Towards the end of 2012, after being in existence for 66 years, the then membership of the Whiteparish Women's Institute decided to leave the National Federation of WIs.

Instead, the Breakaway Club was founded, which runs a somewhat similar programme of activities.

Are you looking for a new interest or new friends?

Calling all ladies in the Whiteparish and Sherfield English areas – are you new to the area, looking for new interests or friends? Why not come along to the Whiteparish Breakaway Club?

We are a friendly bunch of people with a wide range of interests, who meet once a month in the lovely new Whiteparish Memorial Centre to listen to interesting speakers, watch demonstrations, chat and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee (with delicious cakes!) All this for a subscription of £20 per year!

We have a very varied programme arranged for next year (which will shortly appear below) and we welcome visitors to our meetings if you want to try before you buy. Our meetings are always on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, and start at 2.00 pm, finishing by 4.00pm, except that in August we arrange an outing with a cream tea, and in December, we have a Christmas meal somewhere interesting. In fact, as you will have noticed, delicious food and friendly chatter are our raison d'être. There are also other items of interest which members arrange and share, such as other outings, craft ideas, etc.

We would love to meet you, no need to book, just come along and be assured of a friendly welcome. If you would like more information, our Secretary, Julia, would be happy to help (01794 884110).

2020 Programme

Meeting Report: 19th February 2020

Dave Cates from Salisbury District Hospital’s own charity, the Stars Appeal, was our speaker for the February meeting and after Anita had welcomed everyone, given apologies from those unable to be there, and outlined the club’s plans for our stall at the Fete, this engaging and energetic man gave us an insight into the workings of the Stars Appeal. It is their aim to raise £1 million a year, and this money funds many services and pieces of equipment that improve patients’ experiences with the hospital, and which the NHS are unable to provide for lack of resources. Its aims are to help people get better faster, return home sooner and have the best possible experience whilst using the hospital’s services. The charity aims to provide practical support, above and beyond the NHS, for families and equipment for NHS staff from scanners to day-to-day care for patients. In addition to the £1 million, they also aim to complete the installation and operation of the second MRI scanner.

Dave gave many examples of how this money is spent from £170K for lung cancer diagnostics (patients currently going to Southampton) through to individual programmes for specific areas of the hospital such as neo-natal services where a suite is available for parents of very vulnerable babies, training of psychology practitioners who train volunteers to talk to elder patients and perhaps accompany them to appointments or enable them to return home more quickly, a cardiac suite to avoid patients travelling to Southampton, and many other projects to improve the service Salisbury District Hospital provides to the local community.

Of course, Dave then gave examples of how everyone could get involved in the Stars appeal by fund-raising (sponsored events), donations, monthly subscriptions and by leaving a gift in a Will—there is a service by which if this latter is chosen, the charity can arrange for a free Will-writing service.

Dave was thanked by Anita for his excellent illustrated presentation and he joined the rest of the group enjoying the usual delicious tea. The next meeting is on the 18th March.

Meeting Report: 15th January 2020

The club met in the Cowesfield room of the Memorial Centre on what appeared to be the first sunny day of 2020. The fact that this was the seventh anniversary of the inauguration of the club, and many of the original members of the club and many who had joined us since were present, made for a very warm and happy day.

Of course, since this was the anniversary of our foundation, it was also the occasion of our Annual General Meeting, but it was interesting to hear from Anita and also from Julia, their individual views on our past year’s activities, together with an account of the activities of the book club, and the books they had read. Denise was able to confirm that we would, with care, remain solvent for the next 12 months, and the entire committee was re-elected (although, as usual, they could do with a little more help).

The programme of events for the next 12 months was unveiled (and will shortly be available elsewhere on this page) and the rest of the meeting was devoted to an excellent tea and two apparently easy but actually tricky quizzes.

Anita thanked everyone for their contribution to the afternoon and to the club generally and reminded us that the next meeting is on 18 February, when we will have a speaker from Salisbury District Hospital’s Stars Appeal.

Meeting Report: 18th December 2019

This month saw the members of Breakaway enjoying a delicious 3-course Christmas lunch at the Kings Head. We occupied the Orangery and much chat and laughter accompanied the excellent food. Christmas cards were exchanged and Anita gave news of absent friends and reminded everyone that our AGM is on the 15th January, and this year will include some entertainment. So come along and hear details of our interesting programme for 2020 and bring along a friend to this happy monthly meeting.

Meeting Report: 20th November 2019

The club met on a cold but dry November afternoon to listen to Steve Herra’s story of "The Body through the Porthole". Steve is an excellent story teller, with a voice that perfectly creates the atmosphere of this fascinating tale of the disappearance of actress Gay Gibson on a voyage from Cape Town to London in 1947.

Since Steve had given this talk recently to the History Society, I will not bore readers with a detailed description of the events, but will merely comment that with the lights out in order to see Steve’s slides better, the gradually darkening afternoon and Steve’s solemn but clear delivery, the atmosphere of the crime and the ensuing trial really came to life and a lively discussion ensued as to the verdict.

Anita thanked Steve for his entertaining presentation and then reminded members that our next meeting on December 18, will be our Christmas Lunch at the Kings Head. Everyone then enjoyed tea and cakes and signed a farewell card to Sue who is moving north.

Meeting Report: 16th October 2019

Although several members were unable to come to the meeting, we were very pleased to welcome quite a number of visitors and some gentlemen guests, to hear Peter Jones talk about his recent journey with Barbara by rail from Moscow to Beijing. Peter had visited both cities before the fall of Communism in Russia and the opening up of China to the outside world, and had noticed some spectacular changes. In Communist Russia, no one would speak to him; now everyone wants to practise their English. Then, the shops were staffed by people in overalls and boots, who had nothing to sell. Now, Moscow has its equivalent of Bond Street, brimming with luxury goods. Another obvious change is the resurgence in traditional religion: new churches have been built in Russia while further east Shamanism, Buddhism and even Catholicism are openly practised. China has changed even more than Russia: when Peter first visited everyone wore ‘Mao suits’ in grey or blue, and there were no cars anywhere. Now, clothes are colourful and varied, and cars abound.

To get from Moscow to Beijing on scheduled trains, Peter and Barbara spent four days travelling through Russia to Irkutsk, where they changed onto a Mongolian train bound for Ulan Batur. From Ulan Bator they travelled on a Chinese train down to Beijing. Their journey took them across enormous rivers, past colourful railway stations—the Russians favour strong pastel colours for railway stations—where locals sold food to travellers, especially, for some reason, dried fish. Some of the stations they passed through had an unhappy history, as they were transfer points for prisoners heading for the Gulags. And to some extent, the whole Russian part of the journey has a flavour of tragedy, as the line was built at great human cost by convicts, prisoners of war and even slaves.

The Mongolian section of the journey passed through desert to the capital, Ulan Bator—part Soviet concrete blocks and part traditional yurts—an odd mix. Then onwards toward Beijing, the countryside growing ever greener and more fertile. As Peter illustrated his talk with an excellent collection of slides, we ended the meeting feeling that we had shared a most memorable journey with him. There were many questions for Peter and we thanked him for an excellent presentation. We then enjoyed tea and cakes prepared by Sheila and Julia.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 20th November and the talk will be by Steve Herra, and entitled "The Body Through the Porthole". Visitors, as ever, will be very welcome. Our Christmas lunch will be held on Wednesday 18th December at the King’s Head here in the village. The Festive Lunch Menu is 3 courses for £19.95. Names and choice of meal will be taken at the next meeting. Looking forward to seeing you all next time.

Meeting Report: 18th September 2019

At the September meeting, members welcomed Sandra Savage who came to talk to us about the University of the 3rd Age (U3A). We heard that U3A was originally formed in a small way at Toulouse University in France and was intended for anyone over the age of 50 who was not in full-time employment. Now the association has grown enormously and can be found in many different countries.

Sandra explained that the Monks Brook U3A, of which she is a member, is based in Chandlers Ford and meet once a month. They have a variety of speakers throughout the year and membership is currently £15 per person per annum. Within this particular U3A there are currently 38 interest groups who meet on a regular but variable timetable during the year. Two of the interest groups are "Questers" and "Greenfingers". Questers organise monthly trips to places of interest and Greenfingers (primarily gardening) usually meet monthly for eight months of the year. Sandra explained that most of the interest groups meet in members’ houses so places do become limited.

We heard that all U3A members feel part of a unique process and hope to bring local people over the age of 50 a worthwhile and fulfilling experience. Learn, laugh and live is the movement’s newly adopted slogan!

Sandra was thanked for her informative talk and then members enjoyed tea and cake provided by Marion and Violet. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 16 October at 2.00 pm when the talk will be on "Moscow to Beijing by train". All visitors very welcome.

Meeting Report: 21st August 2019

The club took a summer break from their normal meetings in the Memorial Centre and met at Heale House in the Woodford Valley for a cream tea. The day was warm but not excessively so and the sunshine punctuated with light clouds, so it was a very pleasant location to enjoy warm fruit scones with cream and jam and a generous supply of tea.

