I’ve heard of some unusual collections in my time, but historical and vintage underwear must be one of the strangest! Liza Jones has a suitcase full of the most amazing garments worn by ladies through the ages, which we passed round to look at while she told us of their history.

The underwear market in the UK is a thriving business, worth £1.6 billion a year, but it has not always been so. Women have not always worn underwear, but from the 15^th century onward began to take more interest in showing off their own body shape under clothing. They began wearing laced corsets which were stiffened with whalebone to keep their shape and provide support. Liza wanted to add one of these corsets to her collection but was unable to find one so made her own! Instead of using whalebone she stiffened each section using modern parcel ties and the result is a work of art!

Apart from this garment she has pantaloons, knickerbockers, a Victorian night-shirt and cap, a liberty bodice and a wonderful collection of vintage bras and underwear sets from more recent times! We were taken on a journey from busks to Madonna’s bullet bras, and from loin cloths to G-strings! A fascinating and enlightening talk and slides, which was brought to life as we passed round the various items of clothing, many of which were hand-made and edged with delicate lace or broderie anglaise. Thank you Liza for a lively and interesting talk!

The police theme from our museum visit cropped up again at our March meeting, when Gary Egerton, a retired police officer and Blue Badge Tourist Guide, made a welcome return visit to the club to tell us about “The Funny Side of Policing”. He had a wealth of amusing yarns to tell from his various experiences – first, as a rookie cop, pounding the beat at the tender age of nineteen, then as a member of the C.I.D., solving crimes, and finally as a police protection officer responsible for guarding V.I.P.’s like members of the Royal Family, pop groups and politicians.

Gary is a great storyteller and has a proper ‘policeman’s voice’, so we had no trouble hearing the hilarious accounts of incidents from his time on the force.

At the end of the evening he received much enthusiastic applause from a smiling crowd of Capel Ladies Club members who had been treated to large doses of “the best medicine” – LAUGHTER!

Our next speaker promises more amusing anecdotes when she reveals facts concerning the subject of “Knickers”- so do come and join us for a jolly evening! New members always welcome!

There was an excellent turnout for our first “In” meeting of the year – a Body Shop Evening. Our new chairlady, Di Barker, began by welcoming everyone and introducing the new committee for 2017 before handing over to Lindsey Imlach, the Body Shop consultant.

Founded in 1976 by the late British environmental and human rights campaigner the late Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop started life as a small outfit in Brighton selling just 25 products. Customers were encouraged to recycle packaging and there was a real emphasis on natural ingredients that were ethically sourced and cruelty-free. Now the range consists of over 300 products and there are more than 2500 stores worldwide.

The natural ingredients of these products come from all over the world, from Guatemala and the Brazilian rainforests, Ecuador and Cameroon to Ghana, Sudan and even Norfolk in the UK! They are all community-traded raw ingredients which play an important part in keeping village co-operatives and farms in very rural areas of the world as thriving businesses. Moneys raised help to pay for the education of children and young people, and also conserve the environment in which they live. Here in East Anglia there are nine flourishing family farm businesses, which might otherwise have failed, now growing crops such as camomile to produce Norfolk Essential Oils.

Lindsey passed round various creams and lotions for us to try and then there was an opportunity to buy some of the products. It was a very interesting and enlightening evening, and a very sociable time for everyone who attended.

Coming up we have a visit to Suffolk Police Museum, a meal out to the Wenham Queen, a talk about the Funny Side of Policing and another about Knickers!  (None of these are connected, by the way!)

Come and join us!

The A.G.M. was attended by a total of 20 members, including five members of the 2016 Committee. The minutes of last year’s A.G.M. were approved by the members present, and the audited accounts were officially adopted too. In her chairlady’s report Linda Evans said it had been another busy year, and a varied and enjoyable one. She listed all the activities including the many outings which were all well supported by members. There had been one or two new members joining during the year, and Linda asked that regular members encourage newcomers to join their friendship groups to help integrate them into the club, after all, we were ALL new members once! Linda said her OWN membership had begun over 40 years ago!

