WI News April 2016
BOSBURY
President, Isabel, welcomed members and visitors to our March Open Meeting. We held a minute's silence to remember Sue Hall who passed away suddenly this month. Sue was a past President and still an active member in spite of her disabilities. She will be very much missed by all who knew her.
The speaker for the evening was Jemima Parry-Jones from the International Birds of Prey Centre at Newent. Jemima's father moved to Newent in 1966 and started the centre, and when he retired in 1982 she and her then husband took over and expanded it further. Most people visit the centre to see the flying demonstrations. however, their main work now is in conservation. At the moment they are working with the RSPB trying to save Indian Vultures which are now the most endangered species of birds in the world and are very important scavengers. They are also involved in a UK programme with the Little Owl erecting next boxes in old orchards.
The highlight of the evening was when two of Jemima's assistants brought in a young hooded vulture with a six foot wingspan and a beautiful Pharaoh's eagle owl (from the Sahara Desert ). It was a most enjoyable evening.
BRIMFIELD
So far this year BRIMFIELD members have learnt the history and modern-day culture of hop-growing from Ray Morris, been introduced to John Turrell's "Skeletons in his cupboard" and encouraged to find their own, and in March Rosemary Prosser entertained us with a light-hearted but informative talk on policing in the 1970's – "From tights to trousers".
DILWYN
A talk on Recycling and Composting given by Pam Percival to the DILWYN WI in April could have been as dull as ditch water, but it was absolutely fascinating and so informative. If you're looking for a different speaker, this is the one to choose. They had a fun evening and learned a lot.
BISHOPSWOOD
The April meeting of the Bishopswood WI was held on 11th March at 2.30 pm. It was an open meeting attended by about 34 members and guests, who dressed mainly in red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen's ninetieth birthday on 21st of this month. The hall was decorated similarly with bunting and table decorations. After the business meeting we enjoyed tea and cakes provided by our members. The highlight was an entertaining and informative talk by renowned local photographer, David Lloyd on the subject 'The Spirit of the Rose', illustrated with David's own beautiful photographs. The winner of the competition for the best photograph of a rose was awarded a copy of David's book which he kindly donated.
Mrs Cynthia Hale received a special prize for the best red, white and blue outfit.
The next meeting, on 13th May at 6.30 pm, will be a quiz arranged by Malcolm and Julia Brain.
SALTMARSHE & DISTRICT
There was fun and jollity at Saltmarshe & District Hall when the W.I. met to celebrate being active for 70 years, since the first meeting held at Saltmarshe Castle back in 1946.
It was lovely to be joined by visitors from Bromyard W.I. and Pencombe and Little Cowarne W.I. We were also pleased to warmly welcome Sylvia Garness, who'd been a member back in the '50s, along with Ron......... more of him shortly.
Rachel, our President, made sure our business section ran smoothly and we were treated to a humorous rendition of " 70 years in less than 7 minutes".
Our entertainment was Close Up Magic in the capable hands of Lofty, grandson of the aforementioned Ron. Lofty is a member of the Magic Circle and the International Brotherhood of Magicians and kept us delighted with an astonishing performance whilst we enjoyed the food so carefully prepared. We were pleased to discover this was Lofty's first booking for a W.I. but we're sure it won't be his last ! Details on http://www.loftymagic.com/
The beautiful birthday cake was baked by our very own Janet, cut by Wendy and enjoyed by us all.
Next month is our Resolutions meeting with more fun guessing what a "Collection of Unusual items " are. ( This is kindly being loaned to us for the evening by our good friends Ledbury W.I.; with whom we are still pleased to be paired, following the sad closure of Eaton Bishop).
So, please come along on Wednesday 11th May at 7.30pm.
UPTON BISHOP
Upton Bishop WI's April meeting was an open meeting which attracted many visitors to hear the talk by Bob Skelt on "The People of Bletchley Park".
Bob had worked at GCHQ for many years and had done training at Bletchley Park. First he explained how the mansion had been owned by the Leon family who had entertained lavishly and extended the original building somewhat eccentrically using architectural styles that they had seen and admired on their European travels. The Leon children didn't want the mansion on their parents' deaths and eventually it was sold for £7,500, originally to a builder who planned building houses on the site. However, in 1939 a team of British government codebreakers visited pretending to be a shooting party and decided it was the ideal non London base for their work.
There was very high security and it was known as Station X, it employed decoders, translators, bombe operators, analysts and reporters, the majority of staff being women. There were 100 staff in 1940 rising to 10,000 in 1944 and the number of messages at its peak was 18000 per day.
The Enigma machine was introduced, designed by Arthur Scherbius, which had 158 trillion combinations and the combination was changed each day. A team of Polish codebreakers proved invaluable in helping Britain decode messages using duplicate machines and bombes (computer forerunners). The first message was decoded in 1941. By 1944 there were 220 bombes in use. Many highly intelligent people, such as Mavis Batey and Alan Turing, were based there and became famous for their work. In 1943 the Lorenz Teleprint Machine was introduced which had 1.6 quadrillion possible settings.
