For the second month in succession our meeting opened on a sad note with the president June Lloyd announcing the sudden death of longstanding member Margaret Woodford. Margaret was a popular member who always seemed to wear a smile. At the conclusion of the meeting Jean Bayliss told of happy times in their youth and showed us some wonderful photographs of Littletons WI events such as cricket matches, carnival floats and Japanese tea parties. It should all prove an inspiration to younger members to see how much effort has been put into our WI in the past and hopefully encourage them to continue the village tradition.
Our speaker for the evening was Mr Ray Allen, a retired detective. He began by expressing some sadness at the fact that although television detective series may suggest otherwise, young police officers do not see CID work as exciting or glamorous and there is a shortage of young people willing to give up their uniforms to become detectives. His talk centred around ‘vital clues’, small pieces of evidence that had lead to the solution of very serious crimes. In one case the failure of a criminal to destroy the tax disc from a stolen car had lead to the solutions of a murder investigation. He also gave us some thoughts on the unsolved case of the dreadful murder of estate agent Suzie Lamplugh and the possible identity of the chief suspect ‘Mr Kipper’. A vote of thanks was given by Marlene Addy.
The competition for the evening was ‘A Treasure Hunt’, when members had to search the room for fake gold coins which had been concealed earlier. Such was members competitiveness that there was a slight delay in the usual rush to the supper table even though Pam Coles wonderful homemade cream horns were on offer. However, Jean Bayliss was too quick off the mark for them all and was the eventual winner.
The AGM followed by demonstrations by members will be on November 10 at 7.30pm at Littletons Village Hall.