She thanked all the committee including those retiring this year – who are Jean Rollings, Maureen MacNeil, Cathy Sweeney. Linda is also retiring having served three years, and she said the Club could now look forward to some new committee members volunteering for 2017. Thanks were also given to Val and Dorothy, our esteemed tea ladies, who regularly get the refreshments laid out at the start of every “In” Meeting.

Several new committee members were then proposed, seconded and accepted onto the 2017 team. These include Di Barker (who was proposed as the new Chairlady), Shirley Ward, Pat Bradford and Irene Carder.

After the business was finished Cakes, Coffees and Teas were served, and then came the Raffle and a few games of Beetle to end the evening.

There was a wonderful turnout for our Christmas Social! And a record-breaking Christmas Draw too! Our entertainer for the evening was David Padwick, who sang a selection of old popular hits interspersed with amusing stories – not all of them new but very funny! After our delicious buffet supper, provided by all the members, there was more music and a chance to join in with carols and seasonal songs. There were raffle prizes for nearly everyone in the end, as well as Secret Santa gifts and our own Capel Ladies calendars. Just the Christmas Meal at The George to look forward to now, before 2017 is upon us and we start a new programme!

Future events on the cards at Capel Ladies Club include our January AGM and Beetle Drive, where we hope to amass a few more winners in the shape of some new committee members, and a Body Shop evening in February – watch out for our posters!

Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg

Our November meeting began rather abruptly with a fire drill, which passed off very smoothly thanks to Sandra and Mandy from the Community Trust who counted us all safely back into the Library again when it was over!

Our speaker for the evening was John Wrigley, whose subjects were the two cities of St Petersburg and Moscow, which he had visited as part of a cruise a few years ago.

He showed us slides of their wonderful and iconic buildings and interiors, plus street scenes and views of the peaceful waterways and amazing metro stations with fantastic sculptures and artwork decoration.

A view towards St Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow

His talk was full of humorous anecdotes and happy reminiscences of his Russian holiday, sprinkled with interesting facts about Russian history, which made us each want to visit these stunning cities.

As we near the end of the year we still have our trip to Romford for shopping and Greyhound Racing, our Christmas Social and our meal out – and then we are starting again with the AGM in January! Capel Ladies Club wishes all who read this a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

October’s meeting, a talk entitled “When the Clock Strikes Twelve”, was a complete mystery to us all, and produced a number of different guesses as to what it would be about! The speaker, Barbara Faulkner, didn’t let on for quite a while but instead took our suggestions and told us some of the history and folklore associated with them. Hence we went through, amongst others, stories of witches and the “witching hour”, Cinderella and the glass slipper, and the New Year and Auld Lang Syne. However, the final outcome of the talk was a complete surprise, and – I’m afraid – must remain a secret from all except those of us present at the meeting! A very entertaining evening with a lively speaker!

There are 120 people in the UK who hold the title “Master Chef of Great Britain”, and David Ryan is one of them. In fact he’s number six on the list, a few places down from Brian Turner!

David and his “sous-chef” wife Libby came to our first meeting of the season to demonstrate a one-pot cooking dish and give us all a taste!

To accompany his preparation and cooking he told us something of his life story, which included a number of humorous anecdotes about the various top London hotels where he has worked and the staff he worked with. These stories went down very well along with the Warm Chicken, Tomatoes & Lemon Cous-cous which he served up to us at the end! (Recipe below).

A very enjoyable and tasty evening; as one member put it:

“What a lovely night that was, such an interesting life & lovely food to top it off.  I hope everyone appreciated it as much as I did!”

