The Club meets on first Wednesdays of the month - at 11.00 am.

Coffee beforehand in the west end of the church. Lunch afterwards in the church halls. Bring friends!
£3.50 at the door

4th November Ian Bevan on Crystal Palace.

2nd December Christmas Lunch with musical entertainment

13th January 2010 John Eyre Memories of Afganistan

3rd February Malcolm Wells (Canine Partners) on training of assistance dogs

3rd March Chris Foord Greenwich Heritage Centre & its collection

7th April Anthony Cross (Warwick Leadlay Gallery) Lost shopscape of Victorian Greenwich

4th May Sylvia Bird on flower arranging

2nd June Hilary Heffernan on the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service

7th July OUTING to be arranged

19th August Cream Tea

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HISTORY OF EVENTS

2010/07 Season

"Broadstairs visit on 7th July 2010"

Broadstairs, with its quaint fishermans’ cottages , clifftop promenade, and 7 beautiful sandy beaches, is wonderfully unpretentious and unspoilt.

It is easy to see how the town attracted and inspired Charles Dickens, who spent many holidays here.

When we arrived at Broadstairs the coach parked just short of the sea front off the High Street, this is only 400/500 yards from the promenades and sea front. From there we were able to explore this quaint little town.

We visited The visitor information centre which is just behind the promenade to get a local guide map etc.

Then we visited The Dickens House Museum ( in 2 Victoria parade) overlooking the promenade and Viking Bay(close to the visitor centre) This museum is in a reconverted Tudor cottage includes memorabilia associated with Dickens. eg. a collection of illustrations by Phiz or R.K.Browne , an old sideboard and writing box with many letters written by Dickens to friends. He called the town “one of the freest and freshest little places in the world.” Entering the parlour is to enter David Copperfield’s world itself.

Other places where some of us visited were Bleak House, Fort Road. This house, whose name inspired by Dickens novel is reputed to be the place where he finished writing David Copperfield. Previously a museum now closed to the public.

Crampton Tower Museum named after Thomas Crampton is situated just off the High Street. Crampton is best known for his invention of The Crampton locomotive. He was a local engineer and inventor. He was the first to build a reliable telegraph cable system under the English channel and was respossible for building the 1 st water system in town. The museum also houses the pumping engine shed and other remains of his water system.

You can see The Broadstairs stage coach, working drawings, the engine house and other forms of transport.

We had a lovely time exploring the sea front and some of us went for a paddle as it was a lovely day. There are reputed to be 40 + restaurants, either in the High Street, off the promenade, or in the lovely little harbour although most of us landed up with fish and chips!!. Morelli ice creams (Italian family firm established in 1907) on the promenade were also very popular!

Finally we left for home after a very enjoyable day.

2010/06 Season

"Hilary Heffernan talk on The Australian Flying Doctor"

Hilary Heffernan was an air stewardess in the outback of Australia and told us many amusing things about her work with The Australian Flying doctor service.

After covering her exploits with crocodiles and landing on primitive flying stripes in the outback and other adventures she was able to join us all for a light lunch and tell us more stories about her adventures in her job in Australia.

2010/05 Season

"Sylvia Bird Talk on Flowers And Chelsea flower show"

Sylvia has owned and worked in her shop in Cheam Surrey for 5 years and in Walton on Thames Surrey for more than 15 years. She now works on a consultancy and freelance basis both in the UK and USA.

She has designed flowers for Her Majesty the Queen and for Princess Anne. She has done a funeral tribute on behalf of Teleflora USA for Princess Diana. Sylvia works for the RHS at Chelsea Flower Show and co-ordinates all things floristry at Chelsea.

We were shown how to do simple small floral designs using one stem or a few flowers. 1 design had only 3 flowers in the bowl plus plenty of greenery.

Sylvia showed us how to do “hand ties”. We watched with awe as she collected many flowers in her left hand and then tied them together, cut off the excess stems and there was a lovely arrangement-simple!!! She recommended the use of flower food in an arrangement, sugar if you can’t get the flower food. Also if you have floppy tulips you can put them in hot water for a few moments and then wrap them in newspaper before putting them in a bucket of water!

We were fortunate to have this experienced and amusing lady to come and talk to us.

2010/04 Season

“The lost shopscape of Victorian Greenwich”

Anthony Cross loves The Victorian side of Greenwich’s history.His talk focused on the wonders of the past which we seem to have lost-especially the shops.

