​Report on members meeting 9th November 2015:  In the footsteps of Dickens
Dianne Cox was our speaker and she is a Blue Badge Guide for Liverpool.  She did a presentation of interesting photography about Charles Dickens and his connections to Liverpool.
Diane started by giving the context of the Victorian Britain Dickens was born into

• 1839.  50% of all funerals were for children under 10 years of age
• Average age of death was 27, and for working classes 22
• Working class earned £10 - £15 pa
• There was a constant threat of the workhouse hanging over paupers.
• Life was grim and crime flourished.

 
Dickens father had a good job in administration in the Navy, but as money always slipped through his fingers, the family fell on ‘hard times’ and moved into the Workhouse.   As Dickens was only 8 when this happened it then meant that he was not able to continue in his education.  
Charles was sent to work at the Warren Blacking Factory from the workhouse and he constantly strived to help his father keep out of debt throughout his life.
 
Charles’s first love was the theatre and he wanted to be an actor but turned to writing in order to make some money.  He always wrote on A5 paper with a goose quill pen!
 
He married Catharine Hogarth in London in 1826 and they had 10 children. Dickens constantly moved from area to area and house to house and the whole family, plus Catherine’s sister (who managed the household) had to move each time as well.
 
Dickens started his writing in monthly chronicles or magazines and his work was serialised over a number of issues.  His first ‘whole’ book appeared in 1741 when he wrote A Christmas Carol which was published just 6 weeks before Christmas.
 
Dickens met Ellen Ternam in 1859 and this love broke up his marriage.
 
Dickens first visit to Liverpool was in 1840 when the Cunard first passenger ship was making her maiden voyage.   As a port Dickens would visit Liverpool whenever he wanted to travel and he always stayed in the Adelphi Hotel. Our current Adelphi is the third to be built on the same site.
 
Dickens appeared many times as an actor in Liverpool appearing at the Mechanics Institute (now LIPA), the Theatre Royal (which used to be in Williamson Square, the Amphitheatre ( Queens Square) and the original Philharmonic Hall.   However when the grand St Georges Hall was built Dickens then started his readings in the new and palatial Small Concert Hall there.
 
On an interesting note, Dickens also came to Liverpool to research life near a dock land, but as he didn’t feel too safe, he went to the nearest Bridewell and borrowed a constables uniform to wear!!
 
An excellent talk Dianne, many thanks
 
 
 
 

​REPORT ON MEETING -  Monday 12th October 2015
The Members welcomed Gillian Roberts who had come along to talk to us about The Liverpool Tapestry which was started as part of Liverpool Capital of Culture. The Project was discussed in February 2008 and started in September 2008.  Gillian went through all the statistics about the Tapestry including that it was made up of 103 miles of wool and 338 individual pieces of embroidery.  Each of the pieces is 6”x6” and the work was started in the Ullet Road Unitarian Church with 73 people turning up.  What started out as a small venture turned into a large community project with all part of our city becoming involved.  It ended with 25 workshops over two and a half year.  The Manager of Home and Bargain took part and even learnt to sew!   People were asked to embroider a memory about Liverpool or something that was important to them. A special firm was employed to put all the pieces together and a display was held at The Liverpool Walker Art Gallery. 
Gillian showed us her slides of the most memorable different pieces and people from all walks of life had taken part, even some disabled people had managed to produce beautiful embroidered pieces.  The Tapestry was broken down into various topics including: Architecture, Churches, Superlamb banana , Education , Maritime, Sculpture/Art , Music , Football, Humour and Memories.  Some of the pieces we saw were as follows: The Chinese Arch, Anglican Cathedral, Superlamb Banana suffragette, Holly Lodge Badge, Mersey Ferry, Crosby Iron Men, The 4 Beatles, Liverpool and Everton Football badges, Overhead railway and Diddymen.
The Tapestry, which should last for over 3000 years, now hangs in St Georges Hall and Gillian recommended that we all go along to look at it.     

Woolton WI June Meeting Report

On Monday 8th June 2015 we had a talk and slide presentation by Barbara Price on the Philanthropist, Joseph Williamson.  She has been involved with Williamson Tunnels for over 13years.  She had been a member of Garston Historical Society and was unhappy with her present job.  She saw an advertisement in the Liverpool Echo and decided to apply and was successfully in obtaining the post of Finance Officer. 