A number of us then wandered around the extensive gardens, on both sides of a gurgling river Avon. The walled garden was especially appreciated with flowers, fruit and veg—it could have provided some excellent contributions to our recent Garden and Hobbies Show!

We all enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon with lots of opportunity to catch up with friends. Our next meeting will be back in the Cowesfield Room on Wednesday 18 September, when there will be a change of programme and our talk will be on the University of the Third Age (U3A).

Meeting Report: 17th July 2019

This month the Breakaway Club were treated to a very interesting and informative talk by one of their own members. Ann Sammon was scheduled to talk on "Flower Arrangements" and we were surprised to find four delightful arrangements on her table as she began her talk, with none of the usual accompaniment of containers, Oasis, foliage and flowers to be assembled.

Ann began by telling us of her 3-year training for a Diploma in Floral Art and Design from the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies and of her subsequent training and places at which she has exhibited. She told us of the various elements involved in floral art and arrangements and then went on to explain the four arrangements on display.

She had, very helpfully, chosen the four flower arrangement classes for the forthcoming Whiteparish Garden and Hobbies Show and described how, using only plant material from her own garden, she had interpreted these classes. She is a very entertaining and amusing speaker and we all learned lots of ways of using flowers and leaves from our own gardens to create a stunning display. Many members were intrigued by her interpretation of "A Song Title", and found how to use small flowers with narrow stems in miniature arrangements. Ann’s enthusiasm for her subject was infectious and it is hoped that a number of people will have been inspired to enter these classes in the Show on 17 August.

Anita thanked Ann for her informative and interesting talk, and then reminded everyone that our next meeting will be an outing to Heale House for a cream tea and a chance to visit the gardens there.

Meeting Report: 19th June 2019

We had hoped to have our meeting of 19th June outside as it was nearly mid-summer. However we were able to meet in the large hall rather than the Cowesfield room as the weather was not suitable. We were very pleased to welcome about ten visitors to swell our numbers to hear the barber shop chorus "Ocean Harmony".



There were about 20 of them and they arrived in good time in their travelling gear of turquoise shirts and proceeded to warm up their voices! They filed into the large hall in their black shirts and plain varied coloured ties. Their musical director announced they would like to introduce themselves and then they proceeded to shake hands with each other! This set the light-hearted tone and they entertained us for an hour and left us calling for more!


It was a very full sound with the voice parts: lead, bass, tenor and baritone. They demonstrated how the music was built up on "What a wonderful world" by gradually adding in each voice part. The original form of a barber shop group was a quartet—one voice for each part—and they showed us this in "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys. Other well-known songs they performed were "Feed the birds" from Mary Poppins and "When I’m 64" by the Beatles and many others, some in a more serious, moving vein. The singers obviously enjoyed themselves, swaying and miming in time to the music.

It was all thrilling and very entertaining. We thanked the chorus very much indeed and then we all got together afterwards round the tables to enjoy tea and lots of cake, very much appreciated by us all. It was lovely to chat to members of the choir who all said what a nice hall it is to sing in and what a good audience we were! Thanks so much to Julia and Barbara for the refreshments and all those who helped make the afternoon such a success. Thanks also to Michael, Ian and Peter who put up the tables and chairs and helped to clear up afterwards.

The cream tea outing in August will be on 21st August and will be at Heale House. Names of those who would like to go were taken. You can also sign up at the next meeting which is on Wednesday 17th July at 2 pm, as usual in the Cowesfield room. One of our members, Ann Sammons, will be giving a flower arranging demonstration. She will be doing four arrangements that will be modelled for the classes in the village Flower and Hobbies show which is on 17th August. We hope that some of us will be inspired to enter! Do come and join us for a fun afternoon—visitors very welcome as always.

Meeting Report: 15th May 2019

A good number of us met on Wednesday 15th. Our speaker was John Richards who has a life-long fascination with Laurence Olivier as an actor. He started by explaining how this began when as a student at Goldsmith’s in the 1960s, he was able to take advantage of a scheme which offered unsold tickets to students cheaply by queuing overnight. By means of quotations from Olivier’s own writing about acting, John explained the secrets of Olivier’s extraordinary versatility as an actor. As a young drama student, Olivier heard people talking about the "Old Man", in other words Henry Irving, the greatest actor of his generation. Olivier decided that he would be the new Old Man—the twentieth-century actor that everyone remembered and spoke of with awe.

Olivier prepared his performances meticulously, and continuously, which made being married to him interesting. He worked on the walk, and the posture, of a character. Though in reality of average height, he could make himself look imposingly tall, or unusually small. Having found a walk and a posture for a role, he worked up gestures, and the facial expressions. For his role in The Entertainer, feeling that a particular line demanded it, he taught himself to dilate the pupils of his eyes. He would play around with the lines, until he found the right voice, and spend hours in make- up. For Othello – which of course he played in the days when ‘blacking up’ for the role was the norm, he applied make up to the whole of his body. Literally. Just in case there was a wardrobe malfunction. All this naturally made him very egotistical, but he was also a generous colleague, always conscious of the debt he owed to his dresser and the stage crew. On the opening night each one would receive a card, with a personalised, handwritten thank-you message.

John finished his talk by showing us how Olivier continued to perform at the curtain calls, looking at each section of the audience in turn, casting his eyes down to suggest modesty, and drooping to show just how he had exhausted himself for their edification. All an act – from the greatest actor of his generation! There were plenty of questions before we thanked John very much for his talk.

News of members was given. The Chairman asked for members to help at our stall at the village fete on 15th June. Produce for sale can be brought to the stall after 11.30 am on the day. Also donations are needed for the Pamper Hamper by the end of May. Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious tea prepared by Margaret and Rita.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 19th June at 2 pm as usual in the Cowesfield room. We are looking forward to the barber-shop group “Ocean Harmony” who are coming to entertain us. They number about 20 and we would like to invite visitors to hear them too so do come along. Refreshments will be sparkling to celebrate the occasion! (There will be a small charge for visitors). Please let us know if you are coming by 9th June for catering purposes to Julia Hayday, 01794 884110, julia.hayday@btinternet.com.

Meeting Report: 17th April 2019

The April meeting, held two days before the Easter holiday, was missing a few members to holidays, child care duties etc., but nevertheless gave our speaker, Mr Ian Newman of Newman’s, the Salisbury funeral directors, a very warm welcome. Mr Newman proved to be a very entertaining raconteur, and kept everyone laughing with his talk entitled "A little grave humour".

He reminded us that Newman’s is one of only four family owned funeral directors in the area, and many of his tales related to his early days in the business and the many difficulties that beset his profession. He told us that before the days of mechanical diggers, graves were often dug by milkmen or postmen, who would do the work in the late afternoon or evening after their milk round or postal duties were done. Since this entailed using lanterns or head torches on winter evenings, lan would frequently be called by residents whose windows overlooked the cemetery wondering if there were ghosts or body-snatchers at work!

He related difficulties in collecting a very obese lady who had died in her bedroom at the top of a narrow twisted staircase. This involved a ladder, a plank of wood, a length of rope and a lightweight coffin, and was one of the first of his jobs as an undertaker.

After his many anecdotes and the expression of his very sincere Christian beliefs, Ian was thanked for his talk and joined us for very welcome tea and cakes. He kindly asked that his fee be donated to the Stars Appeal at Salisbury Hospital.

Meeting Report: 20th March 2019

A large number of the Breakaway group met in the Cowesfield Room on the first day of Spring and as I promised in last month's report, it was an occasion to be entertained and to learn. Tim Wilton from the Bobby Van Trust gave us a very comprehensive, illustrated talk on how to stay safe online and how not to be entrapped by scammers. Tim was well qualified for this having served in the Army for many years working on their secure systems and then spent 11 years with a tech company, before joining the Bobby Van Trust. For those who do not know, this Trust is a civilian organisation run with the assistance and support of Wiltshire Police and offers safety and security advice on physical matters, such as locks, and home security as well as the online advice we received. It is available to anyone and useful contact details are at the end of this report.

Although many present were comfortable banking, purchasing, and dealing with online organisations, Tim gave us much useful advice on phishing, spear phishing, vishing, smishing, push scams and the like. He gave advice on protecting oneself—remember, info and photos on social media may be there for many years to come and can be accessed by those determined enough. Also, we were warned to back up data and to consider our digital legacy—leave a note of important passwords with your Will in a secure place; protect your computer by strong passwords and change the passwords on any smart devices such as televisions, fridges etc. from the factory settings, as this can be a way into your internet for unscrupulous persons, and regularly clear your browsing history.

Anita thanked Tim for his interesting and informative talk. A message of sympathy was passed to Ilona (who was unable to be present) on the recent death of her hushand. The group then enjoyed tea and cakes.

Useful websites are: getsafeonline.org; takefive-stopfraud.org.uk: wiltsmessaging.co.uk The next meeting will be on 17 April and the speaker will be Ian Newman who talk is entitled "A little grave humour".

