We had a very enjoyable club evening at the Hampshire Cultural Trust in Winchester. We have become involved with them as they are staging an exhibition to commemorate the 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen. The author lived in Hampshire and indeed in Winchester among other places locally. The exhibition is entitled Beyond the Bonnets, and explores the lives of working women in Hampshire at that time. Some members have been helping with this.
Sam Butcher from the HCT has a team of researchers finding out the history of these women who have found many stories to exhibit. He hosted the evening last night where we had our club photo taken with
a beautiful embroidered white muslin dress which formed part of their collection. We were then shown around the clothing store where many garments had been donated from that period and right up to modern day. We certainly identified with the 50s/60s years.
The technology collection was interesting as we could see the development of the early days of TV and the first computers, and incredible to see how quickly it had moved on in our lifetimes. After the tour we held a short meeting with refreshments before leaving.