Better late than never

Hi All,

I am typing this on a new laptop as my old faithfull developed a malfunction which meant replacing it and completely revamping the whole home network.

So I am back and now I need to catch up on all the news, so I'll start with going backwards and then work forwards if you see what I mean.

Rheged Report by Keswick EG Secretary Pat Knifton follows:-



North West Region meeting at Rheged on 24 April 2009

Keswick branch had the opportunity to co-host this meeting with Carlisle’s Cumberland branch, and a couple of years of discussions took us to the great day in April. Margaret Davies of Carlisle used her expertise to guide us through all the important decisions, but Lyn (Chairman of Keswick branch) and I (Pat - Secretary) enjoyed being involved, and learning how much goes in to create a day that would be enjoyed by all our visitors. The venue at Rheged, near Penrith, is stunning – a building which is almost completely buried beneath the earth, and is full of shopping opportunities of a very tasteful kind. There are art and craft galleries, book shop, delicatessen, etc, and within this warren, the North West Region of the Embroiderers’ Guild held their regional meeting in a very smart lecture theatre.

It was a great day, and really good to be involved. The exhibitions of embroidery, the competition entries and the traders gave us a lot to look at, and the two speakers were first rate. Shirley McKeand visited us from Dumfries, and gave a highly amusing account of her career in haute couture in The House of Worth. No wonder Shirley always looks so good! Maggie Grey chose to talk to us about Celtic Inspirations – and we were inspired! The slides we viewed were very enlightening, and I know I wanted to put all the techniques into practice at the very first opportunity. The concentration on a particular theme for one’s work certainly pays off, and might be interesting for a future workshop at Keswick ….

About 12 of our members took on the role of stewards, and I think all enjoyed the experience. There were very few mishaps – perhaps more chairs at lunch time would have been appreciated, and the many stairs and escalators to reach the various levels within the building were difficult for some of our less able visitors – but on the whole we caught the feeling that Carlisle and Keswick had fulfilled their role well in running the meeting. What a great way to spend the day! Pat