There was an encouraging attendance of twenty ladies at the second meeting of The HummingBirds which is a new social group for the area which meets on the second Wednesday evening of each month in Defford Village Hall.

The was a crescendo of friendly chatter before the meeting started with Patty White welcoming everyone, and then introducing the speaker David Berry who had come to jog memories with his reminisces of the 1960’s. A few members of the audience had not been born until later in the decade, but for many the memories of the Swinging Sixties were easily recalled. On the global stage there had been the race to put men on the moon, the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Whilst closer to home there had been the introduction of amplified music, flower power, mini skirts and the World Cup victory in 1966. Television programmes had featured the first episode of Coronation Street, whilst Doctor Who and ‘This Was the Week That Was’ were popular with viewers. The younger generation had enjoyed dancing The Twist, whilst Twiggy and Mary Quant became familiar faces in the world of fashion. The first Austin Mini’s were retailed at under £500. Anne Jones won Wimbledon, Winston Churchill died and President Kennedy was assassinated. So many long forgotten memories were stirred as the years rolled away, and an era from a former lifetime seemed like yesterday. A light hearted quiz concluded David’s presentation, and although he managed to baffle the audience with some questions and scored a few points in his favour, on average the audience working as a team were marginally victorious. Margaret Mallet thanked David for a very enjoyable evening. As refreshments, including freshly prepared biscuits cooked in the kitchen were served, the raffle was drawn, and discussion centred on preparation for the village fete in June. The next meeting will be held on 14th May, when there will a presentation on the work of the County Air Ambulance. The evening which had been a very enjoyable, social occasion full of laughter and friendship, concluded as members headed homewards in good spirits, looking forward to the future events which are being planned.