'Singing in the Rain', Celebrations, Culture and Fund Raising

Ann (Christine's sister), Christine, Charlotte (Christine's daughter) & Becky (Ann's daughter) at Waterloo Station

Ann, Myself, Christine and Becky

It been a very busy time just lately.  First thing was a day spent with my friend, Christine, and her family.  Us ladies spent the afternoon in London, to see 'Singing in the Rain'.

We decided to walk to the theatre but before going in we found a nearby pub which allowed us to sit outside to eat our packed lunches and have a coffee,unfortunately before we finished it rained but being typical English folk we enjoyed our impronto meal regardless.  Ann was the bravest, as we all couldn't squeeze under the awning she put up her umbrella, much to the amusement of everyone.

'The Palace Theatre

A closer view of the theatre.

The interval clean up after the rain scene. 

The show was absolutely amazing, knowing all the songs we all came out visualising ourselves taking part.  We couldn't resist putting ourselves behind the cut-outs.



Adrian (Charlotte's boyfriend), Becky, Brian (Becky's husband) Ian (Christine's husband), (whatever happened to Peter, he was sitting next to me. I know he'd offered to take these photos then the waitress offered so he should be here), myself, Christine and Anne.




Myself, Christine, Ann, Charlotte Adrian, Becky, Brian and Ian (Christine's husband).

 In the evening we were joined by the men for a meal at a local hotel.  Drinks, good food, chat and laughter with great company, what more could anyone ask for.

On the Monday, as one of a group of volunteers who will be manning our local library from January to keep it from closing, I visited Surrey's Performing Arts Library.  This is based in Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, an amazing place in it's own right, (I'd like to visit this another time).  I hadn't even know this was here so was totally surprised by it's existance and what was here for people to loan.  The variety covers every gendre in the performing arts world, drama & theatre, music, dance and cinema.
The drama and theatre section have play sets and pantomines, children and foreign languages are catered  for.  Techniques for make-up, costume patterns and reference books, books on design and the history for theatre. 
There is music for singers, from shows through to folk and again for instruments for orchestras and individuals.  Teaching and learning aids are here too.  Books covering all aspects, history, biography etc.  A local artist has cards for birthdays etc with musical instuments as subjects on them.
Dance although mainly book-based there are audio visual tools.
Cinema is again covered by books of film personalities, film theory scripts etc.
All groups have DVD's and CD's and there are listening facilities and a piano. 
To think all this is available to everyone, not only Surrey residents but anyone in the country as all these type of libraries have a network amongst themselves as well as with local libraries.

Wednesday was the WI's 52nd Birthday, lots to eat and friends to chat with.

Today, Saturday, my friend Christine and I were sellers at a local car-boot sale, we were there to raise funds for The Wonderyears selling donations from the members and their families and friends.  I'm pleased to say we made a nice financial gain to add to our coffers.
    

The Wonderyears help raise £10000 for local hospice

Ken & Colin singing 'All Right Now'

Bert singing 'Gigolo'

Dave C singing 'End of the Line'

Christine, Colin & myself singing 'I'm Still Standing'

Ken & Christine singing 'The Power'

Ken singing 'Chasing Cars' 

Tom singing 'Sex Bomb'

Vera singing 'All By Myself'

Alan singing 'It's My Life'

Our concert on Saturday at Englefield Green was organised single handedly by Kevin, our former Sound Technician. Kevin was raising monies for the Woking & Sam Beare Hospices.

The evening was yet another resounding success.  Our Bert, who is 89 years young singing 'Just a Gigolo' was one of the favourites of the evening, gaining him a separate standing ovation; which was well deserved.  I think Bert is quite a favourite with the ladies, especially those he serenades.   

Kevin had bravely pledged to raise £10,000 towards this worthy cause and raised the largest amount of money from his 'Morganathon' a journey he made in his Morgan car from Woking to John O'Groats onto Land's End and back to Woking. 

We are please to say that proceeds from the concert reached and surpassed the £10,000 target.  Congratulations.  Very Well done Kevin.

PS The photos are only depicting some of our reportoire, see us on Youtube under wonderyears rock chorus.www.wonderyearsrock.com

Walking in Windsor Great Park With Information (early October 2012)

The Wonderyears Ramblers took to the Windsor Great Park for another of our walks, a favoured place.  This time it was decided we to walk around the lake.  The lake is man-made and dates back to 1753, it forms a drainage system for the park.  The area was boggy until William, Duke of Cumberland the third son of George 11,  tranformed the area; he also involved the then Deputy Ranger, Thomas Sandy and his brother Paul.  The work was continued by Henry, brother of George 111.  George 111 favoured Windsor Castle with it's park above being in London, he was affectionately known as 'Farmer George'.  The lake is one hundred and thirty acres in area, the length is slighly over two miles and on a third of a mile wide at it's widest point.  The walk we made was four and a half miles, using one of the bridges; though the cicumference is about seven miles.  It was, when formed, one of the largest artificial lakes in England.   The first photo I took of the lake is the first view you see when coming into the park at the Wheatsheaf entrance.  The second and third from the landing stage across to 'Botany Bay', those of you who saw the Robin Hood film featuring Russell Crowe might recognise the scene, though at the time the steps led to a castle and there was a landing stage.  At one time boats would have been seen on the lake but it was later deemed dangerous by Edward V111, due to 'vegetable ooze' at the bottom of the lake.

If you turn around you will see the ruins which are from Lepcis Magna in Tripoli.  They were a gift to George 1V when he was Prince Regent.  The ruins are thought to be about 2000 years old and have recently been renovated, they seem to be some ancient temple.