In 1840 there were very many shops in Royal Hill e.g. butcher, fishmonger, baker, etc. that have largely gone away and we now have supermarkets.

A picture in 1935 taken in a wide Greenwich Street showed no cars but many pedestrians.We were shown a large scrap book with beautiful “bill heads” showing the goods sold and the premises.

The 1930’s picture of Greenwich shows a beautiful scale to the architecture. Greenwich was an attraction to people-like Blue Water is today.

In 1939 many people came for day trips. especially on public holidays 75,000 people came by boat and 35,000 came by train. Before the days of fridges etc it was very difficult to keep meat often 20% of the meat in the shops was diseased, cheese could have a good outside with the inside stuffed with rubbish! Candles were replaced by Gas in Pall Mall in 1807 but in 1830 Gas came to Greenwich..

Anthony Cross had a great enthusiasm for his subject and gave us a really excellent idea of what “Old Greenwich looked like.

Anthony Cross is from the Warwick Lead lay Gallery in Greenwich.

2010/03 Season

"The Greenwich Heritage Centre"

The Centre tells the story of the borough from Greenwich to Woolwich and from Thamesmead to Eltham.  Bringing together the old Borough Museum and  The Local History Library
in one location the centre promotes and preserves the borough's history and culture.
The Centre is on the corner of The Woolwich Arsenal site and well worth a visit.

The story of The Royal Arsenal from its beginnings in Henry viii reign when the Woolwich Dockyards were established.
Later A Gun store was established and in the 17th century Guns and Armoury was established.
Later in  early1800's  Following Joseph Bagley's accident the Armoury was established-Later Sir John Vanbrugh designed The Arsenal.
In the 19th Century steam power was added.  |At its peak The Arsenal employed 80,000 men during The first world war.   Them it was a massive site with 2 railway systems and a massive industrial complex-many women were employed.   Massive extra houses were needed.  It was still important during the 2nd world war but afterwards diminished and was finally closed in 1960.
The importance of the borough's past industrial history is shown

The museum has a range of other interesting objects. Many temporary exhibitions and has some famous clocks, including a long case clock from the Tudor past.
The centre sketches the history of the borough from Roman remains in Greenwich park now thought to be from a Roman temple.  The importance of the Thames in the life of the borough also features.
Other subjects covered "The Royal Borough of Greenwich", crimes and punishment,   Blackheath dissent and revolts, Highwaymen and robbery, and the history of its  Architecture and famous authors who lived in Greenwich.
There is a look at the navy's role in Greenwich and of course  Lord Nelson.+

This is certainly a place you need to go and see!!

2010/02 Season

"Canine Partners"

"Transforming the lives of people with Disabilities, enabling them to live more independently by partnering them with highly trained assistance dogs. Training is tailor-made to the needs of each individual"

This one example from many
It used to be so different for Graham Hewett of Outwood before a stroke and epilepsy left him severely disabled and housebound in 2000.  Graham was told he had lost 80% of his memory and needed full time care.  The former veterinarian could not walk outside his home and became severely depressed.

The Hewetts' woes did not end there as his wife of 17 years Pat was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and was forced to give up her job.
Then Canine Partner Yukon arrived in 2006 and a remarkable transformation happened Grahams depression has disappeared and Pat received the all-clear from Cancer.
Graham says "He's my best mate and changed my life I can't imagine being without Yukon I was really low and since he joined our family he has really lifted me".
Pat adds "Now when we come home we are greeted by a smiley face that's the best thing about dogs- They don't do depression."

Puppies are trained at a cost of £450. 63 dogs are in training at any one time.  This usually takes about 18 months
The dogs have to learn 100 different commands
They can open doors (and close them behind them)
Open cupboards
Go to the toilet when told to!
Pick up a paper and bring it to their master.
Learn how to operate a washing machine!
They wear special lilac dog coats, when they go out with "please don't distract me"
These dogs help their disabled owners live more normal lives.  They help with undressing,removal of hat,coat shoes and socks.
The main training centre is at Midhurst Sussex.
All together a most fascinating talk.

2009/11 Season

Ian Bevan who has a background of I.T. Management Consultant & City of London Guide gave us a very interesting illustrated presentation on Wed. 4th November on The Crystal Palace.

