wi Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Winstred Hundred Parish Council

9th January 20158th December 2015

PAWS December – Clarice House

42 of us descended on Clarice House Colchester on a wet and windy night for our annual Christmas meal. The setting was very elegant in this lovely old house and James and his staff made us very welcome. There was lots of laughter and chat, with everyone enjoying the chance to relax and talk to other members. The meal was really good with a few minor niggles, but nothing that spoilt our enjoyment. There were two quiz’s with lots of banter as to who had the correct answer and then everyone had a silly present from the lucky dip. All agreed that we had a super evening. Those members who could not attend missed a treat but, hopefully, enjoyed spending their £10 M&S voucher!

Our next get together is January 27th when we welcome back our speaker John Lilley “The Storyteller”. Membership is closed but visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00 which includes refreshments.

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 one of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.

28th November 20148th December 2015

PAWS November – Experiences of a Puppy Walker

angus angus-and-marjory-culham Nearly 40 members and 8 visitors came along to our November meeting to meet Angus and his Puppy Walker Marjory Culham. Marjory has worked with 23 dogs on behalf of Guide Dogs for the Blind and explained how it all works. Guide Dogs for the Blind are the largest dog breeders with 250 brood bitches. Puppies are weaned at six and half weeks old at the centre in Warwickshire before going to their “Puppy Walkers” who will look after them until they are 12/14 months old before they then go on to full training at Woodford Green where the real work begins. She explained how she taught them to be house trained (busy or big busy being the terms used) and learning to respond to their name as well as learning skills like using stairs, lifts, going to church, shopping etc. It was important that the puppies got used to different environments and noises. There is a 70% success rate in the dogs being trained with some not making the grade and being rehomed with other departments or the general public. She herself has a Labrador who wasn’t successful as a Guide Dog. There were lots of questions at the end as everyone was interested in this wonderful charity.

There is no meeting in December but we have Christmas Dinner on 9^th December at Clarice House in Colchester. So it only remains for the committee to wish all our members and loyal visitors a Merry Christmas and A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

Our next get together is January 27^th when we welcome back our speaker John Lilley “The Storyteller”. Membership is closed but visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00 which includes refreshments.

4th November 20148th December 2015

PAWS October – Leaf Peepers

white-mountains-1

white-mountains-2

Over 40 members and 4 visitors came along to our October meeting to hear the rather intriguingly named talk given by Mr. Ian Rose of “Leaf Peepers in the White Mountains USA”. Ian told us how some years back he and his wife joined a group of like-minded individuals to visit the States in order to hike the White Mountains in the fall and see the wonderful colours that can only be seen at this time of year. The small group had an excellent guide, Eileen, as even though the trails were marked it was still possible to get lost over such terrain.

He had a wonderful collection of slides showing the beautiful shades of autumn on the many Sugar Maple Trees and being a keen Mycologist lots of photos of mushrooms and fungi including the deadly death cap mushroom. The first part of their trip was uneventful but following some torrential rain the weather changed to -10^o covering everywhere with a snow like substance and making the ascent to Mount Washington impossible. He told us they stayed in accommodation belonging to the Appalachian Mountain Club, they had to bunk sometimes 30 to a room, and the beds were 4 high, and as they were made of timber, and there were no stoves, due to fire risk, so therefore they were unable to have hot food or even a bath for most of the trip! Sheer bliss when they finally were able to bathe.

Again, another interesting evening.

Our next get together is November 25th when our speaker Mrs Culham is going to tell us all about “Guide Dog Puppy Walking”.

1st October 20148th December 2015

PAWS September – NLP, All About You

jane-malyon After our summer break it was lovely to see so many members and visitors at our September meeting where Jane Malyon returned with her talk “All About You”.

Jane explained that she was going to show that we are all different in the way we act and process things, and that these can be changed by Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). Many people have phobias of things like spiders (that applied to several members!) flying, dentists, snakes etc. all of which can be ‘cured’ by NLP by suggestion and sometimes hypnotism – no she did not try it on us! NLP is observing behavioural patterns, which are often learnt through experience, and changing them to achieve a specific goal.