Joseph Williamson was a severe man but with a twinkle in his eye!  He was originally from Wakefield, Yorkshire and we saw his Baptism certificate of 1769.  His father worked and owned the Glassworks in Gorbore Hall.  The family moved from Yorkshire and lived in Warrington.  Joseph worked for Richard Tate in Liverpool and married the boss’s daughter in 1802.  They lived in leased land at Edge Hill near a disused quarry and he built a house in Mason Street.  Joseph Williamson wanted to give men jobs so he employed them to build houses on the higher ground of the quarry and in the lower level he said that people could help themselves to the many stones.  He put his men to work by cutting out tunnels so that the land could be built up to the higher level where the houses were built.  If there was no work he would get the men to move stones from place to place.  He paid them according to the size of their family. Some of the houses he built had no windows and some had many windows.  The houses do not exist today.

 In 1840 Williamson died.  The tunnels soon filled up with rubbish and in 1850’s they were purchased by the Liverpool City Council to make into stable yards.  The rubbish was put there by horse drawn carts.  The Lord Mayors carriage was kept in one of the tunnels until the 1980’s when it was then taken to Croxteth Hall when the Lord Mayor was abolished.  A chimney was built when the railways came and this took the steam away between Edge Hill and Lime Street.  In the 1990’s four teachers from the Institute School heard about Joseph Williamson and formed the Joseph Williamson Society.  They wanted these tunnels opened to the public. The tunnels were in a very derelict state but money was obtained from European funding to renovate them.  The stables became office and storage space and the tunnels were opened to the public on 2 October 2002 by the Duke of Gloucester.  As well as the tunnels there is also student accommodation, Events space and the double tunnel, corner tunnel and back tunnel. 

When the tunnels were being renovated various treasures and artefacts were found and these are now on display for the public to see.  Some of the tunnels are still concreted up but there is a loyal band of volunteers who each Saturday dig out the rubble and at the moment they are working on a Triple deck tunnel.  One day this tunnel will be seen by the public once all health and safety issued have been cleared.  

The tunnels can be used for all sorts of Events.  They have had a Table Sale, Musical evenings with the Harmony Barber Shop singers and Nick Harper.  A play was performed in the tunnels in March called The Mole of Edge Hill telling the Joseph Williamson story.  At Christmas the tunnels are decorated and it is a magical place for children to visit

WOOLTON W.I. MAY MEETING  -  MONDAY 11TH MAY 2015
The meeting welcomed the Rev Ben Reece who came to talk about Women of Liverpool.  He introduced his talk by telling us that there is a window in the Anglican Cathedral which depicts all the famous women in history.  There’s Kitty Wilkinson as well as Elizabeth Fry and John Wesley’s wife who had 19 children!

Kitty Wilkinson born in 1786 came to Liverpool from Londonderry, Ireland when she was 9 years old.  Her Father was an English soldier and the family lived in a basement in Dennison Street near to the Northern Hospital.  There was Kitty, her Mum and one brother, her other brother had drown just off the Wirral coast as the ship coming to Liverpool experienced an accident.  Kitty was taken around Liverpool by Elizabeth Lightbody who took an interest in her.  She gave Kitty a hymn book as a present.  As well as working in the Lancashire cotton mill Kitty was also left a mangle in the will of a lady whom she had looked after.  Kitty used the mangle and would take in washing using lime and this helped when in 1832 there was a Cholera epidemic.  Kitty married a French sailor (John De mont) who she met whilst working on the docks and they had 2 children.  Kitty’s husband died after 3 years as he drowned.  Kitty worked for the Rathbone family and a book was written about her.  She became the Supervisor of the Washhouse and Public Baths in Frederick Street in 1742.  She later married John Wilkinson who worked for the Rathbone family and that is how they met.   In 1846 Kitty was presented with a silver plate at Carnatic Hall by Queen Victoria.  When John Wilkinson died Kitty resigned from the Washhouse and lived for some years before she also died.

We heard that a Mary Robinson and Agnes Jones were employed by the Rathbones and how they helped at the Workhouse on Brownlow Hill (District nursing was then formed).  They had both trained with Florence Nightingale at St Thomas Hospital in London and then they came to Liverpool.  Nursing was looked on as a bad profession in those days because nurses drank gin and got tipsy.  Agnes Jones took control and eventually got rid of the bad nurses.  She died aged 35 years in 1868.

Josephine Butler came to Liverpool to help at the Workhouse in 1865 and she was married to a clergyman.  Josephine worked part time in the Workhouse as she was teaching at Shaw Street School.  She was a very passionate woman who was instrumental in the Contagious Diseases Act being passed which stopped women being taken off the streets and searched at Police stations.  Josephine visited Crewe and managed to get the support of the railway men and was victorious when Gladstone came to power.  She was a great suffragette.

