CELEBRATIONS

Diamond Days!

Groups around the country gathered on 26 February to celebrate 60 years of NWR with fun, food, drink and good company. Here is a round up of your events.

Left: East Anglia region held a very successful event at the Athenaeum, Bury St Edmunds, attended by 130 members from 13 local groups. There were two speakers, Catherine Buchanan who spoke about birthday presents through the ages and Paul Stanliffe who spoke about his job as Media Manager for the British Trust for Ornithology, followed by lunch in the beautiful ballroom, and workshops and tours in the afternoon. Below left: The organising committee – the people who made it all happen.

Below and bottom left: The Nantwich celebratory lunch was a great success. 110 members attended and were hugely entertained by speaker Lesley Smith, curator of Tutbury Castle. Lesley came as Margaret Thatcher, and stayed in character throughout. Other highlights of the day were local member Lee Egerton’s reading of her poem about NWR, and top raffle prize of a day out in a chauffeur driven, 1930s, open topped Lagonda. The venue was the Crown Hotel, which provided fantastic food, decor and service.

Below: Glasgow area thoroughly enjoyed their Diamond Day celebrations with 100 members from the West of Scotland attending a three course lunch in a Glasgow city centre venue. Speaker, Amanda Tyrrol, who is Wardrobe Mistress at the National Theatre, is the daughter of one of their members, which made it a very personal occasion. Her talk, and the costumes she brought to show, was much enjoyed, as was the live broadcast of Maureen Nicol’s interview.

South East region celebrated at Denbies Wine Estate, Dorking with a talk on diamonds from speaker Dominic Sakakini. Far left, top: members enjoy lunch. Bottom: Examining a case of diamonds! Left: Gillian Gatehouse (speaking) is in her 52nd year of membership, and the longest standing member at the event.

Below and left: Eastern region held their Diamond Day celebration at International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. Members enjoyed lunch and heard from guest speaker Sue Stennett about how women’s lives have changed since NWR was founded in 1960. You can read excerpts from her speech on page 14. Pictured here are the Deepings group members who attended the event.

Left and below: Canterbury Group Two display their 2020 vision

Above and left: Tadley NWR held a Diamond Tea Party for neighbouring groups, and Sherfield on Loddon, Bramley, Basingstoke and Woolton Hill all joined in with the festivities. They watched a video link of an interview with founder Maureen Nicol, drank endless cups of tea, ate copious quantities of cake, and took part in a Diamond Quiz. At the end, amongst the thank yous, reminiscences and chat, it was decided that they should all meet up again in the near future!

Above: Droitwich Spa enjoyed a 60s-style retro buffet and reminiscenses of life in 1960, and of NWR over the years – many have been members for over 30 years. Inset: Earlier that day four members attended Central Region’s wonderful lunch in Birmingham.

Gloucester group’s event was a big success, thanks to Pat Price and the rest of the working party. Below: All eyes and ears on the interview with Maureen Nicol – what a relief that the streaming went so smoothly! Inset: Raising a glass to 60 years of NWR, looking forward to the future and, of course, enjoying our cake.

Below and left: Knebworth House was the venue for Central region’s very successful Diamond Day. Drinks were served on arrival, followed by the screening of Maureen Nicol’s interview. Members were struck by how youthful she seemed, and how the principles upon which NWR was founded are just as important to her as ever. Next came a delicious afternoon tea, with much talk and laughter, followed by a talk on The Lytton Ladies of Knebworth House, in the same family for 500 years. Thanks to the organising committee, the event ran smoothly and efficiently from start to finish. Below and right: North East region had a great Diamond Day at the Priory Street Centre in York. Almost 100 members attended for talks, quizzes and lunch. In the morning they heard about the history of diamonds from Robert Bolton, and were able to see some beautiful examples. Next there was a lovely lunch and the live link to Maureen Nicol’s interview and, in the afternoon, a fabulous talk on The Rebel Woman’s Wardrobe. Lucy Adlington spoke about women from the 19th century to the current day who were pioneers in their different ways, and showed some wonderful clothes from the time. The day concluded with tea and cake! Perth’s Diamond Day Do was an afternoon tea at the historic Black Watch Museum. There were 70 members from groups in the east of Scotland, from as far north as Bridge of Don to Saline in Fife, and west to Stirling. Below: Perth members on the day. Right, from left to right: organisers Gillian Syme, Margaret Nicol, Diane Amphlett and Wendy Birse, who, as one of Perth group’s founders, opened and closed the proceedings and read her anniversary poem penned for the occasion. Below: Wantage members drank Prosecco and ate cake whilst discussing what NWR meant to each member present. They also learnt some interesting facts

about diamonds.