A Flutter With a Cause

No village hall and really call itself a village hall until it has hosted a whist drive. Stalwart of local fundraising initiatives, whist drives have paid for all kinds of items, from spitfires to social outings for pensioners. Before television took over our lives, whist drives were also a reliable form of entertainment where the whole village could come together. It was a chance to win something and have a look at your neighbour’s new hat, maybe even settle old scores. So it came of a surprise to read of one churchman’s severe disapproval of this once ubiquitous activity. In 1936, the Reverend F Donkin Roberts, a former soldier, was vicar of a village near Barnsley. It was in the parish magazine that he vented his concerns: “I think it an insult to God’s house that its maintenance should depend upon profits from whist drives…I do not approve of any other means than free giving for maintaining the church and its services. I do not favour whist drives at all…I look on them as a form of...

 A blogpost from one of my old sites, The History Usherette: I recently watched two old films that coincidentally had something in common.  The first was an old favourite of mine – ‘What a Carve Up’ (1961) starring Kenneth Connor and Sid James.  The second was a hitherto unknown Margaret Rutherford film called ‘Aunt Clara’ (1954).  Both films concern themselves with rather improbable wills of rich old men.  In ‘Carve Up’ potential beneficiaries are summoned to a comedy house of horrors.  Meanwhile in ‘Aunt Clara’ an innocent old spinster inherits a chain of shady businesses. Films featuring wills are undoubtedly popular, especially in the murder mystery genre.  Margaret went on to wrangle a few more in the Miss Marple films of the 1960s.  The consequences of being on the receiving end of a will – or failing to benefit – are a safe storyline.  This is because we are all interested in the concept of attaining wealth without having to earn it....