Our April talk

Richard III – hero or villain? Our April talk

This month, in a round-table talk with discussion, our very own Celya set out the case for a fair and balanced history of Richard III, a much-vilified king.

His story has fascinated Celya since she was at school, studying the Plantagenets for O level with an inspiring history teacher (all of the class passed, with very high grades). Then, as a history student at university, she joined the Richard III Society. 

Celya explained that the picture we have of Richard III comes from Shakespeare, performances such as Olivier's and the writings of Thomas More, all rooted in the times of Henry VII and the story of the Princes in the Tower.

The work of Phillipa Langley has uncovered a lot more, over several books and a Channel 4 documentary, based on the Missing Princes Project, where Rob Rinder is asked to authenticate the documents found.

So was Richard III the victim of the earliest character assassination in British history? 

Celya took us through the six major crimes Shakespeare accuses him of, four of which have since been challenged, including deaths not proven, a marriage declared bigamous, a murder more likely to be from natural causes and new evidence on what could have happened to the Princes in the Tower.

Were the Princes killed by order of Richard III? We don't know. They were in the Tower for four months, not uncommon at the time, when it was a palace and traditional for future Kings to reside there before a coronation. Then they disappeared. The evidence does not support the Princes' murder. 

There were bids for power, claims of impostors, various national interests, counterclaims...

Philippa Langley has won an award for her work finding the remains of Richard III through her Looking for Richard project. She had been convinced that the grave had not been destroyed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Much was made at the time of the discovery that they were in a car park – but the car park was the site of a former palace. The University of Leicester declared in 2013 that it was beyond reasonable doubt that the remains were those of Richard III.

Richard III's Tudor enemies had taken not just his life, at the Battle of Bosworth, but his whereabouts. And Celya noted that the more people thought he was a tyrant, the less chance there was of finding him.

Examination of the skeleton found the right date, description, mitochondrial DNA and evidence of Scoleosis, with curvature of the spine less pronounced than our modern image of him suggests. He was probably killed by a blow to the head from a large bladed weapon.

He had a son, Edward, with Anne Neville, and history is vague about what happened to him. Little is known of his life. He was made nominal Lord Lieutenant, then Prince of Wales, declared heir apparent in 1484 – and died in the same year. Where he is buried is unclear. But had Bosworth not happened, he might have had a right to the throne.

Before the Tudors' take on things, Richard III was a popular king. His list of achievements included laws extending bail; making it legal to seize property only until someone was accused; stopping occasional courts from abusing their power by convicting people to whom they bore ill will; stopping concealment of rival titles; addressing child heirs; and the raising of revenue due to the benevolence of false gifts. Were those, Celya argued, the actions of a tyrant?

Why so much interest in a king who was on the throne for so short a time? The Richard III Society, founded in the 1920s, has a substantial global membership of 'Ricardians', historians and lecturers keen for us to revise our view and people who love the villainous side of the story.

And what was the appeal in Shakespeare's play? We reminded ourselves that he was a popular playwright of the time – perhaps the draw was people's love of a good story and the attitudes of the time towards disability?

We discussed historical societies generally, context, the chronology of names and how these stories come up, through big names and new scientific means of investigating objects.

But the question that stumped us was where the word 'Plantagenet' originally came from. We might need another of Heather's marvellous cheese scones while we look that up...

A huge thank-you to Celya for her rigorous research and fascinating family tree printouts. 

Our April coffee morning: Friday 26th April, meet between 10.30am and 11am for Coffee, chat and adorable artworks in Canary Wharf. Meet at the café upstairs in Waitrose at Canary Wharf

At the March coffee morning the arrival of the latest decorated animal sculptures in support of Guide Dogs for the Blind was mentioned. These charming pieces are dotted about Canary Wharf, and it was suggested that we combine coffee with an uplifting search to find some (or all) of these lovely creatures.  So, unusually, we will be meeting at an in-store café, as a convenient starting spot for those curious to explore the trail. If you'd like to download the trail guide, you can find it here.