Meeting Report: 20th February 2019

For our meeting this month, we were treated to a talk by the vivacious, engaging and entertaining Viv Carter of the Honeypot Charity. This organisation, based at a large house in 7 acres near Exbury in the New Forest, offers respite care and long term support for young carers between the ages of 5 and 12, from Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex. (500 children from the SP postcode). It also offers support to vulnerable children—perhaps those in extreme poverty, immigrants or abused children. We were given many examples of children caring but one that stuck with me was a 5 yr old getting up 4 times a night to check on his epileptic mother!

The children are referred to the charity by professionals—schools, medical professionals, social workers, etc. and will be invited to spend 4 days at Honeypot House during school holidays and half-terms. The charity will ensure that care is in place to cover whatever care the children are providing at home whilst the children enjoy a break. They enjoy numerous activities at Honeypot, including a zip wire, trampoline, bikes, buggies, swings, swimming, in addition to being provided with comfortable accommodation, excellent food, no chores (itself a great respite) and often an outing to the sea or Paultons Park. After their initial stay, the children will be invited back for a weekend once a year and will receive a birthday card and a Christmas present.

The charity receives no government support, being entirely funded by donations. 1,000 children a year are supported, and the charity has 16 full time staff. It costs £1.5 million to run. It was unfortunate that due to illness and grandparent half-term duties our numbers were low, because this was a most entertaining and informative talk.

Details of the programme for the rest of the year were handed out and a collection made for the charity. Our next meeting, on 20 March, will see a return of the Bobby Van group of ex-police officers, offering advice on keeping safe on line. If their last talk on home security is anything to go by, it will be both entertaining and extremely helpful. Do come along to be entertained and to learn at the same time.

Meeting Report: 16th January 2019

The Breakaway Club met in the Cowesfield Room for its first meeting of 2019, which was also the AGM and the sixth birthday of the club. Anita Boakes opened the meeting, welcoming members and noting apologies from those unable to be present. All the usual AGM business was presented, including reviews of the meetings and outings enjoyed during the past 12 months. Two members have resigned from the committee, and it is hoped to replace them during the year. It was noted that the job of arranging speakers would not necessarily be a committee post as it mostly involves time to be spent around late summer and largely by phone and on line.

Sue King presented the accounts which were in good shape. In view of the rise in booking fees for the hall, subscriptions would rise by £2 to £22, which was thought to be good value. The accounts included a sum of £150 which Sue had wrung from the Bank, as compensation for its incompetence in transferring details!

Margaret Hargreaves had organised a full and interesting programme of speakers for the year, details of which will appear elsewhere in this publication. The remaining committee members were re-elected and thanks were recorded to John Butcher for auditing the accounts and to Mike Hayday and Peter Jones for offering to help set out and clear the room for meetings. Gill Bray gave a short report on the book club and the books they had read.

During tea, Julia Hayday walked around chatting to us all, looking very elegant in an Ascot style outfit. Suddenly she disappeared, then reappeared dressed as she had been earlier and Ilona then produced a quiz, as to what clothes and colours Julia had been wearing – a good test of observance!

The next meeting will be on 20 February when there will be a speaker from the delightfully named Honeypot Charity. Hope to see you there!

Meeting Report: 12th December 2018

18 of us met at the King’s Head here in the village on Wednesday 12th December. We were welcomed by an aperitif and canapes and then settled ourselves at our allotted tables. We had all chosen a main course and a sweet which was beautifully served and was delicious. Lots of chatter ensued and a very pleasant time was had by all. Some of us went on to the church for the mid-week afternoon service.

Next month’s meeting will be on Wednesday 16th January in the Memorial Hall at the usual time of 2 pm. It will be the Annual General Meeting and there will be social time and perhaps some home-made entertainment! Do come and celebrate the start of 2019 with us!

Meeting Report: 21st November 2018

Following her very enjoyable talk at the History Group last month, Ros Liddington returned to the Memorial Centre to talk to the Breakaway Club about the Women of Wilton. She is a very knowledgeable speaker and a very resolute researcher; such is her enthusiasm for her subject that she often pursues a fascinating sideline to her main thread and gives her audience an even more interesting insight into the subject matter of her talk.

This time, she traced the effect that women throughout the ages have had on Wilton, during the centuries when—by and large—women did not have a great deal of influence, history noting when dukes and earls had sons, and giving their names, but merely mentioning that they also had x numbers of daughters. The first Earl of Pembroke was created by Henry VIII and he married Anne Parr (before Henry married her sister, Jane) and she was lady-in-waiting to all of Henry's wives. They lived in Baynard's castle, a very grand establishment on the Thames in London, but this Earl was the man who created Wilton House, from the original Wilton Abbey. One of their sons married Catherine Grey, the sister of Lady Jane Grey.

Other notable women who had an influence on Wilton included Ann Sidney, sister to Sir Philip Sidney; Mary Villiers, daughter of the infamous Duke of Buckingham; and Catherine, daughter of the Russian Ambassador, who married the 4th Earl and had a great influence on the rebuilding and refitting of Wilton House. Florence Nightingale also visited, at this time.

Anita, who had welcomed everyone with a glass of sherry on arrival, thanked our speaker for a most entertaining talk. Arrangements were then made for our Christmas Lunch at the Kings Head on 12th December. Anyone who has not yet booked is asked to contact Sue King.

Meeting Report: 17th October 2018

There were not so many at our meeting on 17th October – a drizzly dull day – sickness and holidays keeping some members away. So all the more welcome were some visitors and our members who braved the weather.

Diane Goetz, our speaker, spoke extremely ably on the "Life and Times of Thomas Hardy". He was born in 1840 and died in 1928 so his life spanned a number of huge changes in society: the car, air travel, radio, plumbing, pencillin, the BBC, the railway etc. His novels and stories showed the appalling conditions in which people had to live in the country before these improvements were felt and are valuable for documenting this.

The speaker covered Thomas Hardy’s family life and upbringing. He was well educated, having been taught by his mother and he was a favourite of Julia Martin at school where he learned Latin and Greek. He was apprenticed to an architect and qualified. He married twice, Emma and then Florence, but was not a good husband. He became well known and his heart was buried in Westminster Abbey.

We thanked the speaker for her fascinating talk. Details of our Christmas meal were given – at The King’s Head here in the village on Wednesday 12th December – names to be taken at our next meeting. Our next meeting will be on 21st November when the speaker will be Ros Liddington on the "Women of Wilton House". Do come—she gave a very lively talk at the History Group’s meeting this month!

Meeting Report: 19th September 2018

In last month’s notes, I hinted at an intriguing talk for September. The event far outshone the promise! You might think that the title "Lady in a Yellow Caravan" sounded as though we were going to listen to someone's holiday in the country, but you would have been very mistaken.

From the moment she walked in the door, a slim woman in 20s style androgynous clothes, with a battered suitcase, Jane Glennie had us intrigued. This former actress proceeded to tell us the fascinating story of Alice E. Gillington, who, during the 1920s and 1930s lived at Thorney Hill in the New Forest in a yellow gypsy caravan, researching and recording the lives, songs, poems, prayers and the general lifestyle of the gypsies who lived in the Forest. She published many books of folklore and songs and dances and was a friend of Cecil Sharp and Augustus John.

So far, so interesting – but Jane brought her persona to life as, with extravagant gestures and animated facial expressions, she not only told Alice’s story, but "recruited" various members to undertake to venture into the Forest to find Alice and help with her stories. She equipped the chosen people with disguises so that they would fit in and suggested that one person take her two large dogs! We were all enthralled and in fits of laughter, reminiscing over skipping games and prayers that many remembered from childhood. Jane is a very talented performer and Anita thanked her warmly for a memorable performance we were sorry had to end. A truly memorable afternoon.

At our next meeting on 17th October, Diane Goetz will tell us about the Life and Times of Thomas Hardy.

Meeting Report: 15th August 2018

Following the pattern of previous summers, the Breakaway Club deserted the Memorial Centre and went out to tea. This year we were a little nearer home, only going as far as Wellow, where we all met up at Carlo's. Despite the venue's well-deserved reputation for icecream, we all enjoyed a cream tea, with warm fluffy scones and the usual discussion as to whether we should eat them Devon style or Cornish style. Whichever each person chose, it was a delightful afternoon, thankfully slightly cooler than the recent tropical temperatures, and conversation and laughter flowed readily.

Thanks to Julia and Sue for their organisation. Our next meeting will be back in the Cowesfield Room on the 19th September, where our speaker will be Jane Glennie—the "lady in the yellow caravan". If this sounds intriguing, come along and find out more!

Meeting Report: 18th July 2018

On a hot and sunny day the Breakaway club met in the Cowesfield Room to hear Susan Waldron recount her Travels on a Narrowboat. Susan and her husband spent seven months travelling from their mooring near Rochdale, down through the rivers and canals to Bristol and back. Her talk this time was on the Kennet & Avon stretch.

On their 70 ft narrowboat together with friends they frequently managed to arrive during festivals—in London for the Queen's Birthday Parade, and Henley Royal Regatta where they had to navigate through the river cluttered with craft of all sizes.

