Long membership awards for Penkridge WI

At last month's AGM the committee were re-elected and long membership awards for the grand total of 90 years between them were presented to Doreen Jones and Margaret Phillips by our WI advisor Judy Goodson. We enjoyed a game of bingo as well.

Catherine Beresford, a Penkridge WI member, was our speaker in April on Richard III. She even managed to get Richard to turn up himself! Catherine’s opinion and that of the Richard III Society is that he is a much maligned character as a result of Shakespeare’s portrayal of him. He became king after the death of his brother Edward and was crowned on 6 July, 1483. He reigned for only two years but the enlightened quality of his legislation to correct economic injustice, reform the law and redress the many grievances of the poor, alienated him from the classes whose support he needed.

In 1485 Richard was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth through the treachery of a handful of discontented nobles. He was the last king of England to be killed in battle. In 2012, following years of research, Richard III’s grave was uncovered under a car park in Leicester. In 2015 he was reburied with all honours in Leicester Cathedral. A visit to Leicester to his grave and final battle site is one of our suggested trips later this year.

Our next meeting will be on 6 May in the Reading Rooms at 7.30pm when Kath Reynolds will talk about 'Bringing up Baby' in the 50s and 60s.