We had fun finding out what sort of person we were. Did we rush in to do things no matter what the consequences or did we take it slowly and think more about what we were to do? So to change that thinking, a new motivation or goal would be suggested. Body language and intonation is all part of how we speak. If we are happy about something, we look and sound happy; if we are sad, we look and sound sad. This is how mistakes in meaning can happen with text and email, because there is no body language to help to understand the true meaning. An illustration of this was the sentence ‘my cat doesn’t kill birds’; which could be ‘my cat doesn’t kill birds’ or ‘my cat doesn’t kill birds’ – inferring that it may play with them!

This was a fun and enlightening talk and was enjoyed by all present.

Our next get together is October 28th when our speaker Ian Rose is going to tell us all about “Leaf Peepers in the White Mountains”. Sounds pretty intriguing doesn’t it?

28th July 20148th December 2015

PAWS July – C&W Social

11 visitors joined us on Tuesday 24th July, for our Country and Western social night, on one of the hottest nights of the year. 40+ ladies and one brave young man in assorted cowboy gear strutted their stuff to live music performed by Mick Graves and Sarah who very patiently endeavoured to show us the necessary line-dancing steps and gave us a couple of amusing renditions of songs.

The supper menu consisted of an unusual selection of “Wagon Wheels, Dead Man’s Fingers, Buffalo Wings, Mexican Blood, Golden Nuggets, Sweet Delight and Cactus Cocktail” and unbelievably seemed to be enjoyed by all.

There were 3 quizzes to enjoy and the best dressed went to Jean Hedger as seen above in the photo top left. Another lovely evening any ideas for next year?

As we don’t meet in August our next get together is on 23rd September when we welcome back Jane Malyon, once again, and her talk this time is “All about You.” Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.

30th June 201415th May 2018

PAWS June – Gardens & Jokes

david clarke and gen fretwell — David Clarke & Gen Fretwell, President

PAWS June Report – A Garden Holiday Experience

Six visitors joined our meeting on Tuesday 24th June when David Clarke came along to entertain us with “A Garden Holiday Experience”.

He started his talk with a joke relaying a story about a Grand Mother who was looking after her 2 year old Grandson who wanted to go out into the garden. She was horrified some time later to find him with a slug in his mouth. Asking him what it tasted like he replied “like worms granny!” We all laughed and then David went on with his slide show involving gardens in Shropshire and Cheshire. These included Ashwood Nurseries, Stockton Bury Gardens, Herefordshire, Cruckford House, and Wollerton Old Hall in Shropshire and finished with the Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire. His slides were amazing and made most us of most envious of the wonderful gardens and displays of flowers etc. David finished how he started, with another joke about a man who went into a flower shop to buy flowers for his wife. As he didn’t seem to know what he wanted to buy flowers Pasadena TX, he just simply said “Tell me what you have done!”

Another very informative and entertaining evening.

Our next get together is on 22nd July when we are having our annual social night. This year’s theme is County and Western, so grab your cowboy boots for a spot of line-dancing. Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £5.00 which includes a light supper and refreshments. Pre-booking is requested by calling one of the undermentioned.

28th May 20148th December 2015

PAWS May – From Wheelchair to Windsurfer

From Wheelchair to Windsurfer – Peter Parker

Peter Parker - Stroke Vicitim — Peter Parker – Stroke Vicitim

38 members and 3 visitors attended our May meeting when Peter Parker, a recovered stroke victim, came and gave us an interesting and informative talk.

Peter told us about what happened to him in 1987, at 44 years of age, when he had a stroke which was not diagnosed for 12 days, even though he contacted his GP, went to A&E, and was sent to a General Ward at Broomfield. He recovered when he was sent home having only had a week of therapy, using his own initiative, adapting the exercises physiotherapy had given him, brain training to increase concentration, and jogging to give physical exercise. Patients suffer tiredness, and he still does, and often depression is another factor to be taken into consideration. He persevered and was able to windsurf across the Channel in 1989, windsurfing being one of his targets when he was so ill.

Things have changed since then with a £12m campaign starting in 2009. If you have symptoms like those covered in F A S T – Face, Arm, Speech, Time – call 999 – strokes which are treated early give a much better chance of recovery. 1 in 6 people will have a stroke in their lifetime with a quarter of them in the under 65’s of which one third will live, one third will have some form of disability and one third will die. Peter has publicised and raised money for the Stroke Association ever since.

