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West Cheshire Rural

A Review of our last three talks

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This meeting stepped back in time to meet Miss Eliza Dutton, Chester's own Edwardian lady. The Edwardian period officially spanned 1901-1910, covering the reign of Edward VII although many historians extend it to 1914 when the outbreak of the First World War brought the era to an end. In Chester, as in the rest of the country, it was an age associated with elegance and prosperity. The Edwardian era also saw women increasingly making their voices heard through the suffragette movement. Miss Dutton recounted the story of Mary Philips, a prominent suffragette, who was arrested for throwing flour at PM Herbert Asquith who was visiting Chester. We also heard about Diana Beck who became a consultant neurosurgeon at Middlesex Hospital. This was a fascinating insight into an often overlooked era, bringing life to the people, events and changing society of Edwardian Chester.

A very appreciative and interested audience attended to hear John Winter's experience of living in Liverpool during the 60s when he became involved in the music scene. During this time when Liverpool was still recovering from the devastating effects of the war, the city was at the forefront of the revolution in popular music culture. We heard of the famous Cavern Club, the Casbah in West Derby and Litherland Town Hall where the Beatles played for the first time in December 1960. When Bill Shankly joined Liverpool Football Club as manager, his mission was to take the team to the top of the league. He famously said "Football isn't a matter of life and death, it's more important than that" and under his leadership the team went from strength to strength. By the mid 60s, through both music and football, Liverpool transformed its image and that of the Beatles.

Our speaker, Peter Duncalfe, is from the Nantwich Veterinary Group. Peter's area of expertise is cattle and his illustrated talk covered all aspects of cattle care, including the factors which encourage higher milk yield. His talk gave an interesting look at the way the role of a farm vet has changed. Whilst the job is still focused on the care of sick animals, it has evolved in to working more with the farmers and other professionals to proactively manage, maintain and improve their herds. The talk was very well received and generated a great deal of questions at the end.

Dr David Mottram gave us an interesting and informative talk about the complexities involved in providing the medical services for the Olympic Games. The sheer numbers of people they cater for are mind-boggling. Athletes, support staff, volunteers and the spectators all needed to be included. There were many questions from the floor following this talk, many about dope-testing. Dr Mottram was a mine of information and his slides about the Olympic Games in Rio were extremely interesting.

Dave McCall writes fiction books under the pen name David Ebsworth. He tells stories from history that he wishes somebody else had already written but which seem to have been overlooked - until now! A Betrayal of Heroes takes us on a roller-coaster ride from 1939 to 1945 with the Spanish Republican heroes who fought for Free France. But its also the story of Jewish communities in Morocco and Algeria during those same years. Some of the author's favourite chapters are those set among the Jewish and Spanish communities in Casablanca, or those set in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, where the Spanish soldiers of La Nueve were quartered before being despatched to Normandy.