Cranborne October 2nd

After Tony Horitz had led a discussion of Sting in the Tale, Graham dug into his memories of Plaistow and East Ham for Raymond the Milkman and his horse, Juliet, together with the late Mrs Gotobed of 132, provider of biscuits for the horse and comfort for the one-legged grocer. Then Tony told us how the Pandava brothers set out to climb up to Heaven, and how all but Yudhisthira and his loyal dog succumbed to their natures, given over to love, battles, food and drink, and religion – and how Yudhisthira matched the dog for loyalty and refused to enter Heaven without his faithful companion – which insistence earned the dog admission to Heaven after all.

Mike vied with Graham in the personal reminiscence stakes, telling us about the Empty Shops of Catford and Bromley, while Suzanne told us about Meg Puttock, Dragon-Feeder and ultimately Dragon-Slayer [though her son George, the butcher's apprentice, got the credit]. Pete gave us the tale of Pwll's stint as the King of Annwm, from the Mabinogion, with Gill playing Welsh tunes on her cello. Graham's second appearance as Tax-Disc-Jockey was nicely complemented by Val as The Voice of Authority, and Taprisha closed the proceedings with an up-dated version of Old Man Appletree.