NOTES ON ZOOM TALKS
Zoom Meeting Wednesday 7th July 2021
A Virtual Tour of Cambridge with Murray Jacobs, Cambridge Green Badge Guide.
Murray began our virtual tour with his "must-see street in Cambridge" which was Kings Parade. He used Google Street View to take us from the little shops along the street to Great Saint Mary's church which was where the very first students in Cambridge met with their professors in 1209. Great Saint Mary's is also the centre point of the city and undergraduates must live within 3 miles of the centre in the University precincts. This is also the church where the funeral was held for Professor Stephen Hawking in 2018 as it is the Cambridge University Church.
We moved round to the Senate House and then to Kings College, famous for it's festival of nine lessons and carols on Christmas Eve. Queen Elizabeth I stayed at Kings College for 5 days in 1564 while on her travels. Kings College Chapel has the largest fan vaulted ceiling in the world and was built between 1512 and 1515; Christopher Wren was so impressed with it he visited every year. In addition to the ceiling, there are some of the finest stained glass windows in the UK made in the early 1500's, and Ruebens Adoration of the Maji from 1634. There is also a statue of Henry VIII on the front of Kings College and as Google Street View blurs all faces, statues or not, his anonimity was secure!
There were many more interesting facts which came out during Murray's talk - the famous Cambridge scholar Charles Darwin being tone-deaf, spikes on the 4 Chapel towers to prevent students climbing up them, the gold clock in the window of Corpus Christie College unveiled in 2008 by Stephen Hawking. And let's not forget the Austin 7 van which appeared on the Senate roof in 1956 - a reference to the difficulty of parking in Cambridge even then. Students are not allowed a car within 10 miles of Great Saint Mary's, which explains all the bicycles!
Dorothy thanked Murray for his interesting talk after some questions had been asked of both him and his audience. The photograph is Kings College and the wildflower meadow in June this year.
A Virtual Tour of Cambridge with Murray Jacobs, Cambridge Green Badge Guide.
Murray began our virtual tour with his "must-see street in Cambridge" which was Kings Parade. He used Google Street View to take us from the little shops along the street to Great Saint Mary's church which was where the very first students in Cambridge met with their professors in 1209. Great Saint Mary's is also the centre point of the city and undergraduates must live within 3 miles of the centre in the University precincts. This is also the church where the funeral was held for Professor Stephen Hawking in 2018 as it is the Cambridge University Church.
We moved round to the Senate House and then to Kings College, famous for it's festival of nine lessons and carols on Christmas Eve. Queen Elizabeth I stayed at Kings College for 5 days in 1564 while on her travels. Kings College Chapel has the largest fan vaulted ceiling in the world and was built between 1512 and 1515; Christopher Wren was so impressed with it he visited every year. In addition to the ceiling, there are some of the finest stained glass windows in the UK made in the early 1500's, and Ruebens Adoration of the Maji from 1634. There is also a statue of Henry VIII on the front of Kings College and as Google Street View blurs all faces, statues or not, his anonimity was secure!
There were many more interesting facts which came out during Murray's talk - the famous Cambridge scholar Charles Darwin being tone-deaf, spikes on the 4 Chapel towers to prevent students climbing up them, the gold clock in the window of Corpus Christie College unveiled in 2008 by Stephen Hawking. And let's not forget the Austin 7 van which appeared on the Senate roof in 1956 - a reference to the difficulty of parking in Cambridge even then. Students are not allowed a car within 10 miles of Great Saint Mary's, which explains all the bicycles!
Dorothy thanked Murray for his interesting talk after some questions had been asked of both him and his audience. The photograph is Kings College and the wildflower meadow in June this year.
Zoom Meeting Wednesday 2nd June 2021
Crosslands Flower Nursery; Alstroemeria, the Peruvian Lily
Our speaker this evening was Ben Cross, whose family began and still run this British Flower Nursery situated between the South Downs and the sea in West Sussex. The nursery was founded in 1936 by Ben's great grandfather when he arrived in the area from Wales; the Government was running the Land Settlement Association scheme to resettle unemployed workers from industrial areas onto the land and these farmers changed the landscape of much of West Sussex into an area of small market gardens, selling different types of produce as well as cut flowers. As the economics of market gardening changed over time, many of these businesses closed.
