St George's Ladies Group

Our meeting on the 24th September was given by Ruth Warren, entitled Mishaps of a Church Organist.

Six years ago Ruth’s title to her talk was 40 Plus Years of an Organist but after speaking to the Townswomans Guild she decided to change it to the above.

Ruth was born in South Wales in a Welsh mining village. Her mother was English and her father was Welsh.

In the early days the village was beautiful with mountains and clear rivers and farming land with 500 people living there. Then the village became a mining village with 13 pits. The river was black and the fish died, the only trees that grew were hawthorn. You might get clear water on top of a mountain from a stream. Boys as young as 9 years old went down the pit and they only had Sundays off.

Ruth’s mother went to church and her father went to chapel. But he then decided best to keep the peace, he would go to church as well. There were 19 chapels all together and a ‘top church’ and a ‘daughter church’ which Ruth attended.

On Whit Monday she had to wear her best dress and new shoes. She was about 6 years old. She had to parade along with other members of the church to an invalid’s house to sing outside which was ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’, they had already assembled outside the church, whilst walking along the road about 20 different chapels were all parading as well, all singing different hymns.

Ruth attended church regularly. She heard there was a concert in chapel. It was the Sunday School anniversary and there was dancing and singing. She was in the Junior choir and thought she could go along and hand out the programmes. As soon as she heard the organ being played she wanted to learn to play as well.

Her father found a Harmonium and carried it 2½ miles home. It needed a lot of work doing to it. It was put in the kitchen and covered over by a blanket, her brother and Ruth were not allowed to look under it. After three months it was fully restored, the pedals mended and wood polished.

Ruth’s mother was in the butcher’s one day talking about how wonderful a job her husband had made of restoring the harmonium, and said her children would like to learn to play it. A lady turned round and said she would teach them. It was one shilling and threepence for the lessons. That is how Ruth started to play the organ.

The lady who taught her died three years ago aged 97. Ruth was 8 years old when she began the lessons and she could play most hymns and classics. She heard that an organist was taking trips to Barry Island on a Sunday. It was the most terrible thing he could do, so he was sacked from playing the organ and Ruth took over. She was 8½ and it was a parlour organ. She sometimes played at funerals. The women were not allowed to go to funerals, only the men.

In 1954-55 the family moved to Gosport. Ruth played the organ in Gosport Memorial Hospital. The first week she played in the men’s ward. Her stool slid across the slippery floor. The second week she played in the ladies ward. This time she slipped again on the floor, she went one way, the organ went the other way. The ladies laughed so much the service had to be postponed.

Ruth has been a teacher for 21 years and has been playing the organ for 50 years.

At the end of the talk Ruth played a Welsh hymn on tape by a male Welsh Choir in Welsh for us to hear.

A really funny and enjoyable evening.

On 22nd October we had a very interesting talk from Sarah Sencott of Canine Partners Assistance, showing us how dogs helped people.

There were three dogs. Danny is 13 years old. He is the oldest Canine Dog and is deaf. Then there was Vilani and Zebedee.

Zebedee was doing his second demonstration of the day and his tail wagged all the time.

The Headquarters of Canine Partners Assistance is at Midhurst. It takes 18 months to 2 years to train a puppy. 80,000 people benefit from these dogs. It costs £10,000 to train them.

The dog must be 22 inches high for various reasons like reaching buttons on pedestrian crossings and reaching its owners arms if they are in a wheelchair; to be able to pull off their coat or take off their hat and gloves which Zebedee showed us how it was done.

It varies when a dog retires. Depending on how much work it does and if it is still able to continue without being tired or in pain for any reason, then it can carry on. When it is a puppy and it is castrated its joints are x-rayed to see if it will be a good dog for this type of work without getting arthritis.

A puppy starts work at 7 weeks old being trained like a whistle is blown twice before they eat; then after they eat they pick their bowl up.

They must get exercise every day like an ordinary dog. When the owner wants the dog to come back to them after having their free run, they will blow the whistle twice and the dog will know that they are needed to go back to their owner.

Zebedee can put the footplates on the wheelchair up and down, he can pick up a walking stick and can pull the wheelchair back to his owner. He showed us how he picks up glass cases and keys, mobile phone, credit card, coins, purse, inhaler and paper money. If the owner should drop a tablet and it could be a very strong tablet, then the owner of the dog will say “don’t touch” and the dog will know not to go and pick it up. This also applies if they were out walking and there is human food on the ground, the owner will say ‘don’t touch’ to the dog and he will know not to touch or eat the food that has been dropped.

People in wheelchairs cannot open doors. The dogs will do this for them. Mrs Norman Tebbet is getting a Canine Dog and she has said that one of the things she doesn’t like is if she is in a room and the door is closed and she is unable to open it. The dog will be able to do this for her.

Zebedee can take off socks, undo zips on jackets, and pull sleeves off. If a person is working, then the dog is told to “go to bed” on a small piece of cloth and it will stay there until the owner calls it ready to start working again.

Zebedee had his Canine Jacket on. He doesn’t wear it when he is at home. It doesn’t make any difference to the dog whether he has his jacket on or off, but when he is doing his demonstrations then it is to show people he is a “working” dog.

The dogs go to toilet on command. If a dog pood on a pavement, the owner who is in a wheelchair is unable to pick it up. A puppy is told to “toilet” when told from 7 weeks.

The best breed of dog to have is a Labrador crossed with a Golden Retriever. Labradors are very energetic whilst the Golden Retriever is much more laid back. Zebedee is a Black Labrador. Vilani is a crossed Poodle who liked to bark a lot and Danny is a Golden Retriever, who was very well behaved.

Priscilla Barlow