Further round the lake is The Cascade, or Waterfall.  The stones were brought from Bagshot Heath.   By the side of the Cascade immense stones are arranged to form a cavern, I've only just learnt about it and it's probably not available to the public due to it being dangerous, even climbing up by the side of the cascade is deemed dangerous; though people do and they walk along the top.  The stream runs eventually into the Thames at Chertsey. 
We concluded our walk with a coffee in the Wheatsheaf.  Although the sun hadn't been out we'd enjoyed our afternoon.

A Visit from a Suffragette

We were honoured with a visit by Rose Lamartine Yates (alias Joan Cottle) at last months Trumps Green WI Meeting.  Rose marched between our seating arrangement to the front chanting the WPSU song wearing her Suffragette outfit complete with hat and sash. 
Rose was born of French parents in 1879.  She was a well educated young woman, having studied modern languages at the Royal Holloway College and although she left before completing the course she did go on to Oxford and passed her final honours examination in modern languages and philology. 
Rose joined the Suffragette committee of the Wimbledon Branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU) in 1909, becoming it's treasurer & organising secretary in 1910.  Their policy was never to harm anyone in their endeavours to gain the vote. Her husband Tom, whom she'd met through a cycling club, was in full support of his wife's activity, proving invaluable in his role as a solicitor to the cause.  The treatment of Suffragette's when on hunger strike was barbaric, the force feeding causing so much damage internally that women suffered ill health for the rest of their lives; one woman had asked to be killed rather that undergo this proceedure.  Rose claimed that she was at our meeting to obtain new members to join the Suffragettes, we were all eager to put our names on the dotted line as we're all liberated women wishing to obtain our equal rights.

Joan went on to tell us that at the start of the war the offices at Wimbledon were converted into a Distress Kitchen, Rose was the treasurer.  Later Rose became a committee member of the new oganisation of the Suffragetts (WPSU)  together with Una Dugdale Duval shewas responsible for establishing the Suffragette Record Room, which opened in 1939. 

If you wish to see a photo of Rose suggest you visit the London Museum website.

The Wonderyears @ Laleham Golf Club & a Fleet Nursing Home

Recently we, The Wonderyears, performed two concerts.  The first for Laleham Golf Club and the second for a Residential Home for the elderly nr Fleet, I'm pleased to say that both were a great success.  At both our audiences joined in with the singing and took to the dance floor, both are talking about booking us for next year.  Strangely it was the Fleet one which we, those of us that were able to attend, felt the most rewarded.  We had entered the room where we were to perform to an audience that were sitting looking as most residents look in these places, a sort of resigned look that didn't expect much.  The transformation during our opening song was amazing, they all came to life.  We were later informed by the lady in charge that they were all smiling and singing for the rest of the day.  We enjoy all the concerts we give but this one was special.

Apologise for the photo which was taken by a friend, unfortunately the flash wasn't strong enough to cope with the distance.

Visit to Dalgetty Bay, Edinburgh

Last week I was fortunate in being invited to spend a few days in Dalgetty Bay, which is near Edinburgh.

My friend Sheila, proved to be an excellent hostess, acting as companion, chauffeur and cook.

Sheila took me on trips to The Borders and The Cairngorms, the scenery was amazing.  Sadly the weather wasn't good which meant that I didn't see things at their best.
On the trip to The Borders we passed through such places as Galashiels and stopped at Peebles where we took in the shops and found a fantastic art gallery called The Breeze, we were particularly impressed with the Russian artist Anna Razumovkaya whose work was displayed there.  Her figures are painted so beautifully this combined with her use of colours made them outstanding. 
The stopping place on the trip to The Cairngorms was Pitlochry, famous for it's fish jump. 
We visited Edinburgh twice, on my first day we just had a general look around.  The second we walked the Royal Mile seeing Edinburgh Castle from the outside, The Witchery which is a famous haunted pub, the museum the Holyrood Kirk, Holyroodhouse and The Queen's Gallery, these last four we explored.  I learnt the legend of King David 1 of how he thought he was to be gored by a fierce stag but was saved by plucking a holy rood (holy cross) which had appeared from, between it's antlers.  In thanks he had built an Abbey, the ruins of which are behind Holyroodhouse.
Sadly my visit came to soon to an end.

Edinburgh Castle

A Scottish Piper

A second Scottish Piper

The Royal Mile with the museum in the foreground.

The Queen's Gallery taken from the law courts.

Holyroodhouse

Tower of Holyroodhouse, note uniform of employee.

Fountain in forecourt of Holyroodhouse.

Inside the Holyrood Abbey ruins

2nd View of the inside of Holyrood Abbey

Sir Walter Scotts Memorial

A view of the Forth from the bridge.

Pride Regained

Sadly the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have come to an end.  What an amazing accomplishment for all concerned.  We as a nation have something we are really proud of, it just shows that we can still be Great if we put our minds to it. 
I for one really felt we had bitten off more than we could chew, especially after Bejing. Everything connected with the games has been well thought out. The journey of the Olympic Torch, taking everyone through our varied scenery, drawing focus to our history which showcased monuments and historic sites.  The runners chosen to carry the torch allowing the world to see what wonderful, amazing people we are. Danny Boyle's opening ceremony of the Olympics, which was exactly right; endorsing what the journey of the torch had depicted.  The  Paralympics following this by showing our inspiration, amazing skills and talents.  The athletes themselves, what stars they all were, giving their best for their countries. The closing ceremonies for both were something to be proud of.  Then lastly the parade of the atheletes through the streets of London, the vast crowds showing with action how much they had all become their heroes.
As a BT Storyteller my last item has been posted I've gained so much from my year's journey.  I know we are all so much richer from this experience, surely we've regained our pride.  Let's have a good legacy to this and continue showing the world how great and wonderful and unique we are.