The start of the story was the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851. Many designs were submitted including one from Isabard Kingdon Brunel. Eventually the design by Joseph Paxton was accepted (head Gardner at Chatsworth and only 23 years old.) This was a revolutionary design of cash iron and glass. Glass was very very expensive so this was a completely new design. Prince Albert approved the design. Punch called it “The Crystal Palace” and the name stuck! The building was completed on the 1st May 1851 on budget and on time and the building was opened by Queen Victoria. 6 million people came from all over the country. ½ the exhibition was for British exhibits and the other ½ for the rest of the world... One 85 year old lady walked all the way from Cornwall just to see the exhibition.. Individual towns were encouraged to do their own exhibits and included Manchester, Sheffield and Bradford. Power Looms were especially popular. Even Prince Albert had an exhibit of a design of good housing for the people. 3 Elm trees were in the centre of the area in Hyde Park and to save them being cut down the building went over them!

Apparently Sparrows were found in side the building and at the suggestion of The Duke of Wellington Sparrow Hawks were used to get rid of the sparrows! 6 months after the opening of the exhibition it was closed and had made a profit of £186,000, The structure had to be taken down from Hyde Park and the move completed in 1854. Joseph Paxton bought the building to move it apparently it cost 1 ½ Million pounds(billions by today’s money) to move it to Sydenham Hill. This was an ideal site at the top of a hill. Queen Victoria opened the new Crystal Palace in June 1854 the site had many fountains and statutes all over the site. Joseph Paxton was very keen on fountains and thought the statutes of famous people would educate the people. There was even 18 life size Dinosaurs. The site had different courts or areas in the building illustrating past civilization.. The Egyptian, Greece, Roman etc. The site was famous for athletics and many other sports were played there including football.

In November 1936 the whole place was gutted by fire. There is a museum on the site which is well worth a visit it houses many exhibits including a rare example of a Baird Television.

2009/10 Season

7th October. On a fine day, Evangeline Graham brought us the excellent Children's Choir from The Blackheath Nursery & Preparatory School who sang several songs as a choir; with solos as well. Also we were treated to some poetry. The 1st number was an African spiritual and was very popular. This is the 3rd time they have sung at our church and we look forward to hearing them again in the future

2008/9 Season

19th August Afternoon Cream Teas on the church lawns - scrummy. We were lucky with the weather and had an enjoyable time with plenty of
cream scones and some really excellent home make cakes.   91 people
came-which is quite a turn out for us!

2nd July Annual Outing This Year - Polesdon Lacey

3rd June Jan King on the Sudan its Joys and Sorrows
Jan started by telling us a bit about the background political & religious situation in The Sudan.
It is a big country- Spain, France, Belgium, & Holland could all fit inside The Sudan!
The British were there until 1956. When independence was granted The North declared that the whole country was to be Islamic republic. A holy Gehad war was reclaimed to make the whole of The Sudan Muslim. There is a lot of oil in the south-of the country the government receives about 1-2 million US $ a day from the oil.
The North has used helicopter gun ships to attack the villages- the churches and the schools are specially targeted. Over 2 million have died in this conflict. It is often referred to as the forgotten war. The starving situation in Dafur did eventually get reported in the news. Finally in 2005 a fragile peace was made which is still holding.
Schools, hospitals and roads were badly damaged during the conflict.
Jan King is a retired teacher from Croydon. She had a divorce from her husband in 1993, after he had confessed to adultery with more than 1 woman. (It took Jan at least 2 years to get over her divorce.)
Jan found solace from the bible. One Isaiah text was-“Forget former things, behold I am doing something new you shall go out in joy and peace.”
Also Isaiah c 58 v 11: “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden, like a stream whose waters never fail.
Also a text from John’s gospel when Jesus is talking to Peter and says “Do you truly love me more than these?” Then Jesus says “Go feed my lambs.” (John c21 v 15)<
Jan was eventually persuaded to accept the post of teacher from Emmanuel Christian training centre, which is run by “Open Doors”. She teaches in the far south East of the Sudan . She goes out twice a year for about 6 weeks each time
Jan teaches 4 classes and does literacy with the Pastors wives. She also teaches health, hygiene, and Bible teaching-to help the wives in assisting their husbands in their ministry.
Jan believes You are never too old, if God wants you to do something God gives you the gifts he thinks you need.
She has now produced text books for her students. Now Sudanese women are allowed to come for education. (Previously thought to be unnecessary to educate women)
Jan assists in supplying basic hygiene needs in a small clinic for the women.
It was a most interesting and provoking talk. At the end of the meeting we raised £140 plus the money we gave her towards her expenses, i.e. some £180 in all.

