Reports

MAY 2021

As is our tradition, this month's meeting was given over to a presentation with background information to the NFWI Resolution for this year "to raise awareness of the subtle signs of ovarian cancer".  The information was provided by the charity Target Ovarian Cancer UK and highlighted the fact that over 7,000 women in the U.K. every year are diagnosed with this disease and over 4,000 die because the disease was detected too late to enable effective treatment.  There is currently no screening tool available and ovarian cancer is not detected during a cervical smear test, so until a screening tool is developed it is essential that all women and GPs are aware of signs that may indicate ovarian cancer.  These are

• persistent bloating
• pelvic and abdominal pain
• loss of appetite / feeling full quickly
• urinary symptoms

If any such persistent symptoms are experienced it is important to visit your GP who will then be able to order a specific blood test and arrange an ultrasound of tummy and ovaries.

The charity aims to raise awareness of these symptoms and to provide specialist GP training and toolkits, conferences and online training and is hoping for WI support in this.

We also had a short presentation on Pennies for Friendship and Associated Women of the World, which is supported by WIs nationally, collecting pennies to invest in women's empowerment by funding small-scale, women-led projects in rural areas of the world.  Since ACWW began funding projects in 1979, more than £4 million has been invested and women, their families and their communities have benefited in such countries as India, in Asia and Africa in projects involving agriculture, health & hygiene, education, nutrition, income generation and livelihood, sustainable water, sanitation and energy, maternal and reproductive health.

Jane Acres won our Garden on a Plate competition with some very imaginative planting.

Eleven members joined in a zoom Paint along workshop with the Quirky Bird, Lynn Barrow.  We had a very enjoyable and productive afternoon painting a card, a small picture, a bookmark and two gift tags from one sheet of A4 paper.

Sheila Loughan, Rosie Bannister and Fran Marsland have been knitting little hats for Age UK Leicestershire's The Big Knit project and have reached over 100 so far! The little hats go on Innocent Smoothie bottles, and the charity receives 25p for every bottle with a hat that is sold.

We had our first outdoor group meeting in the Recreation park on the 27th May and the weather was very kind to us.  Of course we were socially distanced (except briefly for the photo) and brought our own chairs, hand sanitiser and refreshments.  It was really good to see so many of our friends in person after so long, despite zoom meetings and phone calls!

We are pleased that our commemorative cherry tree is flourishing with plenty of attractive new deep red leaves and some pretty pink blossom

APRIL 2021

James Haddow entertained us fabulously by Zoom for over an hour with “The Life and Loves of the Taxi Driver Poet”, reciting his own unique poems interspersed with amusing anecdotes of his life.  He has always loved words and used to recite his poems and stories to his passengers when working as a taxi driver in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and soon gained a reputation, appearing in local media.  He gave us a list of his 100 favourite poems and asked us to talk about ours.   Wordsworth’s “Daffodils” had prompted him to write his own “Do clouds get lonely?” and he gave us his version of Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee…...” which made us all laugh.  His poems were on many themes – love, life, loss and memories.  Many were humorous, others sad and poignant.   He has presented to many WI groups and his poem about a WI raffle caused more laughter as well as the one about his wife having a crush on Monty Don!  It was a really enjoyable evening and we all could have listened to him for another hour!

Our committee delivered an Easter treat of a chocolate bunny and an Easter quiz to each member; several members made Easter wreaths for their doors and one a delightful Easter tree.  We have been meeting in groups of 6 in gardens to chat and catch up in person and look forward to being able to do so in larger groups.  We continue to plan future meetings and events for when regulations allow.  Modern technology has been a life-line during these difficult times but we can’t wait til our meetings return to as near normal as possible.

MARCH 2021

Members who attended the Annual Council Meeting by zoom on the 6th March really enjoyed the event, which had been brilliantly arranged.  The business side of the meeting was very efficiently taken care of without delay and we went on to enjoy the first guest speaker, Sally Illsley, Girlguiding Division Commissioner for Loughborough and former UK Deputy Chief Guide.

Girls had joined the Scouts (and still do) but in 1909 they wanted something of their own and so Girlguiding was formed by Baden-Powell’s sister, Agnes. There have been many changes to the uniform, badges, and the “Promise” over the years and the Promise has changed 11 times. and is now

"I promise that I will do my best, to be true to myself and develop my beliefs, to  serve the Queen and my community, to help other people and to keep the Guide Law."

The reference to God was dropped in 2013 to make Girlguiding "truly inclusive and relevant to the reality of 21st century Britain."

Competition certificates were awarded virtually and various anniversaries mentioned, including Broughton Astley WI's 90th anniversary to be celebrated this year.

The second guest speaker, Christine Walkden, Horticulturalist, author and TV/Radio Gardener, was then introduced.  Christine has been a horticulturalist since the age of 10, has worked at Kew, gives Lectures, appears on Gardeners' World, has had her own BBC2 series, is Resident Gardening Expert to The One Show, panelist on Radio 4 GQT, and has exhibited at the RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows in her very varied career.

Her interest was sparked in school at the age of ten, then she started gardening at home until by age 14 she was looking after 96 front gardens and 5 allotments.

She trained at the Lancashire College of Agriculture and then worked on projects to eradicate rhubarb virus and grew 10,000 groundsell plants, all exactly the same, to  be used in experiments on weed control and so learnt how to manipulate plants.She qualified at College and applied for a job as Seed Physiologist at the Royal  Botanical Gardens, Kew where sheworked on what became the Millennium Seed  Bank.  She moved to Llangollen and worked for a famous seed company then took up a position in the Rhondda valley and set up a workshop for lads who had been in  prison for GBH, to help them integrate back in to society.  They grew vegetables for  a local hospice in exchange for a hot meal.  They all learnt that people, like seeds,  need TLC and if you treat them well, you will be treated well back.  She found that  all “her lads” were lodging in the local community,doing their gardens, decorating  and DIY.  This completely turned their lives around, and with one exception have all  gone on to do good things with their lives.

She completed her RHS Finals and went on to take up Lecturing. This all became too much so she went freelance. She got into Broadcasting – Radio is her great passion.  She is a Panellist on GQT, a dream come true, as she had listened to this programme as a  child.

She feels very fortunate to have had such an amazing and varied career  and she urged us all to remember that without horticulturalists we would starve; they enhance the world nutritionally and emotionally.   We should encourageeveryone!

International Women's Day - Monday 8th March

Two members created posters  in recognition of “WI Women in Activism.”  One highlighted three campaigns which subsequently became law and the second detailed the first resolution in 1918 and current key campaigns.

We now regularly get around 25 members logging into our monthly zoom meetings, and our guest speaker this month, Annamaria Dall’Anese, a London Blue Badge Guide, gave us a virtual tour of Shakespeare’s London.   William travelled to London in 1590, possibly following his father or travelling players or maybe to further his own acting and writing career.  He acted at both Blackfriars and Globe theatres, as well as his plays being performed there and more importantly at the Royal Court. It was interesting to learn how his time lodging in the busy, cosmopolitan City of London, where there was wealth from the Guilds and merchants trading at the busy port so that Londoners were able to afford theatre tickets, greatly influenced his plays, many of which are set in foreign countries. William only lodged in London as he had a beautiful manor house in Stratford-upon-Avon, where his wife and family lived.  Sadly this house no longer exists, only the garden which can be visited.  William returned to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1613 and lived there the rest of his life.

In 1970 Sam Wannamaker, American actor and producer, funded the building of the new Globe Theatre, a copy of the original Elizabethan design.  He had been shocked to find no Shakespeare theatre in London!  As the replica is open roofed and therefore only open between Spring and Autumn, he also built a covered theatre next door, aptly named The Sam Wannamaker Playhouse. Annamaria also gave us a taste of what it would have been like to live in Elizabethan London. It was a very interesting talk and was enjoyed by us all.

We continue to keep in touch with our members by phone, email and weekly newsletters but look forward to restarting outdoor meetings in May, weather permitting, and to meeting at the Village Hall from July onwards if the Government's plans for coming out of lockdown come to fruition.

FEBRUARY 2021

This month is the Green Hearts #ShowTheLove campaign to continue to raise awareness of the effects of Global Warming.  Three of our members made a knitted green heart brooch for each of our members to wear during the campaign period of 1st to 21st February this year.  Due to the current lockdown restrictions, we will not be out and about as usual, so we shall have to save them to wear again next year, when we hope they will get more of an airing!  We will also be displaying a poster in our windows as unfortunately we were not able to arrange the displays in the village that we had planned.

