The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 49 No.4 | March 2023

Local Group Programmes

Simon did the drinking! Beginning with the medieval period when food was seasonal and there were no specific dishes associated solely with Christmas, they looked at how over time this evolved to create the food and menus that are today reserved for the Christmas festivities alone. It was the medieval love of combining sweet and savoury in one dish, the use of spices and dried fruits, and a move away from yeast as a raising agent that gave rise to the mince pies, pudding, and the ubiquitous cake of today. They also showed how explorers, the railways, the Victorians, and farming practices have changed the meat and vegetables we now eat. You may hanker for the past, but for our palette today, Christmas is far more edible! Mince pie and a glass of wine anyone? (December) Christmas Party – After a three-year gap we once again held our Christmas party but I suspect Covid was behind us having less attendees than previously – perhaps because normal service for some has yet to be resumed. The necessary change of night so that we could use the hall may not have helped either. But for the 20 or so of us who did venture out and brave the very frosty night (-6.7) it was good to get back to business as usual. Plenty of food was on offer and I ate so much of the savoury delights of quiche, sausage rolls & vol-au-vents that I was unable to undertake my usual statistical analysis of the desserts and cake, though I can vouch that Rosemary’s trifle was delicious! This time I can say ‘mince pie and a glass of wine anyone?’ – and mean it! Forthcoming Meetings:

Across the Pond and Back

March 9th April13th May 11th June 8th

Susan Way

Short ABM followed by Rosario: A House & its Family Katherine Rusbridge

Migration, When We Get Stuck

Laurie Page

Member's evening - A Tragedy in the Family

Gosport Meetings are normally held on the second Wednesday of each month in the Scout Hut, Clayhall Road, Alverstoke, Gosport, Hants, PO12 2BY from 7.30-9.30.

Contact: Janet Heath Tel: 02392 522 827 Email: gosport@hgs-online.org.uk

Reports by Elayne Kenway (November) Special Operations Executive and the Beaulieu Finishing School – Nick Saunders Nick, a writer and historian, lives in the New Forest. He was initially writing a historical Guide for Beaulieu House and the Motor Museum when the history of the SOE and the Finishing School at Beaulieu took over. S.O.E. stands for Special Operations Executive. Under the leadership of Hugh Dalton, it merged and combined several units, at the beginning of 1939, including British Guerrilla

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