The University of Leeds Ladies' Club

Summer 2025

University of Leeds Ladies’ Club

April/May 2025 Newsletter

Diary Dates

Tuesday Drop-in Coffee Mornings (10.30 at the Golden Beam, Headingley LS6 1BL)

10th June

8^th July

12th August

9th September

14th October

11th November

9th December (to be confirmed)

 Annual General Meeting  11am. Headingley Golf Club 25th June. 

(Farewell and best  wishes to Andrew and Tracy who have catered so well for the Ladies’ Club.)

Talk given by Robert Gee on 20^th March 2025

Many thanks also to Robert Gee who gave us such an enjoyable illustrated talk on The History of Crisps.  He covered their invention in great detail (even Richard 11 was there with his pre-potato version).  We learned much about production, takeovers and sneaky marketing techniques – and quite a few unwholesome facts along the way. As Carole said in her thanks, none of us will ever look at a packet of crisps in quite the same way again!  It was a good afternoon, with some vivid ‘crisp moments’ being re-lived (particular thanks, Gill L, for the tale about those unforgettable blue twists of salt). 

Gillian Roche has come across a book which might well become your indispensible guide to entertaining:  The Crisp Sommelier: The Ultimate Guide to Crisp and Drink Pairings  by drinks expert and C4 Sunday Brunch presenter Neil Ridley (£12.99, Bloomsbury, 2024) 

‘In his new book he dives into the subtle art of elevating crisps’ flavour profile by matching them with the perfect drink.  "British tapas are looking up’ (Guardian)

The exhibition which runs from 2 May – 19th October celebrates the 250th anniversaries of the landscape painter JMW Turner and the novelist Jane Austen.

 Local Information - Roundhay Open Gardens

Sunday June 22nd 2025 (12 – 5).  Some 20 gardens will be open. Maps etc. available from early June at community locations or online.  Entrance by charity donation at first garden.  

VE Day Fish and Chip Lunch – 8th May 2025

Sir Winston Churchill apparently called the classic combination our "good companions" and would not ration the dish during the Second World War.

Some 45 members and guests sat down to the Senior Citizens’ Extravaganza Menu in the conservatory at Murgatroyds on VE Day.  It was a memorable, fitting and filling occasion. Thanks to Carole (who both suggested and organised it) and to those Committee Members who helped on the day. Thanks also of course to Murgatroyds and their splendid staff.  I am sure many of us will be back there very soon. JW

 Reports:

Book Group 2

Our February book was Staying On by Paul Scott, written in the last year of his life and as a conclusion to his Raj Quartet.  Jean gave us a comprehensive introduction to the novel and we began with nostalgic memories of reading the Quartet and watching the ITV serialisation ‘The Jewel in the Crown’.

Staying On covers only four months from January to April in the lives of Lucy and Tusker who have stayed on in India after the Raj.  However, by the use of various devices such as letters and conversations, we learn much more about their past lives and marriage.  The plot revolves around the terminating of the lease of their house, an annexe to the adjacent hotel owned by Mrs and Mr Bhoolabhoy (Ownership and Management!).

There are many tragic aspects to the novel, including Tusker’s death. We see how a 40-year marriage has apparently faded as has the British Empire in India.  However, we realise by the end the true nature of their feelings for each other. 

The tragedy is irrigated throughout by the absolute laugh-out-loud humour.  Scott is brilliant at writing succinct descriptions which give us the essence of the characters by highlighting certain characteristics.

I think I am right in saying we enjoyed the discussion.  Christine Roy

In March we read the novella Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (known also for her prize-winning short story collections Antarctica and Walk the Blue Fields).  As the person introducing this book, I was well aware of the danger of using more words to discuss it than she had used to write such a jewel!

It is the story of a coalman, Bill Furlong, born out of wedlock and living with his wife and five daughters in a small Irish town, in the weeks coming up to Christmas in the financially bleak mid-eighties.  This socio-economic context of a bleak winter of lay-offs and emigration explains the reluctance of his wife and the other inhabitants to openly challenge the Catholic Church’s grip and the open secret of the Magdalen laundries. On one of his visits to the local convent, Furlong finds a young girl locked in the coal house.    After his conversation with the manipulative mother superior, he realises that exposing the abuse will be self-destructive and will harm his own daughters’ chances of a good education.  He lies awake at night mulling over these “small things” while his wife and others see the danger to themselves in challenging the order.

Furlong does eventually rescue the girl and as he walks her back to his home “he could feel a world of trouble waiting for him….but the worst that could have happened was also already behind him; the thing not done which could have been – which he would have had to live with for the rest of his life.”

In an interview Keegan said that while not deliberately setting out to write about misogyny in Catholic Ireland, she did want to “answer the question of why so many people said and did little or nothing” about the horrors of these institutions.  She says her book is “a portrait of how difficult it could be to practise being a good Christian in Catholic Ireland”.  