At this month's Zoom meeting Wendy Martin paid a return visit to tell us about her extensive “Adventures in Asia”.  She gave us several illustrated presentations starting in Singapore, which was developed into a successful free trading port by Sir Stamford Raffles and is full of varied architecture and sculptures detailing its history.  She had also paid a more sobering visit to the infamous Changi prison, which had housed many British and Commonwealth soldiers during the Japanese invasion.  She has visited Borneo several times, once to climb Mount Kinabalu and more recently to explore the biggest caves in the world full of stalagmites, stalactites and bats!  What we were all waiting for was her visit to the orang utan rehabilitation centre at Sepilok, where these entrancing creatures swing around in nearby trees and climb ropes, all having been rescued and cared for before being released back to the wild.  Also fascinating was the sanctuary for Bornean Sunbears, which are rescued from captivity where they are milked for their bile.  Her presentation finished back in Singapore with a video of the famous Son et Lumiere extravaganza from The Gardens in the Bay.  A truly memorable evening.  Wendy is about to embark on a 250km challenge to raise funds for the Send A Cow charity, with which she has worked for a number of years.

Several or our members have zoomed into the free Federation presentations. Firstly the Quirkybird water colour Paint-Along, which they all found very successful and would like to do more.  Then Polly Morgans’ The Great British Flower Revival talk and flower arranging demonstration enthused us all to grow more flowers for cutting – and failing that to “Buy British” wherever possible.

JANUARY 2021

Wendy Coley gave us a very informative and interesting talk by Zoom on the amazing Medical Detection Dogs, the charity with which she is involved.

Starting out in 2008 the Medical Detection Dog charity was not readily accepted by the medical profession. That changed in 2014 when HRH Duchess of Cornwall, now their Patron, took an interest and invited 100 or so medics to look at the work of these clever canines; they soon discovered the benefits of early disease detection and diagnosis.  The charity relies on donations and sponsorship but receives no direct funding.

It costs in the region of £29,000 to train a detection dog, which are mostly Labradors and Cocker Spaniels, but they do have other breeds including a little Dachshund - in fact the equipment used in their work had to be altered to accommodate his little legs!

Each disease has its own odour signature and the dogs noses are so sensitive they can smell the smallest particle in breath, urine or sweat samples. They are so good that they can detect Parkinsons disease in a person's sweat a good 10 years before a doctor's diagnosis, helping the sufferer to get treatment sooner.  They are mainly checking for cancers, but more recently the government have funded some Covid research to help fight this pandemic.  This is the first funding MDD has received.  Wendy said that we should listen out for an update to this detection work, which will be very beneficial.  They can foresee it being put to use at airports etc to check passengers as they arrive.

The charity also work to train medical alert dogs who help sufferers of certain ailments live a more independent life by letting their owner know if they are about to collapse or have an allergic reaction etc. saving the person from the embarrassment, also from serious injury or hospitalisation.

DECEMBER 2020

Ladies of Broughton Astley WI decided that instead of exchanging Secret Santa gifts this year, they would buy gifts and donate them to the Women’s Aid Leicester and Leicestershire charity, which provides refuges to support women escaping domestic violence. Top of the list of needs was kitchen equipment, for women starting afresh in their own accommodation, underwear and baby clothes.  Our ladies came up with a wonderful variety of kitchen items, pretty underwear, delightful baby clothes, hand knitted cardigans and blankets (plus a good as new Moses basket), a collection of cosmetics and some cash.  All the items were collected by a representative of WALL and will be distributed to their clients over the next few weeks.  When we are able to get back to meetings with guest speakers we shall look forward to hearing all about the valuable work they do.

Our committee delivered a Christmas gift bag to each member to bring them a little seasonal cheer.  Each bag had been decorated with recycled Christmas cards and contained a pot planted with either Tete a Tete Daffodils or miniature iris bulbs, a travel size soap and hand cream, a Christmas card Cross-stitch embroidery kit, some chocolates and a copy of Sue Lobb’s Christmas Quiz.  There will be a prize for the winner!

Our members continue to keep busy:  Sheila L is still knitting warm winter scarves which she gives to local charities to donate to those in need over the winter months - she is currently completing number 35!; Julie has knitted yellow stars and Tracey has crocheted snowflakes, angels and Christmas trees, all of which are being used by the Cosby Crafting Group to decorate wards at Glenfield Hospital.

We held our first Zoom meeting at the beginning of this month as a trial to get ready to host our first meeting of 2021 with a guest speaker.  It was very successful and 22 members were able to log on successfully with several more saying they would definitely give it a go next time!

We took part in the Candlelight vigil to highlight the Reduce Domestic Violence campaign

and several members made their own decorative Christmas door wreaths very successfully from kits provided by a local crafts lady.

Wilma completed her cross stitch card, which had been included in her Christmas gift bag,  and Allison and Susan successfully encouraged their iris bulbs to flower all in time for Christmas!

We are looking forward to meeting up again by Zoom for our first meeting of the new year on the 12th January 2021.  Let's hope it will be a better year for us all and we will be able to meet in person before too long, once we have had that marvellous vaccination!

NOVEMBER 2020

Our committee met recently to confirm our Secretary's annual report and the Treasurer's annual Financial Statement, which has been circulated to all our members.  We have an initial programme planned for 2021 ready to put into action whenever we are permitted to resume our monthly meetings.  It seems likely that social distancing will still be necessary, therefore we will need to meet in a larger venue and probably have two meetings a month to give all members the opportunity to attend.  Unfortunately we are unable to make definite plans, but ideas are in place to go ahead as soon as possible.

In remembrance of all who were killed and injured in war, we laid our poppy wreath at our village war memorial on Remembrance Sunday.  Made in 2018 when members were knitting poppies in response to the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal to celebrate the centenary of the end of WW1, we knitted a few extra to make our own personal wreath of remembrance.

Chris Riley celebrated a very special birthday at this month and we were able to visit her on her doorstep to deliver a special birthday bouquet with the good wishes of all her WI friends.  She is looking forward to a full family celebration when circumstances allow!

SEPTEMBER 2020

Groups of our members met several more times outdoors socially distanced in August then we had our last meeting on the 10th September before the new Rule of Six came in.  Our Committee had also met at the beginning of this month and together with a visit to our Village Hall, we had definite plans in place to restart our meetings in October  with a maximum of 30 members at one time, hopefully arranging to have two meetings a month with a guest speaker to accommodate everyone.  We were impressed with the arrangements put in place by our Parish Council to provide a Covid-free environment, the rules of which would have to be strictly followed by all hall users.  Unfortunately these plans have had to be put on hold again for the time being, but we will be ready to relaunch our regular meetings as soon as circumstances permit.  In the meantime we hope to arrange groups of six members meeting in our homes or at a local cafe, following the 2 metre rule.  We have all kept in touch and in good spirits but look forward to keeping up with our exchange of news.

Pat Deacon celebrated a special birthday at the end of August and we sent her our good wishes with a floral bouquet.  Her family arranged for her to be serenaded by "Saxy Steve", who plays for the Lutterworth Food Bank, which she really enjoyed!

AUGUST 2020

21 of us met at our local park, our first get together since March!  It was wonderful to catch up with our friends again to chat and exchange news and have a laugh together.  As it was such a beautifully sunny day we were pleased to be able to sit in the shade under some trees, where we had plenty of space to spread out, and enjoy our own refreshments. Some members were not able to attend, but we hope to meet up with everyone at these future meetings.  We plan to meet outdoors for as long as the weather permits whilst we organise how to restart our regular indoor monthly meetings, which is proving challenging due to space restrictions.  Everyone continues to keep busy at hom and in gardens and most have been able to meet up with their family members following changes to meeting restrictions.  Some are beginning to go to restaurants and cafes where they are sure the correct safety measures are in place, which is a very pleasant change.

JULY 2020

Our committee met at the beginning of this month in the garden of our Secretary, Bev Sharp, to catch up on latest news but primarily to discuss the arrangements necessary for restarting our monthly meetings, whenever that may be and according to the government restrictions at that time.  We know that the village hall will not be ready to reopen until the end of August, therefore we took the decision to cancel the September meeting, which will give us more time to get ready for an October meeting, if that seems advisable for that time.

