SOCIAL SIDELIGHTS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 19 March 1938, Page 4

SOCIAL SIDELIGHTS.

Miss B. Philp, of Wellington, is staying with Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Gallagher, Queen Street. Mr. and Mrs. W. Lett, Salisbury Street, returned this week from a visit to Pahiatua. Mrs. Alister McLean, Auckland, left for a few days in Wellington on Thursday after visiting relatives in Levin. Mrs. 11. Tennant, Whakatane, left for her home on Tuesday last after spending three weeks’ holiday with Mr. and Mrs. W. Bull, Queenwood Eoad. Mrs. John Prcndeville, Chatham Islands, and Mrs. O’Brien, Reefton, were Iv, eok-end visitors to Levin, being the guests of Mr, and Mrs. H. Bates, Mabel Street. A Presentation. Last evening at Mrs. Dewis* tearooms was the occasion of a very happy social gathering, when the staff of A. W. Allen, Ltd., met to bid farewell to one of their fellow-members, Miss Pickering, who is severing her connection with the firm in view of her approaching marriage. On behalf of the staff, Mr. Gordon Joll made a presentation to the guest 'of the evening. Miss Pickering responded, thanking one and all for '.heir kind thoughts and the gift accompanying them. The guest’s father, Mr. B. W. Pickering, also voiced his appreciation to all i'prescut and to the firm of which his daughter has had such a long association. 'A Romantic Engagement. I The engagement of Miss Ishbel MacDonald, daughter of the. late Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, reveals a fairy-tale romance. She is to marry a man who was bom and has lived all his life at Speen, in Buckinghamshire, where she is the licensee of an ancient inn. | The engagement came as a surprise to all Miss Ishbel’s friends, but the villagers have known "the secret for months. To-day the little Buckinghamshire village is celebrating the fact that their darts champion and big-drum player in the local band has captured a famous hostess of royalty and the world’s greatest statesmen and diplomats. ■Soon after Miss Ishbel became licensee of the Plough Inn at Speen in 1936 she met Mr. Kidgley in her public bar. He was captain of the Plough Inn darts team, which she often took to contests against neighbouring inn teams.

In the words of a villager; “It was not long before we heard them using their Christian names. Anyone with half an eye could have told they were in love. They may have thought they had kept it secret, but we have only been waiting for the announcement of the engagement." Meanwhile, Mr. Ridgley has shared a farm with two men friends and worked as a house decorator and painter. When jobs were scarce he assisted the local electricians. The couple plan to live at the Plough Inn and carry on a small basketwork business left by Mr. Ridgley's father. Miss Ishbel and he are both 34. She has simple tastes and does not smoke cr drink or use cosmetics.