Out and about

NWR goes out and about

Socialising in Swaffham

In January, Dereham and District NWR took a table at a Social Open Day for Local Organisations and Groups, in the nearby town of Swaffham. Since there are no other NWR groups on this side of Dereham, and Swaffham and its surrounding villages have grown over the years, with many new housing developments, we felt it could be a good opportunity to recruit new members and to spread the word about NWR.

The doors opened at 10am and, due to a thriving Saturday market situated right in front of the venue, the event had a steady footfall. Many women showed interest as they had read about the group in the local free magazine, in an article written by one of our members, Lynette.

...they missed the mental, intellectual and social aspects of work

A recurring comment was from women who had retired either shortly before or during the pandemic, about how much they missed the mental, intellectual and social aspects of work, especially in a group environment, and they were attracted to the fact that this would be one of the benefits of NWR membership.

Encouraged by our experience in Swaffham, we now plan to take part in the Dereham Memorial Day on Saturday 14 May. The organisers had found out about us from the networking app for neighbourhoods, Nextdoor, which we have used with some success for our advertising.

It remains to be seen how many new members we recruit!

Rosemary Parker Dereham and District NWR

Kenton makes an exhibition of itself

Headstone Manor in Harrow recently staged an exhibition entitled Opening Out: Women’s Lives in Harrow 1970–2000, and fellow Kenton member Lucille Balkin and I decided to organise a display about NWR. It turned out we were the only nonpolitical, non-protesting group to take part, and one of the few still in existence.

Lucille and I were amazed at the strength of women’s groups that were set up in Harrow fighting for equal rights, equal pay, safe houses and welfare centres for women needing refuge, Asian women’s networks, comedy and music performers.

The exhibition was free, and ran for several months. The venue, Headstone Manor, is a wonderful 14th-century Headstone Manor House that houses other permanent installations, and has gardens, a moat and a duck pond!

Lucille and I both joined Wembley group—as Kenton was then called—in 1978, so we had plenty to talk about in the discussion about NWR that we recorded for the event. Some of it has been included in the video that was made about the exhibition, which you can see on Headstone Manor’s YouTube channel. Below are just a few of our happy memories.

Happy days

Lucille: The recorder group in the 1970s consisted of beginners and intermediate groups. I was 38 when I learnt the recorder courtesy of NWR. I was diabolical. Penny: I saw a newsletter from 1972 about a day conference with guest panellists controversial jazz man George Melly, and Mrs Mary Whitehouse, who campaigned against social liberalism. I would have loved to have heard their discussion! Whole day cost £1.50. Lucille: Florette Boyson came to talk on life as the wife of MP Rhodes Boyson. He was a workaholic; they couldn’t even plan to go on holiday as he was so dedicated to his job. Penny: And he took us around Parliament and the House of Lords and recognised by name one of our members, who had been a pupil of his when he was a teacher. Penny: Do you remember a speaker years ago saying “One day you’ll all have computers in your homes.” We all laughed! Lucille: We had Maggie Stredder talking about being a member of The Ladybirds, the female backing group on The Benny Hill Show in the 1970s. Lucille: I particularly remember the Helens evening. It was going to be Helen’s 70th birthday, the oldest member in the group. As she had no family we decided to give her a surprise complete with birthday cake and candles. We advertised the meeting as “Find out about a famous person with your own forename,” but, without telling her, we all did a Helen. There are loads of Helens—Helen of Troy, Helen Mirren, Helen Lederer, Helen Keller and many more. She was thrilled. The cake was good too! Lucille: The group meant everything to me. It was my second family, but I could not have participated so much without a very loving, caring husband and I think that could be said for a good percentage of our married members. It was a lifeline and I had so much fun and found lasting friendship from within the group. Headstone Manor: https://headstonemanor.org/ Watch the whole of the video: https://tinyurl.com/245jzw6d

Part of Kenton NWR’s display

Pippa Reid Kenton NWR