March 2017
STAUNTON ON ARROW
Claire Burton introduced our speaker for the evening, Mrs Rosemary Thomas, who is Barbara Morgan’s cousin. She proceeded to give us a very entertaining and interesting account of her application to take part in the BBC Bake Off Series 5 in the autumn of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. After she sent in her very long application form she had two telephone interviews and then had to attend two actual interviews including a screen test, one in Bristol and one in London, taking her bakes to both! We saw pictures of her bakes, admired her swan butter moulds and tasted her cake and scones which were delicious. She got to the last 50 which was a great achievement but was very disappointed not to meet Paul Hollywood or Mary Berry.
HOLMER
St.David's Day was celebrated with due reverence at Holmer WI on March 1st, as testified by our Welsh members seen below. However, the eagle eyed among you may notice an interloper - Matthew Stead , who entertained us all during the evening with music and facts concerning the ukulele. Matthew lives in Ross and gives lessons throughout Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Monmouthshire. His talk was interspersed with a variety of gently soulful music. We learned that the ukulele originated on the Portuguese island of Madeira, the instrument and its music subsequently spreading its influence throughout the world. Ukulele has two meanings, in Madeira 'jumping flea' and in Hawaii ' the gift from over there' and gained in popularity because of its small size and cost. In the early part of the twentieth century , the ukulele was very popular on the Vaudeville circuit. George Formby was the highest paid entertainer and played to the troops twice during World War 2, one famous song being'With My Little Ukulele In My Hand' some of the lyrics of which would appear to be open to interpretation!
George Harrison of The Beatles loved the ukulele and had a comprehensive collection himself, saying that you couldn't play the ukulele without smiling. The instrument has waxed and waned in popularity over the years but has seen a resurgence recently , with many local clubs and communities being formed. Kath Lambert gave a vote of thanks to Matthew and a round of grateful applause followed.
Holmer WI next meets on Wednesday 5th April at 7.30pm in St. Marys Church , Grandstand Road. The speaker will be Geoff Tookey , whose subject will be Dishes with a Difference.
Come along and join us , we will find a comfortable chair and good company for you!
MUCH COWARNE
Much Cowarne WI held their monthly meeting at Stoke Lacy Village hall on February 10th. The speaker for the evening was David Hill, he gave a wonderful talk entitled Steam and Cherry Blossom in Japan. This was accompanied by a great selection of slides and personal memories of his holiday. As the title of his talk suggests Cherry Blossom on the trees was spectacular and the trains were always on time, including the famous bullet train. The trip he made was diverse, a visit to Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace Kyoto and many more interesting places.
SALTMARSHE & DISTRICT
By a happy coincidence our last meeting was held on International Women's Day - the 8th March - and, very appropriately, we had a Speaker, Mrs Jan Jones, who could certainly be described as an International Woman!
Her talk, entitled "Reminiscences of a Tour Operator", was the very first time she had stood in front of a group to tell of her experiences of devising, planning and successfully carrying out Coach Tours. It'll undoubtedly not be the last time, as she proved herself to be a vastly entertaining public speaker.
Our picture shows Jan, 2nd from the left, with Members who've enjoyed globe trotting with her.
From small beginnings of driving school children and Day Trips to Barry Island, Jan began to drive the Bishop's Frome Luncheon Club to places, and they began to ask her for visits to the South Coast, staying away for a night or two. Well, once she got started there was no going back. Itchy feet meant she then branched out to arrange trips abroad, all over Europe and beyond.
There was a long and happy association formed with tours to Scotland and much laughter filled the Hall with her memories involving tartan in all its forms; ties, socks, kilts, boxer shorts!!
For 17 years, Jan and husband Phil, took people, many now regular passengers, away for a Christmas Break; sometimes to the Isle of Wight. A fancy dress party and Games shows proved a winning idea.
Altogether, through the many years Jan was involved, over £40,000 was raised on raffles on the coaches; all for Charities.
Our Business section was fun too. Members told of Moodle training and of an exceptionally good visit to the Royal Mint at Llantrisant where a chance to strike one's own £1 coin of the new design proved popular.
In April we revert to our evening time of 7.30pm and on Wednesday 12th we'll be in the capable hands of Angie Pearson, who'll be getting us off our seats into "Music and Movement". Do come along and join us.
Our picture shows Jan, 2nd from the left, with Members who've enjoyed globe trotting with her.
PETERSTOW
The general meeting included our President welcoming several visitors, with 2 ladies expressing interest in joining our group.
The speaker for this month was the Rev Iain Skinner as a “Celtic Pilgrim”. Iain recounted his time as Chaplain to the SAS in Hereford from 2003- 20013. However, as the strain of the work took hold, he decided to take time to reflect on the events which had passed.
Preparations having been planned, he organized a 300 mile walk in 2012, from Iona in Scotland to Holy Island off the Northumberland coast. His dog Hamish a Highland Terrier being his only companion. This journey was to take 25 days in October to avoid the midges.