Chris Riley has been very productive during lockdown and has sewn several beautiful patchwork quilts

as well as a Rabbit couple, Mouse family and Rabbit family.  The two families are exquisitely dressed in their Sunday best and are seated on wooden benches made by her husband, Martin.  Any child, or grown-up, would love to own any of these!

We have arranged a socially distanced get together in our park from 2 - 4 pm on Tuesday 11th August, when we can meet in groups of 6.  Please do try to join us and bring your own chair, picnic and handgel etc!

JUNE 2020

Our members prefer to keep in touch by phone and email rather than online virtual meetings therefore our committee has been keeping in touch regularly to make sure everyone is well and isn't in need.  We all seem to be very fortunate in receiving help from family, friends and neighbours.  We continuje to keep occupied in our homes and gardens and enjoying the weather when suitable!

One member has been busily knitting scarves for homeless people

and another has made sleeve covers and toilet bags for NHS Staff

Most members have been able to keep in touch with family members, who are not local, with video and zoom calls.  Some have enjoyed watching live recordings of musicals and theatre productions on line and another has done virtual tours of some of the places they were due to visit this year, now sadly cancelled.  The author signed in to the virtual walk "Covent Garden to Bloomsbury" on the Denman website and enjoyed it very much.  It was a familiar area when I lived in West London, but I certainly learnt a lot of the history of the area and architecture.  Fascinating!  There is a wide selection of online courses available - from arts, crafts, cooking, music and exercise

Modern technology has certainly helped to keep us in touch with the outside world, but we can't wait to rejoin as soon as we are allowed!

MAY 2020

A lot of us celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE day within our own streets, which looked very patriotic, but look forward to the time when we can have the more traditional celebration with our members and display our red, white and blue bunting in the village as had been originally planned.

APRIL 2020

Due to the social distancing necessitated by the Corona virus, all meetings have been suspended until further notice.

MARCH 2020

Broughton Astley ladies were pleased to welcome Lynne and Peter Upton, volunteers from Bradgate Park Trust, to talk about the people who had lived in Bradgate over the centuries.  Starting from Stone Age settlers who had walked over from Europe to enjoy the readily available deer and water supply, through the Dark Ages, when the land was owned by Ulf until the Manor or Groby passed to the Grey family in 1427.  We all know the history of Lady Jane Grey, ill-fated queen of 9 days, who had visited during her childhood and stayed in Bradgate House, which had been  completed in 1520, the first brick built manor house probably on the site of an original Tudor stone house .  Then forward to the Earls of Stamford, the last being a playboy who married Kitty Cox, a circus performer.  They built a race course, using Old John folly as a viewing platform with stables nearby.    As a widow, Kitty kept the estate running until her death in the 1920’s, when it was bought for the people of Leicester by Charles Bennion, shoe manufacturer and benefactor. Their talk was a fascinating insight into the history of our well-loved country park and was thoroughly enjoyed by us all.

You may be interested in additional information:

The war memorial was erected in 1920 in memory of the men of the Leicestershire Yeomanry, who fell in the Boer and First World Wars.

Old John was built as a folly in 1784 by the 5^th Earl of Stamford on his hunting estate. The area of the park was extended over the years, but part to the east was sold off in 1880 when Cropston Reservoir was established.

In WW2 the Home Guard trained in the park and American paratroopers, based in Quorn, trained there using live ammunition.  Evidence can still be seen!

The Trust runs the park for education and enjoyment, aiming to connect people and nature, which costs £1.2m per year to run.  It receive a very small Council funding, some from the National Lottery and the rest is from car parking, retail and catering, venison, charcoal and timber.

FEBRUARY 2020

We welcomed Elaine and Paul Bivins from Leicestershire & Rutland Blood Bikes to tell us about the valuable work their organisation does, completely on a voluntary basis.  The Blood Bikes transport blood stocks and products, samples, scans, surgical equipment and donated breast milk for premature babies, primarily between 7 pm and 6 am weekdays and 24 hours at weekends when normal NHS transport is unavailable, thus saving the NHS thousands of pounds and releasing vehicles and staff to other emergency calls.  Due to generous donations from local vehicle companies providing motor cycles and vans, and fund raising to maintain them, they provide a service that many of us are unaware of.  It was a really interesting evening and we can thoroughly recommend to other Wis.

JANUARY 2020

We started the new year with a busy evening cutting out and decorating green hearts to make bunting to support Climate Change Awareness month in February.  We had been collecting all sorts of green materials, some kindly donated by members and others acquired at local charity shops - good recycling!  All our ladies managed to cut out at least 5 heart shapes each, as we need in the order of 150.  Some were decorated with emblems connected with the causes of climate change - global warming, greenhouse gases, CFC's and their effects - rising sea levels, drought, flooding, deforestation, extremes of temperatures, impact on wildlife, too many plastics - and others were decorated with green buttons and ribbons.  Everyone took part with good grace, there was a lot of chat, only a little confusion, and refreshments at the end were particularly well earned.  Thank you to all the members there that evening and we hope that the result will be thought-provoking and attractive when the bunting is displayed in our village.

December 2019

We decorated our tree for the St Mary's Church Christmas Tree Festival with the patchwork trees we all had made at our October meeting, and although we were not chosen as "winners", we received many comments of how attractive they were.

We started our Christmas party with a swing with a visit from the Cocktail Shaker Boys.  Steve and Andy talked a bit about the history of cocktails, which really took off in the U.S.A. during the Prohibition era and which is why many cocktails have American names.  The home stilled spirits needed to be mixed with some additional ingredients to make them more palatable! Maybe the name came from the cock feathers that were used to decorate the drinks of the French soldiers fighting in America in the late 1700's.They explained that a true cocktail has three components -  a spirit is combined with a flavour, often a liqueur, and a mixer of fruit juice or soda/lemonade and even cream.  They told us how to mix our own by understanding the character of each component and therefore making the perfect combination of flavour and colour.  They prepared two cocktails for us to try  – a Cosmopolitan (vodka, cointreau, cranberry juice topped up with lime cordial) and Grasshopper (Creme de Menthe, Creme de Cacao and whipping cream, topped with grated chocolate)– and two non-alcoholic mocktails - Merry Berry Cherry ( Cranberry and Orange juices with cherry syrup) and China Blue (lychee juice, lemonade and blue curacao non-alcoholic syrup) – which were all perfectly delicious.

We enjoyed a finger buffet with our cocktails and completed the evening with a raffle and the exchange of Secret Santa gifts.  We all agreed it had been a really entertaining and enjoyable evening.

The joint winners of our 2019 competitions were Tracey Garton and Chris Riley, who were presented with the competition Rose Bowl by Bev Sharp

November 2019

Sam Gisborne from Voluntary Action South Leicestershire (VASL) based in Market Harborough visited Broughton Astley to give a brief overview of the Community Champions befriending work they do to improve the lives of isolated or lonely people aged 60+ living on their own in Harborough District.  They offer individual support, support for carers and those in need of mental health support, arrange group meetings and a variety of activities, providing transport if required.  If you know anyone you think might benefit from their help, then please put them in touch with VASL (www.vasl.org.uk).  After completing our Annual General Meeting formalities, we puzzled over a quiz, enjoyed some refreshments and voted the winner of our Best Wrapped Christmas Parcel competition, a difficult task as they were all very attractive!

The group that went to see "Evita" at the Concordia theatre really enjoyed the evening and our theatre goers are looking forward to the pantomime "Aladdin" in January.

October 2019

We all enjoyed a visit by Carolyn Boulter to this meeting when we made Patchwork Christmas Trees.  Carolyn had gone to a lot of trouble preparing a kit for each of us, comprising of circles of attractive materials already pre-stitched so that we simply had to gather each circle into a puff, thread them on to a wooden skewer (the trunk) and top off with a star.  Everyone a success and we shall be using them to decorate our tree at St Mary's Church Christmas Tree Festival.