Ben spent 10 years as a marine biologist but came back to run the nursery, seeing a resurgence of British flower growing as the way to go to become more ecologically sound; nearly 90 per cent of the cut flower market in Britain is flowers from all over the world including Kenya, which not only damages the environment in terms of air miles but causes damage to the local villages water supplies, taking as it does vast amounts for the growing of these cut flowers. The British flower market is now worth £121 million and as there is now more consumer demand for sustainable crops, it's an optimistic time for the British flower market.
The original greenhouses run by Ben's great grandfather and grandfather were heated with coal, then the move was made to oil. However in the 1970's during the energy crisis they realised it was no longer economic to grow lots of different things and turned to Alstroemerias as they were a sustainable crop. The heating is now run from a boiler burning biomass pellets and the nursery grows 79 varieties of Alstroemeria in beds one meter wide and 30 meters long - each bed contains 135 plants. As the plants grow through the year, they are supported by netting; there is both ground level and overhead irrigation but little water is used compared to similar crops from abroad.
All this is part of the greater sustainability and war on waste that Ben is engaged in - they use recyclable packaging, no plastic ties, only biological controls not pesticides are used in the greenhouses, weeding is done by hand as is the picking. Careful picking of the flowers when in bud means they last much longer in the consumer's vase, and the roots are able to carry on producing the next crop, so that repeat planting is not so necessary. From Christmas to February they harvest 3 times a week, but from March it's very busy with picking taking place 7 days a week, picking one thousand bunches a day.
Ben has tried in the last few years to interest Government in supporting the British flower industry but has now taken on the mantle himself - he talks to interested groups whenever he can, extolling the value and benefits of buying British - Grown not Flown! We certainly found his talk very interesting and there were quite a few questions for him to answer before Dorothy thanked him for his time; he was then off to market!
Zoom Meeting Wednesday 5th May 2021
"The Reluctant Shepherdess"
Our speaker this evening was Rosie Lee who, although she grew up on a dairy farm, was enjoying a career in banking when her mother asked her to come home and manage the farm; it had been tenanted since her father died and was overrun with thistles. However the previous tenant had been an organic farmer and this stood her in good stead over the next few years as she began to create an ecological and educational facility with the help of the Wildlife Trust. She especially wanted to plant an apple orchard and use native species in her set-aside woodland. Although the farm had been a dairy farm, cattle are no good for clearing thistles so she settled on sheep, and since she needed a breed compatible with woodland she close Shropshire sheep as they do not eat tree bark like so many other breeds. The photo above is a Shropshire.
So at 42 she embarked on a degree course in Countryside Management at Reaseheath College alongside lots of 18 year old would-be farmers, while also buying her first 20 shearling Shropshires and a ram. Along the way she learned a lot about sheep, rams in particular, especially how to judge a ram's suitability for his active role with her flock!
Her farming year begins in September with tupping (when the ram and ewes get together), followed by lambing in the spring, shearing in May, weaning in June, shows in the summer - and then back to September. In the beginning, her mother would stand by in the lambing shed with a book on lambing techniques and read out appropriate instructions as required! It was a steep learning curve!
The farm needed extensive fencing and she was able to call on students from Reaseheath College on work experience to help. She believes that conservation, wildlife and education are very important to the future of farming and enjoys having groups of schoolchildren visit the farm, when she can impart her enthusiasm for the land and sheep in particular, especially as she is fascinated by the personalities and behaviours of her flock. She was concerned that the price of wool is so low that it does not cover shearing costs; we should be looking to use wool, a natural by-product, in building processes far more than we do.
She also told us that there is a breed of sheep called an Easycare which de-fleeces itself in the fields and so needs no shearing - Dorothy may have had that in mind when she remarked that the audience had all been to the hairdressers recently! Dorothy thanked Rosie Lee very much for her interesting talk and Rosie then answered questions from the audience.