The work was very intensive and top secret and working conditions were unpleasant. By 1952 work had moved to GCHQ and by 1982 everything was declassified.
THE SPARKLING WYE
There was a great turnout once more for the April meeting.
The speaker, Ben Champness, gave a talk about bees and honey. First of all he explained about the life cycle of a bee and also about the different types of honey produced, some of the cheap ones being made in China and consisting of simply sugar and water. There was then the chance to try different honeys and mark them by popularity. Also, he had brought along a selection of "tools" that he used in bee-keeping, members were invited to take part in a quiz to suggest what each one might be used for. He first gave the results of the tasting and was delighted to report that his honey was the 2nd most popular by a very narrow margin to another local honey, the cheap basic supermarket brand coming last. He recommended sticking to local honey! Six people bravely attempted the quiz, scoring was not high, but the winner was Annie Fisher. Julie Morgan gave the vote of thanks.
There then followed the business and a round-up of future social events, including a litter pick, a trip to Oxford and another theatre visit. The meeting closed with refreshments and the raffle.
BRAMPTON BRYAN
Brampton Bryan's team came joint sixth in the final of the Federation Quiz final, and look forward to next year's contest. Two members will attend the Council Meeting in Hereford and will also take our contributions of "Crafty Bits and Pieces" for the Three Counties Show, where Brampton Bryan, as part of the Marches Group, will take part in the 'Months of the Year' competition, and our flower arranger and cookery experts will display their skills. We are also looking forward to our walk in Downton Gorge later this month, and several more interesting outings are planned for this year.
Congratulations to Gill Harnett, whose photograph of Brampton Bryan's castle has been accepted for next year's Federation calendar.
Our speaker in April was Julia Llewellyn Roberts, who spoke about the work of KINDA – Knighton Initiative for Dementia Action, and she described the many different methods of communicating with people who may have changes in perception, vision and other problems, and ways in which Dementia Friends support the families and carers of people with dementia.
KINGTON
Our speakers for this meeting were Tim Howson and Tony French from SSAFA. The talk was excellent, telling us about how and why it was formed, Princess Alexandra was the first patron and two of her hairpins(which she took out of her hair) with a crown above became their symbol.
Grants including food, furniture and toys were given to service families.
Short holidays were arranged for bereaved families and Stepping Stone Homes near hospitals are among other help provided.
UPTON BISHOP
On Saturday, 23 April, Upton Bishop WI hosted a concert featuring the Blaenavon Male Voice choir. The choir put on a performance of great songs, traditional, varied, and the unexpected. The audience left the packed-to-capacity hall with the ultimate feel-good factor.
Two thirteen-year and one fourteen year-old boys were guests of the choir. The youngsters’ performance, which included an animated and extremely funny rendition of the Lion King’s Hakuna Makata, confirmed their destiny for West End Stardom.
Not only a great performance but durIng the break canapes and wine were served. The absolute enjoyment of the evening was evident in the faces of the audience.
A donation was given to the charity ALLHIM in which choir master, Gareth Whitcombe, is heavily involved. 16 acres of land has been purchased by the charity on which a school educating 700 orphans is being built; phase 1 is now complete. All are impressed that such a busy man can give so much of his time to this worthy cause. Coming back next year? Already looking forward to it.
BOSBURY
At the April meeting, President Isabel welcomed members and three visitors. The pleasing sum of £190 was raised at the March meeting in support of the conservation work by the Newent International Birds of Prey Centre. Unfortunately the tea party on 7th May has been cancelled, but instead members and friends are invited to a coffee morning on 15th June at Phelps Cottage, Coddington from 10.30 - 12.00 pm to remember Sue Hall, who passed away recently.
Arrangements for the Three Counties Show are underway, as this is Herefordshire’s year. We are taking part in the Jigsaw Collage, which will be displayed in the WI tent, and were shown a picture of our jigsaw piece. Ledbury Group will also be organising a display table with the theme of October.
The President’s challenge for this year is to see which member can grow the tallest sunflower and seeds were distributed. Watch this space.
We then enjoyed a cookery demonstration by Geoff Tookey who gave us tips on preparing food well ahead. We were able to taste his delicious salmon starter and upside down crumble pudding during tea. Geoff told us he first became interested in cookery by helping his Granny.
THE SUTTONS
In April, Sandy Elliot's talk gave The Suttons WI an informative and amusing insight into her illustrations in the book "Saints or Sinners". Each one beautifully executed, unique, amusing and witty, accompanies a history of a famous or infamous character of the area, an illustration for every day in the year. Were they "Saints" or "Sinners" is for the reader to decide?
Our May meeting is Exercise with Miranda – Gentle exercise for all ages and abilities!
ALMELEY
Almeley WI held their meeting on 21st April and started the meeting with birthday wishes to The Queen and by singing the National Anthem. We had a fascinating and very witty talk by Canon Sandy Elliott. She gave us some lovely insights in to Saints and Sinners of the Marches using the illustrations she has done for the book of the same title.
The meeting finished with a delicious tea and a special addition to the table made by ladies in the Craft Group.