Our April walk

Sporting splendour and fabulous flowers – our April walk 

On a gloriously sunny Spring Saturday, our walking group headed to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Alison writes:

"We met up at the Timber Lodge and walked through the park, witnessing blossom and bluebells. It was gloriously sunny and warm. Some saw a woodpecker. We went on to the Greenway and the View Tube, which was very summery with Latin music and lovely refreshments and food."

Brenda adds:

"Spanish bluebells, cowslips and the one we couldn’t name – Indian hyacinth. Great to see so many wildflowers and a cheer went up for dandelions!"

Fancy joining us on one of our walks? They're on the second Saturday of the month. Look out for our next Coming Up blogpost to find out more.

Coming up in April

A blossom garden, a misunderstood monarch and some adorable artworks – coming up in April

Our monthly walk: Saturday 13th April, 11.00am – Walk and talk and blossom

Join us for a walk to celebrate Spring in the varied plantings of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park!

Meet at the Timber Lodge Café – in case of April showers we can shelter while we gather! Ideas for a stroll could include the London Blossom Garden, the wetlands and the seasonal and regional plantings along the watersides.  Also good to check out the exciting new buildings and resources that include, for example, V&A East.

Check in with the Walks WhatsApp on the day (members can join by emailing us) to see who to expect at the meeting point. The actual walk is co-created by everyone who turns up!

Our Monthly talk: Thursday 18 April, 7 for 7.30pm start – Richard III

Be prepared to be surprised and informed by our very own Celya who has explored the life and exploits of this often-misunderstood monarch. Is Shakespeare the best guide?  Perhaps it is time for some nuance, context, and family background - as well as some updating of information.  

We will be at our usual venue, St Margaret's House, 15 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL

Please note the new arrangements for access: the new code will be available for our regular members via our member whatsapp group – if you attend regularly and haven’t had an invite to the group yet please contact us via our email.

If you are not a member of EEWI our white bell will be on the wall, so ring and someone will come to let you in. Sometimes this lets us down – please call one of the committee if other means of access fail!

If you are coming for the first time, contact us at EEWI via our email to check on access so we can make sure you are able to get access smoothly.

Coffee Morning: Friday 26th April, meet between 10.30am and 11am – Coffee, chat and adorable artworks in Canary Wharf. Meet at the café upstairs in Waitrose at Canary Wharf

At the March coffee morning the arrival of the latest decorated animal sculptures in support of Guide Dogs for the Blind was mentioned. These absolutely charming pieces are are dotted about 'The Wharf', and it was suggested that we combine coffee with an uplifting search to find some (or all) of these lovely creatures.  So, unusually, we will be meeting at an in-store café, but it will be a convenient starting spot for those curious to explore the trail. 

If you'd like to download the trail guide, you can find it here.

With thanks to our newsletter team for this month's information

In other news...

Our Treasurer Celya has been flying the flag for East End WI as a trustee of Middlesex Federation of Women's Institutes. Pictured, Celya at the conference with speaker Danielle Brown, a gold medal Paralympian, and with two other trustees.  

And for our March coffee morning, we visited The Print House in Stratford. There's talk of finding out more about the courses and café at the new Mary Ward Centre nearby.

Our March talk

Our lives in film – a talk by Derek Smith

"The power of film is incredible ... Everybody's got a story to tell."

In a world so often focused on celebrity, Derek Smith makes documentaries about ordinary people's lives. 

Derek has been making films since he was in the 6th form. 20 years ago, he was a producer-director in regional TV, where he was working in film crews of six or seven people. 

Digital technology has enabled him to shift to making films himself, to author his own films, teach himself editing and record his own voiceovers, making changes straightforward. Access to software has made it possible to produce books to accompany his documentaries. And he brings to his digital work the discipline from his directing days.