Iain picked up provisions weekly on a Sunday at a prearranged church, having preached a sermon. He explained how every evening he pitched his tent for Hamish and himself with only 3 nights spent in family accommodation. In order that his SAS camp knew he was safe he called in every day to tell them of his whereabouts.
This entertaining and interesting talk about his journey, with Iain reflecting on people he knew and had known left our members enthralled and captivated.
LEDBURY
Our President Margaret Coulson welcomed everyone to the meeting, including one new member and six visitors. She confirmed that Ledbury would be entering two teams in the Federation quiz.
Karen Van Hoff, who designs and makes stunning millinery and wedding accessories for top designers, then spoke about her career and showed many examples of her beautiful jewellery – it was almost impossible to realise that many of the pieces are based on knitting combined with wire, pearls and crystals.
The talk was filled with many amusing anecdotes – how she had regularly painted her (real) dog when a child - when her mother in law entering her organza flowers into a W.I competition had resulted in many orders for flowers and then millinery – how helping to revive a dormant W.I in her village had caused her to take up speaking. As a child she had been described as having no artistic talent – her talk and exhibits showed just how artistically talented she is, with endless creativity.
In thanking Karen, Margaret commented how appropriate the talk was for International Women’s Day, with Karen making such a success of her career whilst bringing up three children.
Following the speaker’s theme, the evening’s competition was for a necklace. The winner was a beautiful old locket, complete with pictures of the member’s great grandmother and great grandfather.
Our next meeting will take place at 7.30 pm, Wednesday 12 April at the Parish Room of the Catholic Church New Street Ledbury HR8 2EE. The speakers will be Rowena Gale and Penny Usher talking about the National Gardens Scheme in Herefordshire.
Visitors are always welcome to join us.
BROMYARD
The speaker at BROMYARD WI’s March meeting has many strings to her speaking repertoire but “A Brief History of Perfume” was the subject on this occasion. Carole Dowding’s informative and amusing talk took us on a romp through the ages on the uses and production of perfume – the word means “through smoke”. We also learnt that one ton of flowers is needed to generate one ounce of perfumed oil and hence the reason why perfume is so expensive. Carole concluded by giving us some tips on testing fragrances to avoid costly mistakes.
ASTON INGHAM
Members welcomed Hilary Orme, an author and supporter of MacMillan Cancer. Hilary came to this part of the country 40 years ago to work as a headmistress. She has always written and her first book was 'Twisted Tales' for adults, all royalties going to MacMillan. She has since had 3 children's books published with again. royalties going to MacMillan. All the books are set around sailing, she and her family are all avid sailors, having 2 boats moored in Lydney. Hilary herself has had the benefit of support when she developed breast cancer a few years ago. She raises money for MacMillan in various ways, including numerous coffee mornings.
The money Hilary raises goes to Hereford and Worcestershire MacMillan. As a speaker she was inspiring.
SPARKLING WYE
Malcolm Penny was the March meeting's excellent speaker, talking about The National Trust's Brockhampton Estate near Bromyard, where he volunteers. In his talk he explained some of the history of the estate and about its residents, illustrated with slides and a video. It is hoped that a visit may be organised in the next few months.
BRAMPTON BRYAN
At our March meeting, we congratulated Anne Voysey on winning the Joy Ward Silver Trophy Poetry Competition with her poem entitled “The Day I realised I was Grown Up”. Anne’s reading of this moving, evocative poem was perfect.
Our speaker was Pam Percival, a trained Master Composter, who talked about recycling and composting. She came armed with 3 boxes of compost in various stages showing us that composting is a natural process. Pam urged us all to have compost bins and surprised us with what we could and could not put in them, which would mean that we were sending less to land fill. Her talk gave us all food for thought!
DILWYN
Our March meeting was a cookery demonstration by one of our members Jane Voogd. Jane runs a small hotel in Bournville Birmingham, but still finds time to come to our meetings.
It was an open meeting and we were joined by members from 10 other WI's ,we were also pleased to welcome June Stephens. Jane showed us 3 recipes for one pot meals, plus 2 desserts, which everyone was able to enjoy later. The evening was a great success with lots of compliments about the food. Strange how WI ladies always manage to turn up when food is involved!!
BISHOPSWOOD
25 members of Bishopswood WI met at 2.30pm on Friday, 6thMarch. After Jerusalem and the usual short business meeting we stood for a minutes silence in memory of Peggy Williamson who had died in February.
Tea and cakes were enjoyed before the members joined groups to try new crafts of their choice, using materials provided by the leaders. Su led a group making decoupatch Easter eggs; Carol’s made beautiful floral buttonholes suitable for any wedding or other occasion, while Annett was in charge of the brooch makers. She had provided her own hand felted material as well as other fabrics, lace and buttons. Everyone enjoyed the afternoon and all went home carrying or wearing the results of their work.
