Cheryl Holdship began her talk by explaining that she started her career as a Social Worker, working for a local authority. As a consequence of an accident to her husband she had to become a carer for him and then became an independent Social Worker. She found working for a local authority very unsatisfying because she often had to pull back from clients who still needed her support whereas now she’s independent and funded by her clients she can be committed to their care needs.
She proceeded to outline two case studies but changing names and some of the details to preserve anonymity.
Case Study One was Anna who had Parkinson’s disease, living at home and receiving 24 hour care. Her care was funded by the NHS Continuing Health Care budget. At one point she went into hospital and when she was back at home she needed two full-time carers. Eventually she went into a care home as part of a relocation so she could be closer to her family. Cheryl took on the role of monitoring the care provision by visiting the home every two weeks. This meant that when the family visited they could dedicate their time to their mother and didn’t have to worry about the management of the care she was receiving. Cheryl referred to this as “Monitoring Support”.
Case Study Two was Jane and Paul where Paul had a stroke and was initially cared for in hospital. On being discharged his care was paid for by the NHS Continuing Health Care but this was withdrawn. It seems the NHS in their efforts to control their budgets are cutting back on Continuing Health Care funding and the administrators are making decisions based on cost rather than need. Cheryl’s role in this instance was to assist Jane to put together an appeal and to prepare her for the appeals process. Jane won the case and all funding was restored. Cheryl referred to this as Task Support where here involvement was concluded once the appeal had been successful.

Cheryl explained that the definition of “Continuing Health Care” is unclear with the courts having defined it in one way and the NHS National Framework describing it differently.

There followed a question and answer session that clearly indicated this is a complicated area, particularly if someone is self-funded and needs to procure the right care package for themselves or a loved one. There is a legal obligation on Local Authorities to undertake an assessment of all people requiring support however the first part is a financial assessment. If someone has assets of over £23,250 (which include their house if they are a homeowner) then some Local Authorities will charge for the assessment.
The difficulty of finding carers for home care in a rural location can be especially difficult because some care agencies do not pay their staff for the travel time between clients. Cheryl pointed out this practice was reducing because most carers will not work in this way.
Several questions regarded paying for care homes which varied in price from £450 to over £1,000 per week and the cost alone wasn’t a guarantee that the more you paid the better care you received.
It was a lot of information to take in and at the end of the talk the only clear thing about Adult Social Care is that it is a minefield for those of us who have to navigate it on behalf of our loved ones.

Standing before us were two members of de Mowbray’s Musicke band; the couple were dressed in costumes characteristic of the Tudor period and surrounded by a variety of reproduction musical instruments typical of that time. The couple explained that music was an important part of Tudor life with the landed gentry employing musicians to play in their fine houses, whilst travelling musicians entertained those in the towns and villages. Interestingly, early 16th century musical instruments were quite loud and often played outside every evening as a signal for people to ‘cuevrefeu’ ie, put out their fires and retire; from this French word we get our word curfew.

After playing their first tune, each member then explained in detail what clothes a typical Tudor musician might wear whilst slowly disrobing in front of us. Society at that time was strictly stratified even to the point whereby there were laws which dictated what could and couldn’t be worn; this ensured that everyone ‘knew their place’. One law even specified that on Sundays, all men except noblemen must wear a woollen cap. Whilst the rich wore satin, silk and velvet decorated with jewels and embroidery, the poor wore more simple clothes made mostly from coarse woollen cloth.

A woman’s dress was made of two parts, a bodice or corset-like garment and a skirt; sleeves were tied on with leather laces and could be detached and, under their dresses, they either wore silk or wool stockings depending on their status, a nightie-like garment called a shift made of linen and no knickers. Tudor men wore short trouser-like garments called breeches and tight fitting jackets called doublets. A jerkin was worn over the doublet however, many workingmen wore a loose woollen tunic rather than a doublet (which was easier to work in) and a leather jerkin on top. Men also wore stockings or woollen socks called hose. All Tudors wore hats of some kind although poor women wore a linen cap called a coif and, everyone wore a ruff, the quality of which signalled the wearer’s importance.

The presentation was interspersed with a number of musical interludes as the couple played tunes which flaunted the sounds and atmosphere of Tudor England. Their instruments included a selection from the easily recognised recorder family, the very curiously curved crumhorn, some extremely loud shawms and culminated with the English bagpipes.

Crump horns

Loud Shawns

The couple justly pride themselves on their authentic portrayal of Tudor musicians and the historical accuracy of their music, instruments and costumes.

Michael Credland developed an interest in WW1 from a very early age and, over the years, has built up a formidable collection of artefacts and memorabilia, some of which he had brought along today. He is also a well-respected authority on the role of the Lincolnshire Regiment in the Great War and on war memorials and, has presented his research and expertise in various publications.

For more than 150 years, British soldiers marched into battle adorned in red coats, white cross belts and gleaming buttons and literally ‘stuck out like a sore thumb’ however, by the time of The Boer War, keeping out of sight of the long-range rifles necessitated the army trading in its iconic crimson tunics for the much less conspicuous khaki battledress. Between the end of the Boer War and the start of WW1, yet another makeover took place and Mike had three different examples of this ‘new’ uniform on display.

It was now made in hardwearing serge, a thick, woollen material died khaki green for camouflage purposes. It had two breast pockets for personal items, two smaller pockets and an internal pocket; rank was sewn onto the upper tunic sleeve. Every soldier carried his load in Patent Webbing which did not quickly deteriorate on the battlefield like leather; it comprised of a wide belt, ammunition pouches (which held 75 rounds each), and a haversack which provided a hands-free means of carrying essential personal items including cutlery, mess tins, clasp knife, razor, can opener and a variety of brushes.

British riflemen were renowned for their accuracy; this was put down to the fact that many of them came from farming stock so they were already proficient at shooting. Every soldier was trained to fire a minimum of fifteen rounds per minute using a .303inch calibre Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle which had a magazine of 10 rounds. Not only was this rifle very effective in the trenches, it was also far superior to anything used by other countries and, for close quarter fighting, a 17inch Wilkinson Sword bayonet was attached to the end of the rifle; although this did not prevent the rifle from being fired, it did reduce its accuracy.

Shrapnel was causing many serious head injuries and even deaths but by 1915, the Brodie helmet had been introduced. Made from steel, it greatly reduced casualties and was further improved upon in 1916 with additional safety features.

Whilst Ordinary Ranks (ORs) were issued with their uniforms, officers had to buy their own and their kit from selected military outfitters; this resulted in a variety of styles, cloth and colours. They were also required to have a pistol not a rifle and carry items including a compass, torch, fob watch, whistle and swagger stick.

In October 1914, the 17-year-old Princess Mary launched an appeal to provide every soldier with a Christmas gift. Money collected from donations was used to manufacture small boxes made of either brass (for ORs) or silver (for officers) each containing tobacco, cigarettes, a lighter, sweets or chocolate and a Christmas card and photo of the king. Mike has one of these in his collection as well as many, many other treasured and irreplaceable collectables including postcards, china mementos, badges and other items too numerous to mention in detail here.

Mike’s enthusiasm for all things associated with WW1 is infectious and his collection includes rare and very precious items. His knowledge of this period in our history is second to none and this has recently been acknowledged when he received the BEM for services to First World War heritage and remembrance. He has successfully campaigned for the restoration and/or erection of War memorials both here and abroad and, he designed the tank memorial on the Tritton Road roundabout in Lincoln. His talk was both informative and instructive and oozed his passion for the subject. He should be congratulated on his wonderful achievements and for allowing us to handle so many pieces from his extensive collection.