Woman's Hour - 11/11/2009

With Jenni Murray. Just under 20 per cent of priests are women - that is some 1,573 of them - and almost half of those currently training to be ordained in the Church of England are women, but women priests cannot then be appointed as bishops. Jenni is joined by Robert Key, MP for Salisbury and member of the General Synod, who will draw attention to this issue in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons today, and Vivienne Goddard, also a member of the General Synod, who opposes the ordination of women. Dr Andrea Marshall was a little-known PhD student in Mozambique when she made a breakthrough discovery of a new species of manta ray, manta alfredi. Measuring up to seven metres wide, it is the largest animal to be discovered in the last 50 years. Now dubbed 'Queen of the Mantas', Andrea joins Jenni to share her understanding of these magnificent creatures, the threats they face and the importance of their conservation. Darina Allen is a top Irish cook and food writer who runs Ballymaloe, an award-winning cookery school in County Cork. She talks to Jenni about the importance of reviving the cooking skills that used to be passed from generation to generation, and cooks apple fritters. An Arab proverb advises, 'To understand people, acquaint yourself with their proverbs.' Many of the proverbs we use date back to Aesop, the Bible, Shakespeare and folklore from the Middle Ages. Jenni and her guests examine the relevance of proverbs today, and discuss modern proverbs from around the world now becoming part of English.