A relaxing evening

An Evening At Upper Tysoe - 23rd June 2008

The blustery weather did not deter our members from enjoying a June evening with Christine Duke (who used to live in Helmdon) in her garden at Upper Tysoe. We were able to appreciate her hard work and creativity to produce a beautiful garden.  She has transformed a basic lawned plot into an area that holds the visitors' interest at every turn.

An evening at Banbury Catering College - 5th June 2008

For our meeting on May 23rd, twenty members had a really enjoyable evening at Banbury Catering College. 

Three courses in, and a fantastic sorbet was served, what a wonderful meal we all thought.  Another three courses later we were struggling to get up.  Several members were lucky enough to win raffle prizes on offer.

I think we were all agreed a good evening was had by all.

Kinky Boots - 17th March  2008

On 5th March Helmdon Women’s Club and Helmdon Presents were treated to a very entertaining and interesting evening by Steve Pateman, the original of the hero Charlie in the iconic film “Kinky Boots”, recently shown both at Helmdon Film Club and Women’s Club.

Steve, over 6 feet tall, talked for two hours dressed in high-heeled leopard skin thigh boots, and seemed perfectly comfortable in them. The film tells the story of a Northampton shoe factory that can no longer sell its men’s brogues, and turns to producing strong but very fancy footwear for transvestites, including some amazing kinky thigh boots. Steve told the story of how the film came to be made after his struggling family firm took this action, with him in charge. It first came to public notice when the TV documentary series about failing firms, “Trouble at the Top”, was made about it and was a runaway success. He took us through all theups and downs that preceded the story being adapted into a feature film by Disney, with plenty of humorous anecdotes. The film, of course, is a highly fanciful version of the truth with lots of music and dancing. Unfortunately, the firm had eventually to close down as foreign producers took over the idea and undercut them. Steve is now a fireman but still runs a mail order company.

After the talk the audience was able to examine some of the amazing stiletto-heeled samples that Steve brought with him.

Internet and Railways For Tsunami - 20th February 2005

Chris Bazeley gave a wonderful slide show with old photos of Helmdon's railway past.

Helmdon Women's Club have been active in raising funds for the Asian Tsunami disaster appeal. In January and February they threw their regular meetings open to the public and held raffles and cake stalls to raise a total of £315.00.

The January meeting, on Wednesday 19th, was a talk by Danny Moody about the Internet, e-mail and the world wide web. Even the totally uninitiated in the audience were able to follow Danny's clear and simple explanations and everyone learned a bit about what the net is and how it works. Danny also gave some useful and practical tips on how to stay safe and secure online and avoid viruses and other nasties that, unfortunately, come along with Internet surfing.

On Wednesday 16th February Chris Bazeley, an ex-Helmdon resident, came along to talk about the history of the Great Central railway. It was a fascinating journey from the London terminus in Marylebone up to the great hub at Woodford Halse. Chris is extremely knowledgeable and had a wealth of interesting stories and facts to convey. His natural enthusiasm for the GCR, and especially Helmdon, made the talk all the more vivid and he had a wonderful collection of slides to show. Chris dedicated his talk to the men and women who worked on the railways of Helmdon, of whom the surviving number is now very small. The talk was followed by a raffle, drinks and cake and much lively chat.

The Women's Club are glad to have contributed in some small way to help the people affected by the Asian tsunami, whilst having enjoyable and informative evenings to boot.

Whatever Happened To Historic Banbury? - 15th January 2003

Brian Little

Local history is always a popular subject in Helmdon, so the Women's Club were very pleased to have famed local historian Mr. Brian Little along to the Reading Room on 15th january 2003 to give a talk entitled "Whatever happened to historic Banbury?"

Banbury is a real historic market town in the heart of England, adjacent to the M40 motorway, midway between London and Birmingham.

Banbury's roots stretch back thousands of years, but Brian's talk concentrated on the last 200 years - particularly focusing on the old shops and traders and, of course, the livestock market which, until its closure in 1998, was the largest livestock market in Europe.

