Ageing disgracefully!
President Penny Bailey presented two trophies at our April meeting. Jean White was delighted to win the Competition Cup again after a closely fought battle while Gill Moore also retained her trophy for the Scrabble Competition which runs throughout the winter.

Our speaker, Carol E. Wyer, joked that she had to rewrite some of her talk when she heard of all the activities in which our members are involved. She is a humorous writer with a mission to challenge society’s perception of ageing. She makes full use of social networking sites, having based her first book (about life after 50) on a daily blog. She mentioned the many clubs, groups and chat rooms which can be accessed through Facebook and cater for every interest and age group. The late Ivy Bean from Bradford became so famous for writing about her daily life on Facebook and Twitter at the age of 103 that she was invited to meet the Prime Minister and an Australian lady was reputed to be the oldest blogger on the internet when she died in her 109th year.
An inspiration to Carol is her mother who at the age of 80 lives for half the year in Cyprus, dresses like Tina Turner and enjoys all-night Twister parties! Carol also mentioned the Chinese grandmother who became an internet sensation after taking up pole-dancing when she was 60 but said that people don’t have to be outrageous to escape monotony and enjoy life. Photography, painting and reading are all fulfilling and for Carol herself writing has become a passion and obsession. Any sort of exercise is good and more unusual activities are now available such as belly dancing, zumba or zip lining. This – using a pulley to slide down a steel cable – is exotic in the Brazilian forest or the jungles of Costa Rica but more easily accessible in UK centres such as one in Cornwall which caters for ages 4 to 94. Activities can be given a twist to make them more interesting – one lady knitted a one and a half metre scarf while running a marathon – and from the many courses available something more unusual such as public speaking, wine tasting or even plumbing might appeal. We were told of gap years for grown-ups (‘gaffers’ years’) where helping in an Indian elephant orphanage was one option among many. Other suggestions were learning to play an instrument or raising money for charity by abseiling or sky diving – if you don’t fancy jumping out of an aeroplane try ‘body flying’ in a wind tunnel instead!
Carol had a list of things ‘fierce and fabulous ladies’ should try which included skinny dipping, learning to paint nude portraits and test driving expensive cars. The important thing is to embrace every opportunity and keep laughing – which is such an excellent workout for the body that humour therapy classes are now available. A friend cheered herself up by having a tattoo for her 71st birthday but Carol gave the last word to her mother who says that she’s ‘here for a GOOD time, not for a long time’.
Our next meeting on May 8th starts with a discussion on this year’s National AGM resolution about the decline of our high streets and town centres. This will be followed by a talk by Neil Weyham entitled “Cleaned, Court and Bowled”. This isn’t misspelt – one of Neil’s many roles in life is as a magistrate. Visitors are welcome to come and find out more! For information contact Penny Bailey on the link below.