December 2023

15 Buckden Roundabout December 2023 Village News W.I. On 7 th November, W.I. members were treated to a most amusing, astonishing and mind - blowing entertainment by Da- vid Bale. His title, “ Without Fantasy, a Life is not a Life ” gave little clue to the ex- tremely humorous excursion into the world of E.S.P. and magi- cal illusion that was to come. David involved everyone present in his performance as he talked about the human brain, asking us to “ use the empty space in your mind ”, whilst amazing and delighting us all with tricks using words and numbers (not to mention the choosing of a name for a charming toy dog) to convince us all that we ’ d been engaged in various sorts of thought - transference! The time flew by and we were quite sorry when it was time for tea - break. The competition for an unusual pack of cards was won by Judith Armitage. December ’ s meeting on Tuesday 5 th will be a Christmas Social evening with cracker - making and a simple quiz whilst we share nibbles and good company round the tables. All visitors are most welcome to come along and for further information please contact: Emma Spencer – 07960 018412 Judith Armitage – 01480 811717 An Introduction to British Ants The Huntingdonshire Local Group of the Wildlife Trust is pleased to welcome Brian Eversham, the Chief Executive of Beds, Cambs and Northants Wildlife Trust. Brian ’ s topic will be An Introduction to Ants and the talk will be held on Wednes- day 13 th December at 7.30pm at Brampton Memorial Hall. Brian will introduce us to the habitats and behaviour of ants, explaining that they have some of the most complex and elab- orate behaviour of all insects. We will discover their social structure, their complex interactions with other animals and plants, plus their foraging and defensive tactics. Ants are the most accessible and easily identifiable of the social insects, with only about 50 species, a handful of which can be found in our gardens. Brian says that this is a group that anyone can get to know and careful observations can add to our under- standing. Everyone is most welcome to attend. Booking is not neces- sary. The charge is £3.50 and payment is by cash or card. We meet at Brampton Memorial Hall, Thrapston Road, Brampton, PE28 4TB. For more information please contact George (01480 450809 or georgecottam@virginmedia.com) Part of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Registered Charity No: 1000412 Buckden Learning Group Update In early September we introduced a two week course on ‘ Four Twentieth Century Dictators ’ (two dictators a week in elon- gated sessions). 28 people attended this Zoom course, put on at short notice and featuring a tutor who is now based in Detroit. Having learnt about the ‘ careers ’ of Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin and Franco attendees are now eagerly awaiting a promised further selec- tion of dictators. At the end of September we started a 10 week course entitled ‘ Gilbert and Sullivan – Their Times and Tunes ’ with a local tu- tor. At the time of writing (October 29) 40 members are learn- ing about the historical context of the operas and their links to contemporary personalities and events. Among the many an- ecdotes in the course we have learnt that the character of Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore was largely based on one W H Smith (who couldn ’ t abide the music and lyrics). Who would have guessed that the son of the founder of the W H Smith retail empire would go from newsagent to MP to First Lord of the Admiralty (without any naval experience)? Whatever the level of prior knowledge of music or of Gilbert and Sullivan, the course is proving entertaining; particularly so for the extracts from modern Australian productions. We have commenced enrolment for our next face - to - face course which starts in January. This is a 10 week course enti- tled ‘ From Mud to Cement – An Outline History of British Ar- chitecture ’ (see advert for details). This will look primarily at the history of domestic architecture and early patterns of liv- ing. This will be followed by further courses. These are generally face - to - face from September to Easter; Zoom courses, with remote tutors, are run in the summer and as occasional ‘ gap fillers ’. A full programme has been planned through to July 2025. As usual, our courses have been interspersed with some individual discussion sessions on Zoom; this is expected to con- tinue. Note that pre - registration for our courses is essential to avoid disappointment.