Done! Finished!

I finished my holiday journal over the weekend.

At last!

I don’t think I’ve ever lingered over one quite so long as this time.  Still, it’s finished and I’m pleased with it.

As usual, it’s stuffed with way too many pages for the size of the coil binding, but hey ho, it’ll just have to be tied closed.  Just in time, I remembered the little bag of goodies to bling up the binding – a key ring given to us in Taipei, a shell necklace in Boracay and some beading in Kota Kinabalu.  Sadly, the beading isn’t really practical to loop onto the spine, so I just removed the label and tied that on there instead.

I like to bling up the coil binding with “stuff” because it makes it a little easier to identify each journal when they are on the shelf.  Otherwise, one coil binding looks much like another.

I have quite a collection of holiday journals, so the shelf looks quite jolly!

Is there room for one more, though?  Maybe there’s a space in there somewhere?

I’ll squeeze them all up – of course, they are all much fatter than those spiral bindings would have you think and it’s not easy.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Does that mean I have to tidy up now?

The Big Day

Meetings at the Albert Hall are always special, even when your seat is up in the Gods (like mine was yesterday).

It makes for a spectacular view of the goings on!

I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to learn that the day began with a queue.  It was a good natured queue, though.  We were enjoying the sunshine, the anticipation and the chance to chat and catch up with friends.  (And how come I didn’t notice that bag at the time!?)

Once again, security was high and we were all on strict instructions about what we could bring and what we needed to identify ourselves – and once again, in practice this wasn’t anything like as strict as we’d imagined it would be.

We took our places and the meeting began – not as it usually does, with Jerusalem, because that was to be saved for Her Majesty the Queen, who would be arriving shortly.  In the meantime, there were some short business items to be dealt with, a few introductions and a little clarification of the agenda.  For the first time, we had a live link to Llanfair PG, where the first UK WI began one hundred years ago and later in the day, this link was extended to other WIs around the country, where the meeting was broadcast live throughout the day.

Of course, the highlight of the day was the arrival of Her Majesty, the Princess Royal and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.  Thankfully, their attendance was widely reported in the media, because we were asked not to take photographs whilst they were there.  Of course, I complied with the request – I didn’t want to be removed from the hall!

The morning speaker was Lucy Worsley.  She’d been watching the TED presentation on “power poses”, I’m sure, for several times she stretched her arms above her head and from time to time, stood with her hands on her hips.  We know the secrets, Lucy! 

Actually, she was very good and delivered a really interesting presentation about the history of the WI, trailing her new programme “Cake Bakers and Trouble Makers” which will be aired on BBC2 later this month.

All that remained of the morning was to deal with the resolution voting.  Now, this year, the resolution was generally regarded as weak. 

Failing to care–assessment of need in long term care

This meeting calls on HM government to remove the distinction between nursing care and personal care in the assessment of the needs of individuals, in order to advance health and wellbeing.

Few members I’ve spoken to felt able to vote in support of it (I voted against when my WI discussed the subject) and even a last minute slight change of wording made little difference.  It’s not that any of us disagree with the sentiment, just the way in which it has been put together – no mention of money at all and in these times of austerity, there simply isn’t enough of that to go round.  Anyway, the usual proposal was heard and seconded, and a brief discussion took place regarding the change of wording.  A vote was taken to agree the latter and with lunchtime not only fast approaching but almost past completely, there was a proposal to “move to the next business” – in other words, forget the resolution altogether and leave well alone.  A three quarters majority was needed for this to happen and sure enough, that was achieved.

With a show of hands, the 2015 resolution was consigned to…well, perhaps not the bin, but to further discussion.  What a pity there wasn’t a stronger, more confident centenary resolution to add to all of those which have gone before.  But that’s democracy in action, I suppose.

Speaking of resolutions, in 1983, they were the subject of a photograph taken in front of the Albert Memorial and yesterday, that same photograph was recreated.

What fun, eh?

The boards were handed out randomly just before the photo was taken, so we simply held them high and didn’t have much chance to read which one we were holding.  How serendipitous then to discover I’m holding “Adult Education”  - I can’t say if Mary felt the same about “Family Planning” though!

As we then moved onto the serious business of enjoying our lunch, someone was doing a piece to camera just along the way.  BBC News, we learned.

Later on, we learned we’d featured fleetingly on the BBC News at 6…and can also be seen briefly 56 seconds into the video on the website link here.

Lunch on the steps of the Albert Memorial is just one of the traditions!

All sorts of friends are there and it’s fun when they stop and say Hello!