The Kennet & Avon canal was built to provide a link from London to Bristol for the transportation of goods for export from Bristol, since the sea route was so often the target for pirates and wreckers. Once the railway was built the river and canal route was largely discontinued and has only been restored mainly by volunteers over the last 50 or so years.

Susan had many pictures (unfortunately due to the bright day, these weren't very clear) showing pillboxes along the route. (During WWII the K & A was the last line of defence against invasion). Also, the many pretty bridges, and places of interest like the Crofton Beam Engine, the nearby windmill, and the Wootton Rivers church with its clock built from scrap by Mr Pratt because the church could not afford a clock for its tower. One face has the letters 'GLORYBETOGOD' instead of numerals. She also described the difficulties faced at Devizes where the water level rises 130 feet involving 29 locks!

On via Bradford-on-Avon (very pretty), the Somerset Coal Canal to Bristol in time for the Steam Vessel Festival.

Anita thanked Susan for an interesting and informative talk and details were provided for our August cream tea. The next meeting in the Memorial Centre will be on 19th September when the speaker, Jane Glennie, will talk about "Travels with a Yellow Caravan".

Meeting Report: 20th June 2018

Members welcomed Martin Weston , an ambassador for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, to their meeting this month. Although we all think we know about the organisation, Martin gave us some very interesting facts and figures.

The first patient to be taken to hospital by air in Great Britain was in 1917.

A Gazelle aircraft moved casualties after a road traffic accident near Stonehenge at the time of the “battle of the beanfield”. Following that, it was decided in Wiltshire that the Police, Paramedics and Pilots would man an aircraft fit for purpose. That joint venture was disbanded 3 years ago when it was decided at Government level that all police helicopters would be based in Bristol.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance then had to strike out on it’s own. They now have a purpose built HEMS aircraft which has the capacity to take a friend or relative as well as the patient. All the specialist equipment on board is funded by donations. Blood is also carried so transfusions can be given.

The helicopter flies daily for a 19 hour period beginning at 6am.

Separate fundraising culminated recently in a new airbase with office facilities at Semington.

The staff and volunteers are heavily involved in a schools / colleges programme called Safe Drive – Stay Alive.

The service carried out 875 missions in 2017 and to date has completed 380 this year.

There is no government funding but fines following the Libor scandal resulted in a donation of £1m.

The daily cost for the service is £8904!

There are no major trauma centres in Wiltshire so the crew often choose between Southampton, Bath and Oxford depending on the injury type. Land ambulances don’t have that option.

The helicopter can reach anywhere in Wiltshire within 11.25 minutes.

We all agreed we were very fortunate to have the service at our disposal.

Members made final arrangements for their stall at the fete and signed up for the proposed cream tea outing in August.

A unanimous decision saw 2 members co opted onto the committee – Barbara Jones and Ilona Hocking. The meeting next month on July 18th will be "Travels on a narrowboat" – visitors and new members are always welcome!

Meeting Report: 16th May 2018

Four days before the Royal Wedding the Breakaway Club held its May meeting. Members in the know arrived dressed for a wedding and wearing corsages of English roses, pinks, lily-of-the-valley and other Spring flowers. They were greeted by a Cowesfield Room decked out with Union flags, Harry & Meghan balloons and red, white and blue napkins. All very festive.

Our expected magician did not materialise! (He had had to go into hospital), In his place we enjoyed a most enthralling talk from Professor Margaret Cox, previously professor of anthropology at Bournemouth University and from 1994 to 2004 the human bone specialist to Channel Four's 'Time Team'. Her subject was 'The lost soldiers of Fromelles 1916 – search, recovery and identification.'

This might have sounded a very dull subject, but Margaret, with great professionalism, brought the subject to life. Fromelles was a small French village, some 22 kms west of Lille, where the allies (mainly Australian and English) sought to divert German attention from the Somme. It was not considered a very important battle but 8000 men were killed! (5533 Australian, 1547 British and 1000 German troops). In 2007 the Australian Government commissioned a survey to find its lost soldiers and since then there has been an intense archaeological, forensic anthropological, and military effort to recover, identify, and rebury with full military honours, as many of these men as possible.

In this space it is not feasible to convey the vast amount of resources, or immense care and attention to detail that was undertaken; suffice it to say that all the audience was spellbound and amazed at the efforts taken. A War Graves cemetery is now at this site and an annual commemoration held on the anniversary – 20th July.

Margaret was thanked by Anita, she then answered questions and joined us for tea, which was followed by a glass of bubbly to drink the health of the Royal Couple. Some photos can be seen in the website's Galleries section: click here.

Our next meeting will be on June 20th, four days before the Fete where the Breakaway club will have a stall and will raffle a Pamper Basket. Do visit us there and do come to the meeting, where we will meet the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Meeting Report: 18th April 2018

It was a brilliant sunny afternoon, the hottest April day for many years, when the Breakaway club met for its April meeting. Several new members turned up and despite a number of apologies from regulars due to various personal commitments, a sizeable audience listened and watched as Dinah Warnock told us about the history of make-up, illustrated with slides of the various centuries and cultures during which man (and woman) kind have been decorating their faces and bodies.

Dinah started with African tribes with body tribal art, the ancient Egyptians with their exaggerated eye make-up, and ancient Britons painting their bodies with woad—jolly cold if they experienced winters like our last one! She then went through the 18th century when hair and make-up were the most bizarre in history. People rarely washed, make-up took half a day to apply very thickly to cover pock marks, and hair styles were enormous—often a wig, because hair frequently fell out from ill-treatment and lack of washing! Although wigs took fantastical shapes and were sometimes decorated with weird objects (Marie Antoinette reportedly wore a sailing ship in hers), they also harboured less desirable living creatures (Ugh!).

During the 19th century and the Victorian era, fashions changed almost every decade but were largely towards the "milkmaid" or fresh-faced unmade-up look. The 20th century saw make-up influenced by film and celebrity—we looked at Sassoon haircuts, punk make-up, dramatic eyes, etc. Fascinating.

Dinah answered members’ questions, then Anita outlined the club’s plans for our stall at the Village Fête and we all enjoyed tea. Next meeting, we will be treated to the mysteries of the Magic Circle. Don't disappear!

Meeting Report: 21st March 2018

On the first day after the Spring Equinox the weather decided to show us that it really was the start of Spring and so, in the delightfully light and bright Cowesfield Room, a large number of the members of the Breakaway Club met for their March meeting with smiles all round and a general feeling of thankfulness that the snow had finally disappeared.

Our speaker was Sheelagh Browne, whose talk entitled 'Can you see the stage?' was a fascinating description of her role as an audio describer for Salisbury Playhouse. She began by talking about her training, which was a 5 day intensive course, plus 25 hours of home study, and her first task was to describe in writing a postcard she was given—not so easy as it sounds – what do you leave out, what adds to the overall picture, etc.

Sheelagh started as a volunteer (she is now one of three audio describers who each cover at least one play a season—visiting companies often provide their own). A week or so before the opening of the play, she will be provided with a script and will then attend a rehearsal, meeting the actors, walking the set, handling costumes, etc. following which she will make a CD describing the set, the characters and the parts they play, their costumes, the author, director, etc. which is then sent to the visually impaired person (vip) who has booked to see the performance.

On the day of the performance, the vip (probably with carer or helper) arrives one hour before the performance, is taken on to the stage, shown around the set, meets the actors, hears their voices, is able to feel costumes, wigs, etc. and is then shown around the theatre (bars, toilets, etc). The vip then takes their seat about 20 minutes before the performance and, wearing headphones, is connected to Shelagh (who is in the lighting box at the back of the auditorium) who will then run through the outline of the play (not giving away the plot) and the cast members and what they are wearing. During the play Sheelagh will tell the vip when significant movement takes place (i.e. characters leaving the stage, arriving, sitting at a desk, picking up a telephone, etc.) trying to do this during a silence, so as not to obscure dialogue.

Sheelagh played us part of the CD she had made for Alan Ayckbourn's "Drowning on Dry Land" which really set the scene for the play.

After Sheelagh had answered members questions, she joined us for tea and managed to talk to most people. A most enjoyable speaker.

Our next meeting is on 18th April and will be Dinah Warnock telling us The History of Make-Up. Do come, it should be fascinating.

Meeting Report: 21st February 2018

At our February meeting, the speaker was Jennifer Carter who gave us a talk entitled "Fabrics, threads and inspirations of my textiles". Jennifer originally had a career in graphics and worked for the BBC and some defence companies but was always interested in tiny work. She has travelled extensively visiting Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, France, America and Alaska and all these places have been illustrated in her quilts and miniatures. Some of these were machine-stitched but many were hand-stitched and Jennifer explained the various patterns and techniques she had used. They were really beautifully made using various materials including buttons, leather and bone. Jennifer also makes bags and cards. It was truly a very inspiring talk. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 21 March, when our talk is “Can you see the stage?” by Shelagh Brown. Visitors are always made very welcome.