STAUNTON ON ARROW
Our meeting began with Alison Baldwin and Sian Nunn, two very talented members of Putley WI who demonstrated the evening’s activity Decoupatch (American) or Decoupage. We all chose a 3D cardboard shape like a star or a heart to decorate with small pieces of paper and PVA glue, so our talented artistic members had a chance to shine. By the end of the evening our handiwork was dry enough to take home.
UPTON BISHOP
President Pat Lemin welcomed everyone to the meeting. As this meeting was one of our Open Meetings, we had several visitors.
We were then given a talk on Contemporary Spies by Bob Skelt, who kindly stepped in at very short notice, as the speaker originally booked was unwell and unable to come along. He told the group about spies from the 40's, 50's and 60's, spies like Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, all who worked as spies for the Soviet Union. Kim Philby was a high ranking member of British Intelligence who served as a double agent before defecting to the Soviet Union in 1963.
The vote of thanks was given by Lilah Wainman on a very interesting subject.
Tea and biscuits were then served, which was followed by a raffle, winners being Ann a visitor and Christine Jones and Janet Adcock of UBWI.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 11th April on Metal Knitting and Jewellery by Karen van Hoff at 7:30 at the Millennium Hall Upton Bishop. New members always welcome.
BOSBURY
President, Isabel, welcomed members and thanked the team, led by Rosemary, for organising the Pancake Lunch on Shrove Tuesday, which was a great success and raised £282.
The visit to the Royal Mint at Cardiff had been most enjoyable. Thanks to HFWI for organising this outing.
Jane Howe told us that the blankets and hats we had knitted for premature babies had safely arrived at their destination in Africa.
Jill Salmon gave an illustrated talk on the Costumes and Cultures of Peru. She first visited Peru 10 years ago and has just returned from visiting her son and family who live there.
Her slides showed a country with spectacular scenery and colourful costumes. Early Peruvian civilisations from 2000 years ago knew how to make lace, crochet, and knit and weave. She visited Lake Titicaca and stayed with a local family in their village on the reed bed. The women here weave and the men knit. Her suitcase was brimming with skirts, jackets, hats, and ponchos, beautifully made in stunning colours which we were able to try on.
The next meeting will be on Thursday, 13th April at 7.30 pm in the Parish Hall when Penny Platts will be talking about the Market Towns of Herefordshire. The competition will be a photo of a Herefordshire Market Town. The craft evenings continue on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. For further information please phone 01531 640029. New members and visitors always welcome.
THE SUTTONS
In March, Mary Watkins talked to the Suttons WI about ‘Bottletops and Banana Leaves’, a very interesting account of her year in Rwanda as a Volunteer. Mary is a primary school teacher, who currently works for Welsh Water as an Education officer. She spent a year in Rwanda with VSO at a Teacher Training College, helping the students to make teaching resources from anything they had available – hence bottle tops & banana leaves – also rice sacks and plastic bottles! It was amazing what they could produce to make their teaching more exciting – skittles, posters, dolls, counting aids and much more. Mary also told us about Friends of Rwandan Rugby (FoRR) who link Rugby teams in the UK and elsewhere with Rwandan schools and sports teams, and take teams of rugby coaches over to Rwanda.
Mary keeps in contact with the college and the students and has revisited them several times. She has also helped to set up nursery schools in the surrounding areas. It was a very inspiring talk, and made us all think about how you can make the most of the little you have.
At our next meeting on 19th April, Sophie Cowling from Herefordshire Wildlife trust will tell us about The Lugg Living Landscape – our local river.
LINTON
On Thursday 23 March 2017, an enjoyable afternoon was had by WI Linton and their guests from Aston Ingham and Upton Bishop. We played Beetle Drive; where winners and losers change places at different tables enabling us to meet other players through the session. It was followed by a delicious afternoon tea of cakes, salads, sandwiches to share over a chat and a cup of tea.
If you would like to join in and share activities such as this, or listen to our monthly speakers, you would be most welcome to come along to one of our meetings. We meet on the second Thursday of every month at 7.30pm (summer timetable) or contact Janet Griffiths, our secretary, on 01531-820094
BRAMPTON BRYAN
What a lovely way to spend a wet afternoon. We visited Owen Mabbort a blacksmith based in Kingsland. He patiently told us how he trained at Hereford and the different metals he works with. He was taken on as an apprentice by a local tradesman where he continued learning his craft. He showed us photos of some amazing projects he has been involved with, including a restoration project at Dover Castle. He then proceeded to demonstrate his skills by making a poker. He used the tools of his trade, many of which were made by him. He demonstrated using a hammer drills as well as the hammer and anvil, all the while explaining the process. At the end there was a magnificent poker wrapped with a vine and leaf and having a cut twist on the main length of the item. To round it all off we had tea and cake provided by his wife Cath and her mum Yvonne. What more could you ask for. A memorable visit that made our husbands wish they had been there. To see more of his work visit www.omabbortblacksmith.co.uk
