Time Detectives Talk at Marchwood WI

Big Thank you to the Ladies at Marchwood WI for being a great audience at my recent performance at their AGM.

Marchwood WI is celebrating its 105th Anniversary this year, and is an active and friendly and welcoming group. They certainly made me feel at home and even went as far as laughing at my jokes!

Marchwood itself is interesting as Marchwood Military Port was purpose-built in 1943 specifically to help prepare for the Allied invasion of Normandy. It served as a logistics and embarkation point, where troops, vehicles, and supplies were assembled and shipped to France during the Normandy Landings that was the major turning point in World War Two. In 1982, just under forty years after the D-Day landings, Marchwood again acted as loading base for vehicles and equipment being shipped to the Falklands to help free the Islands from the Argentine Invasion. Today it’s a quiet suburb on the edge of the New Forest bordering the Solent.

Having nearly come a cropper during the set up when I caught the projector cable with my size 9 foot, the day was saved by a superb catch by one of the ladies (not of me, but of the projector) and all went to plan after that.

Topics ranged from Celebrity anecdotes from episodes of DNA Journey, the Good the Bad and the Ugly of filming in public places, to a haunted tractor in Celeberity Help! My House is Haunted! Skeletons in Family Trees, to ‘Orrible Murderers Running in the Family (not mine), the Congleton Cannibal, DNA Discoveries, “Who’s Yer Father?”, and some lovely homemade cakes at halftime.

As always I couldn’t resist doing a little research into the group I found that in 1925 between 60 to 70 of the ladies had their had their first outing to Bournemouth in a “Char-a-banc” which took two hours to get there (I did remark that I had a car like that once) and in 1935 the Ladies were noted for their “Prize Dumplings” – I’m sure they could still win prizes for them today.

Any other Groups looking for an amusing and informative hour or two with a TV Genealogist please feel free to drop me a line on paulmcneil@timedetectives.co.uk or 07900 265 377. I will look forward to entertaining you!

And my thanks go out to Tanya Saxby-Barnes , The Committee, and all involved for making it happen!