David Wray
April 28th, 2024

Hal-an-tow, jolly rumbalow
We were up long before the day-O
To welcome in the summer
To welcome in the May-O
The summer is a-coming in
And winter’s gone away-O

If you’ve ever visited Helston in Cornwall on the day of their May Day celebrations, you will have heard this song being sung in the streets (before the famous  Floral Dance at midday.)

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David Wray
April 26th, 2024

Many people will remember, from their school science lessons, diagrams like this showing the process by which butterflies develop, from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to fully grown butterfly. The process is called metamorphosis.

But how do we know this? A lot of our knowledge comes from a 17th century female scientist called Maria Merian.

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David Wray
March 26th, 2024

The exact origins of April Fools’ Day are uncertain, and there are several theories about how the tradition began. One popular belief is that it dates back to 16th-century France when the country switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, changing the date of New Year.

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Warwick and Leamington Beekeepers
March 26th, 2024

Asian hornets are an invasive, voracious predator of our pollinator insects including Honey Bees. Accidentally introduced into France in 2004, they have since spread Eastwards to Italy, South to Spain and Portugal and North to Germany Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and now, to the UK.

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Guy Singh-Watson
February 28th, 2024

Like many of you, I’m sure, I have my vegetables delivered every week by a company called Riverford (and wonderful they are too!). The head of this company, Guy Singh-Watson,  always writes a newsletter about farming issues, and includes it in the vegetable box. This month’s really intrigued me. It’s about ploughing.

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David Wray
February 26th, 2024

Why are some people more successful than others? Talent, hard work, ambition, discipline or luck? That’s certainly not wrong. However, it seems that there may be another interesting cause of success. Happiness and success are directly related – but probably not in the way you might expect. Put simply: you don’t have to be successful to be happy, you have to be happy to be successful.

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David Wray
January 20th, 2024

Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14th each year, has its origins in both ancient and medieval times. It has evolved over centuries into the widely recognized celebration of love that we know today.

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Wendy Green
January 23rd, 2024

Back in the mid-70s I had a colourful very long Doctor Who scarf, and as I rushed out to go to work one morning, I slammed the front door with the end of my scarf still inside. I nearly strangled myself trying to reach my keys to release me from my front door, then drove to work laughing!

In the winter we would put a ground sheet over my car to keep it from freezing up, using a heavy garden fork to hold it in place. One morning, having hurriedly pulled the ground sheet off, I drove to the office. When I got there a smiling colleague came out to meet me and I thought how kind  ……. then she  asked me why I had a garden fork on the bonnet of my car – I think I pulled it off like a Magician with a tablecloth at a children’s party!

David Wray
December 20th, 2023

The marking of a New Year is an age-old tradition around the world — common features of the celebrations are food, fireworks and reflection with friends and family. The forms and dates of these celebrations vary between different calendars, religions and cultures of course.

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Wendy Green
December 24th, 2023

Brian and I went into the town on a very cold night in January last year, a little late, to see The Christmas Lights in the town – really beautiful. This reminded me of the JEPHSON GARDENS ILLUMINATIONS back in 1952/53.  They were spectacular – almost every flower bed and  statue, tree and fence was adorned with thousands of coloured bulbs depicting famous legends, pictures and stories – they were amazing!

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David Wray
November 25th, 2023

There was a time when almost every rural British family who kept bees followed a strange tradition. Whenever there was a death in the family, someone had to go out to the hives and tell the bees of the terrible loss that had befallen the family. 

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Wendy Green
November 25th, 2023

As an Organist I was often asked to play for Brownies Christmas Carol Services in a village church nearby, so one year i arrived in plenty of time and found the Church in darkness.  I waited a while in the car, getting colder every minute – then realized this was the wrong church in the wrong village!

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David Wray (from a BBC article)
October 25th, 2023

In 1966, a young woman named Roberta (Bobbi) Gibb applied for an official place in the Boston Marathon. Her application was refused but  a derogatory comment made her determined that she WOULD run the Boston Marathon whether they would let her or not.

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Wendy Green
October 25th, 2023

My 2 sisters & I were 4,8 and 11, just after the War, when Mum & Dad decided to invite a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia to share our home – she was called Margarita Hamerstein – Auntie Hamer to us children.

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David Wray

September 24th, 2023

Science tells us that it’s not your heart that controls your happiness. It’s your brain. Almost everything that makes you feel “happy” is linked to one of the four happiness hormones: dopamine, serotonin, endorphin and oxytocin.

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Wendy Green

September 24th, 2023

I am the middle of 3 sisters, Julie, Wendy, and Margaret. JULIE means Youthful, Love’s Child. MARGARET means Pearl, Patron Saint of Expectant Mothers.

WENDY means? 

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