We all felt that Keegan’s spare and beautiful writing, with never a word wasted, was a triumph.  Christine Roy

A number of members have highly recommended the 2024 film of the book (same name) – with Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson ***** 

Book Group 1

Perhaps it is time that you heard from Book Group 1. We do still exist and don’t keep our activities secret from you all because of any spooky or otherwise nefarious goings on. It’s just that our convener is a tad lazy!

 Our book for February was Hilary Mantel’s A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing. 

And what a feast of writing it was. Mary Lance had suggested the book and so gave us an insightful introduction to the woman many of us hadn’t read until we were onslaughted by the success of her Cromwell trilogy, which, of course, had been on everyone’s reading list. We could well have gone on talking about the book far into the night, each of us wanting to draw attention to some aspect of her brilliance which had struck us and we wanted to share. The book is a collection of her writings over four decades – for newspapers and periodicals, her Reith lectures, her prize-winning essays, her film reviews, her erudite book reviews. One of us had even re-watched a few of the films she had reviewed, viewing them in a new light. She covers such a range, from politics and religion to perfume and cricket, the craft of writing history and her own history. What emerges is a portrait of her life in her own words, as she puts it: ‘messages from people I used to be’. 

We can all thoroughly recommend you read this illuminating Memoir! Choose one piece of writing at a time: there are 70 of them. Treat yourselves to one a day! 

We’re going to change track next month – and how! We’re going to read Graham Norton.

Gillie Andrews

 The Golden Beam 

Confession: I am a bit of a Wetherspoons aficionado. This is not only because of the prices, scampi, nice plates and Ladies’ Club coffee mornings - but also because of their ‘preservation’ of some landmark buildings.  I think they have done much to keep these buildings relevant today whilst also linking them to their past. The Golden Beam is perhaps a case in point:  

The construction of this Grade 11 listed building, with its elements of Egyptian Revival and Art Deco styles and Portland stone facing, began in 1912.  The Sunday School was completed in 1914 but the outbreak of the First World War delayed the completion of the Christian Science Church itself until 1934. 

Leeds Girls’ High School purchased the building in 1986 and used it as a theatre and music centre, naming it The Lupton Centre after Elinor Lupton, a school governor and benefactor (and also an active member of the University of Leeds Ladies’ Club.)  She is remembered in the Lupton Room at The Golden Beam.

Leeds Girls’ High School put the site up for sale in 2010 following their merger with the Leeds Grammar School. The building remained unoccupied from 2010 to 2020.   It was included in the 2018 Heritage at Risk Register by Leeds Civic Trust and was given ‘vulnerable status’.  

After some controversy Wetherspoons eventually opened in 2021, naming the pub The Golden Beam after the painting by Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) who had lived at nearby Cliff Road in Headingley.

Many internal features survive.  The original church organ façade has been retained and re-purposed as a feature fireplace.  The bar area is the original auditorium.  JW 

Sad News

John was Senior Lecturer in Child Health at the University from 1970-95 and Hon Consultant Paediatrician, University of Leeds Hospitals from 1972-95.

He was a wonderful doctor and a truly delightful man. There are many of us in Leeds who remain grateful for his assiduous care and for his never failing  kindness. We will remember him with affection and great admiration. RIP

And Finally….

The Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education (YLCE) is seekingto recruit new members, especially those willing to play a part in the organisation and who are interested in and concerned about education: contact email: ylcesecretary@ylce.org or speak to Gillie Andrews/Gill Lydon/Carol Gleisner.  (It has also been proposed that YLCE officers address a future ULLC meeting about the work of the Council.)

University of Leeds Ladies’ Club website:  A reminder that there is so much on the brilliant website which Joanne Fox administers on behalf of the Club. There is fascinating reading in the archive – and photographs going back over many years. It is cheering on a dull day to look at Joanne’s photos of the legendary Herbert Summer Garden Parties!  (Our best wishes to Janet and Barry.)

https://www.universityofleedsladiesclub.co.uk

A reminder that Adel Players are presenting ‘Separate Tables’ by Terence Rattigan on Wednesday 23^rd to Saturday 26^th April at 7.30 pm at Adel Memorial Hall, Church Lane. All tickets are £10.  To reserve tickets (which are selling fast!) email boxoffice@adel-players.org.uk

Postage

I have been reminded by a club member that postage costs rise across the board on April 7^th 2025. A standard 1^st class letter will rise from £1.65 to £1.70 and a standard 2^nd class from 85p to 87p.

  She also thought that members might like to know that it is still possible to exchange non-barcoded stamps for barcoded ones by using the Royal Mail’s ‘Swap Out’ scheme.  A form can be printed at home (Royal Mail website) or picked up at a Post Office.  (Christmas stamps and special stamps with pictures do not need to be exchanged)

Thank you to Jean Williams for so ably producing this newsletter for the past year. Carol will now take back the reins, so please send any news you have to her email address.