Our November speaker was David Ryan, who from an early age, had always had a passion for cooking. He started out at the age of 16 with Brian Turner at the Connaught Hotel in London. As an apprentice he spent 18 months preparing potatoes! In the early seventies he decided his destiny was France. He was lucky, he shared a flat with a French friend who managed to secure him an entry into the Carlton Hotel in Cannes. After spending weeks labouring for long hours with no pay he was in a state of despair. One day he was walking along the Promenade Anglais worrying about his future when someone tapped him on the shoulder. It turned out to be David Niven who came to his rescue, marched him back to the Carlton and sorted out his predicament with the Manager and the Chef. The Chef took him under his wing and two brilliant years followed.
He came back to London and was taken on by the Dorchester. One particular memory was when David Niven hired the Dorchester for an after film party. He didn’t forget his friend and asked David to come up from the restaurant, leave the kitchen and join the party. During his stay at the Dorchester he met and became friendly with several members of the cabinet and even got to meet the “Big Fish” Maggie Thatcher! He had always wanted to have his own restaurant and finally realised his dream in Bournemouth, practically on the beach! It became so popular bookings were made two years in advance. David as a Masterchef now runs a restaurant in Horley near Stowmarket where he also takes masterclasses. It was a fabulous evening where we all enjoyed the lovely soup David prepared for us. He gave us lots of advice on cooking Turkeys and making stuffings etc and lots of tips, for example soaking avocado face down in milk to prevent it from going brown! Happy cooking!!
Our next get together is on 14th January (early due to the pantomime) when our speaker will be J. Lilley and the talk is called “Storyteller”. Visitors are welcome at the cost of £3.50.
Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary on the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like any further information about P.A.W.S. please ring any of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
David Vroobel was our speaker in October and he told us how he started his career as a diamond cutter and polisher in Hatton Garden. He went on to design and set jewellery for some years, finally having a shop with his wife. However after two armed robberies they decided to give up the shop and David set up a workshop at home, selling stones that he had cut and polished in his workshop, to retailers. He now spends his time giving talks to groups and on cruise ships.
Our July themed social this year was “Back to the 60’s” which was well attended by 44 members and 15 visitors, 11 of these being the Layer Ladies.
In June our speaker was Henry Brickwood and he told us all about “Beautiful Gardens to visit”. Henry began his talk by telling us he is a fanatical gardener and was a previous Gold Medal winner at Chelsea a few years ago. He currently belongs to 2 gardening groups and appeared with Monty Don last year. He then continued with a slide presentation of various gardens mainly in and around a 70 mile radius of Chelmsford. These included Tudor Roost at Fingringhoe, with its very colourful private garden, Beth Chatto’s Garden at Elmstead Market with its famous “Dry Garden” and Marks Hall Gardens at Coggeshall which is known for its enclosed wall garden of snowdrops, summer borders and autumn colour to name but a few. As well as having a fantastic knowledge of various gardens he also appeared to be very knowledgeable about the restaurants and refreshments available. He finished his slide show with a preview of his own gardens at Rayleigh where he specialises in Lilies (he has over 2,500) and suggested we might visit as a group next year and promised us excellent tea and cake.
In May our speaker was Stephen Lester, an auctioneer, and 42 members enjoyed his talk on his “Experiences of a Provincial Auctioneer”. Firstly he dispelled a few myths about going to a public auction. Contrary to popular belief, pulling your ear or rubbing your nose will not end up with you having purchased a rare antique! Some bidders do use signs like that, but only when it has been previously arranged with the auctioneer; most people just raise their catalogue to indicate their interest in a particular lot. He has had some spectacular ‘finds’ when going to inspect sale items at a private house. One lady was clearing her house as she was moving to somewhere smaller; after getting an idea of the value of her goods and chattels she mentioned that she had a little bottle that had been in her family for a while. It turned out to be a Fabergé glue pot worth £10,000! At another house he found a very old and tatty writing desk in the attic, which turned out to be one of only 7 items made from an elm tree on the site of the battle of Waterloo; this was worth £36,000 once it had been restored. So the moral is, check before you throw things away!
At last month’s meeting 42 members and 3 visitors came along to hear a talk by Bob Harding-Jones “Can I help you? I’m a Paramedic”. Bob gave us a very amusing talk about his time as a Paramedic with the Hertfordshire Ambulance Service.
Our January meeting on the 8th saw a large turn out when 41 members and 4 visitors came along to hear Simon Gallup tell us about the Histories of Lavenham and Dedham. Simon is one of 8 guides for Lavenham and he explained with the use of slides that due to the cloth trade the Stour Valley had been one of the wealthiest places in the United Kingdom 500 years ago. During 1480-1530 there was a large building spree of houses, churches and coaching inns but also there was a rapid decline in its wealth due to trade decreases, the 100 year war, huge taxes on the cloth trade etc. Today there are approximately 300 listed buildings in Lavenham which have lasted through the centuries. Simon finished the evening with a question and answer session.