Taking us through some of his films, Derek showed us Finsbury People, hearing from people who had been through the Blitz. We saw a beautiful slow motion sequence from a 1980s Channel 4 programme about racing pigeons in the North East. We heard the story of a series taking Edward Lear's landscape drawings to modern Greece – made with a historian, funded by one of his bandmates and bought by Sky Arts. Another of Derek's films looked into what happened to the people in a famous 1953 photo by Paul Strand, of peasant life in Italy long gone – a film that being an independent filmmaker made possible because he could work in depth, without time pressure. In his film Victory's Children, he followed the life stories of all of the children in a 1945 photo of a VE Day party. Stockton Museum put the photos on display. To mark the replacement of its community centre, Derek made a film about the Gascoyne Estate, looking into why its quality of design, sense of utopia and community had been so successful. And Derek told us how a film commissioned by Thornaby Town Council to tell the story of the Devil's Bridge road disaster led to better safety signage, to a memorial and to connections between people.

Over 50 years in film... and Derek is still looking, listening and researching. 

Find out more about Derek's work and see some of his films on his website and Together TV .

Our monthly coffee morning: Friday 29th March at Jim & Tonic at the Print House, 133 High Street, Stratford, E15 2RB. Meet between 10.30am and 11am 

This is just along the road from our original venue for this month's coffee morning, the Mary Ward Centre, set back from the road, facing the canal. For those who fancy a walk after their coffee, it's an easy stroll along the canal to Three Mills Green.

Our March walk

Three churches, a farm and a family firm – our March walk from Limehouse to Stepney

We had two churches on our list – St Anne's Limehouse and St Dunstan's in Stepney. But thanks to our very own Vivienne, our walk started with the 1930s church Our Lady Immaculate and St Frederick, built for Limehouse's large Irish Catholic community. And there's more: it has the 'Steering Christ', a statue on the church that acted as a navigation aid for sailors coming into the docks.

Walking on via a look inside the old Passmore Edwards library turned hotel, we headed to the 18th century Hawksmoor church St Anne's Limehouse, now open to visitors on Fridays and Saturdays. A welcoming volunteer told us about the stained glass that has gone off to Sheffield for restoration, the church organ that was in the Great Exhibition, the church interior, most of which was replaced after a fire, invited us to explore the upper gallery via a staircase that's one of the few surviving parts of the original interior, showed us the crypt that provides community meeting space and told us how the church is supported today. We explored the church's exhibition on local historical figures and marvelled at the craft skills needed to restore the church glass and plasterwork.

Our route to Stepney took us past the Seamen's Mission (now apartments), one of a number in the area that once served sailors from all over the world, and along Salmon Lane. Then to St Dunstan & All Saints Stepney, the 'Church of the High Seas', closed – a charming note on the door explained that people were away on a pilgrimage – but in glorious sunshine, we were able to enjoy the marvellous gargoyles and read its history going back over 1,000 years. Brenda told us the story of one of the relief carvings above the door, of St Dunstan using his pincers to nip the nose of the Devil.

Our plan was to have coffee at Stepney City Farm but finding it packed, we walked through, along Stepney Green, and headed to Rinkoff Bakery, the East end family business founded in 1911 whose history (and crodoughs) we enjoyed at our June 2023 talk by Esther Rinkoff.

At walk's end, two of us strolled on to see the wildflowers at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

A massive thank you to Vivienne for bringing her local knowledge to this walk full of interest.

Fancy joining us? Look out for our next Coming up blogpost for details.

Coming up in March

East end places on foot, East end lives on film, East End skills in Stratford – coming up in March

Our monthly walk: an episcopal journey – Saturday 9th March, 11.00 am, meet at Limehouse DLR

After the bonus tour of St John’s on last month’s walk, it will be a double this month: we'll meet at Limehouse DLR and stroll along to St Anne’s Limehouse then round to St Dunstan’s. There's lots of interesting history at both and along the way.

Then on for a coffee at Stepney City Farm.

Check out the EEWI walkers' WhatsApp for who else to look out for on the day. 

Our monthly talk: Our lives in Film, Derek Smith – Thursday 21st March, 7pm for 7.30pm start, at St Margaret's House, 15 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL

Derek Smith is a local film maker. He is creating a new project so we will have the benefit of finding out what it is all about. He will share some of his experiences in the detective work of researching working class communities.

