After a hiatus of three years Wickhambrook WI was finally able to host its 12th Literary Lunch. Things did not go entirely to plan as Covid still managed to upset our best laid plans. Originally 48 people had signed up to attend but due to some WI members contracting the virus and others wary of attending we only welcomed 27 keen readers. Our guest speaker this year was Juliet Blaxland who has written about life on the edge of a cliff in Suffolk and how climate change is affecting us all.
After a buffet of sandwiches and savouries followed by delicious desserts provided by members of our two Reading Groups, Juliet began her talk about the house in Eastern Bavents she lost to the sea only a few years ago. The book sprang out of a quote Juliet had sent to a local radio programme: “Today they demolished the house at the edge of the cliff. We are now the house at the edge of the cliff.” This quote is full of foreboding of what was to come. In “The Easternmost House” the author describes a year in the life of the house and the way of country life which was also fast disappearing around it. Month by month changes to the house and garden are described alongside what was happening in the wider farming community. Ultimately in 2019 the house disappeared into the sea and Juliet describes standing on the beach now looking up at the sky where the house used to be.
As a follow-on to this book “The Easternmost Sky” explores adapting to change in the 21st century. This book was quoted as as The Times “ NATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR”.
Lockdown made us all more aware of the need to be more self- sufficient, learning lessons from times gone by. Juliet posed questions about where do we go from here? After some questions from the audience the afternoon came to a close and everyone agreed it had been a successful and thought provoking event. We look forward to holding another lunch next year.