Meeting Report: 17th January 2018

The January meeting was our Annual General Meeting, but as it was the fifth anniversary of the founding of the club, the Committee under Sue King’s guidance, brightened the occasion by turning it into a birthday party. The Cowesfield Room was decorated with balloons and banners, and the formalities of the review of the year’s activities, the presentation of the accounts, and committee elections were swiftly dealt with. We were pleased to learn that our annual subscription had stayed at £20 (as it had been since the beginning) although speakers’ fees were continually increasing. Of particular note was the fact that we had managed to donate £150 to the Hall Trustees to be placed toward a kitchen upgrade.

In her review of the year, Sue said how pleased she was that numbers had increased and said that Breakaway was a place where you could always find a friend. Margaret Hargreaves outlined the programme for the year (which also appeared in last month’s Steeple and Street), and Gill Bray gave a brief report on the activities of the book club. Formalities concluded, party games were played, entertainment by Sue and Anita was applauded and we all enjoyed a birthday tea.

Our next meeting is on 21 February when Jennifer Carter will tell us about fabric threads and her inspiring textiles. Do come, you will be made very welcome.

Meeting Report: 13th December 2017

The Breakaway club decided this year to break away from its usual tradition of providing a Christmas lunch in the Memorial Centre, and opted instead to visit the Hook & Glove pub in Farley, which offered a good choice of menu. Although one member was in hospital and several more stricken down with various seasonal ailments, 19 members gathered at the pub for drinks and an excellent meal. The pub thoughtfully provided a table where members’ Christmas cards could be sorted and distributed and all the usual Christmas favours of crackers and hats were enjoyed. One member, who shall remain nameless, almost got left behind at the end as she was in the toilets when doors were locked, but all turned out well and everyone voted the occasion a great success.

Above you can find news of our very varied programme for the coming year and we hope to see even more of you, then. In the meantime, Breakaway wishes all its readers a very happy 2018.

Meeting Report: 15th November 2017

Our meeting on 15th November was yet again very well attended. The speaker was Emma East on “Creative Flowers”. She runs her own floristry business from home and came to demonstrate several arrangements to give us inspiration for Christmas.

Most of the arrangements were of a “minimalist” design where less material is used. A number of different ideas were presented and basic techniques explained and demonstrated so that there was something for the expert and the less experienced flower arrangers amongst us.

A slice of a log had holes drilled in it and twigs of berries and fir cones were glued in. Spray glitter or snow was used to cover any glue showing. In another arrangement, a vase or tumbler had sticks of cinnamon stuck on all round which was very effective. Foliage was placed in the tumbler until they supported each other then a focal point of spray roses or eryngium flowers added. This could be used as a table decoration.

Other arrangements included a wreath made from honeysuckle intertwined with jasmine; a Christmas tree made from pine branches hung with baubles; decorations made from shaped soft aluminium wire wrapped round a tube which was then removed and the wires spread out into shapes to hang on a tree or elsewhere.

We thanked Emma very much for her good ideas and enthusiasm. She holds various workshops to make wreaths, Christmas flowers, etc.

The December meeting will be our Christmas Lunch on Wednesday, 13th December at the Hook and Glove at Farley. Names were finalised, orders taken and transport arranged.

Meeting Report: 18th October 2017

Our meeting on 18th October was, as last month. very well attended, with several visitors. Steve Herra came to talk about "Glamorous Stars and Cunard Ships". He was extremely well qualified to talk about Cunard, being of the third generation of his family who have worked for them after his father and grandmother. He served aboard the QE2 as purser.

Cruise liners were developed because sailing ships were not reliable and took six weeks to cross the Atlantic. Samuel Cunard (1787-1836) set up the company eventually known as the Cunard Line. He and his daughter Ann sailed in their first ship, Britannia, in July 1840. It was a paddle steamer and the crossing took 13 days. There were 63 passengers with celebrities like Charles Dickens aboard, and we heard his description of life on Britannia.

Steve took us through the progression of famous ships, gradually improving their facilities to include libraries, bathtubs, and electric light. We saw slides of their equally. famous passengers including the youthful Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. The Arabia in 1854 carried the horses used in the charge of the Light Brigade. We heard how the prompt actions of the radio operator on the Carpathia in 1912 enabled 706 passengers aboard the Titanic to be rescued; 1500 perished.

We came right up to date with the present Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. The next new super liner is due in 2022. We thanked Steve for a fascinating history of Cunard ships which kept us all spellbound.

The Christmas Lunch is to be held on Wednesday, 13th December at the Hook and Glove at Farley. Names were taken of those who are able to come and what they would like to eat. The list will also be at the November meeting. Do come along to our November meeting on the 15th at 2pm in the Memorial Hall. The talk will be "Creative Flowers": a presentation by Emma East.

Meeting Report: 20th September 2017

Our meeting on the 20th September was very well attended, with several visitors/new members. Jane Glennie came to talk to us about “Suffering Suffragettes”. She provides a theatrical interlude to present a moment in women’s history - this time “votes for women”. She adopted a hat and pose and presented herself as the new self-appointed chairman of the Whiteparish Votes for Women campaign! We were transported back to 1913 and asked to choose whether we wanted to be “suffragists” or “suffragettes”. She spoke forcefully and presented us with all the facts, entertaining us by answering imaginary “nuisances” in our midst and providing lots of laughs. It was a good way to learn about the campaign and kept us all engaged until we voted at the end to be suffragettes, who were active and passionate, compared with the suffragists who had been in action since 1830 and not achieved much. After brief notices and reports on members who were not well, we enjoyed our usual generous tea and cakes.

Do come along to our October meeting on the 18th at 2pm in the Memorial Hall. Steve Herra will be telling us about “Glamorous Stars and Cunard Ships”.

Meeting Report: 16th August 2017

As a change from our usual meeting venue in the Cowesfield Room, a large number of the Breakaway members visited the Longstock Park Nursery, Farm Shop and Café for the now established and much anticipated August Cream Tea. Despite the somewhat unpredictable weather in the days before our outing, the day was 'Goldilocks' – not too hot, not too cold, just warm and sunny.

The café had reserved a corner just for us and had set a table laden with a pile of the most enormous scones I had ever seen, (delicious, though), a snowy mountain of cream and a dish of very fruity strawberry jam, from which to help ourselves. Accompanied by an unending supply of tea and coffee, we all settled down to eat and chat. To use up some of the calories consumed, members then prowled around the farm shop, and the extensive nursery, and finally made our contented way home.

The next meeting will be back in the Memorial Centre on 20 September when we will hear about 'Suffering Suffragettes' from Jane Glennie.

Meeting Report: 19th July 2017

After a very hot meeting day last month, temperatures returned to a more normal level for our July meeting and despite several members enjoying holidays, a good number of people gathered to hear John Richards, a Guernseyman who now lives locally, tell us of the events leading up to the invasion of Guernsey in 1940, and how this affected his family.

In 1940. the Channel Islanders could hear the guns in Northern France and knew that Hitler wanted the islanders to form part of the ‘Atlantic Wall’ of defence. On the 19th June, the islanders of Guernsey were told that the Nazis were going to invade and occupy the island and that women and children would be evacuated. Hasty preparations were made, although some people refused to leave. So many animals had to be put down that the vets couldn't cope. One suitcase each was allowed to be taken and a pram or pushchair if a child was not yet walking. Each family was allocated one life jacket and terrible decisions had to be made as to who got to use it. Eighty per cent of the children were evacuated.

John's mother, aunt and 6 month old brother David initially arrived in Southampton, but the refugees were not well received and moved from place to place eventually ending up in Penrhyn in Cornwall, where his mother, a trained hairdresser, got a number of jobs cleaning, sewing and hairdressing to make ends meet. They then moved to Rochdale to stay with friends, but as is often the case, this didn't work out and so John's mother with her son, now 21 months old, moved to Halifax, to a rat-infested house with a difficult landlord. By October 1941, they had had 12 homes in 12 months. Mrs Richards, however, was a regular churchgoer and they were offered accommodation in the vicarage, which worked out well.

Back in Guernsey in 1942, food was running out, people were having to eat their remaining pets or starve to death and on the 7 October, 1003 people were illegally deported from Guernsey and Sark. John's grandparents were deported to Germany because although his grandfather was a Guernseyman, his grandmother was English.

Fortunately, for this family, there was a happy ending. Grandparents returned to the island and John's father returned from the war, reunited with his wife and son who by then were returning via Cardiff and the whole family shipped from Weymouth back to the island. John himself was born in 1946, but many of the details of his talk were taken from a book written by his brother.

Janette Munro then thanked John Richards and members were reminded that the 16th August meeting would be an outing to Longstock Park Nursery for a cream tea.

Meeting Report: 21st June 2017

We had a good turnout for our meeting held on the longest day of the year on what turned out to be the hottest day in the UK since 1976! We kept cool by leaving open the two doors onto the patio and getting a lovely breeze.

Our speaker was Gordon Lewis who now lives in Totton but has very strong family ties to Whiteparish–both his mother and grandfather were born in The Lynches (previously known as The Old Workhouse) and his parents were the first people to be married in the chapel!