Brush up your ideas and memories about the boroughs we live in – they could be in the next production!

Please note the new arrangements for access to St Margaret's House: The new code will be available for our regular members via our member whatsapp group - if you attend regularly and haven’t had an invite to the group yet please contact us vis our email. If you are not a member of EEWI our 'white bell' will be on the wall, so ring and someone will come to let you in. Sometimes this lets us down, so you can always ring one of the committee if other means of access fail!

If you are coming for the first time, contact us at EEWI via our email to check on access so we can make sure you are able to get access smoothly.

Our monthly coffee morning: change of venue... Friday 29th March – meet between 10.30am and 11am at Jim & Tonic at the Print House, 133 High Street, Stratford, E15 2RB

This is just along the road from our original venue for this month's coffee morning, the Mary Ward Centre, and set back from the road, facing the canal. For those who fancy a walk after their coffee, it's an easy stroll along the canal to Three Mills Green.

With thanks to Heather for the words. Sketch of the Mary Ward Centre café: Lydia. Image of St Anne's Limehouse: Creative Commons / Christine Matthews. Cityscape from Derek Smith's film Gascoyne Lives. 

Our February workshop

Writing to music with Fiona Thompson – our February workshop

Pedals – who knew? For our workshop with writer Fiona Thompson, there was much excitement when Fiona brought her harp. Few of us had seen one of these beautiful instruments up close.

Fiona's writing workshops are inspired by Natalie Goldberg, a Buddhist writer who combined writing with meditation.

With prompts and listening to passages of music, we were encouraged to write, and keep writing whatever came to us, until each piece of music finished. We shared our writing, from wistful to heartbreaking to witty to the pure enjoyment of listening to the music itself.

A curious lot, our members wanted to know more – and Fiona invited us to have a go at playing the harp. For an instrument with such subtlety, we discovered that it needs some wellie to play its characteristic cascade of notes, the glissando.

And the sketches? Well, I was supposed to be taking pictures but music is so lovely to draw...

A massive thank-you to Fiona for a wonderful evening and particularly for the generosity of transporting her harp to play for us live.

Find out more about Fiona's writing work here and London City Orchestra here.

Photos by Lydia and Alison

Our February walk

Bethnal Green through fresh eyes – our February walk

This month, we found a new view of the neighbourhood we meet in through the beautifully designed and illustrated Oxford House booklet A Young Person's Guide to Bethnal Green (free to pick up at Oxford House). One of its writers is Graham Barker, who has spoken at one of our meetings and led one of our walks.

Starting with a potter along Columbia Road, normally full to bursting with flower and plant stalls on market day, we turned into Jesus Green, greeted by cheery Spring daffodils. The houses bordering it were originally social housing, part of the Jesus Hospital Estate. 

Weavers Fields (here, crocuses to enjoy) was, we learned, named after the weavers' houses in an area that once had many more streets, cleared in the 1960s. We paused for a look at Peter Dunn's Weaving Identities sculpture, referencing the history of the park and created through school and community workshops, and enjoyed the wonderful carvings by the school students in the bricks at its base.

Onward to Oxford House, a Settlement originally opened in in a former school where University of Oxford graduates lived so that they could volunteer in Bethnal Green. Oxford House as it is now was purpose-built and opened in 1892. Early members, many of them teachers or lawyers, provided youth clubs, adult education and Sunday lectures in Victoria Park and in 1931, Gandhi gave a speech through an Oxford House window to a crowd of 3,000.  And it's still a busy place of activities, classes and café. As we left, we enjoyed the fine views of the City through the gardens and chatted about the changing skyline.

Finishing our walk at St John on Bethnal Green, we were treated to a tour by EEWI member Clare. We learned of its Sir John Soane architecture, the modern Stations of the Cross paintings by Chris Gollon and the concerts hosted at St John that make the most of its acoustics. A huge thank-you to Clare – it's a special thing to be shown a place by someone who knows it so well.

Then, a café stop at The Beehive.

