Keeping in touch - edition 6

Hi All

As summer turns to sutumn and the days get shorter and cooler I really should start thinking about next year's programme, but as I have yet to hear when we will be back volunteering I'm hesitant to start planning a programme yet.  On Friday I should have been getting on the train to join you for our September in the Lakes weekend at High Wray, but alas with it not happening this year I gave my annual leave for it back to work and after five months away I'll be welcoming visitors to the National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle instead.  The museum reopened on Wednesday - my day off.  Back to some sort of normality I guess.  Although there has been no Edinburgh Festival this year there are still plenty of people around.  Are they tourists?  I don't know - I guess I will find out tomorrow.  Below is group shot from the very wet workday we had the last time we travelled to High Wray in 2018 for our Chrismas weekend.

When I emailed last time I gave you an update about what I knew then.  And now?  I know no more so I thought I would email you again to check in with everyone, particularly those like myself who are back either in the office or at work and those who have never stopped.  Don't forget to look after yourselves.  For those just returning to work or the office it can be a bit of a shock to the system.  I haven't seen 6.30am in a loooooong time.  If you have time for a bit of a walk, cycle or to do some gardening during your day then get out there and enjoy the great outdoors, hopefully in the sunshine.  For those still furloughed keep your chins up - you'll be back before you know it.

Many National Trust properties have opened up again and with them come vast swathes of countryside that can be explored and as volunteers we are bound to know of the hidden gems and magical places that no one else knows about to kick back and listen to the birds sing, take a picnic or just read a book.  The photos below although on workdays demonstrate just that.

On some of my walks during lockdown I would see no one because as residents, a bit like volunteers, we know those places hidden away from all the day trippers and holiday makers.

MNTV have worked very hard over the 2019-2020 season which came to a close unceremoniously on 15th March for workdays and 23rd March for the Committee just short of the year end. The group managed 293 workdays with a total of 1706.25 hours and the committee added 245 hours to that total, with this included the group put 1951.25 away. 20 people achieved their 50 hours and should have got volunteer cards unfortunately with so many staff on furlough we have yet to receive and don't think we will for this year so please keep using last years for those who have yet to receive one for the first time we apologise we are trying our best to get hold of some. For those unsure if they received a 50 hour card here's the list: Adrian P, Ally H, Andy S, Andy H, Christine B, Christine H, Daniel B, David J, Jean M, Jenny P, Martin M, Matt S, Mick S, Neil B, Pip F, Sarah C, Sue B, Tim O, Tricia T and Victor R. I'm sure you will join myself and the rest of the committee in saying Congratulations! For those thinking you might be due a Long Service Award please bear with us as we wait for confirmation of these.

In Edition 2 of Keeping in touch I told you that "the AGM is nearly upon us and no you won't need to leave the house AGM is coming to you, Daniel will be in touch in a week or so with all the paper work, if you have any questions that you think the group would like a discussion over then please let us know, or if you have any questions yourself before or after the AGM then you know where we are. and please don't forget to fill in any paper work and to pay your subs as they are due too." Unfortunately this hasn't taken place yet, we realised shortly afterwards that the accounts needed auditing and with not being able to leave the house except for exceptional circumstances we are awaiting for these to be done. However we do feel that we need one as it is meant to be yearly so Daniel hopes to be in touch with you soon with all the paper work.

For those of you who are interested, the group received an email through "myvolunteering" on 25th August with a message from Hilary McGrady - Director General of the National Trust, with the starter message attached.

"We wanted to get in touch with you, as a number of you will have seen the articles that have appeared in the media about the Trust over the weekend.  For those of you who are not aware, an internal document, written to provoke discussion and thoughts for our Reset programme, was leaked to The Times newspaper.  Since then there has been a lot of press interest and inaccurate information published.  We wanted to contact you directly about this so that you can hear from Hilary personally on what is, and isn’t, true."

Please click https://vimeo.com/451444129 to access the video, the password for this video is TRUST – please enter it when prompted.

As I started typing this yesterday Jenny P posted some of her volunteer activity on our whatsapp group.  Jenny has been doing some volunteering with the Canal and River Trust.  Do let us know of any volunteering you get up to whilst we wait for news of when we will be back.

Last time I got in touch I sent you a quiz of first line of children's books and I know you are waiting on tenter hooks for the answers so here goes:

First Lines of Children’s Books Quiz 

“Can you name 10 well-known children’s books from their opening lines?” 

1.  Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe 
2.  A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. The Gruffalo 
3.  'Where's Papa going with that axe?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. Charlotte's Web 
4.  Dennis was different. The Boy in the Dress 
5.  Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (The Wizard of Oz) 
6.  It was Mrs. May who first told me about them. The Borrowers 
7.  The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day. The Cat in the Hat 
8.  The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. Wind in the Willows 
9.  The pretty little Swiss town of Mayenfield lies at the foot of a mountain range, whose grim rigged peaks tower high above the valley below. Heidi 
10.  Sophie couldn't sleep. The BFG

How many did you get right?

Get your thinking caps on as this time, I give you, London Distances.

“For each of the following, can you name which of the two options is closest to London as the crow flies?” 

1. The North Pole or the Equator? 
2. Stonehenge or the White Cliffs of Dover? 
3. Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls? 
4. Blackpool Tower or the Eiffel Tower? 
5. Land's End or the Angel of the North? 
6. Mount Everest or Mount Kilimanjaro? 
7. North Korea or South Africa? 
8. Edinburgh or Belfast? 
9. New York City or New Delhi? 
10. Australia's Christmas Island or Chile's Easter Island?

Good Luck!

I have no recipes of cake to show you or for my colleagues this week as my oven is broken! :-(

I love hearing about and seeing what you have been up to so if you would like us to feature something that you have been up to, do send us a quick email so we can let the group know. This could include pictures from your daily routine or that socially distanced picnic in the park, glorious goings on in your garden, brilliant bakes you think we should try, what about that awesome fact you just found out that left you wandering around your house dumbstruck.

We also wanted you to still feel part of a group in these strange times, so have put together a WhatsApp Group for all of us to keep in touch.  If you would like to be part of this then please send us your mobile number so we can add you to the group.

Until next time

Keep safe and well

Ally

On behalf of your MNTV Commitee