6th May Mary Corr talk on Mr Dickens in Greenwich  

Dickens thought of Greenwich as a happy place. He was bought up in Chatham (nr Rochester). Mr Dicken’s father worked for The Navy Office in Chatham. The first 10 years of Dicken’s life was in Chatham.

His father was not good with money and the family had to move up to London in the 1820’s to very poor lodgings. Dickens had to work at 12 years old in a very unpleasant job in London to earn money for the family.

Dicken’s would have travelled up to London via Shooters hill which was in the past notorious as place for thieves and highway men. In his late teens he went to work for The Morning Chronicle Dickens remembered everything he experienced this was part of his genius and he could use it later in his novels.

The Bull hotel in Shooters hill road was very famous in its day. It was the officer’s mess at one time for The Royal Artillery at Woolwich barracks. It was used in Pickwick Papers Mr Weller senior retired there.

The annual fair was then held in the area of King William walk, towards the area that is now The Royal Naval College. There were many “Dell boys” doing the 3 card trick etc!

Naval pensioners used the time at these fairs to earn a few pence hiring out their telescopes to passers by. Local people offered you tea in their homes for a few pence!

There were large tents encouraging people to visit and dance & club. These huge tent some of them nearly as big as The Cutty Sark had little booths on the sides of the tents for anyone who wanted an intimate space for his lady friend! Also the Circus was popular at the time.

Also in Greenwich was Richardson’s theatre used in Nicholas Nickleby.

Dickens had a great of acting all his life. In those days people left the fair and went to Greenwich Park for lunch and games. The idea was to have a good time as next day you had to go back to the drudgery of every day life!

In Our Mutual Friend Dickens mentions St. Alfage church for a marriage.

In Dickens day there were 3 main Taverns. The Crown & Sceptre, The Ship and The Trafalgar Tavern rebuilt in 1832.

Dickens’ friends from the Art world, literary world and Actor managers often met at one of the pubs in Greenwich all men. (No women!). The little streets of Greenwich have mostly gone, Turnip alley is the last example. By 1870 it was all finished. Now The Fair and Circus is on the heath.

1st April Robert Hulse from The Brunel museum gave us a most interesting talk on Marc Brunel's building of the Rotherhithe tunnel.
This was the first underwater Tunnel, and  the first tunnel built to go under a river.
Marc Brunel, the father of the more famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was the chief engineer of the project.  He was a French man who escaped the French revolution-as he was a monarchist, this was no place to be at the time!
 The tunnel was started in 1825.    Brunel said the tunnel would take 3 years to build, but with floods and other problems it took 18 years to complete!   It was only the intervention of The Duke of Wellington, as Prime Minister  who finally got the money from the government to complete the project. The Times of the day said "It was the Great Bore"- A pun on words!

We had illustrated booklets which showed the various stages of the project. 
At one time the tunnel flooded.  In order to replace public confidence Brunel organized a banquet in the tunnel with a band from the Coldstream guards playing and The Duke of Wellington as guest of honour -the noise was terrific-no one could talk-but the project was a success and more money was collected from the investors!
The tunnel was used for a number of purposes:
In 1843 it was to be a Cargo tunnel for pedestrians, and horses would also use it.
On the 1st day 50,000 people used it!   Eventually  a total of 1 Million came to walk under the tunnel for a 1 old penny fare. 
It was used as the world's first underwater arcade.  Unfortunately thieves used the empty shops to carry on their business and ladies of the town came to ply their trade. 
In 1852 it became the world's first under water fair.
In 1865 It was sold to The East London Railway for use with steam locomotives.
In 1913 The tunnel was electrified.
All in all a most interesting talk-well worth visiting The Brunel Museum.

Wednesday 4th March

Sandra Winter The national secretary  of the Handbells association of GB gave us another excellent presentation. 
She played for us "The love theme from Titanic".  This was followed by a Mambo rhythm "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White", 
We also had a Judy Garland number "Somewhere over the rainbow"
Our members also had the opportunity of accompanying her with percussion instruments which was great fun.

