Ellisfield Ladies Club

We are fortunate to live in a most delightful rural village surrounded by bluebell woods and farmland. It is a very spread out village which unfortunately has not got a shop which would otherwise be a focal point where the ladies would meet and pass the time of day. (It has, however, got a very nice Public House called The Fox, where the men of the village discuss matters and put the world to right.)

Thus, the Ladies of the village formed a Social Club some 33 years ago, in order that we could meet and get to know not only our immediate neighbour but also the village community as a whole socially. This has proved to be very successful and we are growing all the time - at the time of writing (January 2007), we have 66 members. We hope that if you are not already a member you will take up our invitation and join us and keep the community together.

We meet once a month, and this may take the form of many different types of social events. We have events ranging from Skittle Matches, Dances, Walks, Theatre trips, Harvest Supper Entertainment, Prom Concerts, Christmas Carols and much much more – something for everyone we think. But most of all we help and care for one another. We hope this has stimulated you enough for you to find out more about us and come along to one of our meetings which are publicised both on this website and within the Hill and Dale.

Jayne Morgan kindly agreed to ask two great friends Sarah and Lesley, to demonstrate a selection of wonderfully delicious dishes to members of Ellisfield Ladies Club.

On a gray and cold Saturday morning, members arrived to a warm and friendly welcome and a hall beautifully decorated with spring flowers, a cup of coffee or tea and a tasty selection of earl grey tea biscuits, almond twirls and coffee and walnut cake.

Sarah and Lesley selected an assortment of mouth-watering dishes; a couple of canapés, main courses, delicious biscuits and puddings all of which they prepared and presented with aplomb. They made their work look so simple; their ingenious tips on preparation, presentation and drinks showed us all just how simple it really can be!

From 10 am to 1 pm the cooks prepared and presented a wonderful culinary experience! The ladies club members watched and tasted an array of delicious delights. An excellent selection of food crafted with finesse and beautifully presented was enjoyed by all.

During the demonstration Sarah and Lesley regaled their audience with exciting tales from different catering events – things can go wrong but these skilled ladies quickly avert disaster with creative and resourceful ways.

We can not thank Jayne, Sarah and Lesley enough for such a wonderful morning and an extremely tasty lunch. Also a big thank you to Tony Matthews who helped to set up and who, supplied some of cooking equipment.

Thanks to all who braved the icy conditions and came to the Sugarcraft evening on Tuesday 7th December especially those from Cliddesden who made it up White Hill. We had a good crowd who all enjoyed participating in making a poinsettia for their Christmas cakes. The talent in perfecting the flower was abundant and everyone went home with a wonderful example of a poinsettia made by their own fair hands. Thanks must go to Theresa for her help with the raffle which contained two Christmas cakes especially designed to accommodate the poinsettia just made. The cakes were won by Meg and Myrtle. I must also mention Jean Chivers who kindly came and assisted. The Christmas spirit was kept flowing by enjoying a glass or two of mulled wine with mince pies.

FIFTEEN People enjoyed the fungus foray last Sunday morning. Fungi experts Sue and Alan from Hampshire Fungus Recording Group helped members and friends of Ellisfield Ladies to find some wonderful specimens of native fungi, including the sweetly named honey fungus and less appealing Dead man’s figures. Thanks to Sandra Thomas for organising such an interesting event.

The scene was set, the cast were there, and the maid and　footman were there to greet their guests at the door of The Old Manor. The hall was filled to capacity with members and their friends to partake in the Murder at the Old Manor.We had a cast of splendid actors and actresses who portrayed a story giving clues to the identity of the murderer along the way after The Squire was poisoned.Each table set out their clues and came to a conclusion, at the end it was revealed that the culprit was non other than the Squires brother　Sir Nigel, otherwise known as Seamus Foster.What a great story, and the acting was superb by all the cast.Thank you all for such an entertaining evening.

We then enjoyed a ploughman's supper with fruit crumble at the interval, which allowed us time to deliberate, cogitate and come to a conclusion.We are pleased to announce that　Maggie's table was the　winning table who not only guessed that it was Sir Nigel, but also had the most clues.Thank you to everyone who took part with a special thank you to Theresa and Andy who staged the production.

We made a profit, thanks to everyone's generosity, on the evening of a magnificent £344.68 which has been handed to The Ellisfield Ladies Treasurer.

The ELC Harvest Festival Supper was held at the Memorial Hall. A very friendly and social occasion with 26 people sitting down to a delicious meal - some of Ellisfield’s good home cooking! The fare consisted of lasagna and salad, French bread and delicious puddings; cheesecake, pavlova and apple pie.

