Social Events

An evening of Irish Music

Saturday October 14th

At least twenty members of the Gan Teideal Irish Folk Band squeezed on to the stage at Stonnall Village Hall to give us a wonderful taste of the ‘Emerald Isle’.  The Irish phrase “Gan Teideal” translates to English as “Unnamed” or “Untitled” and this is the title of one of their favourite pieces of music.

The band entertained us with jigs, reels, ballads and traditional Irish songs, some new to us, and some well-known favourites.  The instruments included accordions, violins, guitars, a double bass and recorders as well as the traditional Irish bodhrán.  The talented musicians, some very young, produced a very professional sound and soon had us clapping our hands and tapping our feet to ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ and ‘Step It Out Mary’.  The programme was well balanced with sad, beautiful ballads such as ‘The Fields Of Athenry’.  The audience were given word sheets so that we could join in the chorus of the more popular numbers.  We all know ‘The Wild Rover’.

For a band whose title means ‘unnamed’, Gan Teideal certainly made a name for themselves. 

In the interval we all enjoyed a fish and chip supper.  Many thanks to Liz and the hard-working members of the social committee for a memorable evening.

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Sunday 25th February 2018

Our Annual Lunch was held at the Moat House, Acton Trussell and was open to all members to attend.  The meal was very good and the room, as usual, provided a lovely  atmosphere with bright sunshine streaming through the windows.  Many thanks to Jo Taylor for organising such a splendid event.

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Sex and the Tudors at Tutbury Castle

Tuesday 27th February 2018

The trip to Tutbury Castle to hear Lesley Smith give her talk, “Sex and the Tudors ” was very successful. WNTA members have been to many of Lesley’s talks but this time a two course lunch was included.  As you can imagine, the talk was very lively and Lesley made the most of her expertise and research in this subject. This talk is described as a “rip-roaring tumble through the sexual exploits of the Tudors”.  Lesley tackled subjects such as contraception, prostitution and gay sex in this factual and highly entertaining lecture.

The lunch, a cold buffet, was plentiful and well received.  Although the weather was making travelling uncertain, everyone turned up. Lesley’s talks at Tutbury are always popular and are usually fully booked very quickly so look out for news of our next trip.

Many thanks to Margaret Jones for arranging this visit.

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Saturday October 13th 2018

Our Annual Social Event for this year is to be ” Divas – the Legends ” performed by Alison Room and accompanied by her husband Ian. It features the music and life stories of Barbara Streisand, Liza Minelli and Shirley Bassey and is well worth seeing. There will be a Ploughman’s Supper and Dessert. The venue will again be Stonnall Village Hall and we hope that you will support us yet again.

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The raffle and refreshments continue to provide funds for the association and donations of prizes are always welcome. Many thanks to the committee for all their hard work.

Elizabeth Yates 

Social Committee Chair