Wednesday 14 th January talk from Dr Desmond Thompson

Entitled a career in 2 half’s

Dr Desmond Thompson gave us a very interesting talk on his experiences as a GP for the Lee road practice. It traces its roots as far back as 1810 when the first practice opened in that area. The first Thompson joined the practice in 1971 when Mabel Thompson joined (Desmond’s mother) - a year later his father Brian Thompson joined.

At one time 4 Thompsons were employed in the practice. Father, mother, and the 2 sons!

They now have 6 doctors, 3 nurses, 14 receptionists, and an IT manager and I believe they have 9,000 patients. Desmond’s mother Mabel Thompson sadly died in December 2007. She was a regular member of The 11 O’clock Club.

Desmond then gave us a talk about being a Dr. for Millwall football club.

He gave us a fascinating insight into the injuries of a foot ball player and what it was like to treat players on the pitch-especially when Sky TV was recording the game!

Apparently the average no of games played by players in a season could be 40/50 in a season. Desmond was a doctor for millwall for 9 seasons 1999 to 2008.

Desmond was doctor when the team went through to the FA cup final in 2004 to play Manchester United. The final was at Cardiff-many Millwall players were suffering from injuries so they really did not stand much chance-Manchester United won!!

Desmond took a special sports injury course in 1998. Millwall did take up a considerable proportion of his time; it was not unusual to get asked to give emergency treatment/advice at extremely short notice.

2007/8 Season

5th November

“Dr. Mary Baines gave us a talk on “The Story of Hospice”.  Mary was involved with the movement from the very beginning.   David Tasman, who was dying of Cancer in 1948, donated £500 towards the foundation of the Hospice movement –this money was given to Dame Cecily Saunders who was the person who was principally involved in getting this movement started...   Eventually by 1957 the sum of £500,000 had been collected and the first St. Christopher’s Hospice was opened.

In the 1950’s the idea of a Hospice movement was considered a pipe dream.   The dying were put in large general wards which were totally unsuitable for the terminally ill.

 Dr Mary Baines joined the movement in 1968- her colleges considered her wish to joint as very detrimental to her career-such was the thinking in those days!!   Mary Baines was privileged to be taught by Dame Cecily Saunders, the founder of the movement.
 Now there is no need for someone to suffer from pain when we have such advanced cancer treatment.  In the UK there 228 patient units, 39 for  children.  There is also the hospital “Home care service” with 327 units and at least 300 teams in the General hospitals.

This movement has been copied world wide with people coming over to the UK to see how things are done.
Dr Mary Baines has been involved with establishing care centres in Uganda, India, and especially with Eastern Europe (ie Romania and the Balkans).
Romania has had special problems with HIV & aides –the previous government also had a policy not to give aide to people over 60 years old!
Dr  Mary Baines said that “ this work was doing the work of God for our time".

We also collected from all the 11 O'clockers, a total of £192 for the Hospice movement. £177 for The Hospice of Hope in Romania and £15 for St. Christopher's Hospice.

1st October

Margaret Taylor a retired English teacher has a job of Parish Archivist at Eltham Church she put her name forward for a teaching job in this new school.

Margaret gave us a most informative and amusing talk on her experiences of teaching in Papua New Guinea. 
The first missionary went out there in 1800-Anglican missionaries visited the island in 1891 now 96% of the population is Christian

The Anglican High school is in the highlands and now has 480 pupils with prefabricated buildings and some simple local native huts.
There are about 830 local languages –each child has to use his own language, pigeon English, and English the official language.

 In addition to English Margaret had to teach art, using charcoal on plain paper.  She also had to dance practise, she took 210 children on Hymn practise using 1 hymn book between 12 pupils-it was unaccompanied as well!!
Margaret taught maths, commerce, religious studies and agricultural lessons for the allotments!  Counting was difficult beyond 6 was many, many !!
Margaret also helped in sewing classes using hand operated sewing machines-helping the children make simple clothes.

Margaret and her friend Peggy used their allotment to grow vegetables and eventually managed to buy pasta, rice, and sweet potatoes to supplement their simple diet.
Lessons were 40 minutes with 40 lessons per week.
The children’s, meals were a dry biscuit and plenty of water for lunch but breakfast and dinner were the main meals.
Margaret was present at the ordination of a new priest for the local parish.  The service was conducted in pigeon English.

Many of the students when they arrived at the school had no surnames and had to be given them which caused some confusion.
Buildings were usually called houses. No words were available for "special buildings"
So a library = house books
A Garage= House car
Hospital = house sick!
I hope this gives you an idea of what it was like to be a teacher out there.

