Themed Music Evening

On Thursday 7th August, we held another Themed Music Evening for our weekly get-together at the Scout Hall. This time the subject was "This Cover Is Better Than The Original (In My Opinion)" although not everyone agreed with that sentiment on all the songs. I received 19 suggestions to play, but knew we wouldn't have time to play everything so all the 'second choices' were eliminated, although I have included them in the list below. I played a small selection of my favourite covers whilst everyone got tea / coffee and biscuits and then we got started.  Those present sat in huddles of four or five and, as each track was played, the groups conferred to determine who had first recorded the track. Once the track was finished, I asked each team, in turn, what they'd concluded and noted who was right. Some were easily identified by everyone, some were correctly guessed by one or two teams but not the others and some were unguessable. Some people didn't recognise the covers, never mind know who did the original and, for a couple, people didn't realise that the more well-known version was actually a cover. Our selection covered jazz to punk and a couple of tracks were definitely more enjoyable for some people than others, but it was a fun evening and having a topic to discuss enabled people to socialise whilst the music was played. Unsurprisingly, The Beatles and Bob Dylan featured a few times.  

Soundcheck:
Jealous Guy by Roxy Music  (John Lennon)
I'm A Believer by The Monkees  (Neil Diamond)
Days by Kirsty MacColl  (The Kinks)
My Way by Sid Vicious / The Sex Pistols  (Frank Sinatra). If you've never heard this, I recommend a listen (and do get beyond the first 1 minute 8 seconds too).  Apparently Paul Anka (who wrote it for Frank Sinatra) loved this version. 

Playlist:
Valerie by Amy Winehouse  (The Zutons)
Make You Feel My Love by Adele  (Bob Dylan)
Eloise by The Damned  (Barry Ryan)
The First Cut Is The Deepest by Rod Stewart  (Cat Stevens)
Long Tall Sally by The Beatles  (Little Richard)
Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and the Banshees  (The Beatles)
Knocking on Heaven's Door by Guns n Roses  (Bob Dylan)
The Chain by The Highwomen  (Fleetwood Mac)
Love Me Or Leave Me by Nina Simone  (Ruth Etting) - we also played a short snippet of the original, from 1928
Mr Tambourine Man by Melanie  (Bob Dylan)
Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye  (Gladys Knight & The Pips)
Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers  (Les Baxter)
Tainted Love by Soft Cell  (Gloria Jones)

The ones we didn't get to:
Feeling Good by Muse  (Nina Simone)
Nothing Compares To You by Sinead O'Connor  (Prince)
Roll Over Beethoven by The Beatles  (Chuck Berry)
The Crying Game by Boy George  (Dave Berry)
Red Red Wine by UB40  (Neil Diamond)
Rockin' All Over The World by Status Quo  (John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Mother Nature's Son by John Denver  (The Beatles) 

Jill S, 7th August 2025

'Just a Minute' Game

When I was first introduced to this, it was called "Just a Minute", but it's not the same as the TV / radio show of that name and is probably more accurately described as "Who Is This?" or "The Name Game". 

An email was sent out, a couple of weeks ago, asking for people to send me the names of two famous people; they could be dead or alive, recent or historical, but had to be real people. The responses were an eclectic mix of authors, actors, sportsmen, explorers and royalty amongst others, although musicians / singers and politicians dominated; there was only one duplicate (Beethoven).  I added some scientists, chefs, fashion designers, artists, entertainers, TV personalities and historical figures, plus some more authors and actors, to the list, ensuring there were male and female names in each category where possible. Each was printed on individual squares of paper.  

This evening - 31st August 2025 - the group divided into two teams, with each sat in a row, facing the other team. To determine which team would go first, I gave a clue to someone chosen by myself (cigar-smoking, p****, who was actively involved with Stoke Mandeville) - which was correctly guessed by the team on my left as Jimmy Saville. The first person in Team A was handed the first piece of paper and had to describe the named person so that their team guessed who it was. Saying "sounds like" or "rhymes with" isn't allowed and nor can you pass so, if you have no idea who the person is or what they did, you have to be creative with your clues to guide your team to the correct name. As soon as the correct answer was guessed, another piece of paper was handed over. After one minute, time was up and the unguessed name went to the bottom of the pile. The first person is Team B was given the next name to describe to their team. Again, one minute to successfully describe as many people as possible. We then came back to Team A and person two in the row, and so on until all 54 names had been correctly identified.  Some were easy, but who knew that Steve Redgrave is a cyclist? (actually, Trevor did, as he guessed that his team mate knew nothing about sport and shouted out the sportsperson that he'd actually suggested) or that Stevie Nicks is male? or that Julius Caesar was Greek?  Walter Raleigh also got the bicycle treatment, Princess Charlotte was linked to fruit with no-one thinking to say she's William and Kate's daughter, Ellen Terry was described using nappies and Billy Joel may now forever be associated with goats. It took a few rounds before Elon Musk was correctly identified, possibly because no-one mentioned Tesla. 

For round two, the papers were shuffled and we continued down the line, alternating between Team A and Team B, for one minute each - but this time the person standing at the front could only use one word and their team was only allowed one guess. If they got it wrong, the piece of paper went back to the end of the pile and another name was passed over to describe in one word. It helps to have paid attention to the clues given (and the answers) in the first round, but at least you can pass in this round if you have no idea. In my example, I pointed out that 'cigar' for Jimmy Saville wouldn't help much as it could also apply to Groucho Marx so 'Mandeville' would be a better clue. Clearly my suggestion didn't sink in though, as 'author' gave the team a 1 in 5 chance, 'chef' didn't help narrow it down between Delia Smith or Gordon Ramsey (yet Norwich and 'swears' had both been mentioned in round one), 'clothing' could be Ralph Lauren or Coco Chanel (again, 'Polo' and 'dress' were mentioned in round one and that's how they were eventually identified), 'French' could be Claude Monet, Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot or Marie Antoinette and 'beheaded' applied to Anne Boleyn and Marie Antoinette.  We also learned who hadn't paid attention in the first round when answers such as Charles Dickens and Vincent Van Gogh were shouted out - they weren't ever on the list. 

