What we did last month

March WI meeting

At our March WI meeting, we met Rob Heard who was a Police Officer for some 30 years. During his career he dealt with a number of serious incidents (some of them fatal) which involved older drivers. He saw a need to support and help mature motorists to drive safely for longer, and after lots of research he set up the ‘Older Drivers Forum’ (which he still chairs).

Before explaining more about this organisation, Rob talked about some of the roles he had during his time in the Force. As well as being the road safety sergeant for Hampshire and Thames Valley Police, he ran the Blue Lights motorcycle display team, worked as part of the VIP Escort Group for royalty and heads of state (including Presidents Clinton and Obama), and was responsible for transporting prisoners to court; on one occasion he transferred the infamous Rose West from Winchester prison to the Crown Court. He also spent a year planning and arranging the escorting of the Olympic Torch Route in our region.

Rob explained that, contrary to what many people believe, the most dangerous roads are those in rural areas and not the motorways – these are in fact the safest roads and we should not be avoiding them through fear or lack of confidence. On the subject of being a confident driver, Rob said that couples really should make a point of sharing the driving; often the husband takes the wheel (and wives are usually happy for them to do so) – but us ladies really must drive more regularly. Rob recommended driver refresher courses to brush up on our skills, and urged us to have our eyes tested regularly - this isn’t a legal requirement, although it probably should be - but many people don’t bother and bad eyesight can lead to serious and and even fatal accidents.

Walking

Originally the plan for the walk during March was a 3.7 miles route following the Roman walls at Silchester, with a trip afterwards to the garden centre for a cuppa. However, due to the prolonged wet weather, this was postponed until the summer and instead ladies enjoyed an 8km walk around Basingstoke, taking in the Holy Ghost ruins (with a quick bite to eat half way round).

Parties

Two of our ladies were guests at Old Basing WI’s 105th birthday party; they both enjoyed the cheese and wine and the quartet who played.

Another of our members was a guest at Basingstoke WI’s 52nd birthday party; she enjoyed listening to Tim Craven talking about Thelwell Country.

HCFWI Spring Council meeting

Several of us attended this event at the Winchester Guildhall, and really enjoyed the highly entertaining and interesting speakers. Afterwards, DSI London (who make the dresses for Strictly Come Dancing) presented several of the costumes and explained how they were made, the fabrics used and who wore them. A great day out.