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.