Our speaker for January is Susan Purcell.Those of you who have been members of our Club for at least eight years may recall that Susan has given a previous presentation to the Club – on 7th April 2011 to be precise. Her subject then was ‘Dictionaries’ and John Coleman was our Speaker Secretary at the time. She tells us that the talk went down very well and she particularly remembers the ‘nice email of thanks and appreciation from John’.

On this occasion, Susan, who lives locally in Shalford, will talk to us about ‘Accents and Dialects, including the old Surrey Dialect’. Susan is a professional linguist, crossword compiler and editor, lexicographer (dictionary compiler) and the author of 12 books related to words and language.She is well regarded in her field of expertise and is currently the regional co-ordinator for the Society of Authors.

This was both most enjoyable and reasonably well attended.
Jay Woogara, our newly elected Chairman, welcomed guests respendently attired in a jacket we understand created by his wife, Alison. Our guest were both the Mayor and Mayoress of Guildford, but also our wonderful speaker, Mel Rees.
Guests were offered a refreshing glass of bubbly by Phillip Mansley before socialising. It was noticeable that most attendees arrived much earlier than normal which enabled most to enjoy nearly an hour chatting before lunch commenced.
The lunch produced by Vince, as ever, was both fulsome and well received. He was thanked, following the lunch, for the good service he, and his staff, have offered this past year.
Our speaker, Mel Rees, took as his subject “My Family and other Meerkats. He held us both spellbound, and in stitches, at times, as he meandered through many of life’s happenings, lifting examples from his family upbringing, centred on the views and attitude of his mother.
Mel has written a number of books, from which, we are sure, much material for his talk was drawn. The class differences of adjacent communities, the accent differences of almost neighbours, all received the Mel Rees treatment – ” No, I’m not a snob.” His talk was without notes, and as our Chairman noted, for the first time in many a year, there was no sign of anyone nodding off during the talk – other than falling of their chairs with laughter. Mel is proudly politically incorrect – and that was very apparent at times!

Our Chairman, Jay Woogara, with his wife and the Mayor and Mayoress of Guildford

Our speaker Mel Rees in full flow