Grateley Village Friends

We would like to introduce you to Grateley Village Friends. We meet on the first Thursday of each month, except January and February, in Grateley War Memorial Hall. We enjoy various speakers and events organised by the committee using suggestions from our members.

We only charge a very moderate £2 per person for our meetings which pays for the speaker (if appropriate) and refreshments. There is usually a raffle when the meeting takes place in the village hall. The meetings last about two hours depending on the event. Outings are also enjoyed to various places which are heavily subsided for members. In March we enjoyed a delicious fish and chip lunch at The Plough Inn in Grateley and at our April meeting hot cross buns were eaten with relish.

We would be very pleased if you would like to join our happy band and you can be sure of a very warm welcome to our meetings. If you would like an introduction or further information please contact Hilary on 889383, Shirley on 889312 or Peter on 889186 who will arrange for someone to help you to break the ice. We look forward to meeting you.

April Meeting

We had a bumper turnout for our Hot X Buns meeting on the 4th April: 27 people when our full membership is 25! We welcome visitors and were pleased to have 6. I think that news had circulated that Victoria from the Plough was to give a talk on “Seabed Archaeology”, quite a bit different from our usual range of subjects.

What a great talk she gave, with a Power Point presentation to illustrate the points she was making. This subject could have resulted in a really “dry” talk but not with Vicky, she held everyone’s attention throughout. She started off by explaining how some of the artefacts came to be on the seabed and how the sea levels had changed over thousands of years - so it was a history lesson as well. She passed around various artefacts ranging from part of a Mammoths molar to a cannon ball after telling us a bit about each. She had a little helper, Lucy her daughter, who passed the items to the tables on cue!

One of us normally thanks the speaker at the end of the talk but we did not get a chance this time as everyone was clapping just as soon as she had finished!

We rounded off the afternoon with hot x buns with butter and homemade jam and then cake kindly supplied by Julie Blakeman (one of our visitors).

A big thank you Vicky - we must arrange to have you back as you wetted our appetite for the subject although I doubt if many of us will be taking it up as a career!!

Programme for 2013

6 December 2012	Christmas Lunch, raffle	12.30 p.m.
7 March	Fish and Chips lunch, raffle	12.30 p.m. The Portway Inn
4 April	Hot X Buns, Seabed Archaeology by Vicky Cooper, chocolate raffle	2 p.m. Village Hall
9 May	The Hawk Conservancy Hospital by Kim, raffle	2 p.m. Village Hall
6 June	Recycle for Hampshire, raffle	2 p.m. Village Hall
4 July	Cream teas at Minstead
1 August	Barbecue	12.30 p.m. Village Hall
5 September	Bishops, Sex and Money by Tony Strafford, produce stall, raffle	2 p.m. Village Hall
3 October	The History of Old Andover by Derek Grimston, raffle	2 p.m. Village Hall
7 November	Pen Making by Ron Caddy, raffle	2 p.m. Village Hall
5 December	Christmas Lunch, raffle	12.30 p.m.