Travels in Africa and Blood Bikes
Our two meetings in March were in complete contrast but equally enjoyable.
Natalie from ‘Hearts and Flowers’ located in Heathwood Road demonstrated her skills by producing two lovely arrangements with a touch of Spring. Using a trough shaped container she placed two small pots of daffodil bulbs into the front corners of the container. The arrangement was then developed from this using daffodils, tulips and anemones. The result was beautiful and Diane was lucky enough to win it in the raffle. Natalie then created an Easter wreath which it seems are gaining popularity. She used moss and a cotton plant as well as pastel coloured artificial eggs to create the wreath and the result was most charming. The cotton plant was new to most of us as was the idea of an Easter wreath.
Our second meeting in March had to be rearranged at the last minute as the speaker was ill. Fortunately, Irene’s friend ‘Gareth from the cricket club’ stepped in and gave us a fascinating talk about his travels in Africa.
Gareth is a well-travelled gentleman and talked about how he traced the footsteps of David Livingstone when he first ventured to Africa. Gareth’s journey began in Victoria Falls where the hotel he stayed in had a resident herd of Zebra in its grounds as well as Burma monkeys and baboons. Like David Livingstone, Gareth was overwhelmed by the beauty of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
He stayed in luxurious lodges that had no fences and consequently animals roamed in freely. He described one evening when a herd of elephants wandered in whilst they were dining out in the open. They stayed perfectly still and the elephants drank from the pool and wandered off.
One part of the journey in Botswana involved travelling by boat through wetlands. It took four and a half hours to navigate through a network of channels surrounded by long grass. On arrival at their destination they found the tented accommodation was in stark contrast to the previous lodge. Showering involved the use of a canvas bucket and after going to the toilet over a deep hole he had to add a scoop of ash from a container alongside! Apparently, the food was excellent.
The next lodge, which was on the edge of the Zambezi falls, involved a journey on the ‘elephant express’ which was actually a motorised tram car.
The animals he encountered on this incredible journey included spotted hyenas, African buffalo as well as crocodiles. He even witnessed the disturbing but extraordinary sight of a leopardess killing an impala and pulling it up a tree away from other predators.
His talk was accompanied by some lovely photographs on the big screen and we were so grateful to Gareth for stepping in at the last minute and sharing his experience of Africa with us. We
can’t wait for a further instalment of his amazing travels.
Our indoor meetings continued in April with a talk on Blood Bikes Wales. We were delighted to welcome Dave and Jason as representatives of this charity which covers the whole of Wales.
This registered charity is run entirely by volunteers and relies on donations by supporters in order to function. Blood Bikes Wales provides a courier service transporting hospital specimens which include blood, baby milk, patient notes, surgical instruments and pathological specimens, between hospitals. This service is carried out at weekends and Bank Holidays and is available nationwide.
The first meeting was held in February 2011 in Llanelli and now there are 8 centres spread across Wales which hold regular monthly meetings. The Charity welcomes anyone who can be of help as not only are bike riders needed but a whole spectrum of back-up support staff such as co-ordinators, fundraisers and committee members.
The bikes themselves, currently Yamaha, are fitted with special racks for securing the transport boxes and the cost of just keeping them on the road is considerable. For instance the tyres are replaced monthly and they alone cost £280/pair. All the riders have advanced qualifications and they are tested every three years to check on their riding standard.
The benefits of this service are considerable as they are faster than taxis and they also free up emergency services for other duties. This represents a much needed financial saving for Health Authorities. An example quoted was one Authority spending £250,000 on taxis which was cut drastically when Blood Bikes took over some of the trips.
One very special service that is undertaken is the collection of donor breast milk from Birmingham to be distributed to wherever premature babies in Wales need milk.
We were all in admiration of the work these volunteers carry out so next time you see anyone collecting for Blood Bikes Wales please give generously – you never know when they might help you or your family.
Our last talk of the session was given by Gwerfyl Gardner and it was about her adventures in Quizland. From school days Gwerfyl was interested in quizzes and as a member of Bangor Grammar School she was the youngest in a team which won Top of the Form. This was back in 1953 and the prize was a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica, which was presented to the school, and a trip to London accompanied by the Headmistress.
Gwerfyl waited until she had retired from teaching to pursue her life in quizland more seriously. One of the first programmes she auditioned for was 15 to 1. Gwerfyl travelled to Bristol to audition taking with her the 3 outfits that she had been instructed to bring. It was soon apparent to Gwerfyl that the questions were only easy if you knew the answers and that luck played an important role in any success.
The Weakest Link was the next target – this was filmed at Pinewood studios. Again a list of instructions was provided on what to wear ie no suits, no dresses and nothing black. It was fascinating to hear what went on behind the scenes and how long programmes actually took to record. Gwerfyl was successful and despite Ann Robinson’s thundery looks went on to win £3,010.00.
Other quiz programmes that Gwerfyl has taken part in include Eggheads, as a team representing the Glamorgan Federation of Women’s Institute, when they defeated the experts and won £11,000 and The Chase, again a successful outcome winning £7,000.
We learned that she had just applied to be on Tipping Point, so any viewers of that show keep a lookout for her appearance.
Our next few meetings are all out of the village – they will be a theatre trip, a visit to the Police Museum and a successful year will be rounded off with our summer dinner.
