We’d like to share the obituary of our dear friend Seonaid Wootton who was a long-time active member of our Ludlow and Marches Humanists group.
Seonaid’s daughter Sarah wrote a touching tribute that was published on The Guardian website on November 6th, 2024. Please see the link below:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/nov/06/seonaid-wootton-obituary
October 15th, 2024
In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd provides an
in-depth account of the thought-provoking talk by Phil Cheatle, Lead Campaign Commentator of the campaign group My Death, My Decision (MDMD).
Phil told the meeting why he had become involved in My Death My Decision. It was due to his personal experience with his mother and aunt. His mother aged 93 knew things were not going to get better and asked him to end her life. Doctors could not help her as she wished. She said “make them see sense”.
We are all living longer. A lot of heart disease and cancer are now curable but there are degenerative diseases such as dementia, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are the leading cause of death in England and Wales with 1 in 8 of all recorded cause of deaths and 1 in 4 for women over 80.
Continue reading “Event Report: My Death, My Decision?”In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd recaps the talk by Professor Colin Kelcey about a traumatic but pivotal event in London’s history.
This was a talk by Colin Kelcey about five particular days in December 1952 when London was enveloped in smog and the city was at a standstill.
This was not the first episode of pollution where impacts on health were noted. In December 1930 in the Meuse Valley in Belgium there was an incident of fog which killed 63 people. Previously in 1911 in the same area a lot of cattle were killed and farmers found that they could only save them by moving them to higher ground – this had been realised from earlier smog events. Cows were like the canary in the mine, unusually sensitive to air pollution. Subsequently at a meeting there were ominous warnings about what could happen, it was said that if there was a similar event in London it could result in 3,200 deaths.
Continue reading “Event Report: Five Days in December – September 17th, 2024”In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd recaps the talk by Alec Jones, Principal of Dragon Spring Taiji School of Taiji and Qigong.
Alec told us that Daoism – sometimes spelled Taoism – is many things: a religion, a philosophy, and a way of life.
Laozi was an educated man living in China in the 6th century. He was a keeper of archives in the capital of China, able to read lots of information and gain a lot of knowledge. He felt he’d seen enough corruption in the way the country was run and decided to move to the mountains. The guard at the border asked why he’d made the decision and, after talking, the guard asked him to write down some of his words of wisdom. This became the Tao Te Ching and was 5,000 Chinese characters. It consisted of succinct mystical phrases called chapters and there were 81 chapters (some very short). It demonstrated his wisdom. Many people saw it as the way to govern a country.
Continue reading “Event Report: Daoism – going with the flow – April 16th, 2024”In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd recaps the talk by Professor Colin Kelcey, FRS, FRSS, FLS, MRI, about the intriguing and remarkable life of Erasmus Darwin.
Erasmus Darwin was the grandfather of Charles Darwin. Colin showed us a picture of him by the painter Joseph Wright of Derby. Erasmus was a ‘porky’ man who lived from 1731 to1802. He lived at a time when there was lots going on politically and socially. He was one of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment.
Continue reading “Event Report: Erasmus Darwin – “The Everything Man” – March 19th, 2024”In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd recaps Susie’s talk about the organisation’s work to help, inform and support people in and around Ludlow.
Hands Together Ludlow (HTL) is a registered charity located at 15 Lower Galdeford, Ludlow. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Susie O’Hagan, Operations Manager, explained that the charity identifies gaps and supports people to help themselves.
Continue reading “Event Report: A talk by Susie O’Hagan of Hands Together Ludlow, November 21st, 2023”Humanists take part in Ludlow ceremony
Members of the Ludlow and Marches Humanists took part in the wreath laying at Ludlow Peace Memorial on Remembrance Sunday, November 12th, 2023.
An informal talk by Father Christopher Walsh
April 18th, 2023
In this event report, Ludlow and Marches Humanists Chair Malcolm Rochefort reflects upon the insightful talk by Father Walsh about Pope Francis and his influence on the Catholic Church.
Father Christopher Walsh, of the Catholic Church of St Peter’s in Ludlow, kindly agreed to give us a talk on ‘Why is Pope Francis special?’. We had the impression, as observers of the Roman Catholic Church from the outside, that Pope Francis had brought something different to the church over the past few years, and his views did not appear to be universally appreciated within the church, so we appreciated an insider’s view on this.
Continue reading “Event Report: Why is Pope Francis special?”A talk by Igor Kennaway, local pianist, conductor and music teacher
21st March, 2023
In this event report, Ludlow and Marches Humanists Chair Malcolm Rochefort, offers his perspective on Igor’s absorbing multi-media exploration of music.
Igor now lives locally in Wigmore, and is a conductor, pianist and music lecturer. He graduated in history from Pembroke College, Cambridge, and then received a Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust bursary to attend the Royal Academy of Music. During that time he was mentored and became lifelong friends with Vaughan Williams’ widow Ursula Vaughan Williams.
Continue reading “Event Report: Music is the language of our silence”In this event report, our newsletter editor Frances Lloyd summarises John’s talk about his experiences as a humanist celebrant
John’s journey
John was brought up with a Baptist mother and was baptised when he was 16. His church was part of the ‘Jesus’ movement. When at Sheffield University he joined the Christian Union but lost his faith and became strongly not religious.
His career was in IT and management consultancy. When he retired, he thought what now? He was attracted to humanism and checked on the website that he was indeed a humanist. He felt he could use his skills of presentation and experience of meeting people to become a humanist celebrant and looked into the training.
Continue reading “Event Report: February 21st meeting with John Leaman – an Introduction to Humanist ceremonies”