On 4th June we learned what police dogs actually get up to. Ian Harrison from The Met's dog training centre Keston, whose 15 acres house over 100 dog kennels. Ian first showed his Cocker Spaniel detecting drugs hidden around the grounds. His beautiful black Labrador then checked 25 of us, easily picking up the one carrying drugs (solely for this exercise of course !). Training enables the dogs to detect narcotic and explosive substances, as well as firearms and body remains. Artificial insemination and natural matings produce German Shepherd, English Springer, Cocker Spaniel and Labrador litters of the highest working ability. We were impressed.

On 7th May our regular filmic wizard Stephen Kuhrt brought us more from the celluloid era with a discourse called "Reflecting on the Weepies". We sniffled a bit, but heartily enjoyed ourselves.

On 2nd April we received a musical entertainment from the Eshowe Clarinet Quartet arranged through Trinity College. The group owes its name to the town of Eshowe in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa which is a place of great significance to them. They played a wide range of music -classical, samba and many other numbers, some with a South African flavour. We enjoyed ourselves a lot, and so did the musicians - who all stayed to lunch afterwards.

On 5th March Glenn Jones, from The London Fire Service, spoke on the threat of global terrorism, suicide bombers and responsive action. A New Dimension programme has 10 units in London to cover: rapid response, urban search, flooding and huge fires,explosions and decontamination . They are able to handle walking wounded. They have gas tight chemical protective suits. There is increased cooperation with the Police and Ambulance services. We were all assured that the modern fire service is well placed to tackle almost any emergency! Finally we were given leaflets for us to complete if we wanted a fire officer to check our home for safety

On 6th February we heard how Mavis Righini was asked by the head mistress of the school where she was an auxiliary teacher to look after 4 orphaned baby hedgehogs. She took them home and after many attempts, managed to feed them and one - Prickles - lived to 3 years old, the normal age for a hedgehog. The local papers ran articles, people started to bring her hedgehogs, the Prickles Hedgehog Haven came into being. She has rescued over 2000, and currently has 30 of them. Mavis explained that due to inbreeding hedgehogs can be born blind, have back leg paralysis, or never learn to spike up(turn themselves into a prickly ball). In these cases it is not possible to release them again. She bought a lovely 2 year old called Charlotte who does not spike up and suffers from rhinitis. We were all able to touch her! Mavis wore a small silver cross. She is a Christian and is sure she is doing the Lord's work - she used to be a nervous person but since she has done this work she can speak confidently in public. We can vouvh for that.

On 9th January Ian Curtis, our insider at the Department for International Development, outlined what he and the Dept get up to to help save the planet and cut poverty especially in the world's poorer countries. Often work is carried out in war torn countries, e.g. in Mozambique where DFID and the Swiss government with Anglican and RC help negotiated peace first before they were a ble to help the local population. Ian's first jobs were in Nepal and Kenya on hydro electric projects for development. In both countries the very poor people often have to borrow from money lenders and on death the debt is passed onto the children. Some facts: 1 Billion of people in the developing world live on less than $1 a day. 800 million in the world are illiterate 2/3 are women. In Africa 11 million children die each year from preventable deseases.
In 2006 UK gave 0.5% of GDP 7th out of 22 donors. And currently Ian is covering issues to do with climate change Ian ended with 2 bible quotes: Psalm 24:1 "The earth is God’s, with its fullness; the world, and all who dwell therein." and Micah 6:8 "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?".

On 3rd October, Sandra Winter, National Sectetary of The Handbell Ringers of Great Britain, demonstrated her dexterity in ringing the bells, with some excellent tunes. We were told about the construction of the bells and the difference between American and English bells. We saw a bell from the 1770s and found out that ringing of tunes was really a Victorian creation, exported to USA by Phineas Barnum. We learned how to hold the bell with the clapper nearest you and ring away from yourself. Then we used "belleplates" which looked a lot like "paint scrapers" with a clapper! Seven of the audience rang these to play Elvis Presley's "Love me Tender" .

