REPORT ON THE JANUARY 2006 MEETING

The Last Social of Christmas

The Alston Moor Historical Society billed it’s recent social event, held in mid-January, as definitely the last event of the Christmas season. A varied programme, using resources from within the membership, was presented to the assembled company. A quiz with a difference using the ‘hangman’ format, and using local features and sites as clues, had been devised by Alistair Robertson and proved successful despite demonstrating that the members know their local geography perhaps a bit too well! Using a complicated scoring system it is believed that one team won by one point and all other teams were second! However it did not really matter a there was no prize to be awarded!

The next item was a reading of poems inspired by Alston Moor, full of local references. The readers were Society members Andy Griffin, Joan Walton, Alistair Robertson and Laurence Law plus guest local poet, Josephine Dickinson. Chairman Richard Turner read an evocative poem bearing the intriguing and unlikely title ‘Moonlight over Nenthead’.

The final offering on the programme was a re-enactment of a Tony Hancock sketch, devised and produced by Alistair Robertson, and entitled ‘Jack’s Return Home’. Whilst this light-hearted romp can only be regarded as a relatively recent historical script, it was performed as authentically as the actors abilities allowed. However there was no doubt the gags and jokes used were very definitely of ancient origin dating back many years! The cast were partly in costume and what was lacked in the finer points of thespian finesse was more than amply compensated by enthusiasm and over-acting! The players were Joan Walton as Martha, Andy Griffin as Joshua, Laurence Law as the evil Jasper Stoneyheart and Andrew Robertson as Jack, the title role. At the piano Sheila Bell provided suitable music to accompany and enhance the pathos of this tragic Victorian-style melodrama.

The evening concluded with sherry and mince pies. The Chairman thanked all concerned for their efforts in producing an enjoyable and somewhat different evenings entertainment.

The next meeting af the Society will be held in the Masonic Hall in Alston at 7.30 pm on 1st February. Andy Griffin, Society member, historian, writer and poet, will give a talk entitled ‘Cuthbert Collingwood – the Northumbrian who saved the Nation’ based on his recently published book of the same name.