Location Photographs
The Calendar Girls doing Tai Chi on John's Hill; Annie (Sian Williams) Cora (Linda Coombes) Chris (Angie Dymott)
Jessie (Jill Jones) Ruth (Tracy Richards) & Celia (Fleur Greening)
Left: Rod (Phil Davies) & Chris (Angie Dymott) Right: Annie (Sian Williams) & John (Martyn Lench)
Left: Cora (Linda Coombes) Middle: Brenda Hulse (Brenda Slaughter) Right: Celia (Fleur Greening)
John (Martyn Lench)
Left: Rod (Phil Davies) Right: Chris (Angie Dymott) & Lady Cravenshire (Angela Driscoll)
Left: Marie (Helen Page) Right: Ruth (Tracy Richards)
Left: Jessie (Jill Jones) Right: Chris (Angie Dymott)
Dress Rehearsal Photographs
Village Hall set
The show begins with the girls from the W.I. following Chris (Angie Dymott) in a Tai Chi session. It soon becomes clear that Chris doesn't know what she is doing so the other girls start to make up their own moves using each persons flaws.
Left: Jessie (Jill Jones) makes out that Celia (Fleur Greening) is a secret drinker, which Celia denies. Right: It's Ruth's (Tracy Richards) turn to be made fun of as they all mimic how Ruth is a teachers pet.
Marie (Helen Page) enters, who is the leader of the W.I., & asks Ruth (Tracy Richards) if she has done the apple pies.
Ruth puts her hand up to say "Yes, Marie. I did four." Everyone laughs at Ruth to prove a point.
Ruth sets up a projector & the girls set up chairs ready for the guest speaker Brenda Hulse
Brenda Hulse (Angela Driscoll, Thursday 27th performance) arrives late after being double booked.
Brenda Hulse (Brenda Slaughter, Fri 28th - Sat 29th performances) arrives late after being double booked. Brenda Hulse eventually does a talk on Broccoli which amuses the girls before it sparks and cuts out, to everyone's delight.
Marie suggests Brenda judge the WI harvest competition as her talk has been cut short. Marie asks everyone to get their entries. Unfortunately they have all forgotten to do theirs except for Ruth. Marie: The theme was "Most creative still life done with a fir cone on the theme of Autumn". Ruth: "Right, I've obviously slightly misunderstood that. I've done Westlife"
John (Martyn Lench, Annie's Husband) enters with a bottle of his vintage "John Clarke's Pentyrch knee trembler".
Annie (Sian Williams) talks to Annie about John who is going to the Doctors for some tests. John pours some shots of his 'Pentyrch knee trembler' for Cora (Linda Coombes), Jessie (Jill Jones) Celia (Fleur Greening) & Ruth (Tracy Richards)
Thursday 27th production with John fashioning a different wig
Scene 2
It's Christmas in Pentyrch & it is of a Victorian theme. Ruth (Tracy Richards) rings a bell like a town crier; "Oyez! Oyez"
Chris (Angie Dymott) takes the Victorian costume theme too far & wears a Santa outfit she bought for a Millennium party. Marie (Helen Page), who came up with the Victorian theme fundraiser, is not happy with Chris's costume.
Rod (Phil Davies, Chris's husband) enters only for Marie to have a go at him for not getting her a flat bed truck for their float for which he had promised Marie.
John (Martyn Lench) enters dressed as Santa for the kids of the village.
Chris comments on Celia's (Fleur Greening) coat & boasts that with her costume she would get more coins in her charity bucket than her. Celia replies; " Collecting money has nothing to do with your dress. It's about the rapport you build up with the public [...]
[...] I mean the outfit HELPS but____". To which Chris can only respond with "No. That is NOT FAIR"
John takes a moment with Marie to discuss his chemotherapy treatment "you know what cheers me up? That WI calendar with your lovely photos of yorkshire churches. (Light heartedly) Being able to mark my chemotherapy appointments under images of misty graveyards".
Scene 3
Ruth (Tracy Richards) & Jessie (Jill Jones) talk about the Spring fete coming to Pentyrch. Ruth has made her own costume in anticipation for the fancy dress competition & Jessie tries to get her entry for the flower arranging inspired by a song completed. Is Ruth dressed as a mouse?
Left: Chris (Angie Dymott) enters looking for Rod her husband, who has disappeared into the fete's beer tent. Chris congratulates Ruth on her ferret costume.
Right: Chris picks up Cora's "Tea Tray on An International Theme" Montego Bay. The trees are made from beer bottles & the waves are are Ferrero Rocher wrappers.
Chris & Ruth doubt that Annie (Sian Williams) will want to be thinking about her entry for the cake baking competition as Annie herself barges into the hall.
Annie cannot believe she forgot to bake a cake for the competition. Her mind has been on other matters i.e. John's treatment. Chris has saved the day and picked up a cake of her own for Annie to enter. However it is supposed to be a made cake & Chris has bought hers from Marks & Spencer. Annie replies: "You can't enter a bought cake"
Celia (Feur Greening) enters with John (Martyn Lench) in a wheelchair
Left: Ruth asks Celia why she plays golf if she doesn't like it. Celia replies: " I quite enjoy the "golf". It's the bags i have to play it with" Come on. Ruth: Oh I can', Ceel. I can't play Golf. Celia: I don't want you to play. I want the kids to think you're one of the prizes. "Get a hole in one, win a Gerbil."
Right: Ruth: "For the last time, I'M A RABBIT!"
Celia asks John how the Fete is going, John replies: "In an extraordinary upturn of events... I won the fell race. Wasn't so good going UP hill. But I came down in eight seconds"
Lady Cravenshire (Angela Driscoll) is escorted around by Marie (Helen Page). Marie introduces Celia (Fleur Greening) the most recent member to join their W.I. . Lady Cravenshire addresses the room "Ladies. Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of your Spring Fete [...} As ever it's inspiring to see the amount of enthusiasm on display in all disciplines, especially by those in the "fancy dress competition, which of course this year is on a theme of "Cowboys & Indians".
Lady Cravenshire announces the winner of the cake baking competition. As Annie didn't want anything to do with the cake Chris bought, she left it up to Chris to enter it. It goes without saying that Chris won this category, to everyone's panic. The other ladies can only watch in anticipation to what Chris will do.
Lady Cravenshire also announces that this cake wins the Overall "Lady Cravenshire Discretionary Award". Lady Cravenshire asks Chris how she gets the lightness in the sponge. Chris replies: I basically stuck to my mother's advice about baking. Line the bowl with butter. Always use a warm spoon. And if it's a special event, get it from Marks & Spencers.
John's Hill
