a few words it would soon come flooding back, so why not contact me, join our zoom and we’ll welcome you, and promise to treat you very gently.

Some in our group started from scratch while others just wanted to improve, and they all try so hard and speak good everyday french which is what it’s all about, and we help each other along the way. They enjoy it so much and you could do the same.

My details are: email - [email protected] Mobile - 07724801115

I look forward to hearing from you.

Au revoir - Brian

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN! Film Group Shock Following a survey about future Film Group meetings, from now on we will meet at 2pm on the fourth Monday of the month ie once per month. Our next meeting will be on Monday 24th May. We will be discussing two Hollywood classics, both starring Cary Grant: Suspicion, a Hitchcock thriller and a comedy: Mr Blandings builds his dream house. Our starter for 10 is: does Cary Grant become more like Cary Grant in Mr Blandings, compared with Suspicion? In other words, have his screen persona and acting style developed or changed between the two films? Both films are on BBC iPlayer. The link to the meeting on 24th May is here, for 2pm! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89787664965

If watching and discussing classic and more contemporary films appeals to you, why not join us?

Paul Martinez

Page 9 Classical Music Appreciation Mike Johnson - Women Composers

In his introduction Mike commented on the sparse reference to women composers in both the Oxford concise dictionary and the Oxford companion of Music. I suspect that would have been the experience of the majority of his audience. I for one was familiar with the music of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn. Ethel Smyth would have been an unknown had it not been for my interest in the work of the novelist Virginia Woolf and the crossing of her path with Dame Ethel in their involvement in the Bloomsbury set and women’s suffrage. This presentation had to be educational! Mike opened his presentation with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Notturno in G minor. Her work and musical opinions were valued by her more famous brother Felix but opposition from her father and the norms of society prevented her precocious talent being recognised until after her death in May 1847. Following Fanny Mendelssohn Mike moved on to the even better known Clara Schumann, wife of Robert Schumann. Her musical talent was recognised at an early age and fostered by her father, not from altogether altruistic motives. She was widely recognised as a virtuoso pianist and made lengthy international tours. She also taught the piano both privately and at the Leipzig conservatory before finally heading the piano Dame Ethel Smyth department at the Frankfurt conservatory. The example of her work that we were treated to was her only piano concerto, that in A min, op7 which she premiered In 1835 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. The third of Mikes’ composers was Dame Ethel Smyth. Born in 1858 she was encouraged to study and compose from an early age, She studied at the Leipzig conservatory where she Fanny Mendelssohn was encouraged by, among others, Clara Schuman. Dame Ethel’s output included string quartets, violin and cello sonatas and an impressive Mass in D. She also wrote a number of operas but the only one ever heard nowadays is the “Wreckers”. A number of choral works were also composed by her but the composition for which she is best known, “The March of the Women” came out of her passionate involvement in the Suffragette movement. Honoured for her work she received doctorates from the Universities of Durham and Oxford and was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1922. Clara Schumann Although Mike played works by several more Romantic and Modern women composers, their work is virtually unknown to the general music lover. One who finally stood out from his programme, purely by chance, was Marguerite Honnot. She wrote the score for the London staging of the comic opera “Irma La Douce” and I went to see it as I was on my honeymoon in London and had little else to do.

Thanks Mike. David Dobbs

Page 10 History Study hoping to become a Journeyman in his own right and eventually even a Master. Two meetings to report on today and, before I start, I want to thank our wonderful members for the work they do each month to make our zoom sessions interesting, varied and dynamic. We have even had two instances recently when members could not attend the meeting at the last minute but still sent me their presentations for the benefit and enjoyment of the group. How dedicated is that ? In April we discussed Medieval Guilds, the opening presentation being about when and why these emerged in Europe and England around the 11th Century, initially as Merchant Guilds but then later with the addition of Crafts Guilds. Even quite early on Paris boasted 120 Guilds and today London still has 110. However they did decline in numbers and in purpose from the 18th Century, nowadays remaining mostly to link members together socially and professionally and as In May the theme was British (quirky) charitable educational institutions. Then we had Traditions. This had the potential to be very presentations on women in guilds, The Hanseatic frivolous (think of cheese rolling and welly wanging), League (a loose Trade Agreement across the and whilst it was entertaining we found some coastline of the Baltic and North Sea), and some of serious history and some mysteries buried in the the beautiful Guildhalls that still can be visited myths of yesteryear. On the dark side was the today. Finally we had the history of some specific Wickerman, shrouded in myth but still powerful Guilds – Cordwainers (footwear), Scriveners (the enough for one to have be built and rebuilt on the Mysterie of the Writers of the Court Letter and, side of the M5. Likewise the Lewes Bonfire could since its incorporation, as Master Wardens and be a tale of a particularly popular and large Guy Assistants of the Company of Scrivenors of the Fawkes celebration but which hides a history of Cittie of London), and the Watermen and religious persecution, rebellion and riots. The Lightermen – these were the men who provided strength of local feeling led to 7 Bonfire Societies in transport through London on the River Thames, Lewes and 30 more across the whole of Sussex both as water taxis but also to carry cargo up river being set up with Guy Fawkes season spread to warehouses from the ocean going craft delivering across 10 weeks September to November. goods into England. Thomas BeechamDouble Platinum once said “you should try A major element of the Guild system was the everything except incest and Morris Dancing”. We apprenticeship scheme with young boys (mainly) learnt that the origins of Morris Dancing are not training under a Master craftsmen for many years clear, its name possibly a form of “Moorish Dancing”. It was popular in Elizabethan England both at court and in rural settings along side Maypole dancing. Our speaker bemoaned the fact that English Morris Dancers brandish bells or a pigs bladder on a stick, whilst the dancers she had seen in Sicily had swords. Sunday Roast is a uniquely English tradition now popular around the World. Its origin possibly is that the Sunday Roast dates back to medieval times, when the village serfs served the squire for six days a week. Then, on the Sunday, after the morning church service, serfs would assemble in a field and Glasgow Arena practise their battle Continued over…

