OUR March meeting began with a talk by Rodger Burgess about his time as a ‘Bobby’ on the beat in the 60s.

We were surprised to hear that the tall helmet worn at that time was made of cardboard!

Questions were asked about its water repellence but apparently the rain slid off the dark material covering the cardboard.

He showed us many items which were part of the traditional uniform including the handcuffs, which we had to agree would not fit most large men and were fiddly to secure. The modern model clips on quickly.

The truncheon was light and not especially useful, whilst the whistle was not much use in noisy situations. Hurrah for the modern age of walkie-talkies and mobile phones in policing.

The talk was followed by tea as usual and members were reminded that our next meeting would be our 69th birthday party.

Tickets were sold for our planned trip to see South Pacific at The Brindley in May and entrance money was taken for our coach trip to Gawsworth hall in July to celebrate the 95th year of the Cheshire federation and the centenary year for the National federation of Women’s Institutes.