The afternoon speaker was the inspiring Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson who spoke eloquently about the challenges and the joys of her career in sport and in politics.  she was followed by Helena Morrissey who would have proved equally inspiring if only we could all have got over wondering how on earth this slim, youthful looking woman could possibly have nine children?!  She did, however, inspire me to find out more about the 30% Club with her statistic that “there are more men called John than women of any name leading UK FTSE 100 companies” – pretty shocking, eh?

The afternoon ended with a fashion show, celebrating the success of the Kingston University/NFWI project I’ve been involved in, but sadly it wasn’t explained well enough for the members to understand what it was all about and the garments were not shown to best effect.  Here’s hoping there will be a fuller, more detailed account in WI Life soon!

All that remained was for a closing round of Jerusalem, followed by Hen Wlad fy Nhadau (Land of my Fathers) and the National Anthem.  Spine tingling?  Oh yes.

So here’s to the next 100 years!  In the meantime, we can relive (and you can watch) every minute of the meeting on YouTube. 

I wonder how the next centenary meeting will be enjoyed?

YouTube timings: 

HM Queen arrives and the National Anthem is sung 1:00

Jerusalem and HM Queen’s address 1:19

Lucy Worsley 1:43

Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson 5:07

Helena Morrissey 5:48

Kingston/NFWI  Fashion Show 6:38

Closing Jerusalem/Land of my Fathers/National Anthem 6:45

After the ball was over…

Our feet hurt!

We checked into the hotel in Kensington and would have been happy to have spent the evening doing very little, but a sandwich on the coach and a few teatime fancies are not really enough to keep body and soul together.  We put on our comfiest shoes and went out onto the High Street to find some supper.

At this point, I regretted not having done a little research.  I simply thought there’d be a Pizza Express, Ask or something similar within a stone’s throw.  That’s probably true but we turned left instead of right and missed Bills completely, stepping inside the pretentious Balans instead.  Thankfully, we weren’t looking for anything special, so it was adequate…

We had a good breakfast to look forward to, anyway!!

And a yummy lunch with Edward at the lively Caravan at Kings Cross (once we found it).

With the unmistakeable Suzy Menkes on the next table, we were amongst the fashion set it seems.

in the afternoon, Persephone was calling.

There was another siren call, too, but we resisted. We had friends to meet, places to go.  Pre-theatre supper with Barbara and Marg in Covent Garden – after all, it must be at least two hours since we’d finished lunch.

I’d booked the theatre a couple of months ago, thinking that Beautiful would be fun.  I didn’t quite anticipate that there’d be at least half a dozen WI ladies on almost every row, nor that the show would have us all singing along and wanting to get up and do the Locomotion!  Every few minutes, the story would wind around to the development of a new song, we’d hear some notes or words and the anticipation built…

“You never close your eyes any more…. whoa whoa wwwwhoa”

Well, you can imagine the rest.  Those poor souls who’d expected a quiet evening at the theatre probably went home disappointed but the rest of us had a great time!

We caught the bus back to the hotel, joined by another bunch of friends from Glamorgan a few stops along the way.  Did someone say the WI was in town?

It started with a queue…

We’ve had quite a special few days here as you’ll gather if you follow my Facebook posts.  Before I forget all the little details, I simply have to record it all because I can tell you, it’s all been a bit of a whirl.

Mary had arrived on Monday so the pair of us put on our glad rags and joined the Garden Party goers in Cirencester on Tuesday morning.  Most of us decided to leave putting on our hats until as late as possible and as the journey progressed a colourful assortment of fascinators and more elaborate headgear appeared.

Our driver made an executive decision to drive straight past Reading Services, having heard there were fifteen coaches there already.  We headed straight for Heston, then.  Only seven coaches there – but with just five working ladies loos, you can imagine the queue!  Not only did the line extend beyond the confines of the toilet area, it soon stretched right beyond the front door of the service station itself.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.

Actually, this wasn’t the first time I had stopped here to put on a hat and touch up my makeup on a big day.  Sometime in the 1980s, we accompanied my parents in law to Buckingham Palace for my f-i-l’s investiture and were driven in a very smart official car by his Police driver.  Bettine and I put the finishing touches to our outfits here, whilst the men worried about the traffic.  “Oh, don’t worry about that”, said the driver, “I’ve got a blue light in the glove compartment”.  I was unsure whether the fun of being driven through London in a police car with a blue flashing light would make up for the stress of being late – but thankfully, we arrived in plenty of time and the blue light stayed tucked away. 

