The Chinese New Year begins at the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February and this year it started on 1st February. We were a bit early celebrating it, having our evening on 27th January.

The Chinese New Year begins at the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February and this year it started on 1st February. We were a bit early celebrating it, having our evening on 27th January.



This year is the Year of the Tiger, as shown on the card Chris Hyett sent. According to the Chinese Zodiac, each person is represented by an animal and Sara went through the positive and negative characteristics associated with each of the 12 animals so people born in the year of each animal could decide if they had those qualities



Chris is a tiger and we agree that she is kind, adventurous and enthusiastic but not at all aggressive, short-tempered and anxious.



We also celebrated having out own TG tigers, the TiG Tiggers. Marilyn Tomlinson designed the picture of Tigger which they use and had it on a Chinese New Year picture as her Zoom background. If you’d like to find out about digital art, Marilyn runs Digital Doodler on the 2nd Monday every month and if you would like to find out about using a background with Zoom, get in touch with Sara about coming along to White Board Wednesday.



The colour red is widely used for decoration, as well as lanterns and dragons. Beryl shared some craft ideas, with a way to make lantern out of paper cups, a concertina paper dragon and red envelopes, which she had found on the internet. Red envelopes with money inside are usually given by adults to children and it’s believed the packet will ward off evil and grant a long life. Get in touch with Beryl if you would like to find out more about these.



She also introduced us to the 12-foot long crochet dragon she had made using dragon scale stich, also known as mermaid scale or crocodile stitch. Beryl has links to tutorials showing you how to do this, if you want to give it a try.



It had been quite a quiet event up until then, when Marilyn Lawton shared her memories of being in Penang at Chinese New Year and watching Chinese dragons, blessing the hotel in which she was staying. Dancers manipulate the dragon using poles positioned underneath it, dancing to a loud accompaniment of drums and Chinese cymbals and, very often, firecracker fireworks.



Meg showed us a lantern which she had made from a red envelope and shared memories of her grandson in his dragon outfit him being given oranges. The Chinese word for mandarin oranges sounds similar to the word for “gold.” So, having mandarin oranges around the home at New Year is said to bring riches into your life.



Penny and Marilyn Tomlinson also shared memories about Chinese New Year celebrations in London and Liverpool. Penny explained that at Chinese restaurants they often served delicacies such as chicken feet. The evening ended with a further reference to feet, this time a song by Mud, Tiger Feet.

In November Lucille Ball started our get together with her song about Friendship which went, ‘If you’re ever in a jam, here I am… When other friendships have been forgot, Ours will still be hot’

In November Lucille Ball started our get together with her song about Friendship which went, ‘If you’re ever in a jam, here I am…When other friendships have been forgot, Ours will still be hot’

The invitation to the evening had included a Friendship certificate which could be downloaded and given to a friend to thank them for their friendship. The idea came from a TG member who had been to the funeral of a friend and said that it made her realise it was a good idea to make time to tell our friends how much we value them while we can.



As well as songs and poems about friendship, there were reminiscences about childhood friends. Marilyn remembers that she had her first friend when she was about 3 or 4, just before starting school. She had been sent to a child minder where she made this friend who was called Jennifer. Pam still exchanged Christmas cards every year with a friend from schools. They live about 15 miles away from each other and keep saying that they are going to meet but never do. A lot of us agreed that this was the only way we stayed in touch with some friends but did dread some of the boastful round-robin letters which were included with them as we didn’t have anything as interesting or exciting to write back.

As well as real friends, there were a lot of memories about toys which were friends and other toys which were only to be looked at and not touched.


Janet has this painted straw and cloth doll


Geraldine searched for and found this rabbit


Beryl brought Rosemary, her 1950s walkie-talkie doll who was a Christmas present, who still has all her original outfits but has lost her voice


Judith showed us her papier mâché spill holders. Which, she was allowed to look at but not touch as a child, like Enid’s pigs which were pictured in the magazine.

Judith said that she had made new friends by joining in with TG Zoom meetings and events, which everyone else agreed with. The evening finished with another song which had a message about friendship and standing together. Rupert and the Frog song.
 

On Thursday 14th October 2021, the ‘TG Players’ trod the Zoom boards once more to put on the play, ‘A Secret Life’ by Horry Parsons.

 On Thursday 14th October 2021, the ‘TG Players’ trod the Zoom boards once more to put on the play, ‘A Secret Life’ by Horry Parsons.

