32 Belles plus 20 guests saw 2021 get off to a cracking start on Zoom and our best attended meeting yet, virtual or otherwise. Had we been at the Community Centre it would have been a very tight squeeze!
We welcomed Hayley Scott from The Forensic Experience... and what a great speaker she turned out to be, with all kinds of tales and insights into her previous life in the Metropolitan Police as a Crime Scene Investigator. From the feed back we've had so far, not only was she deemed a great speaker (with requests for her details from the local Rotary as well as other WIs), everyone also likes the look of her 'live' forensic experiences. Fingers crossed we can find the means to tempt her out west from her base in Reading as soon as we are able.
With 14 years’ experience ranging from minor burglaries (although not minor for the unfortunate victims) to part of the team investigating the London bombings in 2005, Hayley had a host of stories to tell. Luckily she also left plenty of time for questions at the end because that time was filled easily with the most questions we've ever had at one of our meetings.
Hayley explained some of the technical aspects of her role including collection of DNA residue, fingerprints and blood samples and the importance of whether they are discovered on a portable or fixed item. For example, a footprint discovered on a piece of paper within a room could be deemed to have less forensic weight than if it were found on a floorboard of the same property as the paper could have been transferred from outside the scene of the crime.
One of the questions asked was on the accuracy of CSI in TV dramas. Hayley recommended the recent Pembrokeshire Murders as a good one, plus most of the procedures in Silent Witness are pretty good (apart from the forensic pathologist visiting the crime scene; that's the role of the Crime Scene Examiners), particularly because an ex-colleague of hers is the programme's advisor.
Hayley also provided the means for us to take our own fingerprints in the shape of this form:
Fingerprints are unique to the person and we learned they also extend down the finger and onto the hand in addition to the area where they're usually taken. Hayley provided some tips for anyone wishing to use the form:
ensure clean hand to avoid poor results
use an ink pad, artistic paints, or a black felt tip pen but not a Sharpie or similar permanent marker as you'll find it quite hard to get the ink off afterwards!
apply the ink to each finger and thumb above the first joint and from side to side as far as the finger nail
roll your finger from one side to the other carefully in one smooth movement onto the paper
compare the results with the examples of the fingerprint patterns on the form
Elsewhere this month, Book Club had a great turn out for their review of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, as did Wendy's flexi-club Crafternoon with lots of crafty talent on display. The Happy Hookers tackled the corner to corner technique which is useful for adding texture to square or rectangular makes such as blankets, cushion covers and scarves.
We all turned to our gardens for the Our Town activity to observe which flowers were in bloom in early January, and then late in the month to count the bird visitors we had for the RSPB's Great Garden Birdwatch. Whilst there was no formal Walkie Talkies owing to lockdown restrictions, plenty of Belles have found a walking buddy as company for their daily exercise. In addition the Walking Netball group are keeping up their fitness by seeing how far their collective walking total is for the month.