THE club hosted a evening with Elizabeth Morris at St Andrew’s Church Winsford in aid of Parkinson’s UK.

Elizabeth gave a dramatic performance of Violet’s story depicting life in Winsford in the early 20th century. Violet was married to the manager of Hamlet’s Salt Works. Being an influential family the Hamlet’s lived up the hill where Violet was able to look down on the town and breath the less polluted air. The industry was at its height at this time, with barges transporting salt down river to the port of Runcorn and beyond, from where it was distributed all over the world. With the prevailing wind drifting from the direction of Over the more affluent families, such as Violet’s, made their homes there. During the First World War the jobs were taken over by the women of the town when the men went off to fight. At this time much of the work was transferred to Brunner Mond, Northwich where the war effort of filling shell cases with by-products of the industry was done. Later when the men returned the women were expected to give up their jobs to enable the men to return to work.

By the 1940s the industry had declined as one company took control, introducing methods of manufacture requiring less labour. On November 18 Jo Colwell will be coming to talk about 'Mugs’.