Page 11 Continued… techniques and were rewarded silent (unless they had royal patronage giving with a feast of oxen roasted on a approval for speech) but after that the Victorians spit. took the pantomime to their hearts. “Now witty I imagine most of us have visited Derbyshire at puns, word play and audience participation were least once to see the beautiful well or tap added to the repertoire of mime, daring chase dressings. Once again, the origins are not clear but scenes and spectacular transformations. Favourite there is no doubt that from Pagan times people fairy-tale characters, magical animals, principal would have made offerings of flowers for any fresh boys and pantomime dames all became part of the water that was available to them, thus adorning mix. Any subject was fair game, as pantomimes springs, pools, wells and eventually water pipes combined nonsense tales with social satire, and taps. commenting on current events and innovations The first well dressing as we know them now such as the exciting but still dangerous railways”. was at Tissington, and given its location close to To read more about Pantomimes there is a Eyam it is possible that it was a form of wonderful article on the V&A museum website – thanksgiving for surviving the Black Death. The very much recommended. use of clay boards on which to design and fix Next meeting 7th June. images made of individual flower petals did not start much before the early 1800s – we finished this particular presentation by watching a video of a small community working together to collect materials throughout the year and then diligently creating a gorgeous woodland image for their well. We ended our meeting with a short piece about scarecrows – many countries invented these long before the British – here we used to send our medieval rural kids into the fields to chase away the crows by banging blocks of wood together or throwing stones! Before that though we heard about the emergence of the popular Pantomime Harlequin and its clowns and characters such as Scaramouche Scaramouche, Harlequin and Colombine. Amazingly until 1843 stage performances were Lynne Jaremczenko Greenfingers After welcoming members to our April meeting we split into breakout rooms. Still not a lot happening in our gardens as the early April promise of spring warmth and sunshine had turned to chilly.

A lot of plants that should be planted out were still waiting on window ledges and in greenhouses for warmer weather. Some seeds planted by those of us anxious to get going had yet to break the surface of their compost. It was disappointing to see some spring shrubs nipped by late frosts, in particular magnolias.

Gary put together a picture quiz of 20 different flowers for us to name and we identified them all. We are looking forward to meeting face to face again so that we can have our plant swap table. Nicola Dandie

