Winstred Hundred Parish Council
Supporting the local community
Regular monthly news reports from PAWS
Our recent meeting in June was well attended by 43 members and a number of visitors, when we welcomed back Chris South, to give us a talk on “Basic Garden Design”.
Chris explained the essentials of redesigning a garden by knowing the type of soil you have, which direction it is facing, Continue reading “PAWS June – Basic Garden Design”
39 members and 1 visitor attended our May meeting when Jenny Gibb, dressed in traditional Turkish dress, gave us a talk called “A Turkish Shirley Valentine”.
Jenny explained how in 1993, Continue reading “PAWS May – Shirley Valentine”
Mary-Anne Bartlett began her talk on April 26th by asking how many members owned a paint box. The result showed just how many of our group have an interest in this field. Mary-Anne started painting at her grandmothers’ knee Continue reading “PAWS April – Art Safari”
34 members attended our recent AGM on the 22nd March and unanimously voted back in the current committee. Reports were read by Pam Foakes, our outgoing President and Jane Anderson, our Treasurer, before Jackie Manning was voted in as Continue reading “PAWS March – AGM & Quiz”
28 members attended our February meeting when Stacey Belbin gave us a talk on “Lady Grace”. Her dad was a commercial fisherman and ever since she can remember she helped her dad clean and mend nets and catch fish. When she left school she worked for a Bank. Her life was all about her career until she met her husband, then she realised life is for living and not for working all the time.
She met Scott at 18, his dad had brought him up in the angling world and hers had brought her up in the netting world. On their first date, Scott took her angling and since then, her dad lost his crew and they decided to buy their own boat, “Galloper”, to take people angling at weekends. They both had their day jobs, Scott as a carpenter and Stacey in the bank, but they used to spend weekends running the fishing trips.
As the business grew she decided it was time to get her own toy to play with. In March 2011 they bought “Lady Grace”, it took until the end of August to get her ship-shape for passengers and then she ran her at weekends and continued her weekday job. In 2012 she then worked “Lady Grace” during the May and October half terms and the full 6 weeks school holidays. After running “Lady Grace” for 6 weeks solid during the school holidays, in January 2013 she made the decision to give up the day job from the April and run Lady Grace 7 days a week 364 days a year.
The first year was testing, but rewarding. Stacey loves working on “Lady Grace”, which was evident by her passionate talk, and every day and every trip being a different one, meeting different people and a forever changing scenery with the tide coming in or going out and the different birdlife visiting through the year. She is also a photographer of all things beautiful on the water, whether it be a landscape, sunrise, sunset or wildlife.
You can follow Stacey and “Lady Grace” on Facebook.
Our next meeting is on the 22nd March and is our AGM and therefore a closed meeting. However visitors are welcome afterwards from 8.00pm, for a Quiz and Nibbles, at a cost of £5.00. Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring either of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
Relating the story of Barney’s Bobbies, Michael joined the police force in 1969 and was paid the princely sum of £17 per week. He spent the first 5 years of his career ‘on the beat’ and spent many nights rattling shop doors and was in trouble from sergeant Barney if he did not detect some sort of crime on his shift! The sergeant was very hot on discipline and correct uniform and his ‘Bobbies’ were some of the best on the force.
Michael soon had a new job on Cycle Patrol, which was great except that the bike was far too big. On telling his sergeant that he could not reach the pedals even if he could get on the bike, he was told to just wheel it around until he grew! There were no personal radios in those days so he had to phone in to the station every hour to get instructions using a Police Box (Tardis).
TV programmes such as Dickson of Dock Green and later The Bill were good representations of how the Police worked. Michael finished his career on the hijack team at Stansted Airport and ran many marathons in the Police team. He also gave us an insight into how things had changed in the Police Force over the years and of some of the amusing and sometimes dangerous incidents that he had been involved in.
Our next meeting is on the 23rd February when our speaker Stacey Belbin will tell us about “Lady Grace the boat.” Visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00. Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website.
If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring either of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
36 members arrived at The Fox on Mersea Island on Tuesday 8th December for the PAWS Christmas Meal. Those who could not attend missed a treat! There was lots of laughter and chat, with everyone enjoying the chance to relax and talk to other members. The room was decorated for the occasion and the tables were very festive. We had a quiz with lots of banter as to who had the correct answer, particularly as to how many points a snowflake has. Everyone had a silly present from the lucky dip but the balloons proved to be a bit of a challenge with no one succeeding in blowing one up! All agreed that we had a super evening. Hope you enjoyed spending your Debenhams voucher! Jane.
Our next meeting is on the 12th January, 2016 (earlier than normal due to the pantomime) and our speaker will be Michael Benning & his topic “Barney’s Bobbies” – ‘Barney’ was Michael Benning’s first Sergeant and the talk is an amusing and lighthearted look at the changes and differences in policing from the 1960s to the present day with some barely believable Sgt Barney ‘war stories’ and policing anecdotes.
Visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00. Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring either of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
Our speakers in November, Jackie and Marion, were great fun and we all enjoyed their talk “Upstairs, Downstairs”. They started by asking ten members to come to the front and each was given a parcel to open. Inside were articles of clothing worn by someone in a large household in Victorian times; hats, aprons, a nightdress and a bag.
As each person was dressed, the ladies told us what job they did, explained their duties and showed us some artefacts connected with that job. Jackie told us that most of the staff needed to be very intelligent to do the work that they did and cope with the demands put upon them, but at the time were thought of as pretty low standing.
We were all fascinated by the many articles that they brought with them, and enjoyed trying to guess what they were used for. The enthusiastic ovation at the end of the talk was testament to the enjoyment of members.
As we don’t meet in December, other than for our Christmas Dinner, the committee would like to wish all our Members and Visitors a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Our next meeting is on the 12th January, 2016 (earlier than normal due to the pantomime) and our speaker will be Mary-Anne Bartlett – Her topic “Art Safari”. Visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00.
Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring either of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
Our October meeting saw the return of Dougal Urquhart, ranger at Cudmore Grove, with a talk on “African Medley”.
Dougal and his wife have made four trips to Africa over the last 7 years visiting Gambia, Namibia, Ethiopia and Morocco. He has a passion for bird watching and nature in general preferring to stay at eco-lodges along the way. He showed us a collection of slides of birds including the Red Billed Fire Finch, Grey Heron, Osprey, Red Billed Hornbill and Flamingo, to name but a few. He was also able to show us the rare Ethiopian Wolf which very much resembled a Fox.
Dougal is an excellent speaker and all enjoyed the evening tremendously.
Our next get together is on the 24th November and there is a change to our programme Jackie Marshall-Ward will give us a talk on “Upstairs, Downstairs”.
Visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00. Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring either of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
Sue Kidd and Edward Lubbock came along to our September meeting and told us all about the joys and disasters of Hot Air Ballooning. They both got into ballooning in the mid-80s and are now the proud owners of their own balloon G-SUED. They explained that, like an aeroplane, you have to have a licence to fly a balloon and have to go through extensive training to get it. It is necessary to know the laws relating to flying a balloon, about the weather, how a balloon is put together and how to deal with emergencies. They explained that there are two types of balloon; those with hot air produced by a burner and those filled with hydrogen or helium. Gas balloons are smaller and rounder than hot air balloons and more likely to explode! The biggest dangers to a balloonist are pylons and mist, although less so since the advent of GPS systems. Balloons come in many shapes and sizes and are often used for advertising. We all enjoyed this fascinating insight into the world of balloons.
Our next get together is on the 27th October when Douglas Urquhart returns with his talk on “African Medley”.
Visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00. Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring either of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
