dialogue Winter 2013-14 | Page 60

BRANCHES EPPING FOREST HERTFORDSHIRE The key event of the last six months was the Borders Holiday when 41 members enjoyed 5 nights in Scotland and guided tours of many famous places organised by Janet Wallace, the branch Speakers’ Organiser. Full details of each day’s event are shown on the branch web page, complete with photographs. The branch also enjoyed five talks during the period: The Gretna Girls by Janet Wallace which covered the little known contribution to the war effort at an armaments factory; a very entertaining talk by Peter Kyle on the way ahead for ESU and Shakespeare’s contribution to the language; an introduction to Blue Badge Guides by Jennifer Basannaver; a guide on ‘How to Speak Essex’ by Martin Astell; a talk by Stuart Henderson on King of Hobbies, Hobby of Kings, i.e. stamp collecting (not horse racing). Full details are given on the web page. The AGM was held at our chairman’s home in May. Nigel Rogers gave a full report on the year’s events, which included the successful visit of the Cyprus student, Bertug Tekakpinar, and the equally successful Celebrity Dinner in November where the guest speaker was Daniel Finkelstein. The treasurer presented the acc