The Mothers' Union held their first Branch Meeting after the summer break on the evening of the 12th September. Margaret Lees, a member of the St Matthew's Mothers' Union Branch, has written this blog post reporting on the events of the evening. 

"The meeting opened with prayers led by Val Prestwich.

"We were privileged to welcome Sharman Birtles MBE JP DL, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Grater Manchester to the meeting. She admitted it was quite a mouthful, but her main title is Vice-Lord Lieutenant.

"She then gave us a very lively and interesting talk about her experience of attending the late Queen's funeral.

"Mrs Birtles began with detailing all the intricate and painstaking arrangements needed to organise such a big occasion.

"Here in Manchester, meetings were held in the town hall every day. First to organise the reading of the proclamation, which is a century’s old tradition to let all the different areas hear the news. There was also a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Wessex to Manchester.

"The Vice Lord-Lieutenant was also able to go to the lying in state. It was very interesting to hear her reaction on seeing the coffin, with the crown glittering alongside the orb and sceptre. 

"The funeral itself, was well-organised down to the last detail. They had to leave Bolton at 2am to be at the Abbey by 8am; the funeral didn’t begin until 11am so there was a lot of time for people watching, which she did!

"One thing she did stress was that we at home had a better view of the proceedings, because with being in the abby, she was unable to see the events preceding and succeeding the funeral service. She did however catch up with all the recorded events when she arrived home. 

"At the end of her very interesting and enlightening talk, a vote of thanks was given to her for giving us such an insight into things not many would experience."

The next meeting of our Mothers' Union branch will be on 10th October.