Thropton WI, April meeting

Civic duties
Thropton War Memorial Hall.Thropton War Memorial Hall.
Thropton War Memorial Hall.

At our April meeting Thropton WI members were fascinated to learn about the ups and downs of life as a Lady Mayoress.

Magaret Blanshard came along to entertain us with memories of her year as Lady Mayoress of Hull. She is no longer possessor of that chain of office, but does have an official badge to commemorate her special year.

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She clearly had an eventful time, relating tales of innumerable official meals and more Christmas dinners than anyone would want to face.

She discovered that a new wardrobe of smart clothes was required and amassed no less than six hats to complete her new image. Such as she enjoyed her year, she emphasised the deleterious effect it had on her figure.

Nevertheless, she was full of amusing stories about children’s visits to the town hall, her day in court as an observer at a murder trial (without a corpse), and her participation in a local choir, the first mayoress to be a member.

It was clear that Margaret had enjoyed every minute of her year-long role, particularly accompanying the mayor on an official trip to Iceland, and we heard amusing anecdotes about swimming in hot pools, trying out mud treatments, eating challenging Icelandic delicacies, including puffin, and singing in an Icelandic choir.

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Back home, she was thrilled to be invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party, a fitting reward for her dedication to the position she had fulfilled so diligently.

Margaret had brought along several interesting scrapbooks for members to pour over and answered our questions with patience and charm.

Until she took on her civic duties, she had never made a speech, but one would not have guessed that from her talk to the ladies of Thropton WI.

With reference to the port of Kingston upon Hull, the evening’s competition was for a nautical article and it was won by Leslie Tweddle.

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Our next meeting is our annual meeting on May 4, before which some of us will have been on the first of several summer outings – The Knitting and Stitching Show in Edinburgh.

The speaker at our June 1 meeting will be enlightening us on the intriguing topic of Roman cosmetics and grooming. As always, visitors and new members are most welcome.