Uniquely British – from PG Woodhouse to Alan Bennett - 6 October 2010

I am pleased to Report on our Monthly Meeting on Wednesday 6th October 2010. Our President, Mrs Jean Lewis opened the Meeting, as usual, with a joke, which always goes down well before the business side of the meeting.

Many members have put their names down for the next trip, arranged by Ann Wale to Bletchley Park. A 49 seater coach is booked, the cost includes entrance fee, coffee and lunch. This like all of our trips are well supported. Many husbands will also be joining us.

Members were invited to bring raffle prizes for our fund raising event at Christmas, to make up our very popular Christmas hampers ! These will be required at our November meeting.

Our Speaker this week was Mr. T. King and his subject was named “Uniquely British - P.G. Wodehouse to Alan Bennett”. Alan Bennett was born in 1934, the son of a butcher, and his childhood and formative years were spent in Armley, Leeds, surrounded by ordinary Yorkshire women. Many of the characters in his books originated from his experiences in those days. From his detailed observations he wrote the wonderful “Talking Heads”.

He loved the comedians Tommy Handley and and Tommy Trinder, listening to them on the radio. He attended Oxford University and together with his collaborators Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller they revolutionized satire with ‘Beyond the Fringe’. Later he wrote many notable books, plays and films etc. reflecting the detailed lives of ‘ordinary’ people’.

The 2nd author chosen by our speaker was P.G. Wodehouse who was born in 1881 in Guildford. His childhood was vastly different from Alan Bennett, spending his school years at various boarding schools and seeing very little of his parents. He started his working life as a banker and then a journalist. His best known novels are about Jeeves -- but what was surprising to all of us that he wrote 15 plays, 250 lyrics and 30 musicals, including the lyrics for the song ‘Bill’ from Showboat with Jerome Kern and Cole Porter.

Mr. King accompanied his talk with slides and reference to the many books written by these two talented and vastly different British authors.

The next Meeting of Dean Rise W.I. will be at 9.45 on Wednesday November 3rd. and the talk will be ‘Tales from the Opera’ will be given by Mrs. P. Purcell.

Visitors are always welcome.