On 7th November it was a musical affair with the Blackheath Conservatoire Ladies Choir. Garden-inspired music by Cecil Sharp, Benjamin Britten, and Handel, was followed by 4 "flower" songs by contemporary composer Michael Hurd, on violets, primroses, roses and meadows. Mozart's beautiful and moving "Laudate Dominum" then preceded the traditional "Water of Tyne" and 5 sea songs of different character; the last being a lively "Bobby Shaftoe"

HISTORY OF EVENTS 2006/7 Season

On 4th July we had our annual whole day coach outing. This time it was to Leeds Castle and we all had a thoroughly good time..

On 26th June What do bishops get up to ? Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Woolwich, told us that though everyday he did very different things around the diocese, he sees his task as outreach to individual people to give a message of hope and to encourage local churches to support their immediate communities, overcoming people's increasing tendency to keep their lives to themselves.

On 2nd May Asha (Hindi for hope) was our topic and Freddy Martin told us how this charity helps the urban poor of Delhi, where 4 million live in slums, missing out on India's economic growth. Where Asha works child deaths have been eliminated, access to computers has been achieved and there are 12 Christian churches.. "God hears our prayers and answers them" said Freddy

On 4th April we heard another excellent illustrated talk from Margaret Taylor, Eltham Parish Archivist & international detective, on the mundane, mysteries and even murder. Eltham church [in the Domesday Book 1086] has records back to 1554, including many on servants, workmen, gardeners and carpenters from Eltham palace. The suspect in the murder of Christopher Marlow in a tavern brawl at Deptford was an Eltham man, Ingram Frizer, who later became a church warden! Another Eltham character was Nancy Ashburnham who as a child in 18thC went to India with her father, and returned, only to commit suicide - or was she murdered!

On 7th March, Stephen Kuhrt, film buff [and vicar], treated us to another lively morning from his archives with extracts from 4 war-linked movies from the 30s /early 40s : Gone with the Wind, Waterloo Bridge, Angels with Dirty Faces, and Casablanca. Gumption summarised the mind set of the various characters, facing right and wrong choices. The Christian ethic of putting others before oneself, and other aspects of the films were drawn out in stimulating and jovial fashion.

On 7th February we were entertained with a choral production from the children of the Blackheath Nursery and Preparatory School Choir.

On 3rd January we heard a very interesting and informative talk from Jacob Lepstein on "Voyages to The New World". Jacob, of the National Maritime Museum, was at one time a military officer, and previously lectured on Tudor and Stuart history in a Hampton Court Palace classroom that was one of Cardinal Wolsey's toilets! Jacob's well illustrated talk detailed voyages of discovery from 1606 onwards, telling us of the explorers, their ships and the materials, clothes and provisions the settlers took with them to Virginia. We were encouraged to visit the Museum to follow up for ourselves.

On 6th December there was a big gathering in the church halls, where 72 people enjoyed a top quality Christmas lunch with hats and all the trimmings, followed by entertainment from Frank Allen.

On 4th October the topic was "Three Times a Week" For triathlon athlete Vernon Thomas that is how often he peels off some overwear and gets down to serious training.

On 1st Novemberwe reflected on the question "Should more Journalists be put behind bars?" John Bartram, journalist, lecturer and cricket fan, talked about his experiences in visiting prisoners and other aspects of staying informed

HISTORY OF EVENTS 2005/6 Season

On February 1st we had a return visit from Trinity College Music Students, with a flexible chamber group called 'Ensemble Suavis ' who combine wind instruments with 'cello. The Ensemble comprised Flute, Oboe and Clarinet and they played English Compositions by Malcom Arnold, Elgar and Handel. 68 people sat down for lunch and we had to go and buy extra food!

On January 4th everyone enjoyed a talk from Joan Connolly about her work with children with special needs.  She has just retired from teaching but as an examiner and inspector for schools who wish to take autistic children, she proved very knowledgable and instructive about the different special needs of children and how they are catered for in boarding school.

On December 7th we had a Christmas Dinner starting at the unusual time of 12.45 with canapes and drinks.  Then we served a full roast Christmas meal followed by Christmas Pudding, trifle and mince pies at festive tables and candles . Frank Allen sang and played and got everyone joining in. The guests were really appreciative - several were going to spend Christmas alone and were thrilled to come to an early Christmas meal.

On November 2nd  we enjoyed a very varied choral programme of mainly English compositions from the Blackheath Conservatoire Ladies Choir. There were a dozen in the choir which had a very energetic conductor and a young, very competent pianist. Everyone seemed to enjoy it enormously.