At the annual meeting of our Wycliffe Group of WIs, hosted this year by Ullesthorpe WI, the speaker was Spencer Craven from Claybrooke Mill.  His talk was very interesting and we all learnt a lot about milling flour.  He uses only the best, traditional grains, not those which have been modifed to grow fast and give the largest yield, hence much better for our digestion!  A previous miller, a Mr Fawkes, was possibly related to Guy Fawkes, who is known to have visited the area and obtained flour to make the explosive he required! The title of the competition chosen by Ullesthorpe was "A Flour Arrangment" and our entry was entitled "A Day at the Flour market".  Our team made market stalls, complete with holders and visitors, and depicted the traditional baking of Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany.  Our flower arrangement was held in a baked loaf and comprised corn ears and beautifully crocheted poppies, daisies and cornflowers, complete with ladybird and a visiting (wooden) harvest mouse!  Our Federation representative was our Chairperson, Mrs Janet Kirk, and she awarded our competition piece 2nd place, with Ullesthorpe coming first, Bitteswell 3rd and Leire Highly Commended.  We enjoyed a delicious supper of Chilli Con Carne and a selection of breads baked, of course, from Claybrooke flour.  The evening was completed with games of Windmill Drive (completing windmills instead of beetles!) and a raffle.  Everyone agreed it had been a very enjoyable and successful evening!

September 2019

Unfortunately the author missed this meeting  but I have it on good authority that David Hanger gave an interesting talk about seaside piers.  Ladies who went on the trip to Wymondham Windmill enjoyed a good day out, touring the mill and perusing the well-stocked gift shop.  The weather was kind so that was a welcome bonus!

Mandy Cutler, from Hinckley Canalside WI, visited us in her role as WI Advisor and we were pleased to receive feedback that she felt we were a very organised WI with plenty of activities and outings for our members to choose, as well a wide variety of interesting speakers.

August 2019

Brenda Featherstone treated our members to a cookery demonstration and managed to multi task and prepare a three-course menu (vegetalble soup, shepherd's pie with lots of extra vegetables and an autumn pudding) plus red cabbage, coleslaw, chocolate pudding and cake in just over an hour.  She chatted at the same time about her farm; cattle, chickens, sheep and their protective alpacas and entertained us with amusing stories of their antics.  She had brought some alpaca fleece, which was amazingly soft and silky, and a box of eggs from a selection of her fowl, including chickens, ducks, bantams and quails - one of the eggs was the size of a large marble!  The cooking complete, Brenda invited us to sample the results, which were delicious and we took home her recipes to try them out for ourselves.  It was a very entertaining evening.

July 2019

The Broughton Astley Carnival had proceeded on the 29th June on a very hot and sunny day and the cake and book stalls on the school field proved very popular, as did refreshments in the village hall.  It was a cooler refuge!  Refreshments before and after the performances were welcomed.  The afternoon then carried on with a Tea Dance and all the guests enjoyed tea and the delicious home made cakes provided by our excellent bakers!

Felicity Austin took us all back to “The Swinging Sixties” at our annual buffet summer party. She reminded us of the popular television programmes that we were watching at the time, many of them very long running and of course "Corrie" is still going today!  We all remembered that we had to be quiet at 5.30pm on Saturdays while our fathers attempted to record the football scores.  Next came world events (we all knew where we were when JFK’s assassination was announced) then memories of prosperous Leicester when it was the centre of the hosiery, shoe and related engineering industries. Girls might have gone into work on a Friday with their hair in rollers covered by a headscarf ready for a night out, which she modelled very attractively. Fashion was taken over by synthetic fabrics (the dreaded Crimplene!) and music and dance mirrored the huge social changes taking place with the advent of pop stars and programmes made for the teenage audience.  It was a thoroughly interesting evening, enjoyed by all.

June 2019

Malcolm Riddle visited us  to give a very interesting and entertaining talk on the Origins, Operation and Demise of Leicester Trams.  The first horsedrawn omnibuses were registered in 1863 and ran from Haymarket to Oadby four times a day and within five years the Haymarket clock tower was built to control the flow of traffic - possibly the first traffic island in the U.K!  In 1876 steam tram locomotives were trialled, another first for Leicester, and at the turn of the century electrification took over, which signalled the end of horse-drawn trams.  Leicester was also the first city to trial “pay as you enter" in 1913 and trolley buses in 1924, but neither were adopted.  Gradually motorbuses took over and November 1949 saw the last tram service; most of the tram cars were destroyed but some were sold off and are occasionally still being discovered.  One renovated tram, resplendent in its maroon and cream paintwork, can be seen at the Crich tram museum!

May 2019

This is the monthly meeting where annually we discuss the resolution to be put forward to the National annual conference, this year in to be held in Bournemouth in June.  Two resolutions were chosen based on the high numbers voted by local WIs and to give a wide spread of issues i.e.  "Don't Fear the Smear" and "A Call against the decline in local bus services".  Julia Surfleet and Fran Marsland had both attended a briefing meeting and were able to give members a lot of pertinent and interesting background information on both subjects.  After their presentations, members voted unanimously to support both resolutions and this was passed on to our local representative who will be attending the conference.  We look forward to hearing the results in due course.

As we had a little time left and after some social time over some refreshments, we embarked upon a crafting evening.  Some members made greeting cards out of a variety of papers and decorative embellishments provided and others tried their hand at decorating a small gift box, which could be used for jewellery or other similar size items.  It all seemed very successful and to be enjoyed.  Other members who felt this not to be their cup of tea tried one of our secretary's quizzes, which proved not necessarily the easier option, but everyone enjoyed the evening, which was a little different from our usual monthly meetings!

Our competition for the month was, coincidentally, to make a birthday card and there were five very attractive entries.  Members voted for their preferences and Tracey Garton came out top!

April 2019

Barry Wilford was invited to our meeting to talk about the work of Street Pastors.  This organisation was founded in Hounslow, west London, in 1997 by Les Isaac based on the model he had seen in Jamaica, where the scheme there had dramatically reduced levels of street violence in Kingston.  Leicester was the first city and county to set up after London with Birmingham and Nottingham following soon after.  Gradually the rest of the U.K. followed and Street Pastors now operate nationally in cities and larger towns.  Street Pastors are a mix of ordained and lay preachers who go out in small groups overnight on Friday and Saturday evenings to take their Christian faith to the streets and help anyone they see in need.  In Leicester they have a base office in the St. Martin's Centre, near our Cathedral.  5 Street Pastors, all volunteers, are on duty each Friday and Saturday evening from 9.30 pm to 3.30 am;  two teams of two pastors go out together with one remaining at the base to answer queries and give relevant information as requested.  The Pastors carry with them useful items such as plasters, tissues, small change and flip flops to give out to protect bare feet!  Leicester was the first city to give out flip flops and this has now spread to all areas.  The Street Pastors support the vulnerable with kind words, help to find a hostel for a homeless person, arrange a taxi to take a person home who would otherwise be incapable of doing so themselves, advise on social services and seek medical help if needed. They also go out on duty at special times of need, such as the explosion in a local shop in Leicester last year, when they were able to give help and support to those affected by the trauma.  The work of Street Pastors is fully supported by the Police, who see the effectiveness of their presence in reducing incidences of violent street crime.

March 2019

The Revd Canon Alan Haydock visited to give us, in his own words, 45 minutes of unrelenting humour and that is exactly what we got!  He had us all laughing out loud for most of that time as he gave us his “Confessions of a Country Vicar”, which mostly came from what he described as little misunderstandings.  From mis-hearing a famous author say he had just hit his mum (thumb) with a hammer and this quote appearing on the front page of a daily newspaper, to searching for an address in London W.C.2 and locating cubicle 2 in a W.C. at Paddington Station, the evening progressed in a similar fashion.  We felt that Revd Haydock has certainly had a very interesting life and his parishioners are very fortunate if his sermons are as entertaining as the talk he gave us.

We held a very successful Table Top Sale in the village hall on the 2nd March, which seemed to be enjoyed by everyone who booked a table and visited on the morning to find some bargains.  Everyone also enjoyed the delicious refreshments provided by our Committee.  We have been asked to repeat this event, which we certainly will do at some time in the future, either later this year, or next Spring.

Several members attended the Federation Annual Council Meeting held at Leicester Grammar School, which was very well supported as usual with about 800 attendees.  The speakers were very varied and interesting, the main guest speaker of the afternoon being Gyles Brandreth, who spoke wittily, eloquently and passionately on the subject of "Language is Power".  His talk was interspersed with amusing events, including having to abandon his colourful jumpers when he was elected to Parliament.  He spoke of the importance of punctuation, spelling and correct grammar, all of which, he believes, improves one's success in life.  He cited the rousing speeches of Winston Churchill and phrases from Shakespeare, all of which are instantly recognisable and prove the power of language.  He was signing his most recent book entitled "Have you eaten grandma?" (or "Have you eaten, Grandma?")

