It was off to the theatre for some Capel Ladies members in April, to see an adaption of the story of “Brief Encounter”. Having seen the old black-and-white film years ago, I couldn’t remember much about it, and I was even more curious to see how it could have been turned into a musical! It was a collaboration between the New Wolsey and two other theatre companies, and enacted by a very talented cast of actor-musicians. The story is a simple one – a chance meeting in a railway station tea-room between a young married housewife and a hospital doctor leads to a passionate though short affair, with an emotional parting scene at the end. The songs and musical items did not interfere with the action, and were beautifully performed to keep the show flowing along. There was humour, too, with the romances of the station staff and their courting of the tea-room supervisor and waitress progressing as the story unfolded. An excellent show, with a bittersweet ending! Great performances too, from all the cast members!

We had our own Coronation celebration in May, with our fun horse-racing games evening, presided over by one of our favourite speakers, Barbara Faulkner. She told us some of the history of Royal Ascot, and the traditions and customs which go with it. Then we had our own horse races, with six events of different lengths which were run up and down a measured course, in the shape of a board marked out in lanes for our model horses to race along! We were in teams, with a jockey from each team who was responsible for moving their particular mount along the course, according to the number thrown on the dice by the team members on each table. Each team had paid £100 stake money, (the Monopoly kind!), and for a 3^rd place finish they got £100 back, 2^nd place received £200 and first place received £300 prize money and a cup! At the end of the evening the team who had won the most prize money was presented with the GOLD CUP for the Coronation Stakes, and they were each given a miniature cup to take home, too! After this we had some nibbles, a glass of Prosecco or elderflower and Coronation cupcakes, each baked and beautifully decorated by Marie Barker. It had been a really fun evening!

Check out the gallery of images from our Coronation Stakes, below:

Coming up we have a visit to Hearts Delight Garden Centre, our Summer Social, a trip to The Hold on the Ipswich Waterfront, and the Orchard Players’ Summer Show to see! Lots there to amuse everyone!