In May Howard Beard showed members a presentation of pictures of places in the Stroud area that Laurie Lee might have seen or visited when he lived at the village of Slad. It was really interesting to see how the town had changed over the years, especially the shops. It was an excellent pictorial presentation from an entertaining speaker.
In June the news at the AGM was that Rob Winney has resigned from the Committee and Syd Flatman has taken his place. After the loss of our President, June Lewis during the year, David Perry has taken her place. The FHS funds were healthy and the work outside of meetings continues apace. A full Chairman’s report is in Fairford Flyer 23.
John Putley then gave us his usual informative, entertaining, well illustrated talk – this time on Highwaymen. He brought his pistols along (replicas) and told us about the practicalities of being a highwayman. This was pre-enclosure days so riding across country to escape was easy, after enclosures the obstacles of fences, ditches and turnpike gates made escape less certain. Local horses were easily identified so it was difficult to be anonymous. The words ‘Stand and deliver – your money or your life ‘ were actually reported as being said in court cases.