February 2019

We learnt a lot about caring for hedgehogs when Colleen Powell came to tell us the right way to do this.  Over the past 30 years, with Colleen’s expertise, the Leicester Hedgehog Rescue has come into being, and now over the county hundreds are reared by her team and brought back to health so that most can be successfully released back into their natural environment. Those in need of medical care are treated at the amazing Kibworth Wildlife Hospital.  Colleen now concentrates on fundraising and education, but when she was at work it was not unusual for her to have her special bag complete with heat pad, blanket, bottles of goats milk mixed with colostrum and up to four hedgehog babies, which had to be fed four hourly.  She urged us all to make our gardens accessible to local hedgehogs, with gaps in fences, as they will roam up to two miles every night looking for slugs and snails. We should feed them puppy or chicken cat food with water to drink, and please do not use slug pellets - a beer trap is very effective!  Colleen then produced Jerry (short for Jerusalem!) hedgehog, sleepy but squeaking enthusiastically, who would soon be the right weight to release back to nature. We all agreed it had been a fascinating evening.

Our competition this month was to make a hedgehog out of any medium and we had some amazing entries, first place going to Sheila Loughan, second to Tracey Garton and third to Fran Marsland.

January 2019

Happy New Year to all our members and guests, which we were delighted to welcome to this meeting.

Peter Gardner, Chocolatier and owner of Cocoa Amore, brought his colleague, Becks Robinson, to tell us all about his life as a chocolatier.  Peter started his working life doing bar work and later owning a pub but then wanted something different, but still food related.  He realised there were no chocolatiers outside the London area so started his career in chocolate by researching and experimenting in making high quality chocolate from cocoa, which he imports from Colombia. There cocoa beans are grown there, dried and roasted, winnowed and ground.  The cocoa butter is separated from the cocoa powder then combined again with the highest quality natural ingredients of milk powder, sugar, vanilla and lecithin to bind.  The chocolate chips are imported in this state and "tempered" in his Leicester workshop into different blends including milk (40%), dark (70%), white (35%) and no added sugar, which he sells in his shops in Leicester, Market Harborough and at Belvoir Castle.  He also imports top quality Belgian chocolate.  Peter had made the most delicious truffles for us all to have at our coffee break, which were much enjoyed and completed an interesting and enjoyable evening.  You are welcome to visit his shop in Silver Street, Leicester to view the chocolates on offer, drink a hot chocolate and you may even have the chance to see chocolates being made in the workshop downstairs!

The theatre group is looking forward to the production of Beauty and the Beast at the Concordia theatre, and we are making plans to hold a Table Sale at the village hall on the 2nd March.

December 2018

We decorated our tree for the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary's Church, Broughton Astley, "Celebrating the Suffragettes" with suffragette rosettes and peg dolls.  All the trees there were very beautifully and imaginatively decorated.

We celebrated the Christmas season by sharing a delicious buffet supper provided by all members and were entertained by Roxanne Dinsdale, who told us about some of the Myths of Belly Dancing!  She danced to tabla drums and demonstrated many traditional body and arm movements, wearing a beautifully embroidered outfit of gold and emerald green, much more elaborate than an original costume of a modest shift dress with long skirt, sleeves and wide belt, showing no bare flesh!  Balledi dancing (it's true name) covered a wide range of styles of dancing, which spread from India west to Turkey and Egypt and east to Russia.  The name was westernised to "belly" dancing and the costume, as we know it, was created for 1930’s Hollywood films. We all enjoyed the evening, which finished with a raffle, exchange of Secret Santa gifts and seasonal greetings!

Roxanne showing the beautiful Isis wings of her costume

Tracey Garton was the winner of the 2018 competitions and Sheila Phillips presented her with the decorated rose bowl, which is hers to enjoy for the year.  We have some interesting competitions planned for 2019!

A group of 17 met for a Christmas lunch at The Greyhound in Lutterworth and this was very much enjoyed by all.

November 2018

At our Annual General Meeting, Bev Sharp, our Secretary read a report on our activites over the past year, and what a busy and varied one we have had.  If you scroll down these reports you will see all the different places we have visited, activities we have tried and enjoyment we have all had during this year.  Thanks go to the Committee for arranging all these and for members for supporting, both with their attendance and delicious home made cakes!    Unfortunately two of our committee members are unable to carry on with the committee duties and we thank them for all their service in the past.  All other committee members are retaining their existing positions.  After the business had been completed, we got down to making peg dolls dressed as suffragettes, which will be used to decorate our tree at the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary's Church, Broughton Astley.  A cup of tea and piece of cake definitely helped!

A group very much enjoyed the production of "Oklahoma"at the Concordia Theatre, Hinkley and 18 members have signed up for tickets to see their pantomime, Beauty and the Beast, in January.  We held a very successful Coffee Morning and Cake Sale at St Mary's Church, and the delicious cakes were enjoyed by all who attended!

October 2018

June Goodwin kindly filled in at short notice to tell us about a famous Leicestershire murder.  June had discovered that in June 1856 her three times great grandfather, a Tollgate Keeper at Thorpe Arnold, and his young grandson were murdered by William Brown, known as “Peppermint Billy”.  Billy was a returning convict from Van Diemen’s Land, having spent ten years there, and it's not known why he committed this crime, except perhaps it was a burglary gone wrong.  Billy went on the run but was caught very quickly, tried at Leicester Assizes and was the last person to be hanged in Leicester at Infirmary Square in front of a huge crowd.  June told us about some other famous local cases and we all agreed it was an interesting evening, even if a little gruesome!

A group went on a canal boat trip starting at Thurmaston (Leicester) Marina and going up to Mount Sorrell, where they stopped for a very enjoyable lunch, before getting back on board and returning home.  The weather was mild and sunny and everyone really enjoyed the experience, one which will hopefully be repeated next year!

At the Wycliffe Group annual meeting, hosted by Leire WI this year, we spent an enjoyable evening, hearing from Peter Hammond about the origin of well known sayings and proverbs.  Leire had provided a delicious buffet supper and then acted out a scene from which we had to recognise other well known sayings.  Leire had chosen this theme as their competition and all four WIs had made a scene from a proverb.  Broughton Astley chose "Looking for a needle in a haystack" and our entry was awarded 1st prize!  Leire and Ullesthorpe chose "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" and were awarded fourth and third places respectively, and Bitteswell gained second place with "Don't judge a book by its cover".  Peter Hammond was the judge and it must have been a hard decision to make.

September 2018

Members of Blue Watch, Meridian division of the Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service visited to give us up to date advice and information on fire safety in the home.  Jo Finn and his team of John, Jim and Peter, with Ken manning the fire appliance outside just in case of a “shout”, gave an interesting and often amusing talk raising awareness of the safe use of electrical equipment in the home, including regularly checking smoke alarms, which they fit for free upon request. They recommended everyone agreeing an escape plan for their homes and having a night-time routine of closing downstairs doors, keeping door keys handy and turning off plugs, chargers and candles!  Only leave switched on at the plug items that are now designed to be left on such as microwaves, TVs, DVD players, fridges and freezers etc.  Definitely not mobile phone chargers!  They stressed that maintenance is important too - making sure that debris does not fall behind fridges/freezers, that can heat up and catch fire.  Clean out filters on tumble driers and do not set washing machines and tumble driers in action overnight or when you are out of the house.  All common sense advice but definitely worth the reminders.

AUGUST 2018

Julie Ede gave us a fascinating talk on the life of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, and what a complicated life it was!  Coming from humble beginnings and spending formative years in an orphanage run by nuns, a background which she chose to hide all her life, she had many affairs with wealthy men, who gave her the means to open salons and develop her fashion business. In 1914 she set the trend of short hair for women and “liberated” them by designing fashion that did not need a corset and lifting the hem above the ankle, quite shocking! Her style was always simple and sophisticated with great attention to detail. Her trademark was white collar and cuffs, which she must have seen in the nun's garments.  She hated the advent of the mini-skirt, saying that knees were always best covered up!  We all enjoyed hearing about this astute and ruthless businesswoman and how she gained the nickname Coco and why her perfume No. 5 was so named.  The competition for a Chanel design was won by Rosie Bannister, with Tracey Garton and Sheila Loughan taking second and third places.