On October 5th the jewel in the crown of our meetings so far - an illustrated talk by Jim Newson all about The Crown Jewels

HISTORY OF EVENTS 2004/05 Season

On July 6th there was an Outing. 46 people filled a hired coach and went off for the day to Finchcocks near Goudhurst in Kent. This is a fine early Georgian manor of 1725 in a beautiful unspoilt setting.. There is a fully restored garden, an orchard for wild flowers and a lovely walled garden. The house now contains over 100 historical keyboard instruments - pianos, and a number of barrel organs, musical boxes and other mechanical instruments. We were given an enthralling, instructive and amusing presentation by Richard Burnett, owner of Finchcocks and a professional pianist about the history and connections of 10 of the historic instruments, with live performances on every one of them.

On June 8th it was Desert Island Discs  Our castaway was the Ven. Norman Warren, a musician - both composer and performer. - and author of a best selling book. He is a keen sailor and has many other interesting hobbies. His wife is a counsellor and they have five children and a large family of grandchildren. So we got plenty of anecdotes and refreshing music.

On May 4th we heard from a Robin Hood enthusiast. Stephen Kuhrt. Stephen is also curate at Christ Church New Malden and his mother is our own Director of Music. He greatly entertained us with amusing tales of the greenwood of Sherwood Forest and of its celebrated residents Robin Hood and company - with illustrations from many movies.

On April 6th for the culinary minded Angela Misson a Food and Nutrition Advisor and Teacher, spoke to us about quick and easy cooking for small servings. She demonstrated how to prepare roasted vegetables, including sweet potatoes, butternut squash, celeriac and fennel. A large quantity could be cooked, stored in the fridge and reheated in the microwave over several days, so people could easily meet the quotient of five veg or fruit a day. Then she gave us lots of hints on how to use couscous as a quick and easy alternative to potatoes or rice. She also demonstrated how to 'butterfly' a chicken breast to cook it quicker and make an ideal surface for toppings. She gave out recipe sheets and answered innumerable questions. It was a very useful, interesting and enjoyable meeting.

On March 2nd we heard an account of life and customs and of the way the state operated in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic where Maggie & Chris Holland worked for 3 years. We all learned to say a few phrases of the Lao language, including the common early enquiry of any new friend "Are you married yet?" We saw Lao woven silk and other crafts, heard Lao music, and learned the traditional Lao dance the Lam Wong.     Sabaidi, lok can.[goodbye good luck]

On February 2nd an audience of 40 was treated to an extra-special PCC meeting in the shape of a play 'St Stephen's Pulpit' read by its author Raymond Jones Davies and a strong supporting cast of four. The issue before the PCC was a request to move the pulpit and this was discussed with innumerable entertaining diversions, as the chairman struggled to make sense out of chaos

On January 5^th radio producer Liz Lickiss shared her many and varied experiences in describing how radio programmes get put together. She is with a broadcaster called FEBA which puts out, in many countries, programmes that explore ethical and faith issues. She brought with her an ordinary suitcase, which when opened contained a complete mobile studio, with which programmes could be created on the spot anywhere in the world and uploaded to the internet for immediate broadcasting. Liz also works with local commercial radio station in Surrey, producing both a weekly hour of faith-limked programming on Countdown and and also a short sharp 30 second slot with punchy thoughts for the fast modern generation on Eagle. Nearly fifty people attended and learned a great deal about radio and radio outreach.

On December 1^st seven students from Trinity College of Music performed a highly varied programme for 40 clubbers. Two solos cello suites and a solo violin piece from Bach, guitar pieces by Manuel Falla and Silvius Leopold Weiss, and pieces for a sax quartet by Stalling, Buttall and Booth, including The Lone Ar-ranger goes Sax Mad.

On November 3^rd Acting Inspector Danny Butler gave a fascinating account of the Met's Mounted Police, from their introduction in 1760 to combat highwaymen, through to the present day when they play a major role in maintaining public order at large events, take part in ceremonial parades and offer a re-assuring presence on the beat. The Met has 80 horses, 10 of them stabled in Lewisham; and after the talk two of those came along: one of them being Tony, a vastly experienced older horse who led the Queen Mother's funeral procession. One of many things we all didn't know was that the names of the horses take their initial letter from the year they join the force - we are on H this year, so you can work out how long ago Tony was signed on

On October 6^th Frank Allen entertained us hugely with stories and music about his life as a professional musician