News
June 2023
From now on we are to be known as ‘Reedham Belles WI’. We felt it was time for a change and wanted a bit of a relaunch of our WI, so are pleased that Norfolk trustees have approved our change. This month was our Summer Social, time to chat, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Unfortunately, we were indoors as it was an unseasonably chilly evening.
Oh yes, we might have been eating together too! A delicious array of food was brought and shared by our members. A lovely, relaxing evening enjoyed by us all.
Two weeks later we held an Open Evening to encourage interest and attract new members. Prior to this we had produced a leaflet to advertise the event and show what we are all about. Our members had posted copies to just about all houses in the village. We were also busy making and decorating some bunting for our future use.
May 2023
At our May meeting we toasted King Charles, sang the National anthem, ate cakes and celebrated a special birthday for one member with more cake and singing! Our speaker Cora Mullenger spoke on The Friends of Horsey Seals. She is a volunteer warden with this charity whose primary concern is leaving the seals undisturbed to get on with what nature intends for them, by patrolling the dunes and aiming to promote the education of visitors, school children and the general public on seals at Horsey. We learned about the stages in a seal’s life, their movements, behaviour, biology, breeding patterns and survival rates. The land at Horsey is National Trust owned but farmed by a tenant who runs the car park. 64,000 visitors + were at Horsey this year over the course of the winter months. The area managed is from Horsey to Winterton. Sick or injured seals are rescued only when necessary and are treated by RSPCA at east Winch. The recent campaign to ban ringed frisbees continues with local shopkeepers supporting this. The charity run a vehicle and trailer and incur expense from use of radios, insurance etc so rely on voluntary donations to keep them going. Finally, we learned of the changes in seal and fish movement caused by the installation of the wind farm at Scroby Sands (a former seal basking/breeding are) and how vibration from the turbines has caused this change. This was an interesting talk on a unique Norfolk feature that many of us enjoy visiting in the winter months.
Our quiz team competed at the April Norfolk WI Advisers Quiz - not too shabby a performance, out of around 20 teams we came third with the top scores very tight. But it’s not about the result, it’s the participation and having fun together, which we certainly did.
Glorious Gorleston was chosen for our walk in aid of ACWW this year and it couldn’t have been a more perfect day ! A litter pick en route saw us do our bit to keep Gorleston clean. Nine ladies walked the prom, paused for coffee and then met non walkers for a delicious lunch at The Pier Hotel. A relaxing, pleasant outing for all involved.
Five of our members attended FAM and enjoyed meeting old friends from other Norfolk WIs as well as listening to interesting speakers, Stephen Maunder from Norfolk Trading Standards, and amusing and reflective Esme from The Great British Sewing Bee.
Some of our members enjoyed a popular walk we make to Fishley Church, for a talk on its history, and then on to lunch at The White Horse, Upton.
April 2023
Our speaker was Hayley Pinto on Sustainability. She spoke of her background as an NHS psychiatrist and her increasing concern for climate change and a wide variety of environmental factors. This led her to joining various campaigns and organisations in a quest to bring these issues to the attention of all of us. She spoke knowledgably on local and international issues, but the concern of climate change was the main focus. What we can do as individuals is just a small part of how to combat this, action by international agencies (COP) and governments around the world to make significant legislation, action and follow through is most pressing. She gave several references for us to explore-Project Drowdon, CHAIN (in Norfolk), Health in Harmony (rainforests) and Planetary Boundaries. Many organisations are staging a march to Parliament on the weekend of April 21-24th in order to express concerns. Members were left thoughtful of this and discussion followed.
Also this month we updated our cover picture, much needed and a great photo of our group! Two of our ladies have been busy stitching syringe driver bags for N&N Palliative Care. They were much appreciated by patients and staff.
March 2023
Our speaker was Lesley George from Humpty Dumpty Brewery. She gave us an informative talk on the history of the local brewery based in our village. We heard how they make, distribute and sell their beers; we got to understand how they manage the business during the current challenges, and heard about all of the celebration beers both past and planned. It was interested to hear about the awards they have received over the years, and of course we got to taste 3 of their most popular beers. A couple of our members have worked at the brewery in the past, and were happy to say that they learnt something new this evening.