JULY 2018

Our meeting this month was our summer party, when we celebrated the centenary of the first votes for women.  Several members dressed (as nearly as possible) as a Suffragette and everyone wore a rosette in the colours of the suffrage movement, green, white and violet.  We enjoyed a supper of jacket potatoes with fillings,followed by apple pie and custard and then had a sociable time chatting and enjoying music and songs of the era.  It was a really enjoyable evening.

On the 19th July we met up with some members of Foxton WI, with whom we had been linked as part of the Federation Challenge, at Ivy's Vintage Tea Room in Lutterworth to enjoy a delicious cream tea together!  It was a lovely friendly afternoon with lots of chat, exchanging ideas, and laughter and of course lots of tea and scones.  We all agreed it had been a good thing to do and we shall definitely be meeting up again before too long.

See our Gallery page for more images of the afternoon.

JUNE 2018

23rd June was the annual village carnival, when our WI provided refreshments of tea, coffee and cake in the village hall for visitors who had come to see the displays on the stage.

For the second year we also had a stall on the Thomas Estley school field, selling delicious home-made cakes and providing a display of our WI's activities.  Apart from the centenary of the first votes for women this year, we have also been celebrating the centenary of the formation of the Leicestershire and Rutland Federation of WIs and the ending of the First World War.

For our monthly meeting, Alison Rockett and her husband went to Uganda in 2005 to teach in an international school taking their children with them for the experience.   They lived in Kampala and it was on the outskirts of the city that she met the Acholi people, who had originated in the north of the country but had been displaced due to the civil war.  The only income they had was breaking up, with hand tools, the gypsum stone in their small quarry crushing it into gravel, which they then sold for the equivalent (at the time) of around 25p per day.  The work was undertaken by all the family, including young children, and was extremely hazardous.  The women also made jewellery from colourful recycled paper, which they sold to supplement their income.  The paper was cut then tightly rolled into beads, varnished and threaded onto an elastic thread to make necklaces and bracelets of many different colours, styles and designs.  On her first trip back to Canada and the U.K. Allison took some of this jewellery to sell to friends and found ready markets in local shops and boutiques.  The money earned  makes a big difference to the Acholi people, as the women no longer need to work in the quarry, have more money for food and essentials and more importantly are able to afford to send their children to school.  The Acholi Beadcraft Collective was thus formed.  Although now based back in Leicestershire, Alison still orders jewellery from the collective and continues to sell their Acholi beadcraft jewellery to groups and interested outlets, sending the proceeds back to Uganda by Moneygram.

Allison showed us how to make the beads, which wasn't as easy as it sounds, but with her help we all very successfully made a bracelet to take home.  We were also able to buy items for our friends!

Alison now works with young people in schools in Enterprise Education Projects, encouraging them to start projects such as the Acholi beadcraft and others using recycled products and selling them, which is invaluable in their education and greatly enhances their lives, particularly those who are vulnerable or have behavioural issues.

MAY 2018

At our meeting we presented full information to our members on the WI Resolution for 2018, namely "Mental Health Matters", that mental health should be treated on parity with physical health.  The vote to support this resolution was unanimous, with all 23 attendees voting to support this resolution when it is presented at Conference in Cardiff in June.

We then used the rest of the time that evening on making Suffragette rosettes to decorate our WI stall on the school field at the Broughton Astley Carnival on the 23rd June.  Each rosette was made of circles of dark green, violet and white tissue or crepe paper, held in the centre with a paper fastener and topped with a sticker stating Votes for Women.  We made two 3 metre lengths of bunting plus some extras rosettes, which can also be used at our July party, when we shall be celebrating some women attaining the right to vote, as well as the ending of the First World War.  It's amazing what team work will achieve!

We were delighted to see our beautiful centenary cherry tree in full bloom in the recreation ground at the end of April.  See an up to date photo in our gallery!

Around 20 members enjoyed a bar skittles evening at the Red Admiral Pub, Broughton Astley, followed by a delicious supper.  The three winners were presented with a gift of baking items (very useful for our cake needs during the summer), the player with the most points also had a prize and there was a consolation wooden spoon for the player with the least points!  It was a fun evening enjoyed by all and we shall definitely be repeating it.

APRIL 2018

We all enjoyed a fun evening when Louise Brooks , modern milliner extraordinaire from "Hats from the Hall" brought along a variety of her beautiful handmade hats for us to see and try on.  From everyday felt cloche hats to the more flamboyant statement pieces made from natural banana leaf fibre and decorated with feathers and flowers, Louise works closely with her clients to design and make a hat that fits them perfectly in size, style and colour and is suited to their event.  Louise recommended that sometimes it is best to choose a smaller size hat, which is usually more comfortable and easy to wear, but then give it the wow factor with remarkable decorations.  We all enjoyed trying them on and wished we had an occasion to wear one of these wonderful creations!

MARCH 2018

Two of our members, Mrs Eileen Williams and Mrs Sheila Phillips  celebrated "signficant" birthdays this month and both were presented with bouquets as a thank you for all they have done for our WI by serving on our committees in a variety of roles over many years.

Quite a large group visited the Boundary Mill complex near Grantham  and had a great day shopping and socialising.

Five members attended the 2018 Federation Centenary AGM at Bruntingthorpe Hangar 42.  We all enjoyed what the three speakers, Jennifer Lady Gretton, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mandy Hickson, fighter pilot and motivational speaker and Edwina Currie had to say.  The NFWI Chair, Lynne Stubbings, gave an inspirational address on the successes and future plans of the NFWI and what it had meant in her life.

At our monthly meeting we  learnt a lot about what it means to be a Magistrate when Suzi Felstead visited us. In order to fairly represent our diverse communities, Magistrates come from all walks of life, gender, age, background and ethnicity.  There are no criteria or qualifications needed but the application process if very rigorous before an appointment is made.  An intense period of training follows before being placed on a ‘bench’ with two other magistrates, where much on the job training will be accomplished together with continual assessment. Magistrates Courts deal with adult and youth crime, family and civil cases six days a week, but all cases have to come before Magistrates before more serious cases are passed on to Crown courts. Suzi finds many cases are sad; some amusing, but adoption cases are very special and rewarding.

FEBRUARY 2018

We welcomed Alexa Wigfield to tell us about the work of the charity “When you wish upon a Star”, which aims to grant wishes to children aged 2 to 16 with life threatening illnesses. Founded in the East Midlands in 1990, the charity has so far granted 17,500 wishes to children and their families. The "wishes" vary from a day as a Princess/Super hero, a day at CBeebies World at Alton Tower to a long haul visit to Disney World in Florida.  One of the most popular is a day trip to meet Santa Claus in Lapland in a chartered aircraft taking 80 children and their carers.  The videos of so many happy children were heart-warming and we were pleased to support this worthwhile charity.  The charity relies on volunteers and supporters and is encouraged by the generosity of so many sponsors and organisations.  They have an office in Nottingham as well as an outlet shop selling favourably priced new items, and also an E-bay shop! For more info visit www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk.

Tracey Garton won this month's competition of creating a "Green Heart" for February's Climate Change Awareness month.

JANUARY 2018

Richard Adams took us for a “Walk on the Wild side” at our first meeting of the New Year.  He showed a selection of photographic presentations of wild life, wild countryside and wild weather, each accompanied by music suited to the subject. We travelled from wild swans on Rutland water, raising their cygnets  to the gentle strains of "La Cigne" by Saint-Saens and deep snow around Oakham and Barnsdale Gardens to some of the wild life and the wilderness of Namibia, whose almost lunar landscape was matched by the sounds of a haunting Creole Mass sung by Jose Carreras.  By contrast again we walked through the county of Rutland throughout the seasons and finished in a winter wonderland of the  Welland Valley, with its longest viaduct in the country (all 83 arches), coated with a sugary hoar frost to the strains of “The sugar plum fairy”!  It was a delightful trip enjoyed by all.  The trophy for the 2017 competition winner was presented by Eileen to Julie, Tracey and Fran, who shared the award this year with equal points!  We finished the evening with our grand raffle and exchange of Secret Santa gifts, all held over from our cancelled December party.

DECEMBER 2017

We entered our Christmas tree as part of the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary's Church, Broughton Astley, decorated with baubles which had all been made by our members and entitled "Bauble Magic".  We didn't win, but it is always a pleasure to take part in this seasonal celebration.

