Helmdon Branch WEA – Activities 2001

Helmdon Branch WEA – Activities 2001
Charity reg. no: 1112775

Antiques Road show at The Old Glebe – 11th December 2001

Nearly fifty members of the “Discovering Antiques Class” and the ” Beginning Computing” class and their partners, met at The Old Glebe on Tuesday 11 December for a pot luck supper and an Antiques Road Show.

The supper was excellent – thank you to everyone who brought a contribution – especially Carol and Ann who provided the delicious lasagne. Those who thought that they were only going to be offered titbits couldn’t have been more wrong!

Marylin Duerdon, from Holloways Auctioneers of Banbury, conducted the main part of the evening and delighted some members of the audience with her valuations of objects brought by members. For instance a vase bought for a one penny at a bazaar, slightly faulted around the rim, would now be worth at auction £400 to £500! Some very pretty china was not worth much, which was a disappointment. Marylin explained that this is because it was produced in large numbers whereas a limited number of ugly china figures (limited because they did not have popular appeal in their day) are now highly sought after because of their rarity.

Our grateful thanks to Will Watson who let us use his lovely home. The branch really appreciates his letting the branch have it as a venue for their functions, and it is wonderful to know that he has invited us to a garden evening next Summer.

A last word must come from one of our members who e-mailed the secretary to thank the committee for all their hard work. She said, “We did enjoy tonight. Everyone was so happy together and there were so many laughs that one comes away on top of the world!”.

Northamptonshire Liag Conference – 4th December 2001

The WEA branch secretary, Audrey Harwood, contributed to two workshops at the Northamptonshire Liag Conference on Tuesday, 4th December 2001. Liag stands for Local Information and Guidance, and Northamptonshire is one of 99 such organisations set up nationally in late 1999 to ensure that all adults could easily access information, advice and guidance in learning and work issues.

Audrey spoke to a mixed group of representatives of such organisations as diverse as a mental heath charity, Age Concern, careers officers and welfare housing and rights advisory team officers, about the work of the WEA in the field of adult education, which in a lively group (such as Helmdon) could reach out far beyond the customary 10-week lecture sessions to develop activities which could enrich the life of the local community.

Geffrye Museum and Museum of Childhood Exhibition – 24th November 2001

Over 40 members and friends enjoyed an outing on 24 November 2001 to two museums in London. We were pleased to have with us Joanne Rogers, who has just finished tutoring the “Discovering Antiques” course. The Geffrye Museum, described as an oft forgotten “gem” amongst London’s museums, did not disappoint. The setting of the museum, a range of beautiful almshouses set back in a garden, was like an oasis in the built-up area of east London, and the museum itself was a series of rooms filled with furniture, glass, china and furnishings, to present typical rooms through the ages. After lunch we went on to the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. Here was a vast range of dolls’ houses, dolls, model trains, games, etc., sending us back in time to our youth. Unfortunately some of us who had perpetuated the idea that our age was eternally 21 punctured the myth, giving the game away as we revealed what we remembered playing with in far-off days!

Visit the Geffrye Museum web site

Garden Evening At Will’s – 26th June 2001

Garden Picture Gallery >>>

We had hoped for a fine weather for the branch garden event at The Old Glebe on Tuesday, 26 June 2001, and were not disappointed, being rewarded by it being the hottest day of the year so far.

Over forty members and partners from the Spring 2001 class were delighted to be able to look around member Will Watson’s delightful garden on such a beautiful evening, although I suspect his horticultural expertise put us all somewhat to shame. We were pleased to welcome Dr. Bob Chapman, the WEA organiser for Northamptonshire, who gives great encouragement to the branch, and is now a friend to many of us.

In due course, members sat down to a leisurely pot luck supper, surely one of the best of its kind as members had contributed their “party pieces” for us all to enjoy.

After coffee, we had a talk on The Plant Hunters, by garden historian Jenny Burt. With the aid of slides, she ran through the ages from Roman times to the modern age, detailing the plant introductions from foreigh climes and wherever possible relating them to the plants in Will’s garden.

Some of the great plant hunters such as Banks, Douglas and Wilson, for instance, risked life and limb to bring back new plants to this country and their names are forever immortalised in plant names. Douglas, as an example, is remembered in the name of a common plant, liimnanthes douglasii (the poached egg plant). Jenny, obviously an enthusiast about her subject, left the garden lovers amongst us wanting more!

As secretary, may I thank Will Watson for inviting us to his lovely home and garden, all the members who brought the wonderful supper “goodies”, Cec Harrold and Will for fetching the chairs, also Judy Cairns, Ann Smith and Cec who organised the food and wine, and Lyndsey Glassett and Jan Harrold who helped with the washing up without being asked!

Click here to see some more pictures of the gardens >>>

National WEA biennial conference – 13th May 2001

Audrey Harwood, WEA Helmdon branch secretary, attended this important conference on behalf of the village. Read her full report.

Swindon Railway Museum – 21st April 2001

48 WEA members and friends went to Swindon on the 21st April, one of the few bright days so far this Spring. The principal reason was to visit STEAM, the new museum of the Great Western Railway, where there are exhibits large and small, covering all aspects of the operation and maintenance of the railway prior to nationalisation in 1948. Many of these are related to Swindon itself, which was the principal works of the railway. Following this some of the party made a quick foray to the large “retail outlet”, whilst others visited the original cottages built by the company to house its first workers, one of which is open as a museum. After rejoining the coach, the party then went to Lydiard Park, a former stately home and had a guided tour around the ground floor of the mansion. Following a visit to the adjacent church the group were served an excellent tea provided by the Mothers’ Union. We were back in Helmdon by 6.30 pm, ending a very successful day out.

Stewart Moir

Branch Annual General Meeting – 27th March 2001

44 members (a record!) were at the Reading Room on Tuesday 27 March for the AGM. During the meeting the secretary outlined the various happenings of the past year and the treasurer reported a very favourable bank balance.

It was with regret that the meeting accepted the resignation of the treasurer, Stewart Moir. He was appointed to the post in 1994 and it is in no small measure due to him that the branch has grown and strengthened during that time. He has always loyally supported events, encouraging and working hard to make sure that branch activities were successful. He was presented with a book token in appreciation of his efforts.

The rest of the committee were re-appointed, with the addition of Kate Mawson, who has consented to take on the post of treasurer.

After the meeting wine and “nibbles” were served, and Danny Moody gave a guided tour of the Helmdon web site to those members who do not have access to the Internet.

A raffle was held after the meeting and the money raised was given to the Helmdon School fund for a new classroom.

Edward Parry Evening

The autumn WEA class much enjoyed their evening at the Old Glebe, courtesy of Will Watson. After a splendid meal (fish and chips, not forgetting the mushy peas) everyone settled down to a very interesting talk by Edward Parry, who used to live in Helmdon. To set the scene he talked about the early history of the village, and then showed slides of houses here thirty years ago (for instance, of Lilac Farm, before development) illustrating the gradual change in the architectural evolution of a village.

His talk made us realise how important it is to record today’s happenings (as we did with the WEA film). Did anyone take a photograph of the Chequers, for instance, before it was pulled down? If anyone has a picture, we should love to scan it, to put in our picture gallery.

Edward’s visit ended off our Autumn WEA season excellently, and the branch would like to thank Will Watson for letting us hold the event in his attractive home.