APRIL 2018

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Although the British weather is a “fail-safe ice-breaker” in any introduction or comment being made on virtually any subject, it is now being seized upon by yours truly because it is unavoidable in telling you about our last Open Meeting on Friday 9th March.

Our fear a week before the Meeting was that we might have to cancel the Meeting altogether, not only from the point of view of our Members and others wishing to attend, but also from the possibility that our Guest Speaker might not be able to get from Exeter!     Although our fears were dispelled a few days before the Meeting (when spring suddenly put in an unexpected appearance) the incessant and heavy rain on the actual day brought those fears flooding back (no pun intended!). And these fears were confirmed when only 29 brave souls turned out to hear Dr. Todd Gray, from Exeter University, one of our favourite Speakers, give another interesting, informative and above all, amusing and different illustrated talk, entitled “Marldon & Elizabethan Insults in Devon”

Based on his latest pair of books, Dr. Gray explored the use of insults, swearing and name-calling in the South-West Elizabethan and later times – all taken from original Court and Church records.  Some of the words had died out of common usage, but their meanings were still quite obvious in some cases!    All in all, a very interesting and well researched (as always) talk, much appreciated by our (albeit small) audience.

In addition to our talk, we also had displays telling the story of Marldon’s Parish Map (see last month’s Magazine), and about World War 1 –  this year (11th November) being the centenary of the end of the conflict.  At the moment the Group has only a few photographs and a small amount of information about the men from our Parish who took part in the War, but we hope to raise interest and certainly more information about the men from Marldon Parish who were involved as soon as possible.   If you, or anyone you know, had relations (from Marldon Parish) who were involved, or any photographs or memorabilia, PLEASE LET US KNOW.

Although the attendance at the Meeting was disappointing, we were very pleased to have some new Members/renewals to boost our Membership total.  We also had another donation of books of local interest, to add to our ever-growing library.   We have a display of many of our books at each Meeting, and these are available (to Members) to borrow (no charge!).    There is a list of some of our books on our website HERE, which will be much added to shortly.

Mention of the Group’s website leads me nicely to inform you (if you are not already aware) that our website has now been completely updated and revamped, and now has a completely new appearance and new features, and is just as easy to browse as before.   Hearty thanks and credit for this miraculous and speedy transformation must be given to our Secretary Derek Hore and especially his wife Julie, who have both spent many, many hours slaving over their PC’s.   All of the content of our former website has been transferred to the new one, and much more will be added in the near future in the way of new information and updates.

Also, because of advances in the technology, our website can now be viewed on ALL devices, eg. Laptops, ipads and even your mobile ‘phone !

Finally, a reminder that you can join or renew your Membership to the Group at any time – the subscription is still only £5 per year, which entitles you to free admission to all our Quarterly Open Meetings (and our free library).   Please do not hesitate to contact our Secretary, Derek (52589) or our Chairman, Tony (521419) for any information.