This month our president represented us at the recent Million Women Rise March in London at which WI members from all over the country went to protest against violence towards women. A small group of our members visited the new exhibition at The Castle Museum, Norwich - the naval warship ‘The Gloucester’. This proved an interesting visit.
February 2023
We resumed our meetings this month, having met twice socially in January, including a crafting session making 'Green Hearts'. Our speaker was Peter Lawrence ‘Law & Order- a social history of policing’. He spoke knowledgably of his 32-year career in the police force. His love of history shone through and he amused us with anecdotes and stimulated interest in some unknown facts-where and how police horses are stabled in central London for example and a recollection of his grandson’s perception of a police box, and his role within it. He had performed some memorable duties, including being present at Churchill’s funeral.
Members enjoyed meeting up once more and receiving the coming years programme, with lots of interesting speakers to come for 2023. A small group had been to see 'Kinky Boots' at the Theatre Royal this month and had a fabulous afternoon out together. Our green hearts to 'Show The Love' for our planet have been hung on the school railings for all to see, with an explanation of why they are there. We're off out for lunch this month and some of us may well go walking too. Warming up nicely for our WI activities this year.
December 2022
No meeting as such this month, but we spent an enjoyable evening together at The Lord Nelson, eating our Christmas meal. Our new and previous president acted as Santa and delivered gifts to each member present. A lovely night out, lots of laughter and chat. We will not meet again formally until February, but look forward to a couple of social get togethers in January.
November 2022
Our speakers from the Food Museum (formerly Museum of East Anglian Life) are conducting a survey/research project on behalf of Leeds University into Dialect- ‘The Great Big Dialect Hunt’. Reedham was one of the 300 original participating villages in a similar survey completed in the 1950’s, so a revisit made sense. The main aims of the project are to find out about existing dialect, what words have been passed down, why some words ‘stick’, what words we pick up and how language builds our identities. We listened to recordings of previous Reedham residents talking, along with a transcript - this was very interesting and amusing to hear! We had the chance to complete a dialect survey each. This was an interesting topic and has future value.
An outing to 'the dogs' in Gt Yarmouth proved to be entertaining for all and not too much money lost - members had a good evening plus good food. Some of us lunched at The Shoulder of Mutton, Strumpshaw, and had a pleasant afternoon. Similarly, afternoon tea at the Post Office tearooms was enjoyable. We've been busy making Jolly Jars for the village Christmas Fair later this month. Several ladies have been knitting hats for the N&N delivery suite.
No more meetings are planned for this year apart from our Christmas meal out.
October 2022
Chris Page, our speaker this month, is a local weatherman. He delivered a great presentation on his career, how a weather forecast is made, weather instruments and data retrieval across the world, the difficulties of accuracy in predictions, as well as discussing climate change. He finished with an up-to-date forecast. All agreed he was an interesting speaker and worth waiting for. This tied in well with all the WI is doing to bring climate change to the fore. Members from Cantley and other visitors joined us this month.
Later on this October we are off to Greyhound racing at Gt Yarmouth, to include dinner. This is always a fun night out together. Then we'll be out for lunch at the end of the month.
September 2022
We welcomed 13 members & 10 guests from Cantley, South Walsham, Brundall & Acle WIs plus 2 visitors to our 48th birthday meeting this month. Our entertainment was provided by Chris Davies, a friendly, patient and helpful instructor in our merriment tonight - English Country Dancing! Most members and guests had a go at an organised dance of sorts. Many happy memories of junior school were stirred, some steps remembered and some new ones briefly learned. An hour of fun, friendship and exercise which was enjoyed by all. Our members had made and donated a superb buffet of food for everyone to enjoy. This was much appreciated by all. A fabulous evening.
Two of our members are part of the local bell ringing team and rang muffled bells for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Friday 9th.
This month we will be lunching out to celebrate WI Day on 16th September and a small group of members are off to Cromer for the day to visit the Lifeboat museum and have lunch out. Some ladies have been knitting baby hats for the N& N delivery suite as they are short of them.
