For our Christmas meal out this year we decided to return to the restaurant at Acorn Village, Mistley, where we had such a warm welcome last year.

We weren’t disappointed, either! The food was good, served in the Oak Room which looked very Christmassy with all the decorations up, and the welcome from the friendly staff was just as warm as last time! After the meal there was a chance to buy something from the charity stall selling a variety of seasonal goods in aid of current Acorn Village projects, and then we were escorted by a friendly gnome to a Winter Wonderland!

This took the form of a magical grotto, entered through an avenue of snowy white trees, which was inhabited by all kinds of mystical creatures and things! These included a wishing pool wreathed in mist, a twisted, gnarled tree that spun round to become a twisted, gnarled witch, a dark, mysterious cave, a pure white unicorn appearing from the undergrowth, and scariest of all a giant green dragon which breathed smoke!

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All these weird and wonderful works of art had been created by the Acorn Village Community, using re-cycled and donated items and scraps, and the overall effect was one of wonderment and magic! The Grotto was open to the public on weekdays leading up to Christmas, and several local schoolchildren were also booked in to visit it. There was no charge for admission, but Acorn Village charity boxes were by the entrance doors for voluntary donations.

After our walk through the Grotto we were back down to earth with a bump, out into the damp and the chill of a breezy December evening and thence home to our own familiar surroundings.

If you fancy exploring new horizons why not take a look at our website, or better still, take the plunge and come as a guest to one of our meetings in 2016? You will be very welcome!

A party of 20 Capel Ladies went to see the latest production by the East Bergholt Dramatic Society at the Constable Hall at the end of November. It turned out to be an evening of laughter, shocks and surprises as the sixteen cast members displayed their talents, taking us through an eventful plot which included 2 actual murders and a number of attempted murders! The main victim was the producer of a T.V. soap who was looking to raise the ratings for his show by including a murder which would kill off one of the characters.

He decides to stage the dry run at his home, in the form of a murder mystery night, inviting everyone from the cast and crew to dinner, and then explaining his plan which would swing into action after midnight the same evening. At this point he also announces to the whole assembly that he will be divorcing his wife and eloping with a member of the cast in the near future.

Just as he had foreseen, the feelings of hostility towards him escalate, as each person feels that they could be the cast member axed from the show, and his wife is equally furious with him. Everyone is given a weapon of some kind, and a life-size dummy of their host is placed in the living room as a target. The guests disperse around the house and the action begins.

One by one each person secretly enters the living room and “murders” the dummy using whatever means they have to do so. However, there is a twist in the plot, and their host is murdered for real in the darkness. As they are locked in the house and cannot leave until morning, they each wonder who has really killed their producer, and when one of them stumbles upon the killer she herself is also murdered. Thankfully there is a Private Investigator amongst the guests, and it is he – ably assisted by one of the maids – who solves the crime before the police arrive.

All in all it was a most enjoyable evening out, and a great performance by the players, who kept us on our toes and amused or shocked throughout! I don’t think any of us guessed who the murderer was, either!

Unfortunately for our group of intrepid members, the evening of 15^th October was a rather damp and cloudy one. They were on a visit to the Observatory at Orwell Park School, and so were hoping for a clear dry night!

Nevertheless, the trip went ahead, and they bravely climbed the 100 steps to the top of the tower where the telescope is housed.

The Orwell Park estate on which the observatory stands has been the home of some influential and flamboyant characters from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The first of these was Admiral Vernon, who built the original mansion in 1725.

The second was Colonel George Tomline. He was educated at Eton and had several scholarly friends; amongst them Gladstone, Disraeli and Peel. He bought the Orwell Park Estate in 1848, adding 20,000 acres of land to it, and rebuilt the mansion in Victorian red brick. He also built the Ipswich to Felixstowe railway, and began work on the site of the present Felixstowe Docks. He was a keen amateur astronomer and commissioned Wilfrid Airy, son of the then astronomer Royal, to design and build the Observatory. The ornate brick tower is topped by a copper dome lined on the inside with mahogany. The building was completed in 1874.

Tomline engaged the services of a full-time professional astronomer named Isaac Plummer in February 1874, and his observations and publication of results gained the observatory a worldwide reputation for astronomical study at that time.

The telescope has a 10 inch object glass made by Mertz of Germany, and sits on a 55 foot supporting pillar, 8 feet in diameter. It is thought that the local firm of Ransomes was employed in installing this equipment, a complex task of precision engineering. The original clockwork mechanism for turning the telescope still works, although today it is powered by electricity. When the tower was first built there was a four-stage water-powered lift for easy access, but this had to be dismantled in later years due to its deteriorated state.

Our gallant group of ladies, having made it up the 100 steps of the spiral staircase, listened to a very informative talk by Paul Wilding, the Visitors’ co-ordinator, and then took turns to look at the images that could be seen on what was a rather cloudy night. As the sky was not visible the telescope was turned on the surrounding area and it was possible to pick out the River Orwell, Pin Mill and the Butt & Oyster inn. Shame about the weather, but still a very interesting and informative evening.

The telescope is now used regularly by the pupils at Orwell Park School, and by the Ipswich Astronomical Society, who keep both it and the dome in good working order.

Claire Mucklestone, Manager of Bourne Bridge Garden Centre in Ipswich, made us very welcome on our visit there in September.

As a schoolgirl Claire had dreams of joining the RAF, but with so many family links to horticulture over three generations, and after doing a regular weekend job at Notcutts, she decided that horticulture was definitely in her blood!

Having achieved her Craftsman’s Certificate, she then worked in a nursery in Bagshot, Surrey, where they supplied plants for London landscaping projects.

When a commercial site – opposite Fox’s Marina and next to Bourne Park – came up for sale in 1997, she bought it and established a garden centre there.

Claire enjoys doing creative things, choosing colour schemes and picking out plants that look good together. With the current autumn season upon us, she chose examples of variously coloured flowers and foliage that would look good in a large pot, or in an autumn-themed hanging basket. She also recommended plants for particular aspects and positions in a garden, some suitable for dry soil, some for shade, others for sunny spots. One of our members mentioned that she had used lemonade regularly to give her hanging baskets a boost, which tickled Claire who said she’d never heard THAT one before! However, she did suggest we used a slow-release plant food in the compost to keep the plants at their best.

We had a few laughs during our visit and at the same time got some useful ideas how to brighten up our own gardens. Thanks very much, Claire!