Last Christmas (2023) SoFA gave a donation of £3000 to Rufford Old Hall for the purchase of five picnic benches. They have now finally arrived and are in place in the orchard. They are made from Douglas Fir and all but one has extended sides to allow a wheelchair to get under them at the end. David Roberts the head gardener is very pleased with them and hopes to replace all the benches in this style eventually. It was not ideal picnic weather when we visited recently but hopefully they will be well used next year.
The house is open this weekend (Dec 20th – 22nd) and then closes until February 14th for deep cleaning. The grounds, tea room and book shop will remain open after Christmas on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Opening hours will be 10:30 – 15:30.
If you are not a member but would like to join our Association please fill in the Contact Form.
Storm Bert had done its worst but that did not deter 78 of our members who ventured out to the Old Links Golf Club for lunch. The room was beautifully decorated with balloons and a tree, a few Christmas jumpers also added to the Festive occasion.
I had a traditional lunch of prawns, turkey and Christmas pudding which was most enjoyable. As far as I could tell the alternative choices were equally as good. Given the number in our group and the various choices of dishes, I thought the service was excellent. Unfortunately two people who had booked were unable to attend but their lunches were boxed up and delivered to them. A nice touch I thought.
Thank you to Maggie for arranging the meal and to Jeanette and her staff for preparing and serving the food. Lastly thank you to all who attended, making it a most pleasant afternoon. On behalf of the Committee may I wish all our members a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
if you would like to attend any of our events or become a member please fill out our Contact Form. Article provided by Richard Hughes, with thanks.
On Friday 22 November, SoFA was entertained by the United Voice Show Choir, Christ Church, Southport. The choir was created by James Loynes in 2006. James’s goal was to give people from all walks of life and all levels of musical experience the opportunity to perform on stage and have a lot of fun in the process!
There were about 40 choir members, all dressed in their United Voice T-Shirts and in the second half all put on colourful Christmas headgear.
James introduced the choir to the SoFA members who were in attendance and let them know that the concerts the choir have put on included Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Home Alone, ABBA and Doctor Who.
A number of songs were performed from their ‘Top of the Pops’ concert, which took place in August. These included ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Under the Boardwalk’, ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody. We were also given a taster of the songs that will be included in their next concert ‘Christmas Time … and Space’. Some these songs were ‘All I want for Christmas is You’, ‘Feliz Navidad’ and ‘From a Distance’, to name a few. We were also privileged to have the rarely heard song ‘Born Is The Light of the World’ performed.
The choir was energetic with their singing, with some interesting movements to make the numbers come alive.
To give the choir a short break, James sang three solos accompanied by a guitarist.
At the end of the performance James thanked SoFA for inviting the choir to sing at their Speaker Meeting. The feedback from the audience was that they thoroughly enjoyed the performance.
If anyone is interested in purchasing tickets for the ‘Christmas Time … and Space’ they can be obtained from James by calling 07581 841 450. It is being held at Greenbank High School, Birkdale on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 December 2024.
If you are not a member of the ‘Southport and Formby Association’ but would like to attend any of our events, please fill in our Contact Form.
On 31st October, Halloween, over 40 members fittingly visited Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot. A building showcasing the Baird and his connections with Prescot and local historical properties at Knowsley and Rufford.
Members enjoyed an interesting explanation of the structure and atmosphere of the Cockpit Theatre – designed to reflect how Shakespeare’s plays were produced, actors performed his works and how the versatility of the theatre enables modern shows to be staged. We were expertly guided through the building including some detail of Sir Ken Dodd’s passion for Shakespeare and his support for the Playhouse which continues through the generosity of his wife.
We then enjoyed a lunch together in the Playhouse before beginning the next part of the day’s outing. Members gave a huge thanks to the staff and volunteer guides who helped make our visit so interesting and pleasurable.
In contrast we then made the short coach journey to Bents Garden Centre where we were treated to their Christmas displays featuring sumptuous festive food, a riot of colour everywhere and the use of latest light technology to present fabulous displays of trees, decorations and mechanical toy layouts which triggered the childhood enthusiasm for some members! With time to enjoy a drink and cake before heading home. A great introduction to our festive time together. If you are not a member but would like to attend any of our events please fill in the Contact Form.
With thanks to Frank Hyland for the article and photographs.
Chris gave a very interesting talk on Life in Rural Nepal and the Pahar Trust. Nepal is the size of England and Wales and lies north of India. Although it has the highest mountain it also has flat land in the south.
In 1990 two friends, both Warrant Officers in the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, had come to the end of their service in the army. They were Tom Langridge and Chandra Bahadur Gurung. Tom asked Chandra what he could do to repay the wonderful friendship and hospitality that he had received from the Nepalese people and Chandra told him that his village had no school. What education Chandra had received had taken place under the tree in the middle of the village. In 1991 they built a school in Chandra’s village after Tom had raised the necessary funds. Realising that this was a really good idea as so many villages lacked schools, they set up the Pahar Trust Nepal as a registered charity in 1993.
Today the Trust continues its work and builds new schools, refurbishes old school buildings – especially earthquake damaged schools – changes old classrooms into modern nursery and library facilities, provides modern science and IT facilities, builds health posts and it is estimated that the Trust has impacted on the life of over 250,000 children.
If you are not a member but would like to attend any of our events, please fill in Contact Form.
Our first speaker of the Autumn season was Magician Pete Turner who presented Heads I win,Tails you lose. Peter’s main theme was how he used an understanding of probability to solve various problems. This was reinforced by asking questions and observing body language. He was then able to determine what card a person was holding. The explanation seems plausible but it still seems like magic to me. If a trick didn’t go as planned he solved it with a magicians switch, changing one card for another and I’ve no idea how he did that either!
After introducing himself, Pete asked us to stand and place our hands on our heads or bottom. Following a spin of a coin he asked the ‘heads’ or ‘tails’ to sit down depending on which side the coin had landed. By repeating the process only one person was left standing. Pete then produced a pre-written note that described the winning person. Magic! Whilst this was going on a passer by was seen looking into the church with much bemusement.
Although he didn’t want to encourage gambling Pete concluded with some advice on how to win at roulette. This involved following the sequence of red/black. If there had been 4 reds then probability suggests the next spin will be black. My suggestion would be to try this at home and not the casino!
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