Leonard Stanley WI: with speakers Diana Humphrey and Fred Ward of the Whisper and Shout Theatre Company who gave an illustrated history of Mr Punch

MEETING opened without further ado with Maureen welcoming everyone and saying that WI business would follow our speakers, Diana Humphrey and Fred Ward of the Whisper and Shout Theatre Company who gave an illustrated history of Mr Punch.

Diana explained how she started off as a Punch ‘Professor’ living in the wilds of Caithness, making their own puppets and travelling a wide area giving talks and shows.

The original Punch was made out of oak which is very heavy to operate and hers was made out of resin which is much lighter.

We heard how Punch became known as he is now, aided with archive photographs and films and pointed out that Punch and Judy shows have kept going and still very popular with generations of both children and adults.

1662 was the official birthday of Punch and he was 350 years old in 2012.

She went through all the well known characters, such as his wife Judy, the Baby, Policeman, Crocodile, Sausages, Toby the Dog, and the not so well known ones such as The Beagle, The Skeleton, Ghost, Vicar, Devil, Hangman etc.

Some families have been in business for over 150 years doing Punch and Judy shows and we watched with interest and recognition of various Punch and Judy booths at numerous beaches throughout the country and our own Museum in the Park at Stroud.

Diana aided by Fred, who gave a good rendering of the famous phrases from Punch and Judy took us all back to our childhood and now we are enjoying it with our grandchildren!

A very enjoyable talk and Diana said that all donations for their talks would go to Maggies Centre for people with cancer at Cheltenham – a very worthy cause.

They also do two other talks – What the Victorians got up to and the World of Puppets.

We then settled down to our ‘business’ with Maureen wishing Jean, Sylvia, Penny and Val a Happy Birthday and presenting them with their birthday posies.

All who had taken part in the WI activity week had enjoyed their walk from the village hall to King's Stanley sports ground, exercising on the various gym apparatus and then followed by a welcome cup of coffee at the King's Head coffee shop.

We even managed to get our photograph in the Stroud News and Journal!

Lunch at the Bell at Frampton was good, apart from the service.

The recent Macmillan coffee morning had raised £350 and the produce stall at the last meeting £13.10p.

Maureen went through the Newsletter, pointing out items of interest.

The County Quiz will soon be upon us and volunteers were asked to partake.

The next meeting is the AGM, followed by a card making session.

Lunch on March 18, will be at the Hunters Hall and the Knit and Natter afternoon at Jean’s the same day at 2.30pm.

On October 24, Maureen will have a DVD afternoon at her home which should be very enjoyable.

Jill reported that we had approximately 100 knitted poppies for the British Legion appeal.

On October 24, there will be a quiz in aid of the Diabetic Society and this coming Saturday, October 15, there will be a coffee morning in the Social Club in aid of the village hall refurbishment.

We learnt with sadness of the death of Betty Coleman, a long standing member of our WI whose funeral will take place on Friday of this week.

The meeting finished with our usual refreshments and Ann thanking everyone for all their hard work in making and purchasing items for the Christmas Box appeal.

The table was piled high with attractive items and some lucky under privileged children are going to be delighted with their contents.

Next meeting will be Monday, November 14, at 2.15pm which is the AGM and card making.

Why not come along and join us?