An humourous ex-detective from the Metropolitan Police, Steve took us back to 1976 when he was patrolling the East End streets as a young policeman on the beat. Armed with an O Level in pottery and a truncheon, his first success in stopping a “Jump Up” robbery took place. Noticing something untoward, he single handedly landed on the back of a lorry “like Superman” and commanded the crooks to drive their lorry to the Lemon Street Police Station. A cargo of beef carcasses stolen from a local wholesale butcher was recovered: Steve’s first and only experience of cattle-rustling. From this early success, in 2000, he went on to foil the planned robbery of the Millennium Star, valued at over £200 million. The large diamond was housed in the Millennium Dome and the plot involved using a JCB to crash into the Dome with a planned escape on the River Thames by using a speedboat. As part of “Operation Magician”, 200 officers variously disguised as cleaners and security guards surrounded the gang and arrested them. Steve had enough stories and reflections of his life in the police to fill a book and romped through more stories of derring do and travels to investigate Triad and Columbian kidnap crimes with Chinese and American police forces. The questions were plentiful, “What is the origin of the Old Bill?” The answer was not definitive but entertaining possibilities included a reference to William IV as Old Bill, The Parliament Bill that formed them or a car number plate. Anyway the answer is lost in time. We forgot to ask about whether there are, any woman on the Flying Squad or indeed any women armed raiders – another time maybe. The evening ended on a more poignant note where Steve answered some more searching questions about prison reform and other social issues and gave very thoughtful and truthful answers on his observations on this. It left me wondering if there should not be another role for the early retired experienced police like this to work on improving our justice system and on how we approach criminality. It seems a shame to waste a treasure trove of experience like Steve.
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Dinah, elegant in black introduced us to the history of make up and wearing black. Peppered with anecdotes, for example, her own experiment with wearing false eyelashes and how one “spider” landed in her soup just as she was trying to impress her new boyfriend, her talk made for an amusing evening.
Turns out that make up has its ancient roots in tribal warpaint and enhancing your sex appeal, evidenced by pictures of Ancient Egyptians and Saxons. Looking at pictures of 1970’s punks and the Vogue models through the years, things haven’t changed much. Our speaker touched on other aspects of our fashionable appearance. Eyebrows have been in and out of fashion, literally, as they are shaved off and drawn back in or even stuck back using mouseskins. Hair was used to show off status. Marie Antoinette had an elaborate boat placed in her hair, which contributed to the outrage against the Noblesse, resulting in the French Revolution (and the loss of her head). The wearing of black has always sent out signals and can either be staid or shocking. Women wear it to mourn, to serve and to seduce. A ballet, Strapless, currently being performed at the Royal Opera House, tells the story of a painting by John Singer Sargent where the strap on a black dress slipped seductively off a young socialite’s shoulder. Deemed too shocking to display, the painting had to be repainted with the sleeve in place. Princess Diana played with convention as she wore black evening gowns for formal photographs and a bias cut glamour gown to both mourn and celebrate her break up with Prince Charles. The Queen more traditionally emphasises the solemnity of occasions by wearing black. Make up and black clothes are not the sole preserve of women. Permanent make up, tattoos are popular with men and black, was worn by men in history to indicate status and power. The Dandy, Beau Brummel led the way with this. Black Leather, is favoured by rock stars and actors. So next time you reach for your little black dress and mascara just pause for thought and think about your place in the history of fashion. I think we were expecting a Keep Fit talk or a Cookery Demonstration.
What we got was Brian O'neill a teacher from the boys school with a wry sense of humour and a soft lilt taking us on a WhistleStop Tour through the political landscape and how this has changed since Tony Blair received a slow handclap reception from the National WI to where we are now with polarised political parties. Questions were asked about Donald Trump running as a potential US President. Almost a comedy, although of course it isn’t. It’s a tragedy. So much wasted potential, good ideas and aspirations have been trashed as the politicians race for power. Perhaps this talk got us thinking of whether we should be engaging more with politics so that the country can receive a dose of common sense from these talented yet modest middle ground women populating the WI. Always a campaigning group, the WI have made notable changes through sponsoring causes, democratically chosen and adopted. The campaigns of tackling domestic abuse, protecting the honey bee population, encouraging cross party commitment to diversify and liaison schemes and campaigning for more midwives have all seen increase in funding and or changes in policies to support these causes. Unbelievably, with a membership of over 212,000 the WI has a greater membership than all political parties, including the Conservatives. (Only beaten by the Labour party who offered a cut price deal to join them). Our income from subscriptions alone appears to be more than the combined subscriptions to the Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Our ideas for a brighter future are unsurpassed. There is a saying that a good woman is like a tea bag. She does not know how strong she is until she hits hot water. Well how hot does the water have to get before the WI shows its strength? With more money, members and ideas than many other groups, perhaps we are too large to be merely a pressure group? WI as a political party anyone? Now to sign up for the bread making course… This month we had speakers from Canine Partners visit, we got to meet Esme who is training to be a Canine Partner, when she graduates she will be matched with one of their applicants and provide practical, physiological, psychological and social benefits including increased independence and confidence as well as increased motivation and self-esteem. A canine partner also brings companionship, a sense of security and increases social interaction.
To find out more about the great work the do have a look on their website here www.caninepartners.org.uk |
AuthorMalden Manorettes Archives
May 2016
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