Author: gosforthcentralwi

The Gardening group had its first outing on Monday 29 April to Jesmond Community Orchard and what a gem it is.

Organised by Lesley and led by Fiona Clark, one of the long standing Orchard Volunteers who do such sterling work, we learned of it’s history (10 years old now) and saw for ourselves the fruit of their labour. Apple trees aplenty but also cherry, pear, fig, peach, plum and more!

The Orchard really fosters community spirit and provides educational opportunities for local schools – West Jesmond Primary in particular have children who plant, prune and get pleasure from it.

The Orchard is situated in the North West corner of St Andrew’s Cemetery and well worth a visit – it’s a pretty, peaceful sanctuary befitting it’s location – the photo below doesn’t do it justice! (And maybe I should say the same about the gorgeous group of women too!!)

Hi everyone

Following our “Gorgeous Gosforth” talk in April, we’re looking forward to a “Marvellous May” in the shape of an introduction to water colours by the very wonderful artist James Pocklington. More about that in a moment..

Firstly, though, I’ll look back to April 11th when City Guide Freda Thompson took us through the history of Gosforth from Blue House roundabout to the High Street. To do justice to the High Street and South Gosforth would take another 2 hours!

I guess we all know that the area is steeped in history but, honestly, I don’t think any of us listening to Freda knew exactly how much! I, for one, had no idea that Grandstand Road was once home to carburretor manufacture, a chocolate factory and an aerodome..

SO interesting and we would all love to have Freda back to tell us more. Watch this space!

Onto the May meeting – May 9th at 7.30pm, usual place. Local artist James Pocklington will talk about and demo his work.

Chris came across James at Grainger Market and was bowled over by his water colours  – reproduced on greetings cards as well as prints etc – as were we when she brought some along to the Committee meeting. You can check James out at his website and meet him in person on the 9th. Bring your purse because you are bound to want to buy something!

http://www.jpocklington.portfoliobox.me/about-us

See you there

Bye for now

Liz

How lovely is that saying!

I hope you’re all benefitting from this better weather and are being mindful enough to really look at and enjoy the gorgeous Spring flowers that surround us.

As far as WI business goes – whilst I won’t claim that our last meeting had an actual party atmosphere, as AGMs go, it was relaxed, enjoyable and successful. Both the Financial and Annual reports managed to blend informality with the needed detail, and were interesting, useful reminders of how far we have come in just one year.

Charlotte (of Charlotte’s Butchery) entertained us with her passion, knowledge and professionalism. I think everyone engaged with Charlotte  – it was hard not to as her stories were funny, heart warming and real. Whilst the vegetarians may have watched the demonstration with half closed eyes, the meat eaters loved it and we all learned a lot.

Looking forward to our next meeting on 11 April, we will hear from a Newcastle City Guide about ” Gorgeous Gosforth” – should be an insightful look at our local history and an inspiration to get out there and enjoy Spring in our own back yard. I can’t wait 🙂

Liz x

Hi everyone

Well, March certainly has come in like a lion – we can only hope the old saying is true and it’ll go out like a lamb!

Talking about lambs……our Annual General Meeting is next Thursday and, as well as the formal stuff , we will be joined by Charlotte of Charlotte’s Butchers (website address below). As well as speaking about her well reputed business, Charlotte will demo her work using a lamb carcass, explain the various cuts of meat and how they should be prepared and cooked.

For meat lovers, this could be a very useful lesson in time for that Easter roast! For vegetarians, Charlotte’s passion and business story will be “meat” enough (and we can always disappear into the kitchen when we need to!)

http://charlottesbutchery.com/

The AGM agenda will include a review of 2018, our first year of existence, and an outline of our plans for 2019. It’s, therefore, an opportunity to look back as well as forward and it would be great to get a full house of members (and visitors) to share views and ideas.

Really looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible there! Bye for now.

Liz

Hi everyone

Our February meeting is on Thursday 14th – yes, Valentine’s Day, so why not join us and “feel the lurve”? We can’t promise you a romantic evening but we can promise an interesting and thought provoking one. The Partnership Quilt is a collaboration between Changing Lives, Six Penny Memories and Open Lab at Newcastle University. A beautiful example of how quilting can bring people together to share their stories and, in this case, capture those stories in the quilt, making it a contemporary piece of interactive art. It may not be an example of romantic love but that’s definitely love in my opinion!

Looking back to January, our meeting on the 10th went brilliantly well. Unfortunately, I missed it as I was working in Budapest – I know, poor me 🙂 – but I’ve been told how good it was. Peter Brennan kept everyone interested with his City Hall memories and experiences and Janis’s “1st year anniversary cake” went down very well (not to mention the Prosecco). I think you may have created a precedent here Janis!

I hope to see you all soon. Thanks, Liz