Extracts from the weekend’s diary
Friday 19 June
Excitement was already running high with several people having posted photos of puzzles to work on over the weekend. Grandpa TJ illustrated in detail his painstaking preparations for cutting a layered puzzle. From Germany, Maria cheekily announced that she would be able to start an hour ahead of participants in the UK, but was intending to finish at the same time as those in the USA!
Saturday 20 June
With 34 of us in the group, there was soon a constant stream of puzzle photos – cardboard and wooden, complete and underway, battered and pristine. Pamela was starting a large Chandos puzzle, to great excitement. Andrew had made a good start on his Philmar ‘Peaceful Valley’ that Wout identified as Llangollen. Emma challenged us to work out what town or city was represented in her 1,000-piece Jigraphy puzzle and by the end of the morning, Maria had finished her map puzzle and took a selfie toasting her success.
Genest started cutting a puzzle showing Notre Dame across the Seine, before the terrible fire last year which destroyed its wooden tower. Shay was cutting a puzzle with heart-shaped tabs and animal figural pieces, using a print of one of her own paintings.
Many of the puzzles posted were on the meeting theme of ‘My Country’, and were in addition to those shared in the ‘Show and Tell’. Some highlights from the UK were a nostalgic A1 Puzzle Club puzzle featuring the Isle of Wight from Nicki, a stunning push-fit ‘Country Girl’ from Sara, and a Puzzlewood ‘Queen Elizabeth’ from Pete.
The USA was strongly represented, including ‘Days of Splendour’, a Black Bear puzzle (Shay), a striking cardboard First Nations puzzle from Ian and Kelly, and an extraordinary old puzzle cut by Mrs R E Sthen, posted by Deb. There was canoeing and camping from Sweden (Bibbi), delightful dachshunds and landscapes from Germany (Stefanie and Kerstin), and one of the stars of the show, Wout’s ‘Fantasy of Holland’.
By the end of the first day, over 200 puzzle photos had been posted. I suspect quite a few bottles had been opened, because The Beatles (psychedelic era) were in evidence, Nicki posted a faintly disturbing Puzzleplex circus puzzle, and Jackie went over the top with a Puzzlewood puzzle grandly entitled ‘Mushrooms Trippy Land Weed Sun Bong Fantasy’.
Sunday 21 June
Throughout the day, photos of completed puzzles were posted, to great acclaim. Several people asked for more information about puzzles they posted, and some questions remained unanswered at the end of the weekend. So if you haven’t visited ‘BCD Just Jigsaws’, please do. You may be able to help answer Maria’s query about an antique map puzzle, or Deb’s request for information about this very unusual early Tuck puzzle, ‘The Rat Catcher’.
By the end of Sunday, there was a sudden flurry of activity. David and Jackie finished their Wentworth ‘City of London’ puzzle and Terry cut a final 50 pieces for the day of his stupendous layered puzzle. Maria put in the last couple of hundred all-grey pieces into her map, finishing at 11.56, four minutes before the official deadline and Kerstin posted a celebratory Liberty fireworks puzzle.
A great time was had by all. It was a particular thrill to puzzle alongside some of our international members, and to be given insights into puzzle cutting by some of the best cutters working today.