Its been a busy Autumn and there have been plenty of activities happening. We try to keep the website updated so if you want to know what is going on check in on the relevant pages – reminder links are posted below. This is a brief summary of what members have been up to…

The Bees Knees

Local de Beauvoir resident and beekeeper Richard Turnbull was our speaker for October’s meeting. With an easy charm he delighted us with a description of how a beehive works and how he keeps his own hives on a flat roof in his garden. We sat spellbound as we learned about the Queen, her male drones and the thousands of female worker bees that make up a colony. It ended with tasting Richard’s delicious Honey and a slice of Sara’s stunning honey cake! If you want to know what to plant to help support bees there’s a good list HERE.

Afternoon Tea Party raises £740

On Sunday 11th October we baked and served teas for the Macmillan tea party in the crypt organised by one of our members, Barbara. A massive thank you to everyone who baked, drank tea and donated. A special thank you to the lovely lady who paid £30 for Sara’s chocolate and pomegranate cake which got us off to a flying start. Here are a few pics:

Dressed by Angels

A small group of us went to see this fascinating exhibition at the Truman Brewery which charts the history of Angels costumiers. Costumes from famous shows, films and tv are interwoven with the history of the Angel family (can you imagine having such a lovely name?). Costumes from Star Wars, Downton Abbey and Doctor Who are on display as well as a replica of the coronation gown itself (shown here).   The detailing is quite astounding particularly on the more intricate outfits as was the amount of time and expertise that went into making of these costumes.

Votes for Women

There was a short notice trip to see Suffragette on Wednesday 14th. It really is a wonderful reminder of the sacrifice that hundreds of women made in order to earn equal status and the right to vote. In the final credits there is a list of dates when various nations extended the vote to all women – from New Zealand who was the first in 1893, to our own in 1928 and then on through a surprisingly late list of entries that included France 1945, Switzerland 1971 and trailing way behind, Saudi Arabia in 2015.

If you want to keep up-to-date with activities you can find details of our subgroups, outings, campaigns and activities on the website, including details of a christmas Rosemary Branch trip, the Book Group, Jewellery Making and Knit and Natter group.

We are looking forward to seeing you all at the next meeting – we have Hackney MP Meg Hillier talking to us on Guy Fawkes night!