NOTES ON DECEMBER 2009 MEETING

Pre-Christmas Meeting - Help for Heroes

This December's meeting of the Alston Moor Historical Society followed the pattern of last years very successful pre Christmas meeting, when the entertainment was provided by the members. This year the theme was WW11, marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict. A significant number of members accepted the invitation to wear dress of the period.

The compere for the evening was Laurence Law, the Society secretary, who welcomed members and visitors observing that the programme was not designed to celebrate war, but to highlight the resolve of the public, and the fortitude, they had shown in the face of extreme adversity.

Turning to the present, he commented upon the tragic loss of UK lives in Afghanistan but pointed out that for each fatality, many more men and women were maimed and seriously injured, their lives shattered. The committee had decided that, in keeping with the theme of the evening, it would be appropriate that the proceeds of the whole evening should go to the charity ‘Help for Heroes’.

The programme opened with Joan Walton reading a poem entitled ‘The Farewell’ written in 1915, by Noel Oxland, an Alston resident, whilst on board ship travelling to fight in the Dardanelles. Within months he had lost his life. Richard Turner then read the fact based emotional story, ‘Christmas Eve, 1914’ by Mike Harding, describing a brief amnesty in hostilities which prompted the two sides to join together, in comradeship, for a few hours. Admittedly both these items referred to WW1, but they were nevertheless appropriate for the occasion!

At this point the compere returned, dressed as James Bigglesworth, otherwise known as Biggles, the fictional dashing RAF ace pilot of WW11. He lead community singing of WW11 favourites, largely associated with Vera Lynn, ending with the song that expressed everybody’s wish at that time, ‘We’ll meet again’.

Guest artists were Les and Di Wallace, our Methodist minister and his wife, who sang a selection of folk songs relevant to the period, accompanying themselves on guitar, recorder and flute. Local photographer and historian Simon Danby showed a series of video pieces, illustrating spoken interviews given by local personalities, with the use of photographs taken from his extensive archive. By skilful use of technology, Simon was able bring the old still photographs to life by using zoom and panning techniques. This presentation was particularly well received as many of the people portrayed, were either known to the audience, or were actually in the audience.

Richard Turner gave another reading, one that had an all too familiar ring given the way things seem to be going in our modern society. The title was ‘Elf and Safety’ and dealt with the ways in which the current phobias for political correctness, and interpretations verging on the hysterical, of what is, and what is not, dangerous or permissible. Sadly some of the decisions described had a disconcerting air of believability. Certainly enforcement along these lines would drastically change the face of our traditional Christmas!

Alastair Robertson is our archivist and he produced a quiz based on WW11 incidents and events. With his usual ingenuity, a wide variety of topics were covered, including some musical items.

After more songs from the Wallace duo, came the highlight of the evening – the arrival of Santa Claus. Santa looked remarkably like Richard Turner, although it might have been a trick of the light! He proceeded to announce that the most interesting period costume was the Russian army outfit sported by Ray Macro. His prize was a Vera Lynn CD!

The evening closed with the serving of mulled wine and mince pies, which provided a welcome opportunity for the audience to socialise and exchange reminiscences and memories of past times.

The speaker at our January 2010 meeting will be member Ray Macro who will deliver ‘Alston Town – the Macro Hypothesis’ and then will give an update on the High Mill Project. The meeting will commence at 7.30 in the Alston Masonic Hall on Wednesday, the 6th January.