06/05/2025
With the 80th anniversary of VE Day this Thursday, we thought that we might do things a little differently this week.
So on Thursday, to mark VE Day we thought that we would make our own little WI style Meal Deal - so if you are passing and wanted to pick up something for your lunch or your brunch or your tea, we plan to open from 10am on Thursday (8th), and you can choose from Homemade Lemonade in Jam Jars, Little Baskets of Sausage Rolls, and Boxes of Cup Cakes (2 in a box).
Ryan's Big Sister Writer in Residence Laura has more than a passing interest in WW2 - the Land Army, the changing role of women, the impact of loss on towns and villages, the social transformation of life as it was known that happened once war was over....so many stories, and we are at the point in time now where there are very few survivors to give first hand accounts of how it was for them.
Elder Stateman Ryan's Grampa, now passed, often talked about the war - his evacuation to Donegal after the Belfast Blitz; seeing the Northern Lights at the Giant's Ring and thinking that it was a new German weapon; waiting with baited breath for the doodlebugs to pass safely overhead before they went silent; harbouring an American GI one night because didn't get back in time to where he was stationed at the Ormeau Park and lending him his sister's bicycle to sneak back in early the next morning; and then there was VE day when at 16 years old, and amongst all the joyful revellers, he strung lights from lamp post to lamp post and connected them to the main electrcity network, fortunately without electrocuting himself.
We have a great deal to be thankful for.
So that's the plan, Man. WI Meal Deal on Thursday and then we'll open again on Sunday rather than Saturday.
We'll put a couple of reminders up over the next day or two, just to make sure that we are not left with a lot of lemonade!
