Last night at the WI, we had a wonderful talk entitled “The Good Life – Part 2”. No, not about Tom & Barbara from Surbiton but Maureen (and her hubby David) from Stockton on the Forest.

Maureen gave her first speech to us last year and this was the follow up about the trials and tribulations of life on a small holding farm. And what trials there were!

We heard all about their first ram called Jack, a virile tup and no mistake who eventually grew so large and with a tendency to head butt anyone who came near, the decision was taken to sell him on at market. There wasn’t a dry eye in the hall (from laughter) as Maureen told us of Jack’s disgrace at market when he decided to mount the pedigree ram in front as they were led into the ring. Oh the shame of it ………….

We heard about lambing time and the case of the ewe who was so keen to be a mother that she couldn’t wait for the birth of her own lambs, so ‘lamb napped’ one of her neighbour’s brood!

Then there was the story of Moss, the border collie who never really got the hang of rounding up sheep rather he just ran through the flock, scattering them as he went. Strangely though, they then all followed him home in single file.

And so the stories went on and were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Life is never dull, that’s for sure

There was a great turnout of members, despite the biting wind and everyone wished member Ann (and her husband Jim) a very happy golden wedding anniversary for Saturday, toasting her with bucks fizz and scrumptious home made cakes.

Next month is a musically themed evening and new ladies would be sure of a very warm welcome if they wished to attend.

Last night’s talk by Dr Andrew Jones of York Archaeological Trust was a fascinating insight into the 5 year dig of the Hungate area of York, the biggest ever archaeological dig in York City Centre.

Dr Jones painted us a picture of life in Hungate stretching from the early 20th C back to the Romano/British period. We heard about the 1 up/1 down terraced and back to back dwellings of the mid 19th C which although without running water had gas lighting installed since the site also housed the Union Gasworks making it cheap to pipe gas to the houses.

We saw pictures of the remains of Duckett’s Tipper flush toilet (also called a ‘slop water’ closet) which was housed in an outside communal toilet block. After the earlier communal toilet (probably a dry pit toilet, which would have been only occasionally cleaned out), this new toilet must have seemed like the height of modernity (!) Of course, it was not plumbed into to any water source so without rain and the concerted effort to tip used water into it, it would not have flushed.

The excavation also uncovered some remains of the medieval Cordwainers’ Hall, the Guild Hall of leatherworkers. Remains of a Viking building, made of boat planks was discovered – the first time re-used timbers had been found in the walls of a building of this period in York. Our Viking ancestors were also keen on recycling it seems! Although a ‘Viking-Age’ structure, the planks were not from a Viking boat but more likely a boat from South East England. The building was not like those found in Coppergate which had ground floors, so it is believed that it was probably a cellar-like building used for storing food.

Finally we reached the Romano/British settlement and the discovery of pots, a cobbled road and graves. Not surprisingly then, the team also uncovered human remains although the 12th C church of St John in the Marsh itself remains un-excavated as this area will not be redeveloped.

Even though it was a cold night, there was a good turnout of members for the talk and the WI ladies also welcomed several guests.

On Thursday, I attended my first WI meeting and am now one of the 212,000 or so National members. Apparently there are 7,000 WI’s across the UK and whilst the Claxton & Sand Hutton branch may be small, it is perfectly formed. There was also another new member that night and although we weren’t quite sure what to expect, we both found a very friendly group who made us welcome. The first talk of the year was a fascinating insight into the workings of York Minster after the doors are closed at night. Given by a former Minster policeman who shared some of his experiences when on the night duty and what experiences he’d had! From a group of gents streaking across the precinct at the dead of night in Winter (Why? – you might ask) to strange sounds coming from an empty Minster in the early hours that needed to be investigated, he’d seen and heard it all. I’m already looking forward to next month’s meeting – more about that later.