UNITED KINGDOM TRAVELS, JULY AND AUGUST 2002

THE MONTHLY MEETING OF THE BIRDLIP LADIES CLUB

When Don and I stopped in Birdlip a few days earlier, we noticed a flier on the town bulletin board advertising a presentation on the History of the Cotswolds.  We thought that sounded interesting, so we made plans to attend.

Wednesday night, after a lovely day of Cotswold bicycling, we got in the car and headed up the hill to Birdlip.  As we pulled into the parking lot of the town meeting place a very nice woman came up to our car and greeted us warmly.  She asked if Don was the guest speaker, and looked quite confused when he said no.

We proceeded to explain that we had seen the announcement of the speech, and that we were visiting Americans, and were quite interested in the History of the Cotswolds.  We were graciously invited in to the meeting room, which was filled with about 20 women, all in their 70s and 80s.  Joyce, our greeter, explained that this was the monthly meeting of the Birdlip and Brimpsfield Women’s Institute, their local ladies club.  We apologized for the misunderstanding, and prepared to depart, but were urged to stay for the presentation.

We were introduced to Rosemary, the club president, and some of the other members.  Everyone was welcoming and interested in us.  I made a special friend, Barbara, who was sitting next to me, and we enjoyed a good chat before the meeting came to order. 

Minutes were read, the treasury report given, old business, reports on fundraisers, discussions of recent excursions, votes on a dues increase, all of the business of the club rolled on.  One of the members read the poem she had submitted to the central Women’s Institute poetry contest, “The Future’s Looking Bright for the WI!”

As the meeting came to an end, the guest speaker still had not arrived, so the ladies unwrapped plates and plates of food, and we all had a snack and tea and talked some more.

Eventually the guest speaker arrived and he turned out to be a very active and agile 84 year old with slides of local plants, insects and birds.  He did bird calls, very expertly, along with the slides.  We enjoyed the show very much, although we had anticipated something a bit different.  A question and answer period followed, and the official thank you was proffered, and then the meeting was at an end.  We all said our goodbyes, I got Barbara’s email address, and the Birdlip WI mailing address.  Don chatted with the poet, and got a copy of her poem after promising not to show it to a soul until after the competition was judged.  Don also received a copy of the poem she wrote to commemorate the passing of the Queen Mother.  Waving and smiling at each other, we started the car and down the hill we went.

The next day I emailed a thank you to Barbara Rowlands, and she promptly emailed back, including the URL for a website: www.secretsofcrime.co.uk   What!?  This charming woman has a website called secrets of crime?  I went to the site, and what a surprise!  It turns out she is a published author, and I am even familiar with her work.  I have listened to two of her books on tape.  She has published several mysteries, and is an internationally known author.  You just never know whom you might meet in a little, tiny town in the English countryside!