This was about Freda and her two daughters trying to organise a secret This is Your Life for her husband's retirement party but they have to battle the plumbing, the nosey neighbour and a deaf vicar. Can they keep the secret without losing the plot?
 
Here is what the cast had to say about the play and their part in it.


Janice Collins

I love being in the TG Players. When I first joined TG over 40 years ago the guild I belonged to Wimborne evening, who had an amdram group. We regularly entered local competitions and sometimes even won! I have missed it but now can join in with others from all over the country, having a good time. The best bit? Not having to learn reams of words, not sure I could remember them all now. 


Penny Ryan

I played the elderly vicar who married Freda and Bill so was invited to be part of this is your life. I was forty then but 80 now. Age hasn't been that kind to me, my hearing is dreadful and I think I'm losing some of my marbles too. But I still like to party and have a hat for every occasion!



Hazel Barrett

I play Jean Hopkins, daughter of Bill Hopkins. I try to arrange a surprise 'This is your life' section to dad's retirement party, by secretly phoning people who know my dad! Whilst also trying to avoid the nosey neighbour from finding out anything, including the fact that even a party is being planned, possibly spoiling the whole event!



Chris Hyatt

I play Zoe Hunter, smart Businesswoman from the Grand Hotel. I was thrilled to have this part as if I could have chosen this would have been the one for me.

The TG Players is a group of very friendly members from throughout TG and work well together. The casting for a 'Secret Life' and our previous Murder Mystery Play have been well thought out by the Director. Obviously, they know us very well.

 Performing on Zoom is quite different from a face-to-face production however it provides pleasure to a much wider audience and the cast go to amazing efforts to create believable characters



Cheryl May

Lockdowns curtailed everyday pastimes, like going to the theatre, and for me, performing on stage. It has been an absolute joy to take part in the Townswomen Guild Players online streamed performances. With a wide range of costumes and props from my am dram hobby to hand, I was able to utilise them in the productions. I have played Jaffar, the baddie in Beryl Hales’ panto, Detective Inspector Mayday in my murder mystery play and now played Nosy Nora in a one act comedy. If it weren't for these online rehearsals and plays I wouldn't have 'met' such a lovely group of ladies. It would be so lovely to meet my fellow TG thespians face to face at the AGM is June.


Marilyn Tomlinson

Joining in with the TG Players is a revelation. Working with multiple people on Zoom is not simple and hiccups are the ‘norm’ but in some ways that adds to the event.

Remembering lines isn’t my forte (I easily get lost in the scripts), so I was happy to be in the supporting role by way of illustrations and background sound effects. Much more my cup of tea!

Personally, I have not been involved in drama groups before, so I am learning ‘slowly’ to lose my inhibitions and simply enjoy the fun and camaraderie of a super bunch of people.


Jo Bird

Jo did an amazing job with her costume to play ex-RSM Braggart, Commissionaire at The Odeon and terror of the Saturday afternoon kids, especially those under eleven trying to get into an ‘A’ film.

Question: What is the connection between Abba and pickled herring?

Answer: They share the name Abba

It was on April 6th 1974, that ABBA entered our lives, and found global fame by taking part and winning the Eurovision song contest with the song ‘Waterloo’.

Question: What is the connection between Abba and pickled herring?

Answer: They share the name Abba

It was on April 6th 1974, that ABBA entered our lives, and found global fame by taking part and winning the Eurovision song contest with the song ‘Waterloo’.

On Thursday 23rd September, we had Abba fans and superfans singing along to the favourite Abba songs they had voted for. As well as sending their votes, they were invited to send a photo of themselves as part of the group by adding their face at www.faceinhole.com. Sarah Carr had a go at adding her face to Frida and, although she did not feel that it hadn’t done any justice to the group, she thought it was a bit of fun.

Sarah also sent us a video to use of herself with Warwick Woodlows Park Evening Guild performing their version of Super Trooper. Their photo was in the magazine. Sara is going to one of the concerts being held at a purpose-built ABBA Arena in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park where they are using computer technology to feature digital versions of the band members. Sarah has promised to let us know what it was like.

Sarah was not the only one to share a video with us. Several years ago, Stella Tratt we went to an ABBA exhibition in London and had the chance to perform with the group along with her husband Terry and her sister, Pauline, Chairman of Knowle TG!

Abba seems to be popular with members and Judith Smith from Beaufort TG Bath remembered organising a coach load of TG members from Bath to Bristol Hippodrome for the Mamma Mia Musical.