In round three, you had to mime. Richard crawling on the floor, trying to be a 'cat in the hat' for Dr Seuss was hilarious, blowing the bl**dy doors off for Michael Caine was mistaken for Guy Fawkes, smoking a cigarette (tobacco) for Walter Raleigh was guessed as Groucho Marx (should have gone for the cycling action!), attempts at miming a crown on the head for Queen Elizabeth II and for Princess Charlotte might have worked if a similar headpiece mime wasn't also used for Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Julius Caesar and, oddly, Dawn French (presumably linked to the Vicar of Dibley). Miming writing was variously used for Dick Francis, Bill Bryson, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Alan Turing, Ada Lovelace and Carol Vorderman, so wasn't a huge help.  An asp biting Cleopatra was well acted (if you knew the answer) but obviously wasn't clear the first time round - when it came round again and was mimed to the same team, the person who'd acted almost the exact same mime was able to guess it immediately. At least Lewis Hamilton was relatively easy, once Jeremy Clarkson had been discounted and so were Charles Darwin (ape to man), Bruce Lee (karate kick) and Martina Navratilova (I should have added a male tennis player to the list!).  

We didn't quite get through them all - Michelle Obama, Tony Blair, Ellen Terry and Nelson Mandela proved too difficult to mime - before our evening had to be brought to an end, but it was good fun and I'd certainly like to thank all the participants for making me laugh so much, even if that wasn't the intent.  One person's idea of 'famous' isn't the same as another's and there were a few names in the pile that were unknown to many in the group, which made it very interesting. However, I can't criticise as I had no idea who Ellen Terry was.  

Jill S., 31st July 2025

Benfleet to Leigh-on-Sea Station

On a warm summer’s day, 10 EFOGers met at Benfleet Station at 11 am on Friday 18th July.

There was a short uphill stretch as we went up Station Road to turn right into Hadleigh Country Park and follow the gravel path heading towards Hadleigh Castle.

There were good views across the fields to East Haven Creek and the variety of boats moored there. There is The Hub Café in the country park, but that would have added a little to the walk so I’d phoned ahead to check that the Café at the Salvation Army Rare Breeds Farm could fit us in, which they could, so we followed the path uphill (steeper and longer than some would have liked) past Hadleigh Castle to the Café. Both the Café and Farm are staffed by trainees with special needs. The food was very well presented with generous portions for the Ploughmans.

Suitably refreshed we then moved on to the Rare Breeds Farm itself where we strolled leisurely round with some feeding the animals. After the long dry spell much of the grass in the enclosures was parched or virtually non-existent, but we saw that they did move the animals from time to time and let some into the wider fields with more abundant grass.

We then retraced our steps down to the Castle ruin from which there were views out to the Thames Estuary and Southend.

Passing through the Castle grounds we followed the footpath towards Leigh-on-Sea station. On the way we saw a large caterpillar on the path which was later determined to be an emperor moth.

After a 4 mile walk in total we reached Leigh-on-Sea Station at just after 4pm, having taken a little longer than anticipated at the café and elsewhere, to catch the train back to Benfleet and home. 

Richard, 25th July 2025
Photos by Madeleine

Manor Park Circular Walk – Wanstead Flats and Park

Sunday 13th July 2025, and it’s a change from the walk originally planned due to the hot weather, and a slightly earlier start to avoid the hottest part of the day and so people can get back in time to watch the tennis final. I arrived at Manor Park station at 10.30 to find Fozi, Louise, Madeleine, Lynne and Jill S there and we were soon joined by Claire.

We exited the station turning left towards Wanstead Flats, and I wondered whether the grass fires earlier in the week might have any impact our route. Turning left into Capel Road we saw some police tape Wanstead Flats, looking east from Centre Roadalong the edge of the Flats, but we continued on the road along the edge of the Flats, which were sadly looking very dry and brown.

At the next road (Centre Road) we crossed over and continued around the edge of the Flats, with a couple of football games taking place at the other side of the Flats. We did very briefly take a wrong turn, but I realised that it was wrong within about 10 seconds, so that doesn’t count (my walk, my rules!).

We continued along the edge of the Flats, turning at Jubilee Pond and then crossing Lake House Road to head towards the high rise buildings at the edge of the grassland. and then we turned right along Evelyn's Avenue, a historic tree lined track heading towards Wanstead and Bush Wood. I had previously walked the route, but only in the opposite direction, so upon reaching a junction at Bush Wood, I needed to check whether it was the right track to take, leaving the ladies to have a drink break and natter.

Jubilee Pond, Wanstead FlatsFollowing the chosen route, it turned out to be right (blimey, that’s a rarity!) and we came out on Blake Hall Road, to cross over the road and enter into Wanstead Park We then walked through the park, shaded by the surrounding trees, past the ducklings at Shoulder of Mutton Pond, to the tea hut for well earned food and drinks. This was, in effect, the end of the walk, as for most people it was easier to get home from here rather than returning to Manor Park.

Suitably refreshed, we then headed homewards, some through the park to reach Wanstead and Redbridge, with a couple of us taking the short walk back to the start point, passing an area of grassland which had obviously been burnt in the recent fire. It had been a good walk, pleasantly warm rather than intensely hot, a leisurely 5 miles, and everyone should have been able to get back in time for the tennis - if you like Wimbledon that is.

Trev Eley

Photos by Jill and Trevor