BROWN EDGE WI
THE evening of Wednesday, September 7, proved to be a chilly wet one, but that did not deter members of Brown Edge WI from arriving in the St Anne’s School Hall for their meeting.
As they came through the door, they were to see the smiling faces of Marilyn and Barbara at the registration table.
At 7.15pm, president Barbara Corden rang her bell to announce the start of the evening, and was delighted to be able to once again, include several visitors, who we hoped would enjoy their time with us enough to enable them to consider joining our institute.
After Hilary had dealt with the minutes of the last meeting, she remained on the floor to tell us about a couple of trips she thought we might like to consider.
One in November to Tissington Hall, Derbyshire, for Ghost Stories and mulled wine and another, at the end of November or beginning of December to Bykley Garden Centre, Burton on Trent when it will be decked out for Christmas.
A show of hands gave Hilary an idea of members’ interest in these trips, and she will have more details for us next month.
As our speaker booked for this evening, had had to cancel, we were grateful to Peter Turner, for stepping in at short notice.
Well-known in the village, a Brown Edger indeed, living only a short distance down the road from the school, he was ideally suited to deliver his talk on the dialect of Brown Edge and surrounding villages.
This talk soon became a very pleasant evening as Peter challenged the ladies on their knowledge on the pronunciation and meanings of the familiar dialect that they had grown up with.
Explaining how the words came about, with pictures of well-known articles, brought about many different versions of explanation from members, with Peter giving us some of his own.
Apart from relating experiences from his own childhood, Peter’s knowledge of dialects, was far reaching, and his interest in the history of speech, gave us a broad insight into the way words and how they are spoken, has developed.
His ability to switch from the “broad” Brown Edge way of talking, to a more recognisable pronunciation, was impressive.
As a newcomer to Brown Edge myself, I have often been completely lost, when a broad dialect has been spoken.
Indeed the first time I had a chimney sweep come to attend to the chimney in our old cottage, it was soon obvious that this gentleman and I were not speaking the same language.
It took much waving of hands etc before I realised he was asking me to go outside and see if the brush had appeared out of the chimney.
Members were so involved in our speaker’s tour of the “potteries in speech”, that we were in danger of overrunning our allotted time.
Hilary had the easy task of thanking Peter, for his very full and interesting talk.
While we enjoyed our homemade cakes and tea, prepared by Ruth and Elaine, we learned that the competition had been won by Dorothy Hibbitt and the door raffle by Jean Shirley.
We meet again on Wednesday, October 2, when we will welcome Sally Turner with “Silk Art”.
Her demonstration will include a chance for members to “have a go” themselves if they wish, for the added cost of £4 for the materials.
A “silk scarf “is the competition, so come and try your hand or enjoy an artist at work.