The Rev Reece ended his talk by saying that the greatest woman was Bessie Braddock who was a very forward thinking person.  She was a great fighter and demanded results and would not stop until she had answers.  He said that we could do with more Bessie Braddock’s in parliament today.

REPORT ON WI MEETING - MONDAY 13TH APRIL 2015

We welcomed Laura Ramsay and her small group of players from LIPA to our meeting on Monday and they proceeded to take part in small scenarios about Whistle blowing.  This seems to be happening more and more, especially in the National Health Service.  The first scenario was about a Care Worker who observes bad practices where staff did not put the patient first, the quality of care was missing and the Care Worker went to report this.  Management did not wish to know, all they were worried about was meeting targets and keeping within budgets.  Another play was about a Hospital worker who sees again dreadful practices and does not speak out as she wants to keep her job, as she has a family to support. 

After the scenarios the meeting was split into various groups to discuss what we would do in this situation.  We were asked to find who agreed with the Hospital worker and who disagreed.  There was a great deal of discussion with some members agreeing that the incidents should have been reported and other members saying that it was best to keep quiet.  One of our members spoke to us saying that she had been a nurse and had witnessed bad practices which she reported, but she ended up never being promoted and eventually left her post.  She realised that by reporting this incident she was passed over for promotion.   She mentioned this when attending a Nursing conference to a NHS official and they said that this just does not happen, if one reports bad practices.  We all know that this does happen and we had someone to prove it.

The whole evening prompted lots of discussion and as someone mentioned in the audience professional people should be taught how to complain, especially in the NHS and other official bodies.  Another member said that she had been in a similar position and wrote to her MP but it got nowhere.  She suggested it was best to get the Press and TV involved and then something would have to happen as large organisations don’t like bad publicity. 

The evening ended with a cinema/film quiz which was really good and everyone enjoyed a nice cup of tea and coffee before going home.

REPORT ON MARCH MEETING (MONDAY 9th MARCH, 2015)

The March meeting is our AGM and we had a very large meeting with over 60 ladies present.  We had Rhiannon (WI Advisor) present to see that it all ran smoothly.  We voted unanimously to continue with our present committee of dedicated members and Jan Grey will continue as our President.  As Jan was away on holiday our previous president, June Mitchell took over the running of our meeting.  At the close of proceedings June was presented by Rhiannon with a beautiful President badge to remind her of her days as President of Woolton WI.  June will be moving to Devon in May and we will all miss her.

Our Speaker was Mrs Rona Collins who had come to talk about Life in the 50’s and what a very entertaining evening we enjoyed.  She painted a picture of life in the Liverpool stores (TJ Hughes and Owen and Owens) where she worked for many years.  Rona told us about the happenings behind the scenes and we certainly enjoyed a very good laugh at some of the antics that staff and customers got up to.  Rona worked as a Trainee and then a Staff Trainer and Controller and said that it was a very interesting time to live just after the war.  TJ’s and Owen Owens had over 1,000 employees and 200 part timers over the Christmas period. 

Rona told us about the time she was asked to go into the basement to sell men’s PJ’s for just 2/6p a pair and they went like hotcakes until one customer demanded to see the PJ’s out of the cellophane packet.  Rona found that the jackets had no sleeves hence the Sale price!  Another time they followed a shoplifter who had stolen ham but the shoplifter didn’t go outside the store but ate the ham just inside the doors so they could not arrest her.  Another incident involve a customer bringing back curtains that had apparently gone threadbare and into shreds.  Rona said that they couldn’t change them without the receipt and the customer returned the next day with the receipt which was 10 YEARS OLD!! 

All the staff from the stores would go on a day’s outing and Rona used to organise these trips.  She remembers ordering 2 trains from Lime Street and 2,000 tickets for staff.  The Managers and their wives used to come along too.  On one occasion six 15year old cashiers went missing and they couldn’t find them, but the next day they turned up as they had got on the wrong train and ended up in Manchester.

At Christmas time they always had 2 Father Christmases as it was a very tiring job.  One year one of the Father Christmases went off ill and had to be replaced.  She got in touch with the Job Centre but they didn’t have a 16stone replacement.  This was because they had one costume to fit a 16stone man.  Eventually they got the replacement who happened to be a Wrestler and they found out that he tended to drink in the lunch hour and they had reports about this.  Eventually he was sacked for pinching the fairies bottoms!  At Christmas time they would get the men coming to buy fancy nightwear and one man bought a really lovely baby doll nightie and dressing grown.  After Christmas it was returned and his lady wife bought clothes for her three children with the money.