August 2022
Ann May spoke to us on the language, lore and healing of hedgerows and in spite of our being a rural WI, there were plenty of plants that we had not encountered before along with some more familiar ones. It will be interesting to see if any of our membership have rubbed their partners heads with nettles in order to promote hair regrowth! Some lovely and enjoyable socialising this month- coffee at the Post Office tearooms, our annual “Faith” lunch where we each bring food to share, hence the faith courtesy of our glamorous and fabulous host Julia. She always makes us very welcome and we all enjoyed good company and conversation, a breezy summer day and a long, lazy lunch! What’s not to love? ! A small group of our walkers from Acle to Upton were joined by non walkers for a long lunch at The White Horse at the end of the month.
July 2022
Ruth Smith, our speaker this month on Life with my Nanny gave an interesting and humorous account of her early life with her grandparent and aunts. There were elements of her talk that triggered memories of childhood experiences for some of us. July also saw us hold a fund raising stall at our village hall fair on a very hot Sunday. Our summer outing- by coach to Woodbridge for a look around and lunch, then onto Waldringfield for a boat trip on the river Deben took place at the end of July. A cooler day than any we’d experienced in the July heatwave, which was much appreciated by all! This was our 2020 planned visit. Lovely to be joined by friends from Cantley WI and others. Very relaxing day for all.
June 2022
A very busy start to June for our WI! All with a Platinum Jubilee bias-a bric a brac succesful fundraising stall on the Riverside followed by serving tea and home made cakes at the church Jubilee Jolly! Our lovely members were kept busy baking, brewing and being festive. We held our summer social Platinum Jubilee celebrations our June meeting a busy, busy weekend! Our village hall was beautifully decorated thanks to the Hall committee and the scene was set. A right royal quiz, finger food, cupcakes and fizz and lovely guests from neighbouring Cantley WI made for a fabulous, fun, friendly evening. Our thanks to all who contributed and came along.
May 2022
A change to our speaker this month meant we had Tropics ambassador Helen Davies speak to us about the company and its ethos. Then Helen passed round samples of a range of facial and body skincare products which members were able to try. . A very interesting speaker and some delicious aromas and very smooth skin at the end of the evening. Members were able to order products when our meeting closed. We met socially to discuss possible speakers and ideas for next years programme and enjoyed an evening meal at the local pub. Lunched out at Thurne Lion and had fun together but it was too wet to walk. Some members are off to Stody Gardens to see the Azaleas and Rhododendrons at the ned of the month. We plan to hold a Bric A Brac fund raising stall over the Jubilee weekend and are hosting refreshments and cakes/bakes at the local church as part of village celebrations. Another busy WI month!
April 2022
Thrice booked Clinks Care Farm speaker Iris Vanzon was our speaker this month - Covid had blighted our previous attempts. Unfortunately several members were ill and so missed what was an interesting evening and the chance to buy some delicious local produce. Possibly an idea for an outing to the farm in future to sample their produce. Several members visited the Picasso Exhibition at the Sainsbury centre and met for refreshments afterward, the exhibition was a lot of sketches. Also we made time for a sunny outdoor crafty hour in the pretty garden of one of our members-more chat than craft and some delicious cake! Six members were able to complete our ACWW walk from Sparrows Nest to Ness Point in Lowestoft and were joined for a lovely lunch by some non walkers. So April was a very busy month for our WI.
March 2022
Laughter yoga was a great success at our March meeting! We pulled some peculiar faces, made some odd noises but mainly laughed which of course, is the best tonic! Can highly recommend a visit from Jean Clarke as a speaker. This month we also planted a tree on our village field in memory of victims of Covid and met for tea and cake afterward with a few guests. We lunched out at Clippesby Hall at the end of the month and had a crafty couple of hours at the village hall, with some members learning to crochet.,, but as usual, more chat than craft!
February 2022
A late start for us this year having decided not to run a very early January meeting. We held our first meeting of the year under normal conditions! It was lovely to see our WI friends again and catch up. Our programme for 2022 is now out and we have a variety of speakers and activities to look forward to. You can view this programme on our page here. We discussed and voted on the resolutions for this year. Some ladies made origami green hearts and we’ve planned a local walk/ coffee, also lunch date for later on in February. No time for our planned activity of kerling, but lots of chat! Here’s hoping we really are getting back to normal.
December 2021
We had fun and tested our brains at the Norfolk WI Advisers quiz evening last month. We were a little slow to get going on round one (2/10!), but overall not too shabby a performance as we finished third out of sixteen teams! A fun evening and nice to see other Norfolk WIs out and about.
