A coffee morning in  the neighbouring village of Bolnhurst this morning was a chance to sit and chat with local friends and neighbours and to  buy Christmas cards  and raffle tickets to raise money for the  research into Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).  ITP  is a bleeding disorder in which the immune system destroys platelets, which are necessary for normal blood clotting.  Local mother of an ITP sufferer, Shirley Watson, set up the support group in 1995 and was awarded an MBE for her work which has enabled vital research to be conducted into this crippling disease.

As we sat and talked I learnt that the village of Bolnhurst was, in times past, a poor collection of houses lived in by agricultural labourers whose wives made lace to supplement the meagre wages of their husbands.  The land was poor and the people even poorer.  These days the village is prosperous, it boasts the award winning Plough restaurant and pub and the workers thatched cottages have been extended and refurbished to make comfortable and even luxurious homes.  Not the “hovels of Bolnhurst” as one friend said they used to be called.  The icing on the coffee morning was that I won a raffle prize!