Due to the smaller number of attendees, the Auction became a Raffle which raised the fantastic sum of £122 from donated raffle prizes and the sale of the beautiful table arrangements by Jenni Krauklis. Jenni used a mix of foliage and berries from the hedge rows and lovely autumn coloured chrysanthemums – the theme of gold, red and yellow made a wonderful adornment for the table – thank you Jenni. The money raised from the Raffle will be split equally among St Martin’s Church, Ellisfield and The British Legion.

A big thank you and to all those who supported this event in many forms; donations, attending, cooking lasagna and puddings and to my fellow Committee members who helped make the arrangements. Also, thank you to Andy Swanston for providing a great selection of music for the evening and, to Roger Graham for managing the Raffle so well.　

BANK Holiday weather was a mixed bag; beautiful sunshine and then on Sunday afternoon all turned cold and dark and wet as the clouds opened and threatened to ruin Ellisfield Ladies trip to Gilbert White’s House in Selborne to watch an open air production based on the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. Thankfully as we parked the cars the sun came out and picnics were enjoyed before the performance.

It has to be said that it was very cold and the audience were glad of warm clothing and even blankets. The cast meanwhile braved the elements in beautiful period costume, the girls in cotton frocks of the period which hopefully concealed modern thermal underwear! The company of eight skilfully played the parts of many more transporting the audience back to 19^th century England as the Bennett girls pursued their quest to secure good marriages and as always the production drew to close having secured three weddings and no funerals!

MIDSUMMER fun: Nearly 50 people attended the Ellisfield Ladies Barbeque last Saturday and enjoyed a beautiful balmy evening with friends and neighbours; barbequing and enjoying delicious salads and puddings prepared by the committee, thanks to them and to Andy Swanston for arranging some music so the determined few danced as darkness fell.

23 members/family/friends joined our June meeting which was a guided walk around parts of Alresford. Our regular guide from previous walks, Robert Wainwright met us by the Watercress Line, then took us to places of interest around Broad Street, West and East Streets. I think the highlight of the evening was visiting the 12^th century Alresford Bridge which is accessed by a private garden and therefore not normally open to members of the public. Many thanks to Robert for researching the area – where shall we go next year??....

Tuesday 4 May 2010 - "10 Best plants for late spring" – talk by Hardy’s Nursery followed by plants for sale

In May this year Rosy Hardy from Hardys Nursery at Freefolk, very kindly came and gave us a talk on　ten best flowers for late Spring.

We had a raffle and refreshments.Everyone had a chance to buy some plants at the end of the evening.It was a very busy time for Rosy as Chelsea was only three weeks away.

Tuesday 13 April 2010 - A delicious calorie bursting feast for Ellisfield Ladies Club members!

Members of Ellisfield Ladies Club met on Tuesday, 13 at the village hallto taste and rate the delights of home made puddings; 25 members sat down to a delicious feast of calorie bursting puddings! The carte du jour included Date & Pecan Meringue, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tiramisu, Lemon Meringue Pie, Chocolate Roulade, Orange Bomb, Chocolate Brownies with Toffee Sauce and Almond, Rhubarb and Orange Cake. The members enjoyed a light starter of French bread, pate and cheese before tucking into the puddings. It was a tight contest; Rose Taplin and Julia Ayscough assisted with the difficult job of working the clap monitor used for rating the individual puddings, with Debbie Foster winning with her scrumptious Date & Pecan Meringue – well done Debbie.

Special thanks most go to all the members who kindly provided puddings, Debbie Foster, Sue Self, Debra Richards, Linda Knight, Pat Davies, Barbara Dolman, Vicky Reed, Janet Bennett and Irene Balkwil. Also, a huge personal thank you to Debbie Foster, Linda Knight and Jacqui Matthews who stepped in to help me on the night as Joanne and Sue were unwell, and to those members who generously helped to wash up and clear up – thank you all for making it a good evening.

CHEERS: Nearly twenty members of Ellisfield Ladies tackled the tough challenge of tasting 6 wines and cheeses at this Wine Tasting event. Many thanks to Celia, Theresa, Jayne, Pat and Joanne who organised this most enjoyable event. We tasted wines from around the world including France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. There were tasting notes for each wine to enable us to sip and savour! The cheese tasting was more challenging as we had to rely on our own taste buds to help us identify the cheese and its country of origin. Of course our judgement improved as the evening went by! The winner of the cheese tasting challenge was Rose Taplin closely followed by Julia Ayscough and almost everyone received a raffle prize not all of which were bottles of wine!!

