Tower talk in Old Buckenham

Old Buckenham WI July meeting
At the July meeting of Old Buckenham Women’s Institute the business included detailed instructions of what to do in case of fire at the hall and reports on the recent village fete and the progressive supper with thanks to everyone involved.
Due to illness there was a last minute change of speaker and members were treated to an excellent talk on the Tower of London given by David Morton. The tower was first settled by Hadrian in AD50 when he chose Londinium as his capital and it was expanded throughout the centuries by most kings. William 1 built the White Tower as well as many other castles including Windsor and Arundel and employed 600 Jews to control finance and tax.
Over the years the Tower has been a palace, a prison, a mint, a treasury, a public records office, an armoury, a menagerie and the home of the Crown Jewels. Notable prisoners included Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes, Anne Boleyn, Rudolf Hess and the Kray brothers.
The Tower was opened to the public during the tourism boom of the late 1700s but closed again by the Duke of Wellington when he was gifted it after the Battle of Waterloo.
In 1974 it became a World Heritage site.
After a break for refreshments the competition and flower of the month results were announced, the birthday posies distributed and the raffle drawn.
At the next meeting, on Thursday 23 August, Sue Sursham will be talking on the Trans Siberian Railway and the competition will be for something from Russia.
The following month the meeting is on Thursday 27 September when the speaker will be Roger Jones from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust with the competition subject being a pencil drawing of a tree.