10 minute read
CLUB NEWS
Leigh WI – March meeting
In March Cindy Chant gave us a fascinating insight into the life of Sir Walter Raleigh or ‘Naughty Walter’ as she called him! Cindy is a blue badge guide and has studied his life for many years. She introduced the talk by bringing 10 items which covered his life. First, Cindy brought photos of his childhood. He was born in Budleigh Salterton in 1552 but lived in Sherborne for many years. His father married three times, so Walter had many stepbrothers. In 1569 he fought on the Huguenot (French Protestant) side in the Wars of Religion in France and he is known to have been at Oriel College Oxford and at the Middle Temple law college in 1575.
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Cindy then showed us a picture of Sherborne Castle. Walter had always liked it and then one of his half-brothers, recovering from a fall from his horse, had a premonition that Walter would live there. So when Queen Elizabeth asked him in 1592 if he would like to move in, he was thrilled. Sadly, it is now a ruin.
Cindy brought a collection of potatoes, some tobacco and a clay pipe. He had introduced these items to England and made a great deal of money from them. She then talked about his ships as obviously they played a huge part in his life. He started off as a privateer and then went on to build the ship the Ark Royal. His last ship was called The Destiny.
His love life was active! He was in love with Elizabeth 1st but was also a womaniser. However, he and Elizabeth wrote often to each other and his private name for her was Cynthia, the moon goddess. Cindy showed us a picture of The Tower of London where Raleigh spent 15 years in total for being a naughty boy. He married Beth, Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting and Elizabeth was furious! Whilst in prison he wrote a book called ‘The History of the World’ which was a best seller. He and Beth had a son, also called Walter, born in Sherborne and christened in Lillington Church (Cindy said this church is worth a visit). A rebellious teenager, he was killed in a fight on 13 February, whilst he and Raleigh were on a second voyage to Guyana. Raleigh was devastated and his son was buried with honours, but he had to break the news to Beth.
After his fall out with the Queen he tried to establish a colony near Roanake Island (in present North Carolina) which he named Virginia, but he never set foot there himself.
James 1st disliked Raleigh as he saw him as a threat, so his enemies 39
sought to bring about his ruin. In 1603 he and others were accused of plotting to dethrone the king. He was then consigned to the Tower and on 29 October 1618 he was beheaded in Old Palace Yard, Westminster. His wife Beth asked for his head which was then embalmed, and she wore it round her waist in a red bag for 20 years until she died aged 80, and it was then given to his third son Carew. Raleigh was buried in St. Margaret’s, Westminster. The last item Cindy brought to show us was a picture of Beth, obviously a remarkable woman who had been the hidden force behind Raleigh. She did not remarry but tried to reclaim the Sherborne Estates and saw their son Carew go from strength to strength politically and socially, and he married a wealthy widow. Beth died in 1647.
We all felt that Cindy had given us a wonderful insight into the life of this remarkable gentleman.
Our next meeting is on 31 May when Amanda Whitlock will be talking to us on Health & Wellbeing. Please note the time of this meeting will be 7.30pm in Leigh village hall. All welcome.
Anne Reason
Wriggle Valley Cricket Club – net news and updated fixtures
The cricket season has started and more matches are being added to the fixtures list, see our updated list below. Nets have begun, with batting nets at Chetnole Playing Field on Tuesday evenings using our bowling machine and full nets on Thursday evenings.
For Tuesday batting nets we start around 5.30pm and each bat books a 15 minute slot in advance through our WhatsApp group. Full nets on Thursdays also start around 5.30pm for both bowling and batting practice, simply turn up if you’re available. Finish times depend on numbers and weather but there’s always reflection time in the Chetnole Inn afterwards.
Nets may change during weeks when there is a match, so worth checking in via the WhatsApp or Facebook group beforehand. If you want to come along, email me (j.beaumont645@btinternet. com) or turn up at the playing field if we’re there. Hope to see you soon.
Jeff Beaumont
Wriggle Valley Women’s Group March meeting
At our March Meeting we welcomed Steph Baker who brought samples of her beautifully made handicrafts, ranging from knitted items, jewellery incorporating photographs, macramé, but best of all crochet. The most eye-catching item was a wall hanging made of small motifs she called Scrumbles, which she was making for the Alzheimer’s Society in memory
of her father and mother; this was showing at her stand at the Knitting and Stitching show at Westpoint, Exeter and at a future show at the Bath and West Showground. A very inspiring evening, in fact we hope to welcome Steph again. Our next meeting will be an American Supper on 21 June at Rimpton Cottage, Chetnole.
Anne Gillard
Leigh Discussion and Social Club
A report on a meeting of the Discussion Club would normally pass with the minimum of comment, but when members of the Club gathered in Leigh village hall on 5 April, it was the first time they had met since before the first lockdown started. It seemed a charming gesture that the business of the evening included formal approval of the minutes of the previous meeting.