Anyway, where was i?  Oh yes.  The queue.  Another one.

Our coach driver dropped us outside the Park Lane Hilton around 2pm and as we made our way across Hyde Park Corner, it was clear, we weren’t going to simply stroll through the Palace gates.  The garden gate queue was already besieged with an enormous group of women so we decided we’d walk down to the front of the Palace and do the thing properly.  After all, Mary had travelled half way round the world for this experience!  So we walked a few yards up (down?) Constitution Hill and joined an equally long queue there.

But spirits were high, there was entertainment in the form of the passing fashions and from time to time, there’d be a squeal and hugs all round as a result of chance encounters with friends,  We soon realised that we were just in front of another bunch of other Gloucestershire members who’d arrived quite separately so the chatter and the general excitement made the wait all part of the fun.

Eventually, we were within sight of the gates.  Security was tight and we’d been told to bring two separate forms of id and no more than a single handbag.  For us, it was easy to leave things on the coach but for others, that had proved quite a challenge and we assumed that it was this which was creating the slow progress through the gates.  But finally reaching the entrance, my passport was given a mere glance, my name checked against my invitation and my open bag simply given a quick check. 

At last, we were through!

No photographs from this point, though, so cameras were tucked away and phones switched off.  The last thing any of us wanted was to be ejected from the party!  But what greeted us as we arrived in the inner courtyard of the Palace was …you’ve guessed, another queue!

Once we made it through the doors, up the stairs and through to the garden, the party was already in full swing.  We surveyed the scene and after the initial “wow!” decided to wander around and see what’s what.

What greeted us was a flurry of ladies with cameras in their hands. 

?  I thought we weren’t supposed to take photos?

The guardsman standing at the foot of the steps was chatting as he stood to attention, telling the ladies that if they wanted a photo, then to go ahead because he wasn’t in any position to be able to stop them.

So I did.

I didn’t take any more photographs though, until this one taken at the very end, just as the band finished playing the National Anthem.  It really was such a lovely afternoon with, thankfully, much better weather than any of us dared hope for, I was happy to simply absorb the atmosphere, enjoy the company of so many friends and to savour the moment.

We caught only passing glimpses of the Royal ladies.  The Duchess of Cornwall looked happy and relaxed and Princess Alexandra was absolutely stunning as can be seen in all the press photographs of the day.  But the star of the event was undoubtedly Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, whose elegant outfit and delightfully engaging personality won the hearts of many.

Of course, I could have taken a photo of the delicious assortment of teatime cakes – but I was too busy enjoying those, too.  Mind you, with one hand on my hat and another holding the plate, it wasn’t an easy task to eat cake as well.  (But I did )

Five o’clock soon came, then, and we made our way through the gardens to the gate nearest Hyde Park Corner to return to our coach.  Somewhere along the line, we acquired a new friend in the form of an elderly lady from Staffordshire, who had lost contact with her friends and needed to make her way back to Park Lane too.  By six, we were all on board and were off.  Mary and I were dropped off on the Cromwell Road, close to our hotel and the others drove back to Gloucestershire.

Our fun was not over yet!

(more photos here)

We have a plan

I’ve been watching the weather forecast for tomorrow with interest.  To begin with, all looked fair but towards the end of last week, the gloom set in.  Not only was it likely to pour with rain, hurricane force winds were threatened.

Oh heck.

Perhaps an extra hat pin or two would be a good idea?

Someone on the Facebook group mentioned that she’d bought a plastic rain poncho “just in case”.  After all, there’s no room for a raincoat in a handbag and anyway, who wants to cover up their carefully thought through outfit with a mac?

I bought four in Cirencester this morning, one for each of my gang.

Comfortable shoes are ready, I’ve got a capacious handbag in which to put all the required items and my fancy umbrella has been opened and tested, just to make sure it is still in one piece.  After all, the last time it had an outing was to the very same venue, but several years ago.

Emails have been flying to and fro this afternoon, with fast-changing arrangements for the 128 coaches which will be making the same manoeuvre tomorrow afternoon, dropping off and picking up the elegantly dressed guests somewhere (anywhere!) along Park Lane.

Yes, we will be amongst them.

But however hard he tries, Olaf will have to stay at home.  The invitations are strictly for the named guest only.

Please, keep everything crossed for us tomorrow, then, as Mary and I join 7998 of our friends at Buckingham Palace for a Garden Party to celebrate 100 years of the WI.  Though it would be lovely if the sun shone, we’d be happy if it simply stays dry.

We all think a vest under the posh frock might be a good idea anyway. 

Just in case.