"The Reluctant Shepherdess"
Our speaker this evening was Rosie Lee who, although she grew up on a dairy farm, was enjoying a career in banking when her mother asked her to come home and manage the farm; it had been tenanted since her father died and was overrun with thistles. However the previous tenant had been an organic farmer and this stood her in good stead over the next few years as she began to create an ecological and educational facility with the help of the Wildlife Trust. She especially wanted to plant an apple orchard and use native species in her set-aside woodland. Although the farm had been a dairy farm, cattle are no good for clearing thistles so she settled on sheep, and since she needed a breed compatible with woodland she close Shropshire sheep as they do not eat tree bark like so many other breeds. The photo above is a Shropshire.
So at 42 she embarked on a degree course in Countryside Management at Reaseheath College alongside lots of 18 year old would-be farmers, while also buying her first 20 shearling Shropshires and a ram. Along the way she learned a lot about sheep, rams in particular, especially how to judge a ram's suitability for his active role with her flock!
Her farming year begins in September with tupping (when the ram and ewes get together), followed by lambing in the spring, shearing in May, weaning in June, shows in the summer - and then back to September. In the beginning, her mother would stand by in the lambing shed with a book on lambing techniques and read out appropriate instructions as required! It was a steep learning curve!
The farm needed extensive fencing and she was able to call on students from Reaseheath College on work experience to help. She believes that conservation, wildlife and education are very important to the future of farming and enjoys having groups of schoolchildren visit the farm, when she can impart her enthusiasm for the land and sheep in particular, especially as she is fascinated by the personalities and behaviours of her flock. She was concerned that the price of wool is so low that it does not cover shearing costs; we should be looking to use wool, a natural by-product, in building processes far more than we do.
She also told us that there is a breed of sheep called an Easycare which de-fleeces itself in the fields and so needs no shearing - Dorothy may have had that in mind when she remarked that the audience had all been to the hairdressers recently! Dorothy thanked Rosie Lee very much for her interesting talk and Rosie then answered questions from the audience.
Zoom Meeting Wednesday 7th April 2021
"The Spirit of Westminster, a History of Gin".
"The Spirit of Westminster, a History of Gin".
Dr. Helen Naylor is a Blue Badge Tour Guide in Westminster, London and her talk tonight was a fascinating history of one of our most popular alcoholic drinks. It has been with us through five centuries and has been seen very differently at various points in it's history. Jenever was primarily made in The Netherlands and Belgium and based on juniper berries and was found in England and Northern Europe in the 16th century but was primarily medicinal. It was given to soldiers and sailors to give them Dutch Courage. When Catholic James II, was deposed in 1688 in favour of his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange jenever became widespread in England, especially once import restrictions tightened on French brandy. Low quality geneva was developed ("gen") and as the masses moved from the countryside to London in search of work they blunted their misery by drinking gin in the streets around Covent Garden. By the early years of the 18th century the Gin Craze was in full swing, much to the horror of Parliament which passed 5 major Acts to control the consumption of gin between 1729 and 1751. Hogarth's famous Gin Lane engraving contrasted with it's twin, Beer Street; beer was seen as preferable as it was much weaker and everyone drank beer due to water being unsafe.
Gin continued to develop with new types of still, and the road names around Clerkenwell testify to the herbs that were taken from nearby gardens by people like Nicholas Culpepper; they were added to the juniper berries to make a cleaner and more aromatic product like Gordon's Gin which was invented in 1769 and has the same recipe today. Beefeater Gin appeared in 1820 and during the 19th century gin was used by the navy to combat scurvy, together with traditional rum; so our Navy was probably responsible for the global spread of gin! Our colonial administrators in India used the bark of the cinchona tree to combat malaria and this bark became Quinine; it was eventually made into a tonic to mix with gin. Victorian London saw the emergence of Gin Palaces, highly decorated public houses with gas light, so a cut above the usual tavern. Gin was coming up in the world.