Rona remembers that they employed Roy Rogers and Trigger to open the Carpet department and he stayed at the Adelphi.  He was to ride Trigger up London Road to advertise carpets.  The horse wouldn’t go in the lift but they managed to sell £6,000 worth of carpets that day.  They also employed Fanny Craddock but her demands for her own room and other requirements had the maintenance staff annoyed because of her outrageous language! 

REPORT ON FEBRUARY MEETING

On Monday 9th February 2015 we had a talk from Ken Pye about the Liverpool Streets and how they acquired their names.  He told us about the Liverpool H pattern of streets near the Pier Head.  There are 7 streets Castle Street (which is named after the Castle that used to be there), High Street, Old Hall Street (the site of a Hall), Dale street which lead to the Dale, Tithebarn Street named as that was where people took their tithes, Water Street which lead to the waterfront, Chapel Street (site of Chapel Saint Nicks) and finally The Strand as this was build near to the shingle shore.  The Liverpool Streets get their names from specific landmarks for example London Road as it leads to London and Scotland Road as this lead to Scotland.  Liverpool years ago was the most important port in the UK before London.

It was extremely interesting to learn of the Streets in Liverpool and how they got their names.  For example Sleepers Hill near to Stanley Park got its name after a lion escape from an Irish Circus visiting Stanley Park.  A search started to try to find the lion but no lion was found until eventually it was found  asleep in the woods above Stanley Park and this is how Sleepers Hill got its name.  Addison Street was originally called Sick Mans Lane but the residents complained about the title and eventually it was changed.  Deads Mans Track leading to Everton was given this name due to people being buried there after dying from the plague. In 1765 Princes Dock was opened as a swimming pool and both men and women attended on different days.  There were 2 pools with one heated and it was the 1st in Britain and this swimming pool finally closed in the 1800’s.  The street was called appropriately Bath Street.

We couldn’t believe that Liverpool was a Spa town with people encouraged to drink the River Mersey with half pint milk and half pint River Mersey water 8 times a day!  I don’t think any member would want to drink the River Mersey water today

The talk finished with a romantic tale about William Lockerby from Scotland who had a dream to travel to Fiji and he walked all the way to Liverpool docks.  He would shout to the crew asking if the ship was bound for the South Seas.  He wanted to see dolphins and the desert islands.  Every day he visited the docks and during this time met a young lady selling small items.  He told her of his wish to visit the South Seas.  Eventually they fell in love and married and she encouraged him to fulfil his dream.  She told him she would wait for him if he got a passage to the South Seas.  He finally found a ship going to the South Seas and he left Ann Curran behind.  He promised her he would return one day.  After many years Ann’s friends said that she should forget him as he was not coming home.  After 12 years a ship landed and she heard her name being shouted and there was William Lockerby.  He explained to Ann that he had been a castaway on one of the Fijian Islands and that the natives had not eaten him!  He came back a very rich man as he made his fortune from sand.  They were reunited and they had 7 daughters and 1 son and they both lived into their late 80’s.  Lockerby Street is named after William Lockerby.  

Happy Birthday to WOW W.I.  
It was our 2nd Birthday on Monday so we all had a wonderful celebration.  There was lovely party finger food – sandwiches, wraps and warm pizza.  After that there was some scrumptious gateau’s.  Some members brought along their own drinks, although there was coffee and tea for everyone.   To help with the celebration we had a rock and roll band (NLK) who played some old favourites as well as more modern tunes and songs.  We sang along with the ones we knew and some members got up to have a dance.  We then had a quiz on topical issues.  The highlight of the evening was to welcome back our previous President, June Mitchell who presented a beautiful engraved rose bowl to Ruth McGuiness who had won the Bowls Tournament.  The rose bowl has been called the June Mitchell rose bowl and very fitting as June was instrumental in setting up our wonderful W.I. in January 2013.  Everyone had a lovely evening and went home with a piece of the W.I. party cake.

All the members had a wonderful evening being transported back to the 1950’s with Jim Finn’s talk and music on Monday 10th November 2014.  Jim said that the 1950’s were exciting times and a great awakening after World War Two as towns and cities started to rebuild their shattered lives.  Liverpool built up activities and entertainment – with football, comedy and music. 

