Judith Hibbert: Round the Radio

Photograph © Judith Hibbert

We were honoured to have the Mayor and Mayoress of Wolverhampton as special guests at our October lunch.

Other guests included the husbands and partners of some of our members, who were brave enough to accept an invitation to our annual open event and see what we get up to each month! 

Our post lunch entertainment was provided by Judith Hibbert, who has worked extensively in both stage and screen. Judith is part of the Good Old Days Company and has two talented theatrical children, one of whom is Eleanor Tomlinson, perhaps better known as Demelza in the BBC series Poldark.

Using only a few simple props, such as hats and scarves, she showed her versatility imitating the voices and mannerisms of various theatrical ladies including Joyce Grenfell, Julie Andrews and Gracie Fields. She soon had us laughing and joining in, although she wasn't too impressed with our singing!

Her presentation was much admired and so was her skill at being able to change characters by just wearing different hats .She was thanked for her amusing performance, which evoked pleasant memories from the past.

Cameron Addicott: My life as an Undercover Agent

Photograph © Cameron Addicott

We restarted our meetings after the summer break with 75 members present. We all had a lot to talk about and there was much catching up to do over lunch. 

Our speaker this month was Cameron Addicott, who spoke to us about his exciting and sometimes dangerous life as an undercover agent. He told us tales of his former career as a criminal investigator with HM Customs and the Serious Organised Crime Agency and described how devious criminals have become when motivated by greed. Unsurprisingly, crime has now spread out to smaller towns and villages in order for them to target unsuspecting victims.

The main focus of this talk was on drug dealers and how in these circumstances, the investigators' work is often like cat and mouse: waiting, watching and then pouncing at just the right moment to catch their prey. The dealers have become very clever in trying to disguise the drugs, using different ways of transporting them from where they're grown and doing their best to try outwit the authorities.

We learnt that undercover agents, like Cameron, spend months of intelligence planning using three main methods: interception of all communications including texts, emails and phone calls; surveillance watching suspects from unmarked vehicles and neighbouring buildings and infiltration using informants with access to information. At times we felt we were in the middle of a TV thriller, as much of what he said reminded us of programmes we have watched. It's certainly reassuring to know that there are people like him who are endeavouring to keep the public safe.

Cameron left SOCA in 2008 and has written several books on the subject of crime. He is currently working on two others and also acts as a consultant or on-screen expert on various crime-based TV programmes.

All of our members were intrigued by his stories and an interesting time was had by all.

Alison Snowdon: Life on the Auction Floor

Photograph © Alison Snowdon

It was a cold, damp, mid-summer's day when we lunched at Linden House on 28^th June, but it was lovely to meet up with friends again. There were 63 members and 6 guests present; we were pleased to have so many as sometimes, at this time of the year, people are away on holiday.

Our speaker was auctioneer and valuer, Alison Snowdon, who told us about her life on the auction floor. Alison first became interested in antiques as a child when she lived in London and often visited museums and art galleries as her interest grew. She is now based at a small, local salesroom in Stourbridge and is passionate about her work.

Her enthusiasm showed as she shared her stories about some of her finds. It was rather like having our own Antiques Road Show as she explained how fashions change, which inevitably alters the value of certain items; Lalique glassware, Rolex watches and certain toys in their original boxes still hold their value, yet Royal Doulton figurines, Imari-ware and solid wooden brown furniture are currently worth very little.  Lowry paintings are renowned for their fakery but if there is provenance which can be proven, their value obviously rises - a small Lowry sketch in a note book recently sold for £26,000.

Alison told of the excitement in the auction room before a sale as no one really knows how the punters will bid. Of course, the internet has changed things dramatically, as people now have instant access to information and online bidding.

We were all interested to hear how many items have been bought cheaply at car boot sales and then found to be worth far more once they have been cleaned up. Alison's best finds were two sauce boats, made in 1746 (pictured above), which were found in the back of a cabinet covered in dust and dirt and fetched £34,000 at auction. She was thrilled with these and so were we, as we shared her enthusiasm. We all vowed that we would look in our attics, cupboards and drawers as we must have something of value hidden somewhere!

Julie Peasgood: From the RSC to Birds Eye Peas

Photograph © Julie Peasgood

This month saw four new members joining us, bringing the total membership to 103. After lunch, we enjoyed a rather brief - but nonetheless entertaining - talk by actress Julie Peasgood. Even if you don't recognise her name, you'd recognise her face and voice from numerous TV shows and voiceovers...

