THE new President of COLEBROOKE WI, Val Pennington, welcomed a full complement of members at the May meeting.

We discussed options for our annual outing in July and will probably be having a hands-on demonstration at a local pottery.

The members of the skittles team had had a very enjoyable annual dinner at Morchard Bishop Memorial Hall together with some fun entertainment, the icing on the cake being that we had won the League Championship Shield again.

We then welcomed Moira Byast who talked to us about the Hidden History of Nursery Rhymes. This was an interesting insight into the origins of these rhymes that started in medieval time as a way for adults to remember current events in history, nearly every rhyme has a hidden meaning and they weren’t used as rhymes for children until much later.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary referred to Queen Mary I; Ring a ring of roses may, or may not, have referred to the plague and the grand old Duke of York could have been the second son of George III’s involvement in the Napoleonic wars. It was certainly a fascinating talk.

The competition for an acrostic of the word SPRINGTIME was won by Miriam Burrow.

In June Jenny Wood will be talking to us about making Memory Boxes.

BM