Fancy joining us? Look out for our next Coming up blogpost for details.

Coming up in February

Bethnal Green through fresh eyes, writing through music and coffee on the way to art – adventures for February 

Our monthly walk: Saturday 10th February, 11am – Join us in rediscovering our very own Bethnal Green

Using the beautiful booklet from Oxford House A Young Person's Guide to Bethnal Green which Graham Barker helped create, let's explore and enjoy at a leisurely pace the landmarks, green spaces and atmosphere. We sometimes rush through on our way to somewhere else, but this is a chance to appreciate the area in a different way. Coffee break choices all along the way – the Oxford House one is spacious and offers a chance to explore the building and exhibitions.

Meet at Columbia Road Market – junction with Barnet Grove. Clare mentioned that she might be able to include a tour of St John's as a bonus!

You can pick up a copy of the map at Oxford House, and some will have been distributed at the January meeting.

Our monthly meeting: Thursday 15th February, 7pm for 7.30pm start – Creative writing workshop 

Join us for a workshop with writer and harpist Fiona Thompson, using as prompts some music that she has recorded. 

Bring a notebook and pen. And be ready to surprise yourself at what you can release and capture in the written word. 

We will be at our usual venue: St Margaret's House, 15 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL.

Please note new arrangements for access to St Margaret's House: the new code will be available for our regular members via our member WhatsApp group. If you come to meetings regularly and haven’t yet had an invitation to the group please contact us via email.

If you are not a member of EEWI, please press the white bell on the wall and someone will come to let you in. Sometimes this lets us down, so you can always call one of the committee if other means of access fail!

If you are coming for the first time, please contact us via email so we can make sure you are able to get access smoothly.

Our monthly coffee morning: Friday 23rd February – meet between 10.30am and 11am at Zealand Café, 391 Roman Road, E3 5QS

There should be room for us either inside or at a bracing outside table. Afterwards, as we will be in the area, we could pop in to Chisenhale Gallery. The next exhibition, Joshua Leon, will have opened on the previous evening so we can be among the first to visit.

Our January coffee morning

All aboard for Hackney – our January coffee morning

Our President, Heather, writes:

A warm, welcoming coffee in the Barrell Boulangerie. There is plenty of space,  good acoustics for all the necessary catching up that has to be done, and a great display and selection of open sandwiches, if we could only have stayed. Highly recommended. 

The Hackney Museum just over the road next to the Town Hall and inside the Library (fully accessible) has a lovely display of Hackney through the ages. Included is an ancient wooden boat hull but also glimpses of more recent life – domestic, industrial and social.  Some of us may remember kitchens with the old free-standing gas cooker (see photo above) and feel that the upheaval of moving to 'a fitted  kitchen' was worth it after all!  

There is a comprehensive and fascinating photographic display alongside, and a large sculpture of a tower block where you can peep in through the windows, for the curious amongst us.

Of course you can take the bus there, but any youngsters you may have with you can get in their own vehicle (see photo above).

With thanks to Heather for the museum pictures. 

Look out for the Coming up in February blogpost for details of our next coffee morning.

Our January meeting

Our January meeting – British Sign Language with Shahbana

We had a lively and interactive January meeting learning some BSL (British Sign Language) with Shahbana, a BSL interpreter and teacher and a friend of EEWI member Tammy's daughter Charlotte, who is Deaf.

As well as interpreting at events and on TV, BSL supports people at work – Shahbana's interpreting has taken her into a huge variety of settings including offices, beekeeping, Italian cookery, bootcamps, weddings, places of worship and on trips abroad, all through recommendation.

Shahbana took us through the alphabet, which has right-and left-handed versions and each of us had a go at spelling our name. We were interested to discover how subtle signing is, for instance the little shake to signal numbers in the tens.

We heard about the difference between BSL and SSE (sign-supported English), one-handed sign language for babies, how signing varies around the world, cultural differences that affect signs – how we drink tea, for instance – and even differences between regions of the UK. 