Some of our members kindly knitted hats for “Hats for Homeless”. Next time around we'll tackle scarves using the WI magazine pattern, less shaping and you can sew up any dropped stitches!
It was so good to be able to celebrate Christmas ! Out with our WI friends for our annual meal at the Cantley Cock. Party hats, crackers, presents from Santa’s sack but mostly the good company of a fab group of ladies. Lovely to have greetings sent from some friends. A touch of normality in these testing times.
November 2021
Our Annual Meeting took place this week, we re-elected our current committee and welcomed Julia joining us. Reflecting on the last year we had been much busier than 2020! But, looking forward to 2022 we have a busy programme organised- talks from a weatherman, local mental health charity, about life with a nanny plus a summer social evening, a dance evening are all coming up! We followed this with a very chatty craft activity and have made some wonderful scented candles for Christmas.
We've been out and about to Bungay, a visit to a fabric shop, a little wander and then lunch at a local café. Some very pretty desserts were consumed. Lots of chat and laughter with our lunch. Three of our ladies met and had a walk along Gorleston prom, a leisurely coffee and a walk back for lunch at The Pier Hotel. A group of us formed the ' Pink Ladies' to support a Breast Cancer fund raiser event in the village and had a sociable evening drinking cocktails and quizzing. Now looking forward to the Norfolk Advisers quiz and a night at Gt Yarmouth Greyhounds with a meal. Always variety at our WI!
October 2021
We had a very successful stall at the village Autumn Fayre selling cakes, jams and bric a brac, raising much needed funds. Our dinos and cocktails trip was interesting and fun! We want to repeat the cocktail bar visit! Chris Armstrong was our speaker at this months meeting, interesting for both local, Norwich members and those who are not Norfolk natives! Chris is a local author of regional history books and gave an interesting talk with slides on the entrepreneurs in Norwich 1850-1880 approx. Messrs Bignold, Colman and Caley were the subjects along with mention of several others. Their businesses, social care of their workforce and their lives in general. An interesting talk with a lot of local flavour (including chocolate!) Appropriate that Sue gave our vote of thanks, as she is a Norwich girl and had family connections with some of the businesses discussed. We've planned a walk at Carlton Marshes with stops for refreshments and a visit to Bungay for fabric and craft shopping followed by lunch at a cafe.
September 2021
Another celebration as we had our 47th birthday meeting this month - more fizz and cupcakes! In a much scaled down way, in order to 'stay safe' we declined to invite other WI's to this meeting and kept it chez-nous. Our entertainment was Julie Porter for an hour of ‘Murder, Mystery’. Julie dressed in costume, including wig, divided us into teams of four and explained how the entertainment would progress. She set the scene with musical clues, information sheets all at various points, giving us time to discuss clues, solve the murder and explain with a motive. Two teams solved the murder with one team having a better explanation of the motive- so ‘Something Silly’ were the winners. Julie was thanked, this being her first post covid appointment, she was very pleased with how the evening went and so were we. We're not telling 'who dunnit' but would recommend Julie to other WIs! We then broke for half an hour for a glass of fizz and a cupcake to celebrate our 47th birthday meeting. Our forthcoming events include a stall at the Autumn Fayre with cakes and bric a brac, lunch out at The Nelson in Reedham, walking tour of the dinosaurs' and visiting Dippy at the cathedral followed by cocktails-just because we can!
August 2021
Celebrating with bubbly, our first indoor meeting since March 2020 took place on Tuesday 3rd August! Lovely to see and chat to each other under normal conditions again. Val Hawkins was our speaker on Innovations in my lifetime, how far we have come over the last 80 + years and where would we be without electronic communication? What advances will we see next ? We all have our own "wonderment" . As one member said " nice to be out of an evening again and see each other".
Later in the month we plan to walk/lunch/picnic at Fairhaven Gardens, South Walsham.
And on a rather damp day, severl of our members walked at Fairhaven and had a well deserved lunch afterwards!
