BBC Tour 26 March 2016

On Saturday 26 March lunchtime 20 members met at Broadcasting House.  After going through tight security we assembled in the Media Café which serves radio theatre audiences and tours to meet our two guides who gave a detailed insight into the workings of this iconic building. We moved between the old and new buildings built around a public piazza and looked down on the newsroom which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, many recognising this room from its daily broadcasts. We visited the One Show studio, not as big as you would imagine! then onto a news & weather studio where 3 willing (or not so willing) members read the news & weather using prompts these were then played back to us.  Moving between buildings we were given so much information about recordings that had happened over the years.  Next was the radio shows recording studio where live productions take place and finally 5 members were persuaded to take part in a radio recording with sound effects provided by our guides, this was then played back.  Many thanks to all those ladies who were brave enough to take part.  A fantastic tour lasting well over one and a half hours.

 

 

February Meeting

We had yet another good meeting last night. We were pleased tto welcome a couple of visitors and hope they will come again soon!
Our speaker, Elspeth, a structural engineer, gave a very interesting talk on her involvement with the ongoing Crossrail project. This was well received and we say a big thank you to her for her time and obvious enthusiasm.
We next meet at the Whitehart to celebrate our 6th birthday which we do with a meal and quiz, should be fun!

An Evening of Bowling

We had a great night ten pin bowling, what fun! 23 of us turned out for our annual trip to Bexleyheath Mega Bowl and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had 4 lanes and we each played 2 games. I used muscles I had forgotten actually existed, still all in a good cause or at least that is what I told myself next morning! I am looking forward to next year's event although we might try to organise something before then, who knows.

January Meeting 2016

Well, where did 2015 go? I hope it was a good one for everyone and welcome 2016!
It has become a tradition that the first meeting of the year is a board games evening. It has proved to be a great success and the variety of games on offer grows each year. It is great fun and it is amazing how much noise 30+ grown women in one room can make!
January is also the month when we have first sight of the long list of proposed resolutions to be put to the Annual General Meeting. This year there were 7 which we were asked to consider to take forward to the next stage. Top of our list was tackling food waste .
We next meet for an evening of bowling later in the month.

Christmas Meal

Our Christmas Meal as usual was very popular with 33 members meeting at La Cucina, Sidcup on 8 December.  It took a while for everyone to be seated before they took our food orders but this gave Judy time to collect all the Secret Santa presents which were distributed later on during our meal.  We had taken up most of the restaurant and hope that the other diners weren't too bothered by all our chat and laughter.  The evening was a great way for members to speak to each other, something we don't always have time to do during our meetings.  Judy gave thanks to Joy & Chris for organising our quiz in October and to Margaret for all her help over the last year.

Deansfield Xmas Fair

Over the past few months members have been collecting baskets which they then filled or donated items, these were then all collected, decorated and sorted ready for our tombola last Saturday November 28th.  A team of volunteers arrived at their allotted slot to set up tables, organise tickets and lay out all the baskets ready to sell.  A total of 116 items very rapidly disappeared once the fair opened at 1pm and by 2pm we were ready to pack up! The amount raised was £193 so well done to everyone who made this possible.  Below see pictures of members who helped to decorate baskets at Joy's one afternoon and the finished baskets on display before the rush.

November Meeting

Our last meeting saw David Sleep give us a very enjoyable talk about our namesake, Eltham Palace. David spoke with great enthusiasm about the history of the Palace and its most recent encumbants, Stephen and Virginia Coultauld. We much enjoyed learning about the royal connection with the Tudor kings and queens  and what a very special place Eltham Palace is!
A very big thank you to all our Members who had taken time to fill and decorate baskets for our tombola stall which we will have at Deansfield Christmas Fayre on November 28th, they all looked wonderful. I am sure it will be as successful as it was last year.
We meet in December for our Christmas meal and will share a glass of wine or two!