ROWHILL WOMEN'S INSTITUTE

Vice president Jackie Wardell, did a splendid job of chairing Rowhill's well attended first meeting of 2005. One visitor was welcomed - a granddaughter of a present member, nice to know we appeal to all ages!

Once again thanks were given to Eileen Mills for organising the recent trip to The Royal Festival Hall to see the ballet Don Quixote. A superb evening and sad that due to illness Eileen had to miss it. We have two more theatre trips booked before our next meeting.

Our speaker for the evening was Laurie Manser who gave us his "Memories of a Garden Boy". What a delight it was to listen to him recalling his childhood and the hours he spent with his grandfather who was a head gardener and then on to his own career.

Mr Manser, according to his mother, was a fifth generation gardener and he has indeed spent his life in the profession and enjoyed every moment.

He started his gardening career in 1948 at a large house near Tunbridge Wells under the wing og the head gardener Mr Butcher, and had a smashing' time on his first day as he promptly put a broom handle through a glasshouse rood!

Mr Manser never forgot the head gardener who gave him his first job and they both kept in touch right up to Mr Butcher's death at the great age of 92. Perhaps this says something about hard work in the great outdoors! - long hours and certainly no 9am to 5pm five days a week!

With a working life spreading more than 50 years, Mr Manser recaptured a past long forgotten and certainly made our evening a most enjoyable one.

The meeting ended with a light-hearted drawing quiz which had members having to draw various items of food. Great merriment at trying to guess each other's attempts at depicting items such as an omelette or spotted dick! All in all a very good start to, hopefully, another busy and entertaining year.