"Julie Peasgood is a versatile actress, TV presenter and journalist, with a career spanning 40 years of prestigious theatre and television. She spent five years with The Royal Shakespeare Company and her numerous TV credits include Casualty, Taggart, Doctors, September Song, First Born and Holby City, but she is probably best known for her roles in Brookside, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks. Good Turn Productions, (owned by Julie) is now producing the fourth series of Crafty Beggars In The House! on Community Channel, which Julie co-presents, and she has regular bi-monthly show on Create & Craft TV (on Tuesdays at 1pm)." 

Julie spoke about her childhood ambition to be on the stage and told us how she had loved dressing up and pretending to be different characters. She also showed us photos of her dressed in different costumes, which reminded many of us of our own children and grandchildren.

Gradually, as her career took off, she became well known actress, starring in the aforementioned programmes as well as doing voice overs for various advertisements, including one for Birds Eye peas. The talk finished with us putting our forefingers into our mouths and trying to make the sound of the peas going pop, as in the advert. As you can imagine, we all had a fit of the giggles!

Hilary and Ian Templeton: Pictures in Harmony

Ian and Hilary Templeton

Pictures in Harmony.

When Ian and Hilary Templeton retired a few years ago, they decided they needed a worthwhile hobby to share together. Hilary took up photography and Ian, who already had an interest in music, combined their hobbies to create Pictures in Harmony.

This collaboration combines artistic photos of their travels with anecdotes and background music, to entertain and amuse the audience. Their aim is to raise funds in aid of the Air Ambulance and to date almost £30,000 has been donated.

During their hour-long presentation, we were shown a miscellany of photos and photo montages from around the world.  Ian with his gentle, lilting, Scottish accent narrated whilst the complementary soundtrack played in the background.

First to be shown was Chicago City whilst Frank Sinatra crooned his version of the song Chicago. This was followed by a tour of Austria with its beautiful mountainous and verdant scenery accompanied by a track from The Sound of Music. Next we enjoyed photos of Akaroa in New Zealand where Ian and Hilary had visited a quirky, colourful garden which was bursting with numerous mosaics covering paths, walls, pots, animal shapes and just about every other surface imaginable! Ian then recited Smuggler's Song by Rudyard Kipling while showing pictures of a smugglers' cove in Cornwall. Then it was on to Loch Lomond and the Isle of Inchcailloch. They concluded with an animated version of the romance between a pink and a blue toothbrush to the tune originally sung by Max Bygraves .

The presentation was humorous and very cleverly done. So much was included in such a short space of time; we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Keith Holmes: A Taste of Cornwall

Photograph © Keith Holmes 2016

At this month's meeting, 87 of us sat down to lunch at Linden House. We were entertained with an illustrated talk about Cornwall by Keith Holmes. From the towering cliffs and surf of the north coast to the pretty coves and harbours in the south, this talk was an epicurean journey through England's most westerly county.

Keith told us all about his experience wine tasting at the award winning vineyard in the Camel Valley; we also learnt that Tregothan is the only place in England to grow tea commercially. We took delight in the magical Lost Gardens of Heligan where productive  gardens are still worked in a time honoured way. Later on, he showed us how Cornish pasties are still being made by hand (in their hundreds during the summer season). The scenic trip ended at a fishing village Portloe with a traditional cream tea..

By the time  he had finished his  talk, we all had a longing to be there to see life in Cornwall as it is today and sample some of the local delicacies.

Tricia Stewart: A Calendar Girl’s Story

We have just launched our brand new blog, which we hope will keep you up-to-date with all of our events and give you a taste of the range of speakers who we invite along to the Wolverhampton Women's Luncheon Club.

Our speaker in February was Tricia Stewart who entertained us with her story of the alternative Women's Institute calendar. You may have seen the film, Calendar Girls, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, which was based on the making of the calendar.

Tricia joined the Rylstone and District WI in 1985 and became friends with Angela Baker whose husband was later diagnosed with non Hodgkins Lymphoma. Sadly he died at the age of 54, so the women decided to launch a calendar to raise funds for research into blood-related cancers, in his memory.

She had us in fits of laughter when she described how they all reacted when they realised they would actually have to bare all and take off their clothes to be photographed! She also spoke of the many famous film stars and important people they have subsequently met. Little did they know that the story would become so well known, that they would be portrayed on both stage and screen. To date, they have raised £3.5 million for charity.

Her amusing, yet poignant talk was inspirational and enjoyed by all.