Red Hat Society in Henley
13 May 2008 20:22
If you were in Henley on Friday, you may have seen an un-usual sight...
Women from The Red Hat Society were in town to visit the River & Rowing Museum. The group is made up of women looking for fun and frivolity after reaching the age of 50. The Red Hat Society was started in America by Sue Ellen Cooper, based on the well known poem 'Warning ' by Jenny Joseph.
Sue Ellen bought her best friend a red hat and a framed version of the poem. Her friend liked it so much, she did the same for other friends and so it came about that they had formed a 'club' of Red Hatters. There are 80 such groups in the UK.
The group who came to the River & Rowing Museum were the Chiltern Charmers from High Wycombe!
Here is the poem that inspired The Red Hat Society...
WARNING
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
JENNY JOSEPH