On 19^th November we welcomed our guest speaker Miss Val Howson, the manager of the Salvation Army Charity Shop at Meanwood Road Leeds.  The title of her talk was Tales from the Charity Shop in which she described how her life resulted in her current post and then related some amusing and touching stories from her work.

Val described her childhood being brought up in a terraced house in Hunslet, Leeds and regularly attending the local chapel.  At the age of 15 she left school to work in Marshall and Snelgrove’s department store and, after many varied jobs, the organisation she worked for suddenly folded leaving all its staff redundant.  At the age of 52 she had great difficulty in finding another job, being unemployed for a full year, until she talked her way into her present position.

Her shop is in a converted chapel in a socially deprived area with many foreign students and immigrants living close by.  She explained the philosophy of the charity shops which is to make money for something outside themselves.  Her shop’s policy of one price for all similar items enables her customers to shop with dignity.  Val’s talk concluded with a number of amusing anecdotes including a story of how a school in a remote part of Zambia became equipped with a pristine set of Leeds school uniforms obtained through her shop.

Mansel James proposed a vote of thanks for a very entertaining talk.

On 12^th November,  Duncan Verity introduced our speaker Martin Walker, who described a lifetime in gardening.

On leaving school Martin joined Leeds City Council parks department as an apprentice gardener.  In a long and distinguished career he worked at all the civic parks and gardens in and around Leeds before retiring as a senior manager.  He is still involved in the horticultural world including acting as a judge in the Yorkshire in Bloom competition.

He presented a slide show featuring a variety of the gardens he had worked in or designed including Golden Acre Park (where he started his career), Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall and mentioned the sponsored roundabout scheme which was initiated in Leeds.

Towards the end of his time with Leeds City Council he became involved in presenting displays for the Chelsea Flower Show and he explained the reasoning used by the judges in assessing the exhibits before awarding medals.  We saw Leeds’ efforts over the years which culminated in the award of two gold medals.

After a short Gardeners Question Time Paddy Tyler proposed a vote of thanks complimenting Martin on the delightful gardens around Leeds which his work has provided for everyone.