His topic was "Pop, Politics and Parties" and turned out to be about the Eurovision Song Contest. There were many song contests in Europe before WW2 (eg. The Salzburg Song Contest won by the family Von Trapp in The Sound of Music) In order to rebuild cultural ties after the war, it was decided in 1950 by the European Broadcasting Union (which included the BBC) meeting in Torquay, to set up a European Song Contest. However it was not until 1953 with the live TV broadcast of the Coronation to the Commonwealth that the technology existed to make this a Eurovision contest.

The first one was held in Lugano in 1956 and won by the French. We heard an excerpt from the winning song. The next contest is held in the country of the winner. It was not until 1997 that the UK won with Katrina and The Waves singing Love Shine A Light. This is still in song books used by primary school children today. The following year the contest was held in Birmingham. Luckily for him, 1997 was the first year Gordon attended the contest as a freelance journalist. He went every year until 2006 when it was held in Athens.

Then Gordon explained how the "Politics" and "Parties" came into the contests. Each country voting has 12 points to award; some will always award all their points to one country–Greece to Cyprus and vice versa; Russia to Azerbaijan. Some will never give any points to a country–France to UK!, Armenia to Azerbaijan and vice versa. World events also influence the voting; in 1974 the timing of President Pompidou’s election meant that the unknown Abba from Sweden won the contest with Waterloo rather than the favourite. We thanked Gordon for his fascinating talk and then had a very refreshing and welcome cup of tea with sandwiches and cakes. Thank you so much Julia and Pat for providing this in all that heat.

The business covered the results of our stall at the fete. Takings were slightly down this year but we will cover the rent for our meetings next year. Thank you to all our customers.

We noted that we have a change of speaker for July. The meeting on the 19th will be John Richards talking about his mother’s experiences as an evacuee from Guernsey in WW2.

Our cream tea outing on August l6th will be to the Leckford farm shop cafe near Stockbridge.

We presented a small gift to Barbara Jones in recognition of her many years as Secretary both to the former afternoon WI group and to the Breakaway club. Barbara will now be "on the back benches" and Julia Hayday will take on the role of Secretary.

Meeting Report: 17th May 2017

This month’s meeting caused a few headaches for the committee! Firstly, the eagerly awaited repairs to the car park meant that some of our less physically able members would have problems accessing the hall. We thought we’d sorted that out with the Trustees who were willing to open the Romsey Road gates for access, providing of course that the grass wasn’t too wet. Guess what? After weeks of dry weather, the heavens opened and that plan went out of the window.

On the (very wet) morning of the meeting, the planned speaker got in touch to say he was very sorry, but with the weather so bad, he didn’t want to risk his Roman artefacts getting spoiled if they had to be carried in the rain from Romsey Road to the hall.

Julia Hayday to the rescue! At an earlier committee meeting, she had told us that husband Mike would prepare some quiz questions in case we needed an emergency fill in. That day had come!

Members had fun completing the quiz; had a good natter and, as usual, enjoyed a very nice tea.

Meeting Report: 19th April 2017

The members of Breakaway have enjoyed some memorable speakers over the years and following last month's excellent talk by a wildlife artist, we were treated to another sparkling talk by Barbara Townsend on 'How to self publish children's books'. I must admit that I did not anticipate that this talk would be as absorbing as it turned out. Barbara is a lively and engaging speaker and had her audience really engaged.

She became very interested in the history of the big bellied oaks in Savernake Forest and decided to write a children's adventure story using the trees as a location (and as characters in the tale). She spent many months researching the whole area of Savernake forest and finally started her writing. She decided not to go to a formal publisher, as it is quite difficult to get accepted. She persuaded the editor of her local magazine to edit her work, found a printer in Andover, an illustrator for the cover and pictures to accompany the stories, and using her background in sales and marketing, set about selling her book. She managed to persuade local bookshops to take a few copies, used Amazon, tourist offices, etc. and submitted articles to local newspapers and magazines, including Wiltshire Life.

Barbara then went on to write more books, using Old Harry Rock near Swanage as a background, Stonehenge, and the legend of the White Stag. She admitted that there is not a lot of money in self-publishing, but each book has funded the costs of writing and producing the next one. The books are very attractive, well presented and aimed at ages 7–12 or Key Stage 2 children, and are very reasonably priced. Barbara then read one of the stories to us. She doesn't "talk down" to her readers and uses some challenging words, believing that if the stories are good enough, children will want to read and learn.

After this very interesting talk, we had a chance to talk to Barbara over tea and cakes and to buy books at a discounted rate for the afternoon. Our next meeting is on 17 May and is about "Roman Army finds, fact and fiction" which promises to keep up our very high standard.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 15th March 2017

On a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon, the Breakaway club were pleased to welcome a number of visitors from local art groups to listen to Kim Thompson, a very talented commercial wildlife illustrator and artist. Kim, whose graduation from art college in Wales, included studies in animal anatomy, wildlife, etc. now provides natural history illustrations for publishers, & advertising agencies and produces amazing wildlife studies for herself. Her work has included illustrations for book jackets, children's books, posters, magazines, wine labels, etc. and frequently involves working to a deadline, (occasionally involving working 17 hours a day or working through the night!) She produced examples of book illustrations showing anatomical drawings such as beetles with wing-cases open and closed and close- ups of insects.

Kim travels extensively for her work, returning often to Botswana where she has a small charity which teaches a small class of children to produce paintings which they can sell to help support their families. At the end of the week, each child gets a pair of shoes, trousers and top. She has travelled to the Himalayas, climbing above base camp, to sketch and paint the rocks and mountains for use in painting snow leopards, and whilst these beautiful creatures will not pose for her, she is able to study how they move, make quick sketches, and then visit Marwell Zoo to get close details. She once joined a group of fellow artists for a week on the Bass Rock, sketching gannets and shearwaters, (and getting covered in guano!).

Kim brought along a number of large canvases of large cats and of owls, so realistically depicted they looked as though they were coming out of the paintings.

Members and guests then enjoyed the usual tasty tea and cakes and spent some time closely examining Kim's work.

Our next meeting is on April 19th when Barbara Townsend will tell us how to self-publish children's books. We always welcome visitors.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 15th February 2017

This month we enjoyed a highly amusing talk from Janet Bache who is a home dog boarder. Janet, who trained as a nurse, began looking after dogs in her own home after her own beagle died. She trades as JB Dog Care and has an animal boarding licence which entails her home and garden being inspected each year for its suitability. She also took a canine psychology course and her philosophy is to be kind to her dogs, know their breed traits and treat them accordingly (let the spaniels get wet and muddy, give large dogs lots of exercise, etc.- all with the owners' permission) and aim to give the dogs a happy holiday. Her largest boarder has been a Great Dane and the smallest a teacup chihuahua (not at the same time!)

Her dogs get bus rides, forest walks, ball games, beach runs, and car rides – one dog refused to sit anywhere but in the front passenger seat and spent the whole journey restrained by the human seat belt!

Janet has an impressive questionnaire which she requires owners to complete, so that dogs get exactly what they get at home – some arrive with just their food and a lead, others with toys, blankets, duvets, cushions, bowls etc. Janet keeps a daily diary of what she and the current dogs do, so that she can report to the owners on their return, or they get sent emails and pictures from their animals! She only has two dogs at any one time and has two big sofas so that they can relax. By the end of the talk, most members were wishing they could book in for a holiday themselves, and be pampered by Janet.

During tea, members looked at the many photos of the dogs enjoying their holidays and were impressed reading the diaries and questionnaires.

Our next meeting is on March 15th and will include a talk on Wildlife Painting by Kim Thompson. Anyone who is interested will be welcome to join us.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 18th January 2017

This was Breakaway's 3rd AGM, having been 'born' in January 2013 out of the old Whiteparish afternoon WI. Far from the usual boring AGM, it was a lively afternoon of reminiscence, since Janette Munro announced that she was standing down as President. Since Janette had held this post (and its equivalent in WI) for many years, this was the end of an era. Ann Craik related stories of past events and outings, Veronica Iles brought along a photograph album, showing Janette in her many roles during the last 30 years, in WI, and told some scandalous tales (!), whilst Margaret Chase had written a poem (reproduced below). Flowers and a card were presented to Janette, who is not leaving, merely joining the rest of us 'rank & file' members.

Reports of the year's activities, including those of the book club, were read and a healthy set of accounts presented, with the welcome news that subs will remain unchanged at £20 for the year. Two new committee members were welcomed, the 2017 committee being Barbara Jones, Denise Bell, Sue King, Margaret Hargreaves, Anita Boakes and Julia Hayday. A very interesting programme of events for the year has been arranged, and as our membership continues to rise, we hope that these will attract even more people to our friendly meetings, the next being on 15 February, going 'Behind the Scenes of a Home Dog Boarder'.

Gill Bray

A poem for Janette

I've known Janette for many a year.
And she has always made it clear
That helping others was her intent
And she did just what she meant.
The W.I. was a long time friend
Interest in Committee came to an end
She took the Chair and kept us straight
Then Breakaway came as a welcome date.
Hundred+ night kept Janette looking
For people who would do some cooking.
The Village Hall, Garden Club and History Group
Were all within our Janette's loop.
Mother of four and devoted wife
She still had time for Village life,
And now she wants to have a rest
We wish her all the Very Best.