The main part of the evening took the form of a quiz compiled by the Club chairman, Mick Harris, but it was a quiz with a difference. Part 1 of the quiz was a series of photograph-based questions to which we were provided with three possible answers. These ranged from how much you would pay for a particular bottle of wine in Waitrose, to the year Corbiere won the Grand National, to the price of a very smart house in Thirsk in Yorkshire.
For Part 2 we were invited to put a value on a range of articles from Mick’s collection, including some Staffordshire china, a Lego train set, a limited edition boxed model of a fairground carousel, framed prints of historical military uniforms, books of cigarette cards, and a boxed set of Thunderbirds models.
I did pretty well with Part 1 but was an abject failure with the valuations as, I suspect, were many people. The winner was Pam Jones who had just celebrated her 80th birthday.
The evening was a triumph of Mick’s imagination and the committee’s organisational skills and we look forward to lots more successful talks and outings in the months ahead.
Eddie Upton
Forthcoming dates for the Discussion Club
12 May, 2.00–4.00pm – Farm walk at Manor Farm, Ashington nr. Mudford BA22 8ED. Meet at the farm, but let Pete know if you want to go. 14 June – Evening boat trip to Dancing Ledge. Meet at Poole Quay at 5.30pm. Boat leaves at 6.00pm, return at 9.00pm. Park in Strand Street multistorey car park. Drinks sold on board. £25.00 pp to include fish & chips. Pay cash on board. Book your place with Pete by 2 June. 9August, 5.00pm – BBQ at Graham and Angela’s, Pond Side, Sunnymead Farm, Higher Holnest DT9 6HA. Bring your own plates, cutlery, glasses, and drinks and either a salad or a sweet to share. Book your place with Pete by 2 August for ordering fresh rolls. Contact for all the above: Pete Betts – petebetts73@gmail.com
Thank you to all the people who came to our April meeting at Leigh village hall after such a long break due to COVID. New members are very welcome, and it was very nice to see new people joining on that first evening.
Look out for details of our winter programme, which will start at Leigh village hall on Tuesday 6September at 7.30pm.
Mick Harris
mick.hilfield@outlook.com 07970 730656 41
The Countrymen’s Club Rylands farm, Dorset
10th Anniversary celebrations, Thursday 28 July
We are organising a fun packed day to celebrate 10 years of the Countrymen’s Club here at Rylands farm. Do come along and help us celebrate, put the date in your diary!
In the evening, Symonds & Sampson will be running an auction of promises. We are one of their nominated charities of the year and we have already got offers of some great prizes and gifts experiences.
If you can donate anything we can auction for this event, do contact us or you may like to come along and bid on the day. Either way we are very grateful for your support.
Times will be confirmed nearer the event, but the auction will be in the evening at 6.30pm.
If you have enquiries about the club or if you would like more information, contact: jan@countrymenuk.org or ring 01963 210789 (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Yetminster & Ryme Garden, Art & Crafts Society
Jenny Short made a very welcome return visit for our April meeting. Jenny, who lives in Lyme Regis, is an award-winning garden designer with a wonderfully practical and relaxed approach to gardening.
The subject for the April meeting was Rugs, Cushions and Carpets, what is most easily described as ground cover planting. But Jenny had an even more vivid description – she described these plants as Weed Warriors.
The use of ground cover plants, she explained, can eliminate the need for constant weeding. Many of the plants she showed us spread quickly, for instance Brunnera Jack Frost, and within a couple of years can provide a beautiful blanket creating texture and flowers in between shrubs or paved areas. Ground cover interplanting can also have positive benefits; she recommended planting catmint amongst roses. Apparently, the strong scent puts off the aphids which bring black spot, a particular blight here in the West Country, with them.
Carpets, she said, can be walked on – well, most of the time except when they are flying carpets. One very novel suggestion was to plant a rambling rose – the rose mentioned was Wedding Day – and allow it to spread over the ground. As long as the rose you buy is young before the stems have hardened, she said, it is easy to spread the stems over the ground and then let it run. This could be the ideal solution for a difficult bank. Of course, an element of cutting back is required and perhaps it would be a good idea to create stepping stones through the bed to enhance access.
Rugs, as you would expect, are smaller than carpets. Instead of a normal lawn she showed us a beautiful thyme wheel from a Chelsea Flower Show garden and a herb lawn at Hampton Court. And then there are the cushions, the plants which, instead of spreading quickly, form large clumps. Convolvulus Cneorum, Ceanothus Repens and Daphne Retusa all figured in this visual display which left us all with a long wish list.
This was a highly practical presentation with the emphasis on simple and economic solutions. Most of the plants Jenny listed will grow and spread easily and quickly and can be divided to provide a plentiful supply of new plants. And, as she said, they will be your best friend in the battle against weeds.
Everyone left the meeting with a small geranium plug provided by Castle Gardens. The challenge is to grow this plug into a healthy and beautiful plant which can be part of a display at our Summer Show. And who knows? There might be a prize for the most floriferous.
Coming up we have our annual plant sale on Saturday morning, 7 May, at Cross Farmhouse and then, back in the Jubilee Hall on Tuesday 10 May, Dr Francis Burroughes will be telling us about Illegal Immigrants in the garden.