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WARM CHICKEN & TOMATOES WITH LEMON COUS-COUS

INGREDIENTS
RECIPE FOR FOUR PORTIONS

Four Chicken Breasts – trimmed
One Peeled Onion – Finely Chopped
Two Cloves of Garlic – Chopped
Eight Spring Onions – Finely Chopped
One Stick of Celery – Chopped
Four Tomatoes – Peeled, De-Seeded and Diced
½ Glass of Wine
¼ pt. Tomato Passata
One Courgette – Finely Chopped
1 tbsp. of White Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp. Chopped Fresh Herbs
1 tbsp. Caster Sugar

METHOD

1. Seal & Season Chicken Breast in pan until well-sealed.
2. Place onto baking tray and cook for 20-20 minutes @ 120.
3. In a pan sweat garlic, red onion & spring onion until soft.
4. Add the celery and diced tomato puree & white wine
5. Add the tomato passata and the finely chopped courgette
6. Add tbsp. vinegar and caster sugar.
7. Cook for five mins, season and add chopped herbs
8. Slice the chicken and top with the sauce.

LEMON COUS-COUS

INGREDIENTS

Two Lemons, Zest & Juice
100 grams Couscous
1pt BOILING Vegetable Stock
1tsp Turmeric
2tbsp Chopped Chives

METHOD

1. Mix all ingredients and cling film.  Leave for three minutes and fork through.
2. Season & serve.

Our Charity Night in July was a great success. Our two chosen charities for this year were the 2^nd Capel Guides and the Community First Responders (the Bentley, Capel St Mary & Tattingstone Branch).

At the start of the evening, Mrs Ellie Wepener, the leader from 2^nd Capel Guides, told us about their need for a new storage hut to keep their tents and equipment safe from the weather. They have already organised fund-raising activities and applied for grants aiming to raise the £5000 total cost of the new hut, so they were extremely grateful for our interest and contribution towards this sum.

The evening continued with a talk and demonstration from the First Responders, in this case Andy Proctor and Trainee Sandy Browning. A Community First Responder is trained to provide first aid and basic life support, including CPR. They carry a comprehensive medical kit including a defibrillator and oxygen delivery system, and they are made up of volunteers (aged between 18 and 70) who are on call at specific times on a rota basis. Whenever an ambulance is despatched to incidents such as chest pains, falls, strokes, breathing problems or diabetic cases the ambulance control room also contacts the on-duty First Responder.

(First Responders do not deal with road traffic accidents, trauma injuries or children under 8.) When arriving first on the scene the First Responders begin providing treatment, handing over to the ambulance crew as soon as they arrive. Every second is vital so their role is very important, especially in rural areas where the ambulance may take longer to get to an incident.

Speed of attendance at a scene is crucial, particularly in the event of a suspected stroke. We have all heard of the acronym F.A.S.T.

F = Face (Can the patient smile, has their facial expression fallen or become lop-sided)

A = Arms (Can the patient raise their arms or squeeze your hand – is one side stronger than the other)

S = Speech (Is the patient slurring their words or unable to speak)

T = Time to ring 999.

Andy and Sandy demonstrated the use of the defibrillator and showed us how to do CPR (with mouth to mouth and chest compressions) and put a patient in the recovery position.

Apparently older or middle-aged people are generally slower at calling 999 as they “don’t want to bother anyone unnecessarily”. The general rule is – if anyone seems confused, off-colour or is showing a one-sided weakness – DON’T HESITATE – CALL 999!

After the demonstration we held a Grand Raffle in aid of these two worthy causes, and there was also a Crazy Horse Race Draw. In total we made £70.00, and when this amount was added to our Fun Day total we had enough to donate cheques of £100.00 to each cause!

Altogether it was a very informative, worthwhile and enjoyable evening!

Early June and it was our Summer Social evening, with food, a quiz and a home-made crown competition to celebrate the Queens 90^th birthday. All went well until poor Pat Naylor tripped up the edge of the stage in the Vine Lounge and unfortunately suffered a broken ankle as a result. Get well soon, Pat! Margaret Chenery won the crown competition and Pat Bradford was the runner up, whilst Mary Butters and Penny Thompson came first in the quiz.