New committee takes the helm of ladies’ group as it thanks outgoing members for their dedication
Chase Terrace Ladies are pleased to be able to say that the group has now been able to continue after a period of concern.
A new committee have now taken up their roles organising the group, and our heartfelt thanks go to the ladies who previously ran the group - Margaret, Gail, Jean, and Ray. We all really appreciate the hard work they had put in.
Our recent meeting was a talk from Clive Garner talking about silk and the Silk Road. He explained that he is not an academic but started by having an interest in painting and dying silk. He did some work and found there was an interesting story to tell.
It was in China about 5,000 years ago that it was realised that silk could have anything done with it. It is said that the wife of the first Emperor of China found out when the cocoon fell into her cup and began to unwind. It was found that this thread, which produced a long continuous length, could be woven into cloth. The Romans became very interested in silk to the point where it nearly bankrupted their economy.
Clive went on to tell us the story of the Silk Road and how eventually the Huguenots came to England and had a very healthy silk weaving industry. James I of England did try to produce silk and planted 100,000 mulberry trees at Hampton Court, unfortunately they were the wrong type of mulberry, and the silkworms died.
Clive showed us examples of his artwork, including painting of travellers on the silk road and some silk scarves that he had dyed.
Everyone really enjoyed the talk and was looking forward to our next meeting.
The Christmas lunch is at The Rag on Thursday, December 11.
Chase Terrace Ladies group meet on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 2pm at Burntwood Memorial Institute.