July 2021
Our July meeting saw a change of time, speaker and then venue - no fear of being rained off, plan B! Helen hosted in her pretty vinery and Mary taught and entertained us with a set of handbells - we have some experienced big bell ringers, but most of our members are new to the instruments! We managed \twinkle, Twinkle but the more advanced music eluded us. nevertheless it was entertaining and fun for us. Mostly we just enjoy each others company and conversation.
Later on in July a group of six went on a Treasure Trail of Norwich lanes followed by afternoon tea -well earned because they walked a good few steps. all agreed it was entertaining and would do another trail at a different venue. Lots are available, all over Norfolk.
Fitted in at the end of July, we enjoyed a visit to the Venetian Waterways in Great Yarmouth as our early celebration of Norfolk Day. Glorious sunshine and a gentle, cool waft of sea air made for a lovely day out together. The gardens are beautifully planted and well maintained. We didn’t take the optional boat trip ( !) but we did have to break for coffee once or twice of course! Some of us even dipped our toes in the sea! Out with WI friends in Norfolk, good times! all agreed it felt like a 'proper summer outing'.
June 2021
A lovely start towards lifting lockdown when our group met early this month, on a sunny afternoon outdoors at Reedham Village Hall. More social and catch up than offical WI meeting, but it was just what we needed to get the ball rolling! Future plans were made for a walk and picnic at How Hill this month, a Treasure Trail in Norwich Lanes in July and a “normal”(!) WI meeting in July.
Later in the month it was lovely to meet up and enjoy our delayed ACWW walk. Eight of our group met to walk the Nature Trail at How Hill, Ludham and then a BYO picnic on the hill. Always good company, conversation and laughter when we meet up.plus we raised £23 for ACWW.
2021
Our programme is available and as soon as we are able to meet together we will be running it. Until that time we will be holding Zoom socials and sending out information to our members by email. We also have our own version of an uplifting magazine with contributions from our members on a variety of topics. We are looking forward to meeting up when we can.
March-December 2020
Due to Government restrictions re Covid 19 Pandemic we were not able to hold any formal meetings indoors but have made the best of meeting up outdoors as often as we were able even in limited numbers. In August we were able to meet up outdoors at Freethorpe Playing Field, BYO chair, drink etc and had a Norfolk Quiz. In sunny September we met outside Reedham Village Hall for a picnic lunch and a chance to pass on news and chat. Otherwise Zoom meet ups for a chat and a cuppa have allowed us to enjoy seeing each other and catch up on our very similar news (topics-gardening, tomatoes, baking, crafting, Covid 19, the government, the NHS as well as our family news). Our WhatsApp group has kept our phones pinging with news and uplifting and funny memes. Look at our Facebook page to see our flowers of the month and other news.2020 has been the year of all things E style for our WI.
Our walking group has become established and 6-8 of us have walked together this year. Our first get together was at Fairhaven Gardens, we were able to have a leisurely outdoor coffee(and cake!) together and then wandered through the woodland and down to the waters edge - it was great to be let out and we had lots of happy faces! We've been to Whitlingham Broad, Burlingham Woods, Buckenham Marshes, around Strumpshaw and the marshes there and to Buckenham Woods. It's been lovely to see each other and have a socially distanced chat.
We haven't been able to do our usual fund raising activities, but some of our members made masks for the local care home and we've encouraged continued support for the local foodbank.
All our members received an amaryllis bulb for Christmas and we've been comparing growth rates, measuring the height, counting the number of flowers and remarking on how such a dried up thing can become so beautiful. This has been something to brighten our days just a little. We are currently all well and the friendship and support from our WI friends has been sustained in new and different ways. We're under lockdown again at the time of writing, but are looking forward to restrictions easing and meeting up as soon as we can safely do so.
February
We’ve had a busy time since our last meeting-a theatre visit to see ‘Made in Dagenham’, a walk and coffee at Whitlingham, a social afternoon and ‘learn to crochet’, we had lunch out at East Hills and our book club has met to discuss ‘David Copperfield’ -though we have to confess that we have not all completely read the book! We are however looking forward to seeing the new film version of this classic with a local flavour!
Our speaker at this month’s meeting was Ernie Richards, enthusiastic, amateur expert on musical shows. Assisted by his partner, Ernie took us through a historical view of musicals and how they were influenced by Shakespeare. His enjoyment of the shows and music was infectious, his talk was well informed and we all enjoyed listening to a variety of show songs that dated from pre 1940’s to present day. We were less inclined to sing along, but maybe one day?