Refreshments were available, as well as leaflets about Stroke Awareness, and there was the opportunity to ask questions and obtain more information from our speaker.

PAWS next get-together is on 24th June when D. Clarke will speak about “A Garden Holiday Experience”. Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.

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 PAWS please ring one of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.

2nd May 20148th December 2015

PAWS April – Child’s Play to radio host

Our speaker for April was Rachel Sloane, a well-known radio presenter for Radio Suffolk.

Rachel started her working career as a nursery nurse on a children’s ward in Ipswich and was then asked by Radio Orwell to do a weekly feature on children. For the next 4 years she did a 15-minute slot called ‘Childs Play’. She was so successful at this that she was then asked to present a two-hour programme in the early morning, which dealt with current affairs and involved phone-in spots. The phone calls were vetted by a team of telephonists, who then advise as to who should be put through to the live programme. Inevitably some people who phone in are abusive or just boring, so Rachel quickly learnt how to terminate the call. After 9 years with Radio Orwell, Rachel joined BBC Radio Suffolk and presented ‘Talk About’, which was a magazine programme, and later ‘Public Eye’, which was a consumer programme. After 23 years as a radio presenter and producer she set up her own company with the help of her retired policeman husband, called Rachel Sloane Partnerships Ltd. The company trains people in public speaking, hosts conferences and provides keynote speakers for various events.

During her career Rachel has interviewed a variety of people and groups and has had some very funny and embarrassing moments, and has occasionally had to ad lib to save inappropriate language and behaviour on live programmes. She now steps in to host the morning programme on Radio Suffolk when she is not helping on cruises or organising events.

Rachel stayed to talk to members in the refreshment break.

Our next get together is on 27th May when P. Parker will be our speaker with the subject of “Wheelchair to Windsurfer”. Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.

Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of this website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring one of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.

4th April 20148th December 2015

PAWS March – AGM or WW2?

Fifty members in an array of WW2 outfits attended the AGM in March.

The formal part of the evening was attended to first with the President’s Report being read by Pam Foakes, our outgoing President, she reminded us of some of the speakers and entertainment we had had over the last year and thanked the committee for their hard work and then Jane Anderson gave a very comprehensive report on the club’s accounts.

The current Committee were re-elected together with Sue Copeland (a previous committee member who had been persuaded to re-join) as Sheila Gray was stepping down. Gen Frewell was voted in as President for the current year with Julia Dymond agreeing to be Vice-President. Pam was presented with a bouquet of flowers for all her hard work over her year and Sheila’s were delivered to her the following day.

Everyone then tucked into a Fish and Chip Supper and this was followed by a fun quiz which was won by Sue Copeland, Caroline Hendrickx, Diana King and Carolyn Richardson. The prize for the best dressed went to Angela Clarke.

The next get together is on 22nd April when R. Sloane will be the speaker with the subject of “From Babies to Broadcasting”. Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.

6th March 20148th December 2015

PAWS February – Lakes & Beatrix

Dudley Chignall and Pam Foakes enjoying some refreshments

Forty-seven members and five visitors enjoyed the speaker at our meeting in February. Dudley Chignall, through his extensive library of photographic slides of the Lake District, showed us all his favourite walks as he is an intrepid fell walker, the Lakes being his favourite area. He showed us where Beatrix Potter had sketched different views and houses that were later used as illustrations in her famous books.

He was also very learned about Beatrix herself, telling us that it took 10 years to get her first book published, the first one she actually paid for herself. She had spent a lot of her holidays in the Lake District having visited it first when she was 16. In 1905 she bought Hill Top Farm and had it renovated. She married the local solicitor, William Heels in 1913 when she was 47. During her lifetime she bought 15 farms and over 4,000 acres of land which she left to the National Trust. In accordance with her wishes, Hill Top Farm has been kept exactly as it was and receives thousands of visitors a year. It was another fascinating talk with fantastic photography.

PAWS next get together is on 25^th March and is actually the A.G.M., therefore it is a closed meeting. Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at any other meeting at the cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.