There was a terrific Christmas atmosphere at last week’s Ladies’ Club Christmas quiz which was won by The Fabulous Four aka Celia Lunn, Theresa & Andy Webb and Pat Gould – not quite The Beatles! Many thanks to Joanne Thomas for organising such a fun event and even teaching us to say Happy Christmas in Welsh; Nadolig LLawen! You’ll have to ask Joanne or Mark for pronunciation tips.

This Pamper evening organised by Ellisfield Ladies was a great success and those who attended enjoyed some serious socialising, shopping and fantastic treatments. Several local experts brought their pampering magic to the Ellisfield Memorial Hall for one night only, Tuesday 12 November. Experts waiting to pamper us included; Reflexologist, Image Consultant, Holistic Therapies & Aloe Vera Products, Blue Bella luxurious Lingerie, Natural Beauty Beauticians and Fantasy Fudge.

More than 20 people joined the Fungus Foray in High Wood Last Friday morning, including George Horgan, who, at 5 weeks old must hold the record for the youngest forager, although he obviously was not amongst those keen to identify edible varieties!

More than 30 types of fungi were identified, including King Alfred’s cakes, a stinkhorn, blushing bracket, turkey tail, the ubiquitous honey fungus which seemed very at home throughout the wood, an amethyst deceiver, and weeping widow.

Many thanks to Sandra for organising such an unusual event which was really very interesting, thanks also to our fungi experts, Sue & Alan from the Hampshire Fungi Recording Group. Sandra would like to thank Lord Portsmouth for allowing access and Rose Taplin, Chris Allen and Steve Ayscough for their help in providing a suitable venue for this event.

The inside and outside of the Memorial Hall was decorated in superb style, thanks to our Army of Helpers. It certainly had the WOW factor when approaching and opening the door of the hall. It gave great atmosphere and put everyone in the mood for a good sing along, as we found out later we were all in full voice.

Theresa and Andy had done a wonderful programme for our entertainment, it was not too heavy, and looking around it seemed everyone enjoyed the choice of music. The atmosphere was electric with each and every one of us singing along to all the familiar songs, as well as drinking and enjoying nibbles. Then came the wonderful supper prepared again by our Army or Helpers. I cannot thank them enough for their kind contributions to the evening. We enjoyed Chilli with a jacket potatoe and green salad, along with apple pie, apple crumble and cream and much, much more.

We then had the wonderful finish with Land of Hope and Glory etc. It was good to see so many people on their feet waving flags and singing to raise the roof. The evening is only as good as the people who participate, and we were so delighted to see you joining in and giving it your all.

Thank you to all of you who supported us and came along to the Proms Night and to those who helped to clear the hall afterwards, it was much appreciated. We have made a small profit of £272.50 which is exceptionally good. Theresa and I did thank everyone by name on the night of the Proms, but we would like to thank you all once again as the event would not have been the success it was had it not been for our wonderful Army of Helpers.

MAD Dogs and Englishmen may go out in the midday sun, but the intrepid went to the Battle Proms at Highclere Castle last Saturday: More than 30 members and friends of Ellisfield Ladies enjoyed a fantastic musical evening, despite rain earlier in the day it turned out to be a beautiful evening with the most marvellous sunset that provided a fitting prelude to the most amazing fireworks I think I have ever seen. The orchestra played terrifically throughout and the great singers led the audience in several encores of Land of Hope and Glory.

More than 30 people joined the guided tour around Odiham last Wednesday evening. Our guide, Robert Wainwright met us in the Deer Park car park and gave us a potted history of the parish before taking us to All Saints Church where the bellringers provided a musical background to his explanations of the beautiful stained glass windows, brasses and ancient chalk font etc. Outside, we saw the two, very unusual mass dials on the south wall of the church, Robert May’s tomb and the Pest House, originally built for travellers, pilgrims and local people suffering with the plague and other epidemic diseases; hopefully it will not be needed for the swine flu pandemic. Many thanks to Debbie Foster for organising such an interesting evening and even arranging clement weather.

Mama Mia at The Barn, Farleigh Wallop on Saturday 27th June 2009

FABBATASTIC! What a night to remember; last Saturday evening Home Farm Barn was rocking to sound of the Super Troupers performing a selection of Abba songs and the Farleigh Men with their own inimitable style of variety act.