Brian conjoured up an evocative image of Times Past, and stirred many memories for the elder members of the audience. Brian's engaging and animated style held everyone spellbound as they journeyed down memory lane to hear about the old shops of Parsons Street, Cornhill and Market Place.

Brian writes frequently for the Banbury Guardian and has covered Helmdon several times in the past. His articles "Health In Helmdon" and "History of Helmdon Lay Hidden in Farmer's Home" are both available on this web site.

If anyone is interested to learn more about Banbury, Brian is running a course starting on Wednesday 22nd January 2003 at 2:30 - 4;30 p.m. at the North Oxfordshire College in Banbury. Telephone 01295 252221 ext. 286 for further details.

Silly Sports - 18th July 2002

Silly Sports on a summer evening

The Women's Club gathered at Harrold's Paddock in Bell Close for an evening of silly sports with a Jubilee theme.

Four teams - the hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs - competed for a coveted trophy (well, chocolate bars anyway) with the hearts team coming out top trumps.

The silly sports included the "Orb and Spoon race" and the "Royal Relay Race".

It was a wonderful fun evening and we were lucky to hold it on one of the few warm evenings of the 2002 summer!

The Women's Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month (except August) and is open to all women in the village.

Iris - By Judy Cairns

Watercolour Painting - 20th June 2001

At our June Meeting one of our members, Linda Aird, who is an art teacher at Roade School, showed us how to paint flowers in watercolour. She brought along several different sorts of flowers, including irises and sunflowers and demonstrated how to paint with a very wet brush so that the colours ran together somewhat and were translucent. Then members tried their hands at painting an individual flower and were agreeably surprised at the results. Some were so pleased with their suddenly discovered talent that they planned to buy their own equipment and try painting at home.

At the end of the evening Linda was presented with an hydrangea to thank her for giving us such an enjoyable evening.

Judy Cairns, Secretary. 01295 760537

Yeeeeee ha!.

Line Dancing - 16th May 2001

Members needed some lively exercise as we had to lose some weight to make room for the French menu at Banbury Tech's Cotswold Restaurant where 21 of us were going to dinner the following evening. Brian and Diane Ballard, our very tolerant teachers, certainly kept us going for over an hour nearly non-stop, giving us clear instructions and never losing their cool if one or two of us got in a muddle.

Apart from the exercise, the whole purpose was having fun and we certainly enjoyed ourselves. Our thanks to Brian and Diane for giving us such a wonderful evening.

Judy Cairns, Secretary. 01295 760537

Memories of Helmdon - 18th April 2001

From left to right, Maud Peart, Vera McHardy and Mary Turnham.

Women's Club members spent a fascinating evening enjoying cheese and wine and listening to Maude Peart, Vera McCardy and Mary Turnham reminiscing about the old days in the Helmdon area, when there was no electricity and no running water. Maude Peart came from London aged 9 in 1916 and her family had to walk from Helmdon Station to Weston with all their luggage and the baby to carry. She remembers grass growing down the centre of the roads and being terrified when a cow mooed over a hedge, thinking it was a wild animal. Mary had a bag full of old photos showing places, family and school friends. She and Vera were both born in Helmdon and Vera moved into her present house, which dates from 1200, when she married in 1959. At one time the house was the family home of the Shortlands and included her neighbour's house as one large property. The guests remembered the old stations - the "top station" especially busy, with several local trains and long distance expresses and farmers bringing in their milk churns. Children who went to school in Brackley used the train. Those who did not go to the grammar schools stayed on at Helmdon School until the leaving age. Members learned a great deal about life in Helmdon between and after the two World Wars and thoroughly enjoyed the anecdotes.

Judy Cairns, Secretary. 01295 760537

Webmaster's tip: For more reminiscences from Mary Turnham & others visit the "Reminiscences" section.

Margaret Reardon demonstrates chocolate making

Chocolate Making - 21st March 2001

Members who attended our March meeting risked putting on weight as Margaret Reardon, who was demonstrating how to make chocolates, sent several samples round for us to try and Sue Lidgley, who has given up chocolates for Lent, was probably the only person to resist the temptation.