Party Report! 10th December 2016 (excerpts from Sue King's report in Steeple and Street)

A great time was had by all at the annual Supper for the 100+ Club. This event raises funds to assist the running of our Memorial Centre. The profit raised this year was just over £700. Thank-yous go to Breakaway club members, who delivered invitations; made food; helped set up the hall and clear away; sold raffle tickets.

The Breakaway club was happy to take on the challenge of organising the event.

Meeting Report: Christmas Lunch, 7th December

It was all change again for Breakaway this month. Back in the Cowesfield Room at the Memorial Centre following our trip to Wyevale in November, and at 12.30 pm on the 7 th for a sumptuous Christmas lunch, prepared by our ever diligent catering committee. Listing what wasn't available would be easier than noting what was, but suffice to say that no-one went hungry or thirsty.

There were crackers, quizzes, cards, raffles, table prizes – everything to make the party go with a swing – and judging by the chatter and laughter, everyone enjoyed themselves. We were sorry that not everyone could make it due to illness or other reasons, but the large number that did were reluctant to leave at the end and had been especially pleased to see those who had been absent for some time who had been able to return.

Anita Boakes thanked the hard working committee on behalf of all present.

We will be back in the Cowesfield Room for our next meeting on 18 January for our AGM and other entertainment, but subs will be payable in February as our treasurer will not be at the January meeting. Happy New Year to all members and those considering joining our happy club.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 16th November 2016

For their November meeting a large number of members gathered at the Wyevale Garden Centre at Landford for a demonstration of Christmas floral decorations. Using both fresh flowers including roses and alstroemeria and foliage, interspersed with artificial berries, baubles and a candle, Tina quickly produced an attractive table centre decoration. Then she turned her talents to a wreath for the front door and, again using a mix of fresh and artificial material, this time with pine cones, ribbon and a robin, a very pretty wreath was produced. These two items were then raffled and two lucky members went home delighted with their prize.

Sue King then outlined the details for next month's Christmas lunch. Members should note that it will be held in the Cowesfield Room on 7th December at 12.30 for 1.00pm. Sue also noted that the Club had made a donation to the Memorial Ground Trust of £125 which will be used towards the provision of a bench near the children's play area.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 19th October 2016

Breakaway members were transported to the world of musical theatre for their October meeting. The presenter was Lynda Warren from Swindon who admitted to having been fascinated by theatre and musicals in particular from an early age. She worked backstage concerned with costumes and props and when she met her husband, also in the theatre, they moved into an independent company, providing props, costumes etc. She explained that a production requires brains, heart and courage–just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz–and involves writers, directors, choreographers, set and costume, sound and lighting designers.

Interspersed with anecdotes about various productions, Lynda then proceeded to play a song from each of nine musicals, covering the golden age from Oklahoma to Hair. She provided words for people to follow their favourites and told us that when she worked on costumes for a production of West Side Story it was her job to check the men's trousers after the show in case the seams had given way during the energetic dancing. In a later production, P J Proby had played the part of Tony (with his record, her services may well have been needed!).

Lionel Bart, who wrote Oliver, could neither read nor write music but was a brilliant pianist and composed the music in his head – he also wrote "Living Doll" for Cliff Richard and "Little White Bull" for Tommy Steele. Before playing "Good Morning Starshine" from Hair, Lynda told us she took a 90-yr old lady to a production and when the young cast emerged at the end of the first act without their clothes, this lady sat up and said loudly “If I had known this was going to happen, I would have brought my glasses!”

Lynda was warmly thanked for her very entertaining talk, which had produced memories for members of all ages. Sue King then provided details of future activities that Breakaway would be involved with, and reminded members that the next meeting will be at Wyevale Garden Centre for a Christmas floral demonstration.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 21st September 2016

The September meeting of Breakaway was somewhat depleted due to a number of members enjoying late holidays and more than a few recovering from illnesses and surgery. To add to this number, the advertised speaker was also ill, but we were delighted to welcome Sue Grafton who kept us entertained with her talk on the history, crafts and customs of canal narrow-boats.

Dressed in the costume of a Victorian woman who lived and worked aboard a narrow boat, Sue told us that the first canal – the Fosdyke – was constructed by the Romans and ran from Peterborough to the river Trent. Henry ll carried out repairs in1154! By the time of the Industrial Revolution there were 4,000 miles of canals in England and Wales, of which around 3,000 still exist today.

The average cabin of a canal boat was around 6 ft 3 inches by 9 ft 6 inches. Not much room to live, cook, eat and sleep for what was frequently a large family. The kitchen area had a stove, a 2 ft cupboard which a door which folded down for use as a table and one drawer. During the Victorian era, these boats were decorated with beautifully painted flowers and the women crafted delicate pieces of crocheted 'lace' to embellish windows, covers, trays, etc. Sue had some beautiful examples to show.

During World War ll, canals became very important for transporting goods as rail lines and roads were frequently bombed. The boats were often crewed by two or three women who lived aboard and because they were unable to register ration books were allowed to take from fields by which they were moored sufficient produce to provide one meal.

Following her talk and questions from members, Sue stayed to tea with us and Janette Munro gave details of recent committee changes and of next month's meeting which will be 'Songs from the Shows' presented by Lynda Warren, at 2.00 pm on Wednesday 19th October, in the Cowesfield Room.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 17th August 2016

The Breakaway club celebrated the long awaited glorious summer weather with a visit to Breamore House tea garden for a summery cream tea. Seated around tables in the shade of the trees, we enjoyed delicious scones (I threatened to buy some to pass off as my own at the Garden Club show!), individual pots of jam and cream all complemented by excellent pots of tea. The staff were lovely and waited on us with friendly good humour.

Tea over, some of us elected to visit the countryside museum adjacent to the tea rooms whilst the rest decided to relax and chat in the shade. The museum was a real Tardis (bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside) and was a great treasure house of every aspect of countryside life in the early years of the last century. The only worrying thought was how many of the items on display we could all remember in our grandmother's kitchen or grandfather's workshop/shed. Some people still had these items (inherited, we were assured)!

The afternoon was a really enjoyable occasion, with thanks to the organisers from all who attended.

Our next meeting will be back in the Cowesfield Room on Wednesday 21st September when we will hear Roger Grier treating us to 'Humour and poetry in the garden'.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 20th July 2016

We met on a very hot day but luckily there was a pleasant breeze through the Cowesfield Room with the doors open! There were not so many of us this time as some were on holiday.

We had a very lively and interesting talk from Di Herrett who lives in the village and has been a guide at Mottisfont for the past 8 years. She gave us a history of the National Trust property; it was never an Abbey but an Augustinian Priory founded in 1201. At the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII gave Mottisfont to William Sandys of the Vyne of Basingstoke and since then the estate has been in private hands. In 1957 Maud Russell gave the property to the National Trust. Di asked us to guess how many volunteers there are running the house and estate and we got nowhere near the 420 there are! She told us of the many benefits of volunteering and that there are lots of opportunities available.

We thanked Di very much for her talk and then we enjoyed delicious tea and cakes and social time. We were sorry to hear that Jean Halliday, a long-standing member, will no longer be able to attend meetings as she has moved to a retirement village where she is very happy. Her contact details are with the Secretary.

Our August meeting is the annual cream tea outing, this year to Breamore House. Let Sue King know if you prefer sandwiches/cakes to cream tea and she will see if this is possible. Meet at 2pm at the Memorial Ground car park to share cars on 17th August.

Anita Boakes

Meeting Report: 15th June 2016

How else would the Breakaway Club celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday but with a right royal tea party! Due to the capricious June weather (doesn't the Queen always seem to get bad weather?), the party, which had been planned as a garden party on the Memorial Ground, was held in the hall.

The Cowesfield room was dressed overall with bunting, flags, colourful tableware, flowers and crackers! Hats were de rigeur, many beautifully hand decorated in red white and blue and many guests also managed to assemble patriotic colours in their outfits. A loyal toast was drunk to her Majesty, proposed by our President, Janette Munro, and we were delighted to welcome her husband Don as one of our own special group of 90+ guests.

The food contributed by everyone, was truly fit for a Queen and included coronation chicken rolls, smoked salmon sandwiches, cream meringues, and chocolate and strawberries in abundance.

Next month there will be a talk from a Mottisfont guide and then in August, we will all visit Breamore \House for a cream tea (oh dear, whatever happens to the diet?}

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 18th May 2016

The club members this month were transported to Afghanistan by the speaker, Jeanne Hartley. Jeanne is a long-term friend of member Barbara Jones and is a physiotherapist.

She told us how by chance some years ago she had met a retired colleague who had volunteered in Afghanistan. She casually said "that was something she might like to do" and 2 weeks later she received a telephone call from Sandy Gall! He had set up an appeal in 1983, initially to obtain good quality artificial limbs for use in the war-ravaged country. That charitable work then extended to cover other medical issues.