"Bauble Magic"

It was with great disappointment that we had to cancel our December Faith Supper and Christmas party due to the icy conditions expected at our Village Hall on the 12th December.  We plan to hold the raffle and exchange of Secret Santa gifts at our January meeting.

NOVEMBER 2017

We held our Annual General Meeting this month when Fran Marsland was voted in as President, taking over from Julia Surfleet who has led us for three very successful years.  Many thanks go to Julia for all her hard work as well as to Beverley Sharp, who continues as Secretary and Treasurer and all other Committee members who agreed to serve again in a variety of capacities.  We are pleased to welcome Diane Munnik as a new member of our committee.  After the business part of the meeting had been completed we were pleased to welcome Ella Tonge from the Dogs Trust, accompanied by a delightful canine friend, who popped in to see us to make up for having to cancel a previous date due to illness.  A group of ladies thoroughly enjoyed the production of "White Christmas" at the Concordia Theatre, Hinckley, and are no doubt anticipating another enjoyable evening at the pantomime in January.  A Christmas lunch has been booked for the beginning of December and then we are looking forward to our annual December Faith Supper and party, when we shall be entertained by Elisabeth Robinson with a version of a popular television game show.  Our thanks go to all our committee members who work so hard throughout the year for the benefit of all our members;  during 2017 we have again had the opportunity to take part in many enjoyable outings and events, have witnessed a wide range of interesting and amusing speakers and the plans in place for 2018 looking equally.entertaining.

OCTOBER 2017

“You Cannot be Serious!” was the title of the talk Alan Gray gave to us recently. Alan had many amusing and interesting tales and anecdotes to tell of things that had happened during his twenty years as a line judge and umpire at Wimbledon.  He had officiated at matches played by so many famous stars of the tennis world and had the photographs to prove it.  He told us that if a player has to leave the court during play, he/she has to be escorted (everywhere!) to ensure that no advantage is gained over the opponent during the break. Alan always kept the tools of his trade, including a tape measure and net winding handle to check the height of the net, safely in a bag with him at all times - if they were left on his table they had a habit of disappearing to souvenir hunters!  We were also amused to hear that Alan always kept a list of swear words in all the players’ languages so that he knew what they were saying and could admonish them appropriately if the need arose! It was a really enjoyable evening.

On Friday 6th a group of us attended the Wycliffe Group Annual meeting, which was hosted this year by Dunton Bassett WI.  We were given a recap of the Group's activities over the past year and a speaker from WI House updated us on all the methods of communication within the WI, particularly the new "MyWI" area on the main website, which gives lots of useful information on the WI in general as well as topics of interest, recipes, craft ideas and many more.  Geoffrey Smith, a fuchsia expert, exhibitor and several times gold medal winner at Chelsea Flower Show, then gave us a slide presentation on "Behind the Scenes at the Chelsea Flower Show" which took us from the time 6 weeks before the opening of the show right up to the end when the gardens have to be dismantled.  It was fascinating to see how the site at the Chelsea Hospital has to be totally transformed, tennis courts and playground equipment removed, turf rolled up, tons of soil brought in to build up the large garden areas by 9 feet, marquees, stalls and all amenities installed, not to mention all the show gardens themselves.  We saw "before" and "after" pictures of some of the inspiring gardens and displays of so many beautiful plants and flowers and Geoffrey told us many interesting and funny stories.  It was particularly amusing to see the visitors staggering home with enormous flowers, plants and trees at the end of the show, trying to fit them into their cars, or on to a bus or the Underground!  We were then treated to a delicious buffet supper while we tried to complete a quiz and identify a long list of flowers!  The competition chosen by Dunton Bassett for this year was "Going for Gold - a garden designed for the Chelsea Flower Show" and Broughton Astley were awarded 1st prize for their exhibit of "The Zen and Tranquillity Garden", which a group of four had designed and built.  We all agreed it had been a very enjoyable (and successful) evening!

East Midlands Food Festival at Melton Mowbray

A group went to Melton Mowbray on Saturday 7th October to the annual food festival where there were so many delicious things to sample and buy - cakes, breads, cheeses, chocolate, gins, whiskeys, wine, cider, beer and ice cream to mention just a few - as well as kitchen aids, pottery, bags and scarves, jewellery, basket ware and wooden crafts.  There was a variety of demonstrations available if you wished, and of course a wide choice of foods for lunch from burgers and sausages to hog roast and paella. We were spoilt for choice!  There was also useful information on local projects affecting Melton Mowbray as well as recycling, avoiding food waste and composting.  It was also an opportunity for venues and places of interest in the area to show what they can offer.  The day went very quickly and was enjoyed by all, most travelling home with a variety of bags and parcels of goodies.

SEPTEMBER 2017

Unfortunately our speaker had to cancel at the last moment due to illness so two of our members stepped up to fill the gap.  Firstly Margaret, a trained physiotherapist, told us the importance of good posture.  She showed us some simple exercises to maintain the “beautiful S curve” of our spines, how to achieve a neutral pelvic position and lift the sternum so that everything would be perfectly placed for good posture.  We all had a go and probably looked quite a sight!  She also urged us to do some basic yoga and suggested an online site to use.  Next Aimee spoke about the narrow boat she has been redecorating with the help of family and friends and preparing to move into as her new home.  There are lots of things that have to be organised and services put in place - rents, licenses, power and water to name just a few she mentioned; we are looking forward to visiting her when she is settled with the added attraction of refreshments at a nearby cafe, which serves delicious scones and cakes! We all agreed it was an interesting evening, thanks to Margaret and Aimee.

AUGUST 2017

On the 24th August a group went to visit Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, now run by Nick Hamilton, son of Geoff Hamilton who used to present Gardeners' World from here some years ago for BBC TV.  It was a lovely sunny day and everyone enjoyed exploring the 38 gardens spread over 8 acres and which all have a different theme.

After a spot of lunch we went on to Rutland Water and enjoyed a trip on the Rutland Belle.

Vanessa Savage, General Valuer at Charles Hanson Auctioneers, was the speaker at our August meeting and told us how she became interested in antiques and collectables from an early age, going to auctions with her father.  She had spent some time studying at the V & A Museum and now travels around Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire attending valuation days and cataloguing items that come in for auction. She explained that tastes change and unfortunately these days beautiful English furniture and china no longer command good prices.  She comes across very interesting items such as recently a small Turkish leather case of surgical instruments, which would normally be of a very nominal value but, dated December 1917 and with its connection to the Gallipoli campaign, would probably attract wide interest.  Items often sell for many times their estimate, like the Chinese vase, which sold for nearly one hundred times its original estimate because the Chinese market is now very keen.  She then spoke about and valued a variety items brought in by members from a  silver teapot and cigarette case, items of china and porcelain and jewellery to an unusual pocket watch, a mechanical toy and a herb chopper dating back to the 1840s.  What should we be collecting these days? – Old kitchen tools and, surprisingly, early mobile phones and electronic games!  It was a fascinating evening.

JULY 2017

This was our party evening and we had decided to hold it in the Village Hall as normal  in view of an uncertain weather forecast!  The Committee arranged a delicious buffet of cheeses, french bread and crackers, ham, pork pie and salads, followed by cake and fresh fruit salad.  St. Clements fruit coctail or squash was available.  Our Secretary Mrs Bev Sharp had arranged her usual interesting quizzes and some played Beetle Drive, Connect 4 and table skittles.  We all agreed it had been an enjoyable evening.

BROUGHTON ASTLEY CARNIVAL - 24th June 2017

As in previous years our ladies provided the most delicious selection of home made cakes, tray bakes and scones for the refreshments at the Village Hall on Carnival day.  Families coming to see their children perform in the hall were glad of a sit down, cup of tea and slice of cake! The weather turned out to be sunny and warm in the afternoon after a very breezy start.  For the first time in a few years Broughton Astley WI also had a stall on the school field, where there was a display showing some of the crafts we have made, photos of various events and celebrations we have been involved in over the past few years, as well as information hopefully to encourage new members.  We also had information boards to showcase all that the NFWI has to offer, which visitors seemed to find interesting.  We also had an amazing range and quantity of cakes to buy and take home, all carefully wrapped to arrive home safely!  See more photos on our Gallery page!