Stella also told us about Abba providing inspiration for her when taking part in the Discovery Award.

Abba inspired me! I found a photo of them involved in the" Keep Britain Tidy" campaign. If Abba could do it, so could I! My Community Service would be litter-picking. I have attached a photo of me undertaking the task wearing my Abba "Keep Britain Tidy" T shirt.’

‘As you know I am an Abba Fan! As part of the Discovery Award I had to complete a Community Service. This was quite problematic because of all the restrictions imposed during the various Lockdowns.

Although they are Swedish, Abba were known for recording in English and were the first non-English pop group to have massive success in the English market. They also recorded their songs in Spanish, French, German and their first language, Swedish. And we shared the video of the song, ‘Thank you for the music’ it translated into another language, Makaton. This is a unique language programme which uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate.

In 2020, 'Dancing Queen' was voted number one song to dance to in a survey carried out across the UK and members were invited to join in with a chair version which was rather lively and left a few of us out of breath.

Beryl suggested that we have a favourite Swedish snack of a cup of coffee and cinnamon roll to help us recover. Throughout the evening Beryl shared some favourite Swedish dishes, starting with pickled herrings. A company established in 1838 includes pickled herring in its well-known products. The company is called Abba and in 1974, they decided to let Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid share their name, though ABBA is actually an acronym of the first letters of the band members’ first names.

Open sandwiches

Meatballs

Beryl said that a lot of the ingredients had come from the well-known Swedish store with a yellow and blue logo, IKEA. She also helped us with the Swedish pronunciation, ‘Ick-EE-ah’.

As usual, it ran over time and It was voted a successful evening by members and their families and friends who came aong. Angela summed up their views with her email, ‘Thank you - it was a great evening. Loved the music!’

For one night only on 24^th June, a splendiferous seaside pier entertainment was available, following in the traditions of the Pierrot troupes who began seaside variety shows in 1891.

For one night only on 24^th June, a splendiferous seaside pier entertainment was available, following in the traditions of the Pierrot troupes who began seaside variety shows in 1891.

Compere for the show, Beryl Hales, may have appeared to be strangely attired as a 1980s sad clown doll but she explained that her hat and ruff were copies of the original Pierrot entertainer’s costume. She led us into communal singing of seaside favourites such as ‘I do like to be beside the seaside’, ‘Summer holiday’ and ‘The sun has got his hat on’.

Between songs she introduced our stellar home-grown artistes: Chris Hyett who gave an illustrated lecture about Punch and Judy, Jan Collins reciting Gerard Hoffnung’s funny but painful recollections of ‘The Bricklayer’, author Marilyn Tomlinson reading us her true to life poem about a club trip and Sara Trayers who amazed us by attempting to beat the world record for the number of joked told in one hour.

As our comedian only had 2 minutes of joke telling, she had to tell 16 ½ jokes and raise a laugh or reaction from the audience for each one of them to reach the equivalent of the record 499 in an hour. Of course, she thoroughly exceeded the record although, if truth is told, she raised more groans than laughs.

Unfortunately, our dance troupe were delayed and were unable to perform. But as the audience had demonstrated how good they were at dancing from their performances of the Chair Charleston during our 90^th anniversary year, they were invited to become the dancers for the evening. They gave a spirited performance of a chair line dance to the Steps hit, ‘5,6,7,8’ and added to the western atmosphere with their shouts of ‘yeeha’.

A cheerful finale rendition of ‘Happy days are here again’ ended our piece of seaside fun.

If you came down to the TG Teddy bears picnic on 15^th July, you might have been surprised to meet these bears.

If you came down to the TG Teddy bears picnic on 15^th July, you might have been surprised to meet these bears.

TG Teds Picnic

Stella from Knowle Guild brought "Jack Crowndale" to the Teddy Bear's Picnic and told us how he came to live with her.

‘I was walking around the neighbourhood with my 7-year-old grandson and we saw a teddy bear on a front garden wall with a note saying "I need a new home".

We carried him home and my grandson decided on the name Jack and his surname comes from the name of the road where we found him.’

This is a photo of the teddy who belonged to Linda from Uplands and District TG Bristol.

‘As far as I can remember he was given to me when I was born. Unfortunately, these photos are all I have left of him as one day, only about a year ago, on a mad clear out I let my head rule instead of my heart and I let him go. As you can see the stuffing was falling out and he no longer had any facial features.

