For our first
meeting of the new year we were entertained by a slide show given by Paul
Taylor in the WI hall in Rayleigh. Paul has a fabulous collection of old
photographs and has arranged many of them into lectures. This one was about an
old horse drawn charabanc called the Sister Belle which used to give visitors
to the district tours of the local villages and beauty spots around the turn of
the 20th century.
These old photos are
of remarkable quality, sharp and clear despite their age. Paul has collected
them for many years along with postcards, some coloured.
This lecture
followed the Sister Belle on an imaginary tour starting in Southend and touring
round all the local villages. It was noticeable that all the photos of Sister
Belle were taken outside pubs!
It was great fun
trying to recognise familiar places before they were built up. Many of us have
memories of places no longer in existence or in completely changed localities.
Paul has suffered
from bad health lately but he put on a good show and we are very grateful to
him. He doesn’t take payment but asked us to make a donation to the Christian Aid charity which does good
works all around the world.