Thanks to Theresa Webb for her encouragement and enthusiasm developing the singing and dancing talents; she was joined by a co-stars for each number; Pat Gould in an amazing sapphire blue costume kicked the show off with Mama Mia, Frances was The Dancing Queen, Blonde Bombshell Barbara Believed in Angels, Tracey was looking for a Man after Midnight and Nina met her Waterloo and Sue inspired the Farleigh Men to join the girls on stage for Super Trooper; meanwhile the rest of the girls sang and danced, recreating the Mama Mia atmosphere in their marvellous costumes.

Following a delicious supper, coordinated by Chef Rob Wood, ably supported by many, the Farleigh Men had us all laughing ‘til we cried with their hilarious rendition of ‘There’s a Hole in My Bucket’. Andrew Wooley and James restored some sanity with their fantastic singing and playing while the Farleigh Men transformed themselves for their final number….’I’m too sexy for my Cat (aka Rose Taplin)

All this entertainment and enjoyment was to raise more than £2,000 for The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease (NACC). The whole evening was coordinated by Jeremy Tibble and a team of helpers, not least of his wife Vicky who had all worked tirelessly to ensure the event was such a success.

Saturday 23rd May 2009 – Summer Garden Party at Ellisfield Grange

On Saturday 23rd May, the club celebrated the start of summer with a garden party at Ellisfield Grange. After a mostly sunny day, nature stayed kind and gave us a bright and thankfully, fairly warm evening. The food, provided by members, on the tried and tested “bring a plate to share” tradition, was nice and more than adequate: spread along three tables, you never knew what you would find next!

The atmosphere was great and people were soon “rabbiting” to each other . Whoops! Don’t mention rabbits to Ellisfield gardeners!

Touring a real garden was a refreshing change after the contrived creations of Chelsea week. The recent, magnificent restoration work which Chris has done, virtually single handed, made me wonder whether the spirits of the gardeners (all seven of them and full time!) of a hundred years ago, sometimes visit and look on approvingly.

Thanks to Doreen & Chris for a wonderful evening and sharing their gorgeous garden with us.

This was the first of our free functions for members, using the Memorial Hall, bringing our own drink and sharing nibbles. Our answer to the credit crunch and still having fun.

Thirty five of us enjoyed the evening, the hall was decorated with St George’s flags and we all wore red and white and got into the spirit very quickly. The Master Quiz Master was Roger Graham, who also provided the background music. He questions were not easy. The winning team was Georgie’s Girls and Boys and Two Welsh Dragons. It was an evening to remember.

Just over 40 Ellisfield ladies, partners and friends gambled the night away at The Fox Inn.

We were treated to bubbly and canapés on arrival, and a delicious buffet supper. The competition was fast and furious at the Roulette and Blackjack tables but in the end, the overall winners were Lyn Boakes who won a Magnum of Champagne, followed in second and third position by Denise Riddell and Tony Trown, who both won bottles of Champagne. We all had a fabulous time as we could throw caution to the wind and gamble with pretend money!

Thanks also to committee for their help We have received a great response from many members saying how much they enjoyed the evening.

The Ellisfield Ladies singers sang enthusiastically at the various gatherings. Friends and neighbours gathered at Widmoor Farm, Wyckens, Hill Farm and The Fox Inn. The Christmas spirit was in evidence everywhere so many thanks to our hosts Beverley & Tim, Rose Ann & Tim, Caroline & Chris and Lynn and Dave. Thanks also to Rose who drove the tractor and to all those who donated so generously enabling us to raise £750 for The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

Christmas Spectacular – The Night Before Christmas - Sat 29th November 2008

The cast list is endless and everyone sang their hearts out, wearing fantastic costumes that really gave the show atmosphere. A sample of the pictures taken that special evening can be seen below.

The show was directed by Theresa Lunn and choreographed by Janet Bennett; the compere for the show was Roger Graham, the sound engineer was "Techno Ted" (Dowson) and we all enjoyed a delicious meal after the show produced by Maggie Heath and Judy Sly. The ladies were joined on stage by a Christmas fairy (Steve Brabbin – complete with hobnail boots) and Christmas elves, Elf & Safety and National Elf!

The evening started with children, Daria Cooke and Harriet Iddeson who set the scene at the beginning of the show listening to Grandma (Edna Chilton) reading The Night Before Christmas.... then on came Santa Claus (anonymous but we think we recognised him!) accompanied by the Santa Babes in all their finery. Other items on the programme included The Rock Chicks – a rockin’ around the Christmas tree and a memorable duet – The Fairy Tale of New York, beautifully sang by Theresa Lunn and Jerry Tibble. I could go on, but suffice it to say this was a really wonderful Christmas Show complete with reindeer, a nativity and a Christmas Minstrel. Thanks to everyone who made this such a success.