Wendy Bell

Wed, May 29th 2024 at 12:40 am - 2:00 am

Wendy is an international lady and showed images of her life journey from South Africa, Australia and Scotland

The speaker was one of the club members, Wendy Bell. Wendy is a relatively new member and the meeting provided her with an opportunity to tell members about her varied and interesting life prior to her arrival in St. Andrews. Her talk was beautifully presented with a background of remarkable photographs displayed to the sound of the most tranquil of music. The photographs told the story of her peripatetic life’s journey through South Africa, Australia and Scotland; they had also been used to form part of the work she was doing for her PhD at St Andrews University based on how we explore the world at a sensory level, be it the changing patterns of the weather, the constant in and out of the tides or the perpetual heartbeat of the human body. Wendy described growing up in South Africa, a land of great beauty with a landscape of enormous diversity. She saw it as a privilege to be able to enjoy the freedom it seemed to offer albeit in a land where this was not available to all. It was therefore a tough choice when she, her husband and two young sons made a move to Australia where they happily settled until she sadly lost her husband. Another tough decision was called for and this resulted in the family moving to Scotland, eventually settling in St Andrews, a move driven by Wendy’s wish to follow up on her Scottish roots. The decision to relocate to St Andrews has proved a happy one, her two boys having settled in well at St Leonards School. The future remains uncertain for Wendy and her family. Do they remain in St Andrews, a stay helped by the cosmopolitan and international atmosphere of the town, or do they embark on another adventure to places as yet unknown? This interesting and thought-provoking talk was much appreciated by the Club and concluded with an appropriate vote of thanks from Sylvia Donaldson.