He'd been this way for a long time and my mother had repaired him for me as much as she could and gave him new felt paws when I was younger, I can't remember when he lost his face. A long time ago he also growled. I am now 72. At least I have my photos.

Whenever I watch Repair Shop, I think of Ted but probably I wouldn't have had a good enough background story for them to repair him for me. 

Susan didn’t have a teddy as a child and this is a photo of Jack, the first teddy ever bought for her by her husband in about 2001. Jack is wearing the playing strip of Manchester Storm and was bought when they we were at one of their games at MEN arena.

Alma from Uplands Guild found that a second, smaller teddy had somehow worked his way into the photo she showed us of her son’s bear.

The larger of the two was given to her son by Grandma when.

Her son is now 61 so Ted has also celebrated his 61st birthday this year.

‘Son tells me that an identical bear was sold for £400 pounds on the bidding room this week!! At some time I knitted new hands and feet!!’

Elizabeth’s teddy who likes the attention he is getting by having his photo included

And we discovered that our Chair, Penny Ryan was an arctophile (a person who collects or is very fond of teddy bears) when she sent us a PowerPoint presentation about her bears. Whenever you see Penny with a suitcase, you know that Harry will be safe and snug in it and will be keeping her company when she unpacks.

There were four songs about bears to join in with, starting with the ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ and continuing with Rosemary Clooney’s ‘Me and My Teddy Bear’, Jackie Lee’s ‘Rupert the Bear’ and finishing with Elvis asking us to ‘Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear’.

These were interspersed with reminiscences about famous bears such as the bear which Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot which started the whole teddy soft toy story, Winnie the Pooh, Sooty and Bungle. Many there remembered an action skipping rope rhyme where you needed to be agile enough to touch your shoe without getting tangled up in the rope.

And at 8 o’clock when we went home, there were some tired teddies and their owners who had enjoyed spending an evening with this toy who has been a favourite for over 100 years.

In 1983, Cindy Lauper told us that ‘Girls just want to have fun’ and we proved her right at our 80s night on 19^th August.

We were a cheerful group with some of our number clad in 80s ‘going out’ favourites of bright wigs, leg warmers and fingerless gloves plus oversized earrings and clusters of necklaces. We were asked to consider our 1980s style and ponder on some big questions of the time like Who shot J.R? Was Michael Fish right when he said there would be no storm? Could Alvin Stardust teach you how to cross the road, when seen wearing a glove with a ring on the outside of it? And was a bum bag the best way to keep your valuables safe?

In 1983, Cindy Lauper told us that ‘Girls just want to have fun’ and we proved her right at our 80s night on 19^th August.

We were a cheerful group with some of our number clad in 80s ‘going out’ favourites of bright wigs, leg warmers and fingerless gloves plus oversized earrings and clusters of necklaces. We were asked to consider our 1980s style and ponder on some big questions of the time like Who shot J.R? Was Michael Fish right when he said there would be no storm? Could Alvin Stardust teach you how to cross the road, when seen wearing a glove with a ring on the outside of it? And was a bum bag the best way to keep your valuables safe?

There were smiles at fashion photos showing power suits with big shoulder pads, lycra leotards and parachute suits. Neon make-up to complement sleek wavy hair, curly perm mullets and wax spiked locks. There were reminders of the fashion influencer Madonna, total clothes styles of the New Romantics, punks and the first designer jeans with pre-made holes in them.

Guests had been asked to vote for their 3 favourite songs from a list of 15 of the greatest songs of the 80s and watched the videos of their top 7, which were ‘Karma chameleon’ by Culture Club, ‘Uptown Girl’ by Billy Joel, ‘I just called to say I love you’ by Stevie Wonder, ‘Wake me up before you go-go’ by Wham!, ‘Sweet dreams (are made of this)’ by the Eurythmics, ‘Take on me’ by a-ha and ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ by Whitney Houston.

They needed refreshment after joining in with many of the songs and a seated action-dance version of ‘Walk like an Egyptian’ by The Bangles. Help with appropriate drinks was provided by Sara Trayers who, as the cocktail bartender for the evening, demonstrated how to make versions of three of the most popular 80s cocktails, a Pina Colada, Bloody Mary and Sex on the Beach with all the fruit and veg, straws and umbrella decorations that went with them.

A discussion took place about how well everyone could recall the words of the songs used this evening and how lively they were compared to the types of song which we were presented with on community singing sheets. There was loud agreement that we would prefer to have those from the 1940s and earlier replaced by the hits of the 80s we’d had fun with this evening.