We also celebrated a special birthday with cake and candles for Maggie Kennedy.We were busy arranging events for the next few months; Greyhound racing and meal at Gt Yarmouth in February; a March daffodil walk locally; planning our darts practice nights; a Saturday in Cambridge in June and our July summer outing to Woodbridge. Lots to look forward to for our WI over the coming months.
January 2020
A welcoming and relaxing evening at our WI last night, we caught up on lots of events that are planned and discussed WI resolutions for 2020. We also held a Christmas Gift Amnesty Auction as a fund raiser. Our next event is a social afternoon on Wednesday 15th January, 1.30 - 3.30pm at Reedham Village Hall to which we have invited women in our community. A crafty touch-if anyone wants to learn to crochet, they can come and have a go! Our book group meets this month to discuss ‘David Copperfield’, this Dickens classic is set to be released as a film by the BBC this month and with its local links we thought it a change from a modern novel. We’ve planned to meet up for lunch at East Hills, Brundall and then some members are off to see ‘Made in Dagenham’ at the Theatre Royal. A sociable and cheery start to our WI year.
December 2019
Our December meeting saw us out for our Christmas meal and social. Maybe the paper hats slipped a little but our sparkly ladies did enjoy themselves. Lovely to start the festive month with WI friends and a time to remember those friends who were missing. Competition winners for 2019 were announced and given a plant. Even our newsletter had a seasonal flavour. Imaginative and carefully wrapped secret gifts were pulled out of Santa's sack for each member. Always a nice meeting with the emphasis on enjoying ourselves at our last meeting of the year.
November
November was time for our annual meeting when we reflected on all that had happened over the last twelve months and made plans for the next year. We elected a committee and president to oversee things, saw the new programme for our 2020 meetings. We have some interesting speakers and activities planned for next year- laughter yoga, musicals, willow basket making to name a few. A Christmas craft activity followed the formal part of our meeting and we enjoyed making Christmas crackers, complete with hats, snaps and the best jokes! Plus, plenty of time to catch up with each other. We collected Jolly Jars made by our members for our fund-raising stall at Reedham Community Christmas Fayre on Sunday November 17th and supported our local foodbank with donations for the festive period. Our last meeting is in December when we'll be out enjoying our Christmas meal and having some seasonal fun!
October
This being our birthday meeting we took to the dance floor, but it was definitely not "Strictly" ! Most of us seem to have two left feet and we can't imagine what the judges would make of us but we did enjoy ourselves at our 45th Birthday meeting when Pam taught taught and led us in a variety of circle dances from around the world. This involved some easy steps and movements which we managed with our own flair and style! Wafting sheer scarves in a figure 8 to denote peace and calm at one stage, some foot stamping and arm raising all added to the fun factor. A glass of something and some delicious eats provided by our members made for an enjoyable, fun evening for everyone.We welcomed guests from neighbouring WI's plus Margaret and Louise, enjoying their company and socialising. Business was kept to a minimum with some organisation of trips including a visit to the Theatre Royal for a historical tour, talk and lunch plus a social afternoon in our village hall and a visit to our local Post Office tearooms for coffee and cake. Another enjoyable and busy month for our members.
September
This month we had a speaker with an unusual, possibly embarassing, maybe amusing, but relevant topic! Dawn, a local alternative therapist gave an informed talk on colonic hydrotherapy - our gut plays such a large role in our whole health and Dawn talked us through what happens and what the benefits are of this treatment. We came away with a much better understanding of how to look after ourselves -lots of water, the right probiotics, exercise and a good diet, plus taking time to enjoy our food being the basis to good gut health. After a busy summer we're settling down to Autumn and getting ready for our Birthday meeting and Annual meeting, so lots to organise with our members over our tea/coffee break as well as catching up on holiday news. Our trips organiser Maggie has arranged visits to Somerleyton Hall & Gardens, Historical talk/tour of the Theatre Royal (we enjoyed our last visit so much!) and a social afternoon in October. Pat has us thinking about Christmas and our meal out. So really, our last summer event looks like being the village fete on the first September weekend then on to Autumn!
