HEATHER Wylde was the guest speaker at Abbotts Ann WI for their February meeting. Heather wanted to share her family's story of love, honour, tragedy and bravery. She had been intrigued that little mention was ever made of her uncle who went missing in World War II. Neither of her parents talked much about their experiences during that time. However, when she and her brother were clearing out their father's effects after his death at the age of 90, they came across various correspondence and, in particular, a diary kept by their late mother in 1941.

It was a poignant reminder that every generation has feelings and emotions that are affected by the circumstances in which they find themselves. By accessing his service record with the RAF, Heather has been able to find out more about her Uncle Leslie and in particular about his role as navigator on a Wellington bomber. The family now knows his bravery, and his photograph is proudly displayed along with his bomber command clasp which Heather, as next-of-kin, was able to claim.

The president of Charlton WI welcomed members and guests to their February meeting. Birthday cards were distributed and the treasurer read out the financial report. She told members about a new social enterprise group called ‘Coffee Companions’, which grew from an initiative to combat loneliness.

Everyone has seen the solitary individual in a coffee shop reading a newspaper or just looking around. Some are happy to do so but others may be feeling isolated and anxious for companionship. Double-sided ‘chat mats’ are now being distributed throughout coffee shops. One side tells others that this customer is happy to chat, and the other politely declines company.

The speaker was Susan Waldron who gave a talk on ‘Crafts of the Inland Waterways’. Canals in Britain date from Roman times — the oldest one is Foss Dyke. Canals were mentioned in the Magna Carta.

Susan has lived on barges for over 20 years and was dressed in the Victorian woman bargee’s uniform of a long hessian gown and a large frilly bonnet complete with its back flap to keep the sun from the neck.

In those days the barges were horse drawn and required the services of leather-workers, blacksmiths, rope makers and boatwrights to maintain both barge and tackle.

Susan described the lives of these bargees; often they lived in a cottage alongside the riverbank but the advent of the railway brought harder times for the canal people with many an impoverished family forced to live on board their boat.

These tiny windowless vessels were made homely by decorating wood panels and chimneys with floral artwork called ‘roses and castles’. Bargees practised skills such as macramé, making tray cloths, bookmarks and belts as well as crocheting lace. Susan had brought along samples of handiwork similar to those crafted in Victorian times and remarked that the canal folk felt an affinity with Queen Victoria, herself a lace-maker. When the Queen died, the bargee women, deeply saddened, wore mourning.

The talk ended with an anecdote from Susan about her, thankfully, first experience in 25 years with an unlovely rodent who decided that barge life was just his cup of tea. She was glad to report that after a frenzied chase around the boat the unwelcome visitor got the message and left!

In February Goodworth Clatford WI held an open meeting and welcomed Steve Herra with his talk ‘The History of Cunard’ covering the period 1840 until the present day.

Steve told the history of the business, the ships and something about the many stars and celebrities who sailed on the Cunard ships in the days before air travel became popular. Steve was a third generation Cunard employee finishing his career as purser on the QE2.

In the 1830s mail ships could take six weeks to cross the Atlantic, but in 1838 the Admiralty advertised for tenders and the young Samuel Cunard, a businessman from Nova Scotia, won the potentially lucrative tender, but the contract contained heavy penalty clauses for delayed arrival of mail.

Having acquired some ships Cunard made the first crossing in 1840 with a steam ship, which had back-up paddles and sails! The journey was made in a record 13 days. In Boston the city commissioned a solid silver cup to present to Cunard, which can be seen aboard QM2 today. However, Boston was a port likely to ice up in the winter months, so New York eventually became the destination port.

Steve’s stories included that of the Carpathia, which assisted the stricken Titanic, taking on 706 survivors; of the Lusitania being torpedoed and sunk in WWI, and the use of Cunard liners as hospital ships during the times of war.

From the early days the mail ships took passengers. In the 1930s the Cunard and White Star line combined and started building the fast and luxurious liners RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. They were refitted after WWII and dominated the transatlantic luxury market until the 1960s when air travel became the more popular form of transatlantic travel.