Oakridge WI: From The Stroudwater Canal to Gifford's Circus

FROM The Stroudwater Canal to Gifford's Circus, will give you an idea of the range of excellent talks enjoyed by us recently, with lots more to come in the following months.

On February 9, Clive and Jill Field entertained, and informed us on the history of The Cotswold Canals Trust.

Stroudwater Canal was opened in 1779 and the Thames and Severn Canal was opened in 1789.

The Sapperton Tunnel being the longest on this network.

The Photographs which accompanied Clive's talk were really beautiful, and it was so interesting to learn the history of various factories and places along the way.

Teams of volunteers have done so much to return the canal to it's former glory.

March 13 brought Nell Gifford of Gifford's Circus to speak at our Open Meeting and we were delighted to welcome so many visitors.

Nell had always had the dream of a circus, and following her mother's tragic accident which left her in a coma at 18, Nell had spent one month in America at Circus Flora helping in the day to day work.

She then achieved a degree in English at Oxford University and knew by then that she wanted someday to run her own circus.

For the next few years she worked for the English and several European circuses learning all she could and doing every job necessary from maintenance to riding horses and elephants, making costumes, publicity and front of house.

Since starting Gifford's Circus in 2000 with her husband Toti they have entertained over 200,000 people and lived and worked with artists from all over the world.

Dates for your diary:-

April 13, Ken Brightwell - Experiences of a Town Crier.

May 11, Resolutions meeting, followed by Pam Slater on The Cotswold Perfumery.

Visitors are always warmly welcomed to our meetings held in The Village Hall on the second Thursday in the month starting at 7.30pm, why don't you come and join us?