August
Alistair Murphy gave an interesting, amusing and very informed account of the life and work of Olive Edis -Britain’s first female war photographer at our August meeting. Illustrated with slides of her work, he spoke about the technical and aesthetic aspects of photography as well as Olives life – this made for a well executed presentation from a very pleasant speaker. Our members expressed interest in visiting Cromer Museum to find out more about Olive – a WI trip with fish and chips on Cromer Pier? Sounds like a plan! We enjoyed our usual social catch up over refreshments having had a busy month- garden party, faith lunch, Bressingham Gardens & Steam + Thetford Dads Army museum, fund raiser cake stall, bell ringing on Norfolk Day, our book group get together and darts team practice and matches, so lots to chat about. Evelyn had kindly acted as our representative at National Fed Annual Meeting and got us up to date on issues and future resolutions. This month being school summer holidays we supported a local food bank with contributions suitable for childrens lunches. How we pack it all in is surprising, but fun!
July
A delicious spread of food was made and donated by members for our July meeting. This was much enjoyed by all with a glass of sangria to give a flavour of summer to this very pleasant social evening. Just a little too cool to eat al fresco! Good company and the conversation flowed. We caught up on details of our future trips and outings as well as our usual business. All in all a great evening.
June
Amanda & Charlie Hampton were our speakers this month and we were greeted on arrival with a fabulous display of a variety of hostas and plants to illustrate “A Summer Garden”. Charlie gave a presentation on hostas (surprisingly, some of these are considered edible in Japanese cuisine) and members learned about the ‘Chelsea Cut’ and propagating plants. Amanda spoke about the health benefits of gardening- improving mental health, take up of Vitamin D and production of serotonin and the benefits of these as well as good exercise. We then took part in a gardening quiz –fun and a little bit competitive! We agreed this had been an interesting, informative and mood enhancing evening. We enjoyed our usual refreshments and catching up with each other and planned food and entertainment for our Summer Picnic Social in July. We have several outings planned over the next month as well as continuing our book group and darts matches. Another busy month for our WI.
May
We met to discuss the WI resolutions to be voted on at the National meeting. Members were strongly in support of both “ A call against the decline in local bus services’” and ‘Don’t fear the smear’ . Being in a rural location good public transport is important not just for access but also in consideration of our impact on the planet; the profile women’s health screening services and their effectiveness does need to be kept “out there”. We had a busy evening sorting out future activities, which left us short of time to play games, so we took the chance to socialise over our refreshments. We held our successful cake/bake/craft stall and the sun shone on us for a change. Our bluebell walk was a little too early to see many bluebells, but the coffee and cake afterwards was delicious! The darts team have played two matches and won one, lost one, but they enjoyed both and the practices are a good excuse to be out on a Monday night. Book group are onto their next choice “And the Mountains Echoed” by Khaled Hosenni. Another busy month for our WI.
April
This month Paul Strutt visited us to speak about the charity Norfolk Accident Rescue Service (NARS). Paul gave an interesting, informative presentation and lots of back stories of how NARS has helped support the ambulance service on a purely volunteer led, charity based funding. Our members were keen to support NARS and also to send Paul off with some homemade chutney! Afterwards we enjoyed a cuppa, catching up with each other and arranging our activities for the next month or so. Our book group has moved on to their second book- we’ve had some interesting discussions about ‘How to Measure a Cow’ which isn’t what it seems by the title! Darts players keep practicing regularly at The Ship and are just arranging their first match, the fun and chat makes for a good Monday night. Some of us are off to birthday meetings at other WIs and others will be at the thanksgiving to celebrate the centenary of the Norfolk federation. We are holding an Easter Bake Sale on Easter Monday morning (The Ship, Riverside) - we notoriously get rained on at our first cake stall outing- here’s hoping our luck changes! Happy Easter to all.
March
We enjoyed a stylish and colourful evening with our speaker Margaret Sim on “The Pleasures of Wearing a Hat” . Margaret brought along part of her almost one thousand hat collection (she runs a hat hire business) and gave an informative and illustrative talk on her hats. She told us all about where she buys hats, the materials used, different styles, occasions when a hat might be worn and her experiences in the hat business. We all enjoyed being styled (head wise) by Margaret’s choice of a hat to suit our head size, neck length and colour to complement our dress on the night. It was great fun. Lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahhs ‘and laughter of course. Who does not enjoy the chance to try on a beautiful hat!
