Our June coffee morning

Two slices of art – our June coffee morning, at Tate Britain

With several Tate volunteers in our membership, we're always kept up to date with exhibition news. So with one exhibition having opened recently and another closing on 7 July, our June coffee morning was at Tate Britain. Our group met for café chat, followed by art, some visiting Now You See Us, Women artists in Britain 1520-1920 and the other heading to Sargent and Fashion, both enjoyed. 

We pick a different venue each month for coffee – if you'd like to join us, look out for our next 'coming up' blogpost for news of our next coffee morning. 

Photos by Christine

Our June meeting

Vintage fashion, vintage games, objects with stories and birthday cake – our Summer party

It had all started with Carolyn’s 1925 WI booklet of party games. Then there were hats, gloves, a 1940s veil, Crimplene, rock cakes, Tunnock’s tea cakes, Victoria sponge, beetroot hummus, Pimms… 

But first, there was a touching tribute to the late Michael Mosley, whose Radio 4 programme Just One Thing had often come up in conversation at our meetings and walks. We shared tips we’d taken up: squats, walking backwards, cold water swimming and poetry for breath work. A documentary about his work was recommended, available on BBC iPlayer.

In a neat hop to the games in the book, many 'too familiar to mention', we launched into the brain-stretching ‘My grandmother went to Paris’, adding with each person, in alphabetical order, a fictional thing that she had bought. She was quite a shopper, it turned out – her purchases included an aardvark, a fiddle, a Harris tweed suit, an iguana and a kaleidoscope. Next, a 1920s version of Grandmother’s Footsteps, where we made our way stealthily across the hall, freezing whenever Natasha turned to see if anyone was moving. Then ‘Blind man’, where someone with her eyes closed was turned around, held a stick out, spoke a phrase or made a sound and when it was copied by the nearest person, had to guess who it was. Finally, one for the mathematically-minded, ‘Buzz’, a counting game about the number seven.

We were ready for some birthday cake after that – the magnificent Victoria sponge, with candles.

Our party was rounded off with a show and tell, of objects with stories or that had particular meaning for us. 

Dawn, who had become interested in gemstones when her daughter took up silversmithing and had long wanted to learn how to facet one, was just back from a workshop in Newcastle and showed us a beautifully cut Rose de France amethyst. Dawn explained that the workshops were run to help keep the craft alive in the UK.

I [Lydia] told the circular tale of an embroidery hoop that I had bought with my pocket money when I was 10, and many years later used, with embroidery books the same age, to turn notes from our writing and harp workshop into a sampler.

Carolyn, who has a keen interest in Bakelite, told us about her collection of quirky Bakelite birds and brought a particularly cheery example. Researching it, Carolyn had found that it was made by the Old Street company Henry Howell, which also made pipes, and this little bird was featured in the History of the World in 100 Objects. 

Heather brought two things: first, from when she worked in Sudan, an incense burner made by a neighbour and friend. Which presented a logistical challenge in getting it back to the UK – people returning were allowed to carry very little. The second object was a photo of two dalmations, much-loved family pets and friends in testing times.

Natasha brought a pearl necklace, once her grandmother’s, on loan when she had hoped to wear it for her wedding but eventually coming her way – and told a John Singer Sargent story of the painting Mrs Carl Meyer and her Children.

Along the way, there was chat about haberdasheries, circular knitting and the human things that make an object of value to us as it passes from generation to generation.

A big celebratory thank-you to everyone who baked, cooked, brought and joined in with the fun and games, a wave to those who were on travels or otherwise unable to make it and a round of applause for Celya, for her first meeting as President.

Our monthly coffee morning: Friday 28 June, meet at Tate Britain Djanogly café, 10.30 - 11.00

Join us for coffee, chat and a chance to see the exhibition of women painters of the last 400 years. There will be complimentary entrance tickets for our members courtesy of some of our members who volunteer their time to Tate. Tate Britain is near Pimlico underground, walkable from Westminster underground, and there are various bus routes.

Our June walk

Dr Salter's Daydream, a moated manor, two Scandinavian churches, Brunel, an 18th century school, bodysnatchers, dock history, the Mayflower, beach bags, urban woodland, world trade, a burst of opera and a farm: our June walk, in Rotherhithe

This month, we had a guest on our walk, Sandy Adirondack, who lives in Rotherhithe and has done extensive research into its history. 

Heading for the remains of the moated manor house of King Edward III, thought to have been used for falconry, we diverted first to Dr Salter's Daydream, a set of sculptures of Alfred and Ada Salter, their daughter Joyce and their cat. Setting up his practice in 1900, Dr Salter had offered free medical services to those who could not afford to pay and moved into politics to bring about further social change. Ada, similarly keen to improve lives, became the first woman mayor of a London borough. They insisted on living in the place they served and sadly, their daughter died at eight years old in an epidemic of scarlet fever.

Heading for the Norwegian church, the Sjømannskirken, we happened on a confirmation, with a procession of young people in traditional dress – and a tantalising smell of pastries...

...which led us to the first of two pitstops, at a local café with an exhibition, Bags of Life by Penny Dearsley, beach bags and hats, each with a subject, part of a body of work exploring memories.

While we paused, Sandy filled us in on the history of the docks at Rotherhithe, the first, Greenland Dock, dug out in 1696, then the largest dock of its time, and renamed in the mid-1800s for its use by Arctic whalers. Expansion of traffic, including timber from the Baltic and Scandinavia and food from Canada, led to the expansion of the dock, other docks followed and there were pools to float the timber until it was moved on. The decline of the docks started with WWII air raids and then container traffic making the docs unsuitable. They lay derelict until the major redevelopment scheme of the 1980s. 

Next, to the modern Finnish church with its handsome tower behind, along to the Brunel museum, where there were kilts (a wedding was taking place) and the history of the first tunnel under a navigable river, past the Mayflower pub and through St Mary's churchyard, where the captain of the Mayflower is buried, famous also for 'The Bishop's Chair', made from timber salvaged from the Fighting Temeraire. We passed the St Mary Rotherhithe school, a free school founded in 1613, and the watch house next door that guarded against bodysnatchers raiding the churchyard next door for bodies for medical research. 

Onward, then, to Russia Dock Woodland, a moment exploring world trade by way of a metal compass set into the path showing goods, countries and distances, and through to Surrey Docks Farm, at its entrance a procession of bronze animals. Unexpectedly, opera floated out from the café, which turned out to be a customer serving up a virtuoso performance. Spontaneous applause, then in past the forge to say hello to sheep with fringes, curly-tailed pigs, mischievous goats, glamorous chickens, and to admire the hanging tomato baskets with their linings of sheep's wool from shearing. There was even time for some quick sketches – and a second pitstop, at the café, with its river views.

"That was amazing!", said Christine as we headed into Canada Water station. "It was like having a Blue Badge guide!" Indeed it was – a massive East End WI thank you to Sandy for bringing so much knowledge and interest to our Rotherhithe walk.

Fancy joining us on one of our walks? Check our monthly 'coming up' blogposts for details and if you're a member, join our walkers' WhatsApp group.