We discussed the growing visibility of signage in TV and film and how texting and Facetime have made a difference for young Deaf people. We asked about its history – Deaf people have always found a way to communicate – and looked back to times when Deaf people were forced to do speech therapy.

Shahbana told us about her own path of learning BSL, including going along to Deaf clubs, which welcome hearing people learning BSL, to practise her skills. Shahbana and Charlotte are currently learning Deaf-Blind language.

And we discussed the pros and cons of online and in-person interpreting. Charlotte was strongly in favour of in-person interpreting, which picks up more nuance. 

Was there anything we particularly wanted to learn how to sign, we were asked as we discussed whole-word signs. We said that we'd like to be able to welcome Deaf people to our stalls and have some simple language to serve them.

Tea and cake, anyone? And pointing – totally OK in BSL!

A massive thank-you to Shahbana for a hugely interesting and enjoyable evening, which left many of us keen to learn more. 

Our January coffee morning: 

Friday 26th January, meet between 10.30am and 11am

The Barrell Boulangerie, Mare Street, Hackney (just over the road from Hackney Empire).

Our January walk

Sculpture in the City and a rooftop view – our January walk

"You can walk past these places every day and never walk in to have a look." Busy women, most of us had seen a few of the sculptures and corners of the City that we walked but exploring with the Sculpture in the City booklet, there were plenty of finds and stories to share. 

We took in work by Vanessa da Silva, Emma Louise Moore, Victor Lim Seaward, Larry Bell, Isamu Noguchi, Oliver Bragg, Ugo Rondinone, Phyllida Barlow, Simeon Barclay, Emma Smith, Mika Rottenberg, and other work including Alexander Beleschenko's canopies at 22 Bishopsgate.

The day chilly, we walked briskly from sculpture to sculpture, then the suggestion that we go up to The Garden at 120 gave us rooftop views across to the Thames and, when we decided to defrost, warming teas and coffees at 14 Hills, the restaurant, bar and deli below.

Fancy joining us for a walk? Look our for our next Coming up blogpost.

Coming up in January

Happy New Year! Welcome to a January full of new things to see, new things to learn and tasty treats

Our January Walk: 

Walk, Talk and Sculpture – join us for a cultural walk in the City on Saturday 13 January, 11.00am

Let's open the year rediscovering 'our' city with a brisk walk to enjoy the London 'Sculpture in the City' trail.  The booklet is available from the Tourist information booth nestling just south of St Paul's, near the Millennium Bridge, you can also read it online.

Meet at the St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard, EC2M 3TL for the Vanessa de Silva Muamba Grove creation, then we'll wander as we please with the map as our guide.

Our January Meeting: 

Exploring BSL – Thursday 18th January, 7pm for 7.30pm start 

Shabana, a BSL recognised teacher, will lead us in a session to familiarise us with BSL signing – the alphabet and some signs – for when we have stalls, are volunteering, at work, within our own family and social group, on public transport, or just noticing that for some people this is a kind and thoughtful way to recognise them and communicate.  

We have some printed copies of the alphabet sign sheets, but do bring your own if you already use/know it. It is also available online at British-sign.co.uk and our blogger is delighted to discover that there is a left-handed version available! 

We will be at our usual venue: St Margaret's House, 15 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL. If the gate is locked when you arrive at St Margaret’s House, there will be a call bell on the right hand side at the back of the gate.

Our January coffee morning: 

Friday 26th January, meet between 10.30am and 11am

The Barrell Boulangerie, Mare Street, Hackney (just over the road from Hackney Empire).

Venturing into Hackney we can enjoy the pastries here and follow up with a visit to the Hackney Museum and/or some shopping. 

National WI news: 

Launching later this month: the WI Learning Hub

Lifelong learning has always been at the very heart of the WI and it will celebrate the International Day of Education on Wednesday 24 January 2024 by inviting WI members to join for the launch of the WI Learning Hub. The WI Learning Hub will provide WI members with access to a range of online courses, with an array of formats, both live and pre-recorded, and the majority of them will be free. For more information, join the learning hub mailing list via the main WI website.