We have met socially over the last month in our book group (currently reading ‘How to measure a Cow’ by Margaret Forster) and to form our darts team. We have entered ourselves for the Norfolk Federation Darts Tournament- we do need to practice our doubles, or we could be in for some late nights! (for non darts players, you can only end and win a game by scoring on the appropriate double –that tiny outer circle can be most difficult to hit!). Nevertheless, we are looking forward to some fun nights and meeting new friends.
Valentines Day
A night at the Theatre Royal to join other Norfolk WIs see "Calendar Girls - the musical" was enjoyed by several members; we had tears and laughter at the performance, but mostly admiration for those original WI calendar girls and their story. This show is still supporting Bloodwise the blood cancer charity. Some members also wore green hearts in support of their concern over climate change.
February
We had a contrast of weather at our frosty February meeting when Brenda Pawsey gave an interesting and entertaining talk on her experience as a wrinkly backpacker in Sri Lanka. This account of her highs and lows on a budget holiday ranged from visiting Sigiriya, a city and fort on top of a rock; the Buddhist Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic to losing her precious backpack (and all her undies and documents). Brenda was in colourful costume and had brought along pictures, maps and souvenirs to illustrate her talk - much appreciated by our members. We socialised over coffee and made arrangements for our inaugural book group meet up, formed a WhatsApp group so we can stay in touch easily, planned dates for snowdrop/bluebell walks and started our bit to “save the planet” by recycling ink cartridges.
January - Backstage at the Theatre Royal,Norwich.
Our January visit the Theatre Royal was bright and entertaining! Jason gave an interesting, informative and amusing commentary to this backstage tour. We learned about stage direction and management; sets and scenery; costumes and laundry; saw the green room, dressing rooms and stood on the trap door. Jason has a vast experience of working at this theatre and is a mine of anecdotes. Our eighteen ladies were in full agreement of the success of this visit. Followed of course by a delicious light lunch. We’re all looking forward to a return visit to learn about the history of the theatre.
January 2019
Our first meeting was sprinkled with New Year greetings and members catching up with each other. We considered & discussed each of the WI resolutions and made our individual votes-these were sent off to Norfolk federation and we will hear about the selection in due course. We socialised over drinks and post Christmas nibbles whilst contemplating joining new activities within our WI- cinema trips, book group, darts team, cycling and walking. Maggie has organised a private visit to ‘Hidden History of Norwich’ involving secret tunnels. Eighteen members are looking forward to a backstage tour of the Theatre Royal this week. Penny then introduced us to new age kurling and we had great fun trying this out with two competitive teams and some on target kurling! We held a Christmas Gift Amnesty auction and raised some money for our funds.
A busy and successful evening to start off our new WI year!
2018
Our speakers educated and entertained us with Music Mirrors – a talk on keeping memories alive for dementia sufferers, vintage fashion, jewellery, Blood Bikes and Rachel Duffield performing cabaret style at our birthday meeting. We’ve had some homemade fun with a Beetle Drive, BBQ and a Games night.
We completed 100 Acts of Kindness to commemorate 100 years of Norfolk Federation; we made Green Hearts to prompt thinking about our planet and hung them on St Peter Mancroft’s railings with other Norfolk WI’s. We visited other local WIs for fashion shows, birthday meetings and coffee mornings.
Outings included visits to Stody Lodge, Gt Yarmouth Greyhounds, Fairhaven, Henstead Exotic Garden and a walk to see Go Go Hares in Norwich, followed by a pub meal and drink. Socially we met for a sumptuous strawberry tea, regular meals out and our Christmas Meal.
Fundraising events included a cake stall on Riverside, an Equaliteas coffee morning at The Ship and a walk around the village (12,000 steps) followed by coffee.
Members helped in filming and setting the scene for a murder mystery for a local drama group. Groups of our ladies have formed quiz teams at a variety of local venues and learned to ring bells for the Armistice Day centenary.
We held stalls at Reedham village fete and Christmas Fayre, decorated a tree for the Christmas Tree Festival and our members won 4th prize in the Beighton Church flower festival.