Gin was popular in the USA too but prohibition prompted the Roaring 20's to move to London. The American Bar in the Savoy Hotel was the place to experience the jazz, gin cocktails and hedonism of the age. During the Second World War malaria was a major problem for USA and UK troops, a fact which is demonstrated by research for a reliable anti-malarial drug being second only to the Manhattan Project. Gin became less popular after the war but our Queen Mother was a fan and the gin aperitifs of the 1970's were a point of high popularity. In the 1980's Bombay Sapphire was a revolution in gin making, being lighter and more botanical. And it was born in Cheshire! In 2009 the Government altered the law that controlled the size of still and that created a new wave of producers - Weetwood is one of them and is so local there is no excuse for not sampling their wares! The past few years have seen a resurgence in gin drinking and we can only wonder if we have reached "peak gin". As Martin Miller (charismatic entrepreneur) said "Gin has created social revolutions; made laws and broken laws.....it's not just history in a glass, it's romance and adventure too".
Gin continued to develop with new types of still, and the road names around Clerkenwell testify to the herbs that were taken from nearby gardens by people like Nicholas Culpepper; they were added to the juniper berries to make a cleaner and more aromatic product like Gordon's Gin which was invented in 1769 and has the same recipe today. Beefeater Gin appeared in 1820 and during the 19th century gin was used by the navy to combat scurvy, together with traditional rum; so our Navy was probably responsible for the global spread of gin! Our colonial administrators in India used the bark of the cinchona tree to combat malaria and this bark became Quinine; it was eventually made into a tonic to mix with gin. Victorian London saw the emergence of Gin Palaces, highly decorated public houses with gas light, so a cut above the usual tavern. Gin was coming up in the world.
Gin was popular in the USA too but prohibition prompted the Roaring 20's to move to London. The American Bar in the Savoy Hotel was the place to experience the jazz, gin cocktails and hedonism of the age. During the Second World War malaria was a major problem for USA and UK troops, a fact which is demonstrated by research for a reliable anti-malarial drug being second only to the Manhattan Project. Gin became less popular after the war but our Queen Mother was a fan and the gin aperitifs of the 1970's were a point of high popularity. In the 1980's Bombay Sapphire was a revolution in gin making, being lighter and more botanical. And it was born in Cheshire! In 2009 the Government altered the law that controlled the size of still and that created a new wave of producers - Weetwood is one of them and is so local there is no excuse for not sampling their wares! The past few years have seen a resurgence in gin drinking and we can only wonder if we have reached "peak gin". As Martin Miller (charismatic entrepreneur) said "Gin has created social revolutions; made laws and broken laws.....it's not just history in a glass, it's romance and adventure too".
Zoom Meeting Wednesday 3rd March 2021
Climate Change, with two of CFWI Climate Change Ambassadors.
The WI is concerned about the climate crisis and it is one of the things we campaign on. So it was very interesting to attend a virtual lecture by Zoom given to us by two of the Cheshire Federation's climate change ambassadors. Nearly half of our members attended the meeting and it was lovely not only to be able to finally see some of our members but to find out a range of things we could all do to decrease our carbon footprint.
By looking at our homes and gardens, we saw that there are many changes we can make to the way we live that will make a difference: from installing water butts and making bug/bee hotels, to using peat-free compost and planting insect friendly plants. And from insulating our homes carefully and not using standby for our equipment, to switching our utilities to a greener provider. Since there are ten million acres of gardens in the UK and two and a half million ponds, there is really no excuse for thinking that as individuals we can't make a difference.
Our two guests took questions after their interesting talk and Pat made a vote of thanks on behalf of us all.
Climate Change, with two of CFWI Climate Change Ambassadors.
The WI is concerned about the climate crisis and it is one of the things we campaign on. So it was very interesting to attend a virtual lecture by Zoom given to us by two of the Cheshire Federation's climate change ambassadors. Nearly half of our members attended the meeting and it was lovely not only to be able to finally see some of our members but to find out a range of things we could all do to decrease our carbon footprint.
By looking at our homes and gardens, we saw that there are many changes we can make to the way we live that will make a difference: from installing water butts and making bug/bee hotels, to using peat-free compost and planting insect friendly plants. And from insulating our homes carefully and not using standby for our equipment, to switching our utilities to a greener provider. Since there are ten million acres of gardens in the UK and two and a half million ponds, there is really no excuse for thinking that as individuals we can't make a difference.
Our two guests took questions after their interesting talk and Pat made a vote of thanks on behalf of us all.