The fab four in the 1950’s were Rita Rosa (Liverpool’s answer to Shirley Bassey!), Billy Fury – nearest to Elvis, Frankie Vaughan (Mr Moonlight) and Norman Milne (better known as Mike Holliday).  These four people put Liverpool back on the map.  Rita Rosa was the highest paid female singer whilst Frankie Vaughan was the true gent and Tom O’Connor said that he was the nicest person he had ever met.  Jim told us that Mike Holliday joined the Merchant Navy and then went into the Royal Navy when war was declared.  Mike Holliday was on the same ship during the war as Russ Conway (what a combination!). 

Jim sang some wonderful songs firstly “Daddies Little Girl” which was on the A side of Frankie Vaughan’s first record and said that he should have had “Green Door” as the A side.  Jim then sang “Green Door” and then the favourite song of Mike Holliday’s “I wonder who’s kissing her now”. 

Jim went on to say that as there was no TV in those days so everyone listened to the radio.  Everyone would tune into Dick Baron and Sexton Blake and then on a Sunday Bill Cotton Band show, Around the Horn and at lunchtime everyone would have on “Family favourites”.  Nearly every week someone would ask for the famous Pat Boone song “I’ll be home” because the requests came from people serving abroad with the forces.  Jim took up his guitar and sang “Writing Love letters in the sand” and most of our members joined in.  The most famous programme was on a Sunday evening “Sing something simple” with the Mike Sam Singers.  This programme ran from 1950’s until the 1990’s.

Jim went on to tell us about his days at the Collegiate School and how every boy had to wear a cap and if not, they were taken in front of prefects and given 6 slaps with a slipper! The children in those days with no TV would join the Scouts, Brownies, Guides, Boys Brigade etc and he joined the Boys Brigade and went to the Isle of Man on a camping trip and slept on straw!  He went on to tell us about the pubs closing at 10pm and how his Gran always wore a hat and fur coat.  She would play the piano all night when they had “a do” and her favourite song was “Im shy Mary Ellen, I’m shy”.  Jim then took up his guitar and sang “I’m shy Mary Ellen I’m shy” to us.  Jim ended his talk with the song his Grandmother always played “Let me call you sweetheart” and all the members joined in.

REPORT ON OCTOBER MEETING (13TH OCTOBER, 2014)

The members had a wonderful meeting listening to Alison Chester (who is deaf) telling us all about her experiences with her two dogs (Dodger and Bruno) who are Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.  Sadly Dodger is no longer with Alison and she just has Bruno a beautiful black poodle cross.  He was so calm and very obedient whilst Alison told us how the dogs are trained.  All the dogs are matched to each owner and training is very vigorous.  They are first trained to go to the owner and touch them with their nose when the doorbell or telephone rings.  They are rewarded (titbits) for doing this so it becomes quite difficult once they are placed for the owner not to have to give rewards all the time. 

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People became very important after a lady who had a dog that wouldn’t go ahead when commanded.  The story came out in the papers about the dog who had kept his owner away from a fallen log by not going ahead when commended.  The lady and dog appeared on TV Pebble Mill and the charity took off. 

32 years ago they started by using rescue dogs, but not terriers because they have to be retained.  The best dogs are Labradors, Spaniels, Poodles and Retrievers.  They are trained from three months old and 2 years as they go through an adolescent period.  The dogs are kept with a Social minder for a year and go through a rigorous programme.  It costs £7,500 for a dog to be trained.  The dogs receive all the medical care and inoculations before being placed with their owner. 

Alison has been deaf since she was 8years old and she lost her Mum when she was 13 years old.  Alison was bullied at school but left and became a Nursing Sister and was finally married and had three children.  Alison told us that she can lip read very well.  She got her first dog after her husband died and she was unable to hear the burglar alarm going off.  Alison went through a very strict vetting process but finally was accepted for her first dog, Dodger.  She had us all laughing at the antics that she went through before being accepted.  She told us all about meeting Princess Anne with Dodger and on meeting Princess Anne for the second time Princess Anne remembered Dodger much to Alison’s amazement.  Princess Anne was introduced to her new dog, Bruno.    By getting her first dog Alison told us that her life completely changed for the better. 

Alison said that now dogs are being trained to work with children from 6 years old and that the dog can tell when the child is ill and will go and tell the teacher, amazing!  They are working with dogs with blind people now so it will not be long before these wonderful dogs all get good homes.