Page 12 The Irishwoman Who Nearly Did For Il Duce Sixty-five years ago, on the 2nd of May 1956 Violet Gibson, a patient at Andrews psychiatric hospital in Northampton died. She had spent nearly thirty years at St Andrews having been diagnosed as a delusional paranoic. In one of the last medical reports about her a young doctor at St Andrews cited her claiming to have shot Mussolini as evidence of her delusions. The irony was she really did. Violet Albina Gibson was a rather unlikely anti-fascist activist. She was born in County in 1876, one of the eight children of Edward Gibson, a prominent lawyer, and his wife Frances Gibson. Edward became Lord Chancellor of Ireland and was ennobled as Lord Ashbourne (after the Ashbourne in Meath not the one in Derbyshire). At the age of 18 the Honourable Violet Gibson, as she had become was a presented as a debutante at Queen Victoria’s court. Violet was a frail, sickly child who had scarlet fever, peritonitis, pleurisy and rubella. In later life she continued to be dogged by ill- health; appendicitis, peritonitis and a form of cancer that resulted in the removal of her left breast. Her family were protestant, but her mother became a Christian Scientist, which attracted Violet to Christian Science, although she became an adherent of Theosophy before converting to Catholicism in 1902 as her beloved brother Willie had done. Willie was a radical who campaigned for social justice and became a social worker in the slums of London. Violet moved to London in 1902 and worked with him. In the first decade of the twentieth century Violet experienced a run of tragedies. Her brother, Victor, who had had a very hard time as a prisoner of war during the Boer War lost his wife, another brother, Harry, died of TB when he was 35, and the man Violet married in 1908 died a year later. After the loss of her husband Violet became more religious and travelled to Italy to visit holy sites. Despite falling ill there she developed a profound love of Italy. At the outbreak of war in 1914 Violet, a pacifist, joined Sylvia Pankhurst’s anti-war campaign. The next year she became an adherent of a Jesuit scholar who advocated fasting, self-flagellation and wearing hair shirts as the road to holiness. She spent most of her time in prayer and charitable works. In 1922 she suffered another blow with the death of her brother Victor, which precipitated a nervous breakdown. She was deemed insane and spent the following two years in a mental institution. On her release she moved to her beloved Italy to live in a convent in a working-class district of Rome. In October 1922 Mussolini’s blackshirts marched on Rome. The Italian king appointed Mussolini Prime Minister to avoid civil war, ironically the very civil war Mussolini’s supporters had done so much to foment. In 1923 he assumed dictatorial powers and passes laws including the suppression of trade unions and the constitutional constraints on the power of government, including abandonment of his accountability to parliament. His blackshirts continued their violence towards opponents of the regime. One casualty was the socialist deputy Giacomo Matteoti, the victim of a particularly brutal murder in 1924. Violet was profoundly affected by the murder of Matteoti and the direction in which Italy was heading. Seriously troubled about the situation she decided that some sort of sacrifice was needed and in February 1925 shot herself in the chest. During her recovery she read of a foiled attempt to assassinate Mussolini. In April 1926 she took matters into her own hands and headed off from the convent where she was living to the Fascist headquarters with a loaded revolver to find Mussolini. By chance she ran into Mussolini as he was greeting a crowd of admirers on the street. At point blank range she fired at his head. At that moment Mussolini turned his head to acknowledge another part of the crowd and the bullet grazed his nose. Violet’s revolver jammed when she tried to fire again, and she was assaulted by the crowd before being arrested. She was five foot one and fifty years old. She took quite a beating from the crowd. Although forced to stagger back and with his face pouring with blood, he made light of the attack, Continued over…

Page 13 Continued… ungallantly remarking that of all the ways to go being shot by an old crone would be one of the worst. Following her arrest Violet was interrogated and tried in her absence. She was found guilty but insane. She escaped a death sentence and was repatriated to England, to be in the charge of her sister Constance. This appears to have been a ruse as on her return to London she was interviewed very briefly by two Harley Street doctors who, after just a couple of minutes declared her insane and committed her to the asylum in Northampton. In the aftermath of her assassination attempt George the fifth and the Irish President William Cosgrave both wrote to Mussolini apologising profusely for Violet’s actions. Given what we know Mussolini went on to do, the grovelling tone of these message now seems toe-curlingly cringing. The image of Mussolini abroad in the 1920s was as the man who had saved Italy from catastrophe. He was very popular, with prominent visitors seeking his company. He portrayed himself as something of a macho muscle-man who had thousands of photographs taken of him in heroic poses. One of them shows him pioneering shirtless skiing, a sport that clearly has not ‘taken off’, in an image that is strikingly similar to images of a well- known Russian politician. Violet wrote many letters during her incarceration, but they were never posted by the institution, and the letters sent to her were never given to her. One of her letters was written to Churchill after Mussolini was killed in 1945. It seems very strange that she was not released after the end of the second world war; after all, she had tried to do away with the Axis leader who had inspired and whose troops had wrought death and destruction in Ethiopia, Greece, and Spain. Perhaps she would have been too much of an embarrassment to her family, perhaps to the UK governments that had by their inaction condoned her continued imprisonment, or maybe they all just forgot about her. Sadly, Violet never got her wish of being transferred to a catholic institution or the gravestone that she had left £100 to buy. Recently though the city of Dublin approved the installation of a plaque in her memory at 12 Merrion Square, her childhood home. If you want to find out more there is an RTE radio documentary about Violet at RTÉ Radio 1: Documentary on One - The Irishwoman Who Shot Mussolini (rte.ie). Frances Stonor Saunders, who wrote a biography of Violet, ‘The Woman Who Shot Mussolini’, is a major contributor to the program. There is also an academic paper written by an Italian criminologist who interviewed her in 1926 at A Character Study and Life History of Violet Gibson Who Attempted the Life of , On the 7th of April 1926 (northwestern.edu). John Buglear Poetry Corner

Down it came, straight as a pike Plogging in the sea is not quite the same The rain we've been waiting for, Wearing your waterproof and wellies. But why choose a Bank Holiday Eating soggy sandwiches with wet sand That's not very nice. Not good for our bellies We want to be outside and enjoy Well here's a message to Mr Wind and Rain, The children were excited, we promised them Take your clouds to somewhere that needs it sand, But leave Skeggy beach alone. But a wet skeggy beach will not command The fun they want to build sand castles high Anon And jump about screaming and laughing, Without Mum and Dad saying 'quiet'

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