JUNE 2017

THE REAL CSI

Paul Taberner came along to tell us the reality of Crime Scenes Investigations, which is rather different from that depicted in television dramas! Paul worked for the Warwickshire police but his work took him to other neighbouring counties.  He explained that on arrival at a crime scene the CSI leader would meet with the police detective in charge while his investigators, using metal stepping plates to preserve the scene and not carrying cups of coffee, collected evidence.  Everything would be photographed and video’d, put into a computer system called HOLMES and then plans would be made to investigate the crime. Whiteboards are not used to display the information as you see on television! He told us interesting stories of clever criminals, like the one who pulled off a valuable jewellery heist, and amusing ones of the less clever sort, who forget about CCTV footage and miniscule evidence that gives them away.  It was interesting to learn that the British Forensic Research and Development organisation in Warwickshire helped in the identification of some of the victims of the Twins Towers atrocity and that due to the advent of DNA profiling criminals can be caught many years after committing a crime.

MAY 2017

RESOLUTIONS 2017

Mrs Julia Surfleet and Ms Fran Marsland had attended a Briefing meeting to assemble information on the two resolutions being considered this year, namely "Alleviating Loneliness" and "Plastic Soup: microplastic fibres in our oceans".  They presented a brief resume on the purpose of each resolution, supporting information and pros and cons for our members to consider.  Both resolutions were voted on and the results will be passed to the NFWI so that either or both resolutions will be considered at the Annual Conference in Liverpool on June, depending on the numbers of votes that each received.

After we had completed our Resolutions discussions, Steve Acres gave Broughton Astley an illustrated talk on his hobby of making rocking horses.  Using templates the shapes of the horse parts are cut from ply or solid wood, often oak, and then the layers are joined with dowels and glue, like the contours of a map.  It was fascinating to see how the beautiful sleek shape gradually appeared as the edges of the layers are smoothed off using a gouge and mallet and then finally carved and sanded.  The surface is then polished, if a natural finish is requested, or traditionally painted dapple-grey.  Glass eyes, mane, tail, reins and saddle with accessories are added and finally a wooden rocker or metal “swinger”.  Steve showed us images of some finished horses, and a zebra, which were really beautiful but the masterpiece was the giraffe, a special commission that took almost three years to complete!

April 2017

Designs for Life - the Laura Ashley story

Jo Golby visited us dressed in an iconic Laura Ashley style outfit of embroidered blouse and long cotton skirt to speak on the life of this Welsh fashion designer, who got inspiration for fabric design while working on a quilting project for the NFWI in the 1940’s, where she worked as a secretary for seven years!   She and her husband set up a small business designing and printing headscarves and table linen on a screen frame in their London flat in the 1950’s.  In 1953, searching for Victorian design fabrics for quilting she couldn’t find anything suitable so designed her own  and registered her company in 1955.  Such was her success that the family moved to larger premises in Kent in 1955 before returning to Wales, the place of her birth, in 1960.  The business expanded very quickly and she opened her first shop in Machynlleth in 1961.  Here she started a foray into clothing design and with a seamstress sharted producing smock-like shirts and gardening smocks throughout the 1960’s.  The astonishing success of this cottage industry (her husband and all four children were involved in the business) enabled her to return to her love of fabric design and her home furnishing collections were launched in the 1970’s.  We all thoroughly enjoyed Jo’s entertaining talk.

March 2017

Christine Farmer brought a selection from her large collection of masks to Broughton Astley and told us some history of their use.  Masks are, of course, a form of disguise, like those worn at a Venetian masked ball.  The first ones she showed were theatre masks used by troupes of travelling actors to change instantly the characters they were playing by changing the masks held up to their faces.  These masks were made of wood or papier-mache and often highly decorated.  The next masks were mostly wooden masks from Africa, Asia and South America and connected with tribes, gods or rituals or perhaps denoted the identity of the wearer, such as a Witch doctor, Shaman or tribal chief.  It was interesting that the area of origin could often clearly be guessed from the features of the mask, like the one of a Masai warrior. We all agreed it was a fascinating subject and far more complex than we had originally thought!

February 2017

"Gorillas and Tree-climbing Lions"

Wendy Martin visited to tell us about the trek she had made to fulfil an ambition to see Ugandan lions, one of only two species that climb trees, and mountain gorillas.  Unfortunately the friend who was due to travel with her had to cancel due to illness so Wendy bravely decided to carry on accompanied by a professional driver and guide. After a short study tour in north Uganda with the “Send a Cow” charity for which she works, the trek started southwards via Murchison Falls on the River Nile to the Queen Elizabeth National Park, and her slide presentation showed us the marvellous selection of animals and birds she saw on the way. She told us many interesting facts and tribal legends, a bit like the "Just So" stories!  One morning she had to stay in her tent until an elephant had finished grazing in the vegetation outside before she could go over to the breakfast tent!  Eventually the guide tracked her famous tree-climbing lions lazing in a fig tree by the roadside, and then it was on to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which borders Rwanda and the DRC.  The gorillas living in this part of the rain forest have been “habituated” by guides to be used to visitors for one hour a day.  Wendy was enchanted to see a family group with youngsters and a huge silverback male and after the allotted hour they all simply vanished further into the forest as if they knew that time was up!  We all agreed that it was a really entertaining and fascinating evening.

January 2017

Three lovely ladies from the No. 7 team of Boots in Gallowtree Gate visited us to tell us a bit about the history of their range of cosmetics.  The No. 7 brand was launched in 1935 with seven products, which were promoted as the "deluxe modern way to beauty".  Re-introduced in 1949 and re-launched in 1952 in new gold and yellow packaging influenced by Hollywood, No 7 was first advertised on television in 1971 as the best selling range of their company.  We were all treated to a relaxing hand and nail massage, given lots of helpful advice and offered a sample of a new skin creme, which we all hope will do what it says on the tin!  Boots and the No. 7 team work in partnership with the Macmillan Cancer Charity to raise funds and offer support and advice on cosmetics and skin products suitable for use during and after treatment. Our donation and proceeds from a raffle will go to the charity and Patricia Knight was the lucky winner of a box of No. 7 products.

December 2016

Norma Harratt and her singing group came to Broughton Astley to entertain us at our festive evening.  They sang a lively selection of Christmas carols and seasonal songs accompanied by their accomplished pianist.  To add to our enjoyment they acted some humorous sketches, which caused much laughter.  They were a very talented bunch of artists and their performance was very much enjoyed by us all.  Diane Munnik was presented with the cut glass bowl, as she was the winner of our competitions this year again.  We all enjoyed a faith supper together and finished the evening with a raffle and exchange of Secret Santa gifts.

November 2016

This was our Annual General Meeting when Julia Surfleet was re-elected as our President and all existing committee members offered to remain in their posts, with one additional new member to help us.  Members thanked Julia and her colleagues for the hardwork they put into running our WI and the committee expressed their grateful thanks for all the support received from all members, particularly those who have been able to contribute so much baking for all the events that we have hosted and supported during the year.  We now look forward to taking part in the Christmas Tree Festival at St. Mary's Church, Broughton Astley, and to our annual Faith Supper in December to celebrate the season.

October 2016

This year it was our turn to host the annual meeting of the Wycliffe Group of WIs, which comprises ourselves, Leire, Ullesthorpe, Dunton Bassett and Bitteswell and we were delighted that so many members from each WI were able to join us.  After the official business had been conducted we enjoyed a buffet supper together and then were  entertained by Mark Bennett and his recorder group with a singer and talented young trumpeter.  Our theme for the evening was "Music from the Shows" so they played a lovely selection of popular show songs and music and we ended the evening with a sing-along.  The competition was a “scene from a musical” and each WI put in a very artistic entry - the judge awarded first prize to Leire WI with their depiction of “Oklahoma.  The other entries were from The Lion King, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sound of Music and Guys and Dolls, all very commendable!

To our main  meeting Bob and Dell Neill brought along “Bits and Bobs” for us to guess what they were.  It was an eclectic collection of Victorian items, which Bob had inherited from his grandfather’s shop in a village in Anglesey. The winning team guessed 12 items out of the 20 - it was quite a challenge.  The wig holder and powder shaker, travelling hair tong heater and sock darner were particularly brain teasing.  We all agreed that it was an interesting and fun evening, which took some of us back to recognising things from our grandparents’ homes or even our childhood!