The meeting was held in the Reading Room kitchen so that Margaret could use the cooker to melt the covering chocolate. She began by showing us her collection of pretty boxes which she uses when she makes presents of her chocolates to friends, who give them back when they have eaten the contents. She then showed us how to make the basic mixes for milk and dark chocolates (see recipe below) and emphasised that good quality chocolate must be used, not cooking chocolate. The mixes were then rolled into "2 bite-size" balls and various toppings were added. These would then have to be refrigerated overnight to allow them to harden, so Margaret had brought along some chocolates she had made the previous day to demonstrate how to coat them in melted chocolate, using two forks, and trim them when set. Her pièce de résistance, again sampled by members, were dried apricot halves double-coated in white chocolate. Mmm! Raffle prizes were .. boxes of chocolates!

The raffle prizes were.... boxes of chocolates!

Members thought they would try their hands at making chocs at home but Margaret made it look so easy (though very time consuming). We thought we would probably get into a chocolatey mess, and we were told not to lick our fingers! Very many thanks to Margaret for giving us such an entertaining and delicious evening.


Judy Cairns, Secretary. 01295 760537

TRUFFLE MIXTURE

2 EGG YOLKS
6oz SIEVED ICING SUGAR
2oz BUTTER
4oz MILK CHOCOLATE

· Place butter and chocolate in a basin over a pan of hot water
auntil the chocolate has melted.
· Stir in the slightly beaten egg yolks.
· Mix well - add the icing sugar and leave to firm. · Divide mixture.
· Mix one part with half a large jar of Nutella Chocolate Spread
ato make dark chocolates and the remaining part is used to make
amilk chocolates.

Some toppings: ginger, chopped hazel nuts, glacé cherries, chocolate strands, coconut, almonds, pecan nuts, half walnut.

Chilli & Quiz Evening - 28th February 2001

The venue this month was the Bell Inn in Helmdon where we held a Chilli and Quiz evening, which was very well attended. After warming our brains with the Bell's delicious chilli and rice we divided into teams with names such as the Bluebell Girls, the Brainboxes, Bell Bottoms, Strongest Link and Top Totty and spent a very enjoyable time answering questions set by Lynn Gartside, with Jane Sleath assisting her by collecting the answer sheets and adding up the totals. It all came to a very exciting end with Brainboxes and Strongest Link both totalling 100 points. The first tiebreaker was answered simultaneously, but Sally Waring won for her team by knowing the answer to the second tiebreaker - "Who were the England soccer team playing that evening?" Answer - Spain. Those in the winning team were Sally Waring, Margaret Reardon, Joan Morris and Kate Eddington.

Our thanks to Richard and Sally for their hospitality and apologies to those in the other bar who were trying to listen to the commentary on the match above the row all we women were making.

At our next meeting, on 21st March, Margaret Reardon will be showing us how to make chocolates.

Turning Japanese! - 17th January 2001

The ancient and customary dress in Japan

The members of the Women's Club welcomed Jo morris on Wednesday   17th January. 

Jo worked in Japan for a time after she left university and she gave a  fascinating  talk on Japanese Culture and Folklore.  

She talked about religious festivals and customs, teaching members how  to bow in the accepted fashion.  She brought various artefacts for the group to look at, and three members were taught how to wear kimonos.


Christmas Party - 25th November 2000

About 50 senior citizens attended the 29th Women's Club Christmas Party for the Over-sixties in the Reading Room on Saturday 25 November. The decorations were brilliant, excellent fare was provided, and the wine flowed! The entertainment, by Vince and Rita Star was outstanding. The programme of was a "millennium special", a nostalgic look through music, song and over the last one hundred years.

Judy Cairns, Chairman, thanked the rest of her committee for all the hard work that had gone into the evening. She said that this would probably be the last party the Women's Club would host for the senior citizens, in that guiding spirit Sue Lidgley and many of her helpers were finding it too much for them to do. However, she hoped that the company agreed with her that these Christmas parties for Over-sixties, which had been running many years, had finished on a high.


(Jack Ayres enjoys the nostalgia with Rita)

Women's Club 30th Anniversary Dinner -14th October 2000