This was a topic suggested to us by NWR HQ and to see what we’d make of the word.
It was also a double birthday celebration so we enjoyed some fizz and cake as well.
Carol, our host, chose to tell us about the ‘wood-wide web’ and how trees are affected by the treatment of their neighbours. Trees left standing next to ones cut down suffer stress, affecting their well-being and growth. Some store water and nutrients at different times of the year, sharing their resources with others when needed.
Margaret, Viv and Marilyn explained the ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ theory whereby 2 people can be related/connected by no more than 6 acquaintances through friends of friends en route. There was a Richard Bacon game to prove this as well as huge email/Twitter and Facebook research. This was also an example of network science, a practice used to affect social change and probably involving today’s ‘Influencers’.
Steph looked at the connection between a crowded Beijing and a new town designed to cater for their population overspill. Cloud based technology made sure that all actions were recorded, and these connections were supposed to keep everyone safe but this came with an absence of personal freedom which worried us.
Charley entertained us with colourful stories about her connections with family pets.
Mopp traced her family history to a school friend who it turned out, also knew NWR Steyning’s Jackie from the same school. A connection with a back story as it happened.
Gillian looked at the connections between famous/historic personalities and subsequent tourism. Take Wordsworth and Grasmere, Eric Morecambe, Shakespeare and Stratford, Drakula and Whitby, the Beatles and Liverpool to name but a few.
Ann had recognised an ‘old’ school friend in Tesco’s, (who didn’t recognise her) then rekindled that friendship after many decades and was still meeting her, monthly, after all these years.
Angela reminded us of the connection between our brains and our stomach. As in gut-wrenching, gut instinct and brain food.
Finally, Mary had brought her Aunt’s cycling diary to show us her detailed rides from Worthing to many places near Steyning between 1949 to 1968. After moving to Steyning recently Mary felt a strong connection to her Aunt whilst driving along the same roads she had cycled over 50 years ago.
All in all, connections was a great topic and we covered a lot of ground. We look forward to reading how other groups fared and tackled this.