Jeanne began her talk by showing us slides and explaining some of the history of the country—"Afghanistan, where God comes to weep". We heard how there are 20 ethnic tribes in the country who are always fighting each other unless there is a foreign intervention when they band together and repel the foreigners. There is abject poverty now in most places but the mosques are still beautifully maintained.

When the Taliban had control, schooling was not allowed for girls after the age of 8, and boys were not allowed to learn history or maths. Now everyone is desperate to catch up. There is a population of 31 million, 40% of whom are under 14 years of age. Most people in their early 20s want to leave.

The charity Jeanne volunteers for trains Afghans to look after their own. Jeanne is the physiotherapist in the team which also has 2 orthopaedic surgeons, as well as paramedics and other medical associated staff. The classes they run are very well attended. Club feet are a major problem as well as hip dislocation in babies. Jeanne described how they use very clever locals to make things like wheelchairs, walking frames and surgical shoes.

It was a fascinating insight which all present appreciated. Members were reminded about the planned tea party next month to celebrate the Queens 90th birthday and also about items required for our stall at the fete.

Sue King

Meeting Report: 20th April 2016

The Breakaway club gathered on a sunny afternoon to watch a fascinating demonstration of silver jewellery making. Hilary Bowen, who teaches the subject in Breamore, took us through the process of this interesting craft. She explained that she used silver clay which is imported mostly from Japan and consists of silver dust and particles, organic binder and water. The resulting product is purer than sterling silver being 99% proof. It is very malleable but needs to be kept moist. Hilary takes the inspiration from her jewellery from nature and makes pendants, earrings, brooches, etc. using leaves, shells, small starfish skeletons and other natural items.

For our demonstration she used two tiny mussel shells from Hamble beach, pressed them into moulding putty, and then pressed the rolled out silver clay into the mould. This was then fired with a small gas gun, then brushed with a suede brush. The result was a most enchanting pair of small shell earrings, matching an earlier made necklace of slightly larger mussel shells. The whole process took about 30 minutes.

Hilary was thanked by Janette Munro and members were then able to admire more of Hilary's exquisite handiwork, and also to purchase if so desired. We then enjoyed delightful cakes and tea and heard updates from various members of other club activities.

Our next meeting is on 18 th May when the talk is on Physio in Afghanistan.

Meeting Report: 16th March 2016

Tony Phillips was the speaker for Breakaway's March meeting. His illustrated topic was the Fovant Badges. These are the white chalk badges that can be seen carved into the hillside above the village of Fovant on the A30 towards Bath and the talk was very topical as the badges celebrate their centenary this year.

In the first two years of the first World War, 250,000 soldiers were camped in the fields between 4 and 10 miles west of Wilton, many of them from East London Rifle Brigades. As military personnel will know, their regimental cap badges are a great source of pride, identity and the enduring stability of their regiment and the badges on the hillside were all carved out by the serving soldiers in their spare time – mostly at night. Many were not much more than a pile of stones, which have not survived. The slope on which they are situated is very steep and the designs were completed with the aid of semaphore signals from the road below.

100 years on the badges are deteriorating and need costly maintenance. Of the original 20 badges only 9 remain, one of the most prominent being the Australian Military Forces badge, for which the costs of repairs are paid annually by the Australian government. It is estimated that to weed & rechalk 2 to 3 badges will cost £35,000. Tony explained how the badges are recut and reinforced and told us that the site has now acquired Ancient Monument Status. It is proposed to cut a new badge for the centenary in the simple shape of a poppy. This will be dedicated at a service when it is completed and a TV programme made of the work.

Further information is available in the lay-by in Fovant with a number of photographs in the nearby pub.

Two members had made Easter chicks with chocolate egg fillings and these were sold to members with profits to Breakaway funds.

At our next meeting, we will learn about jewellery making.

Meeting Report: 17th February 2016

For our second meeting of the year, our speaker was Bridget Duff who is a dietitian at Salisbury District Hospital and her talk was entitled Diet and Better Bones. This might have been a rather dull and worthy subject, but Bridget proved to be an entertaining speaker with a very impressive range of props. She began by explaining different types of bones with reference to a diagram of a skeleton and illustrated healthy bone by a slice through a Milky Way, the chocolate being the hard outer bone and the soft inside, the dense but porous centre! As we age and bone density thins, Bridget showed us a slice through an Aero bar - a very graphic illustration.

She told us that although bone thinning or osteoporosis is largely considered to be a female condition, 1 in 10 men over the age of 45 have some form of the condition. To slow down the onset, we should take weight-bearing exercise, and avoid excess alcohol and smoking. Bridget showed us many examples of food containing calcium to keep bones healthy, including cheese, skimmed milk, sardines & pilchard (bones in),spinach, broccoli, oranges, dried figs, etc. We also need vitamin D to help absorb the calcium and this can come from 20 minutes of exposure to sunlight a day as well as eggs, oily fish, etc.

We then all enjoyed tea and sandwiches and cake, but in view of the weather, alas, no sunshine that day!

Meeting Report: 20th January 2016

In the first (and mercifully short) cold snap of the winter, the Breakaway Club held its January meeting in the Cowesfield Room. This was the occasion of its' third Annual General Meeting. Janet Munro opened the meeting by welcoming new members and long standing ones and thanked her committee for the work they had done during the previous year to provide an interesting and welcoming programme. Barbara Jones then summed up all the various activities we had enjoyed during the year and said it was a pleasure to work with a committee with such energy, efficiency and most importantly, a good sense of humour. Denise Bell produced a very sound set of accounts showing that the club was in good shape and that subs did not need to rise this year.

The committee were re-elected en bloc and Sue King gave details of this year's programme which looks very varied and interesting, including plans to mark the Queen's 90th birthday in June. Gill Bray updated us on the activities of the book club (which included reading books!) and Ann Craik asked for suggestions for the craft group to make items for a charity.

Following this, Pam Leader organised two very hilarious paper games, one of which entailed all the ladies turning out their handbags – with astonishing results!

As usual, the tea provided was delightful and ample and everyone agreed it had been a most entertaining afternoon – which cannot always be said of an AGM. Our next meeting is on 17 February when Bridget Duff will talk about osteoporosis and general health.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 9th December 2015 (Christmas Lunch)

For their December meeting, 28 members of the Breakaway Club enjoyed a very convivial Christmas lunch in the Memorial Hall. The food had been prepared by the Committee and every possible item of Christmas fare was provided, along with wine, served by members of the Committee. There were crackers, table decorations (which one lucky person on each table took home) and a free raffle.

Everyone had a good time catching up with friends; and Ann Craik proposed a very heartfelt vote of thanks to the Committee for all their hard work.

The January meeting will be our AGM followed by some of our older members revealing details of their sometimes colourful early lives! New members always welcomed to this popular club.

Gill Bray

Meeting Report: 18th November 2015

Members sat in enthralled silence as this month's speaker, Sandra Simmonds, appeared entirely veiled in a chador, and then, throwing this to the floor, spent most of the next hour describing her life in Iran in the 1970s.

At the age of 18 she had joined the Wrens and was stationed at HMS Collingwood, when she met and fell in love with an officer from an Iranian ship based in Portsmouth. Although he was 15 years her senior, she was totally enthralled and made a couple of trips to Iran whilst on leave. On her second visit, her boyfriend told her she would marry him and presented her with her wedding dress! Despite much opposition from the navy and from both sets of parents, they married in the UK and his mother had to get written permission from his father to come to the UK for the wedding. Following the wedding her mother-in-law travelled with them on their honeymoon, sharing their bedroom, on their journey back to Iran. Once there, Sandra was not allowed to leave her room for 6 weeks and then only allowed out, completely covered in a chador and walking 7 steps behind her husband. On one occasion, someone trod on her chador from behind and ripped it off to reveal T-shirt and shorts (it was a very hot day) and every woman in the vicinity attacked Sandra, hitting, scratching and kicking her.

She was allowed to bath or shower once a month, but had to pray 5 times a day and must wash hands, face and feet before this. Clothes could only be washed once a month. After 9 months, her father-in-law, (who hitherto had refused to meet her) asked to meet her and she had to knock on his door, keep her eyes downcast and speak only when spoken to. She was not allowed to keep her own passport and required her husband's written permission to leave the country. Had she had children, they would not have been allowed to leave.

After the Shah was deposed, Ayatollah Khomeini decreed that men could take more than one wife, so Sandra's husband brought another wife to live with them. In 1981, they tried to flee the war-torn country, crossing to Azerbaijan then to Ankara, with the aid of a Kurdish friend, eventually arriving in Italy, to fly home to England. They were detained at Heathrow for questioning for more than 8 hours. Five weeks later the second wife arrived and Sandra's husband wanted to buy a house for all three of them.

Breakaway members are now all agog to hear the next instalment of a life so different from the Western tradition, but this must wait for a while. Details were given of their Christmas Lunch to be held on 9 December at 12.30 pm., and they then enjoyed tea and tasty sandwiches and cakes.

Gill Bray