(HIGH CROSS GROUP FUNDRAISER)
DOWNTURN ABBEY (A murder mystery presented by The Whetstone Drama Group)
The atmosphere in the concert room at Sapcote Club on Wed Nov 1st was buzzing with excitement. Even though I’d arrived early, carefully carrying my contribution to the faith Supper, the room seemed full already as members of the different WI’s in the High Cross Group gathered for the Annual Group Fundraiser. Part of the atmosphere could be attributed to the pleasure at renewing acquaintances with members from other branches and part was the inevitable hubbub caused by almost 100 women gathered in one room, anticipating the extent of the mystery yet to unfold.
The supper table was overflowing with savoury tit-bits, - this being Leicestershire, pork pies and sausages were abundant, and ladies arriving late needed more places creating. At 7.30 Win Bradbury, the Group Secretary, eventually succeeded in subduing the chatter and introduced the members of The Whetstone Drama Group who were ready to present “Downturn Abbey”, a Murder Mystery.
Their play consisted of 4 scenes, set during the afternoon of the summer fete being held to raise money for the local hospital, set sometime after the second world war. The costumes were delightful, excessively vintage, and the characters ‘awfully’ stereotypical. As each scene progressed various snippets of evidence were dropped into the dialogue, and between each scene opportunity for discussing ‘who–dunnit’ came second place to enjoying the feast. By the final scene we were to write down our suspicions of the culprit and why we had made that choice.
Eventually the policeman in charge of the murder investigation gave each player one more chance to redeem their character, and then pronounced his verdict. Having read all the evidence slips he declared that though many of the audience had been partially correct in their judgement, Marlene Chapman and Linda Burton had given the best verdicts.
The evening was a great success, with excellent acting, efficient organising, generous donations of food, and an amusing atmosphere of escapism. It will be hard for the next years Group Committee to find an entertainment that is more fun, or better able to involve all members so completely.
On behalf of all those attending I give thanks to all concerned in the planning and presenting.
(And look out for Whetstone Drama Group’s next production, they’re a hoot!)
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Leicestershire and Rutland Federation, W.I. Centenary Challenge
Getting to know you.
Sapcote W.I. were challenged by Gilmorton W.I. to take part in a skittles match, so on a gloomy October evening ½ dozen cars wended their way to the Wycliffe Bowls Club on the outskirts of Lutterworth.
The Sapcote ladies were welcomed by an enthusiastic member of Gilmorton W.I and directed to each of six tables, joining with Gilmorton ladies to make mixed teams of 7. Checking first that the bar was open (it was manned by 3 loyal husbands), drinks were obtained and we joined the rest of our friendly team, sharing names which we instantly forgot.
The competition began; three teams were sent to different rooms of this well -equipped clubhouse where they played Table skittles, Devil among the tailors, and Long alley skittles whilst the other three teams chatted and tried to solve the complicated word games, a challenge which contributed enormously to team building. It soon became apparent that some ladies were very competent at these games, some very competitive and others relied on luck.
A fish and chip supper appeared as if by magic after all 6 teams had played the games once, everyone then had a second go. As each game was completed the scores were entered on a spreadsheet white board. Soon the competitive ones were totalling the scores and estimating the likely winners. Team 4 were the overall winners consisting of four ladies from Gilmorton and two from Sapcote, Ros, Sue, Marilyn, Vicky, Jackie and Marlene. The scores proved to be so close that both the bottom teams had to bowl again to establish the winners of the wooden spoons!
This challenge certainly achieved its purpose, the ladies of Gilmorton were friendly and outgoing and it was agreed that we should endeavour to foster our friendship.
(Photographs to follow)
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Litter Picking
Thursday 21st September 2017 dawned a fine morning, but by noon the sky had blackened and we were obviously in for a rainy afternoon. At 12.45pm WI members braved the elements and met outside the Methodist Church Hall, dressed in wet weather gear, high-vis jackets, gloves and provided with litter grabbers and black plastic sacks.
Sapcote is kept litter free by the official “Litter Picker”, Mrs Cross, so Mary Eales, who has voluntarily taken responsibility for keeping parts of the village tidy suggested forming two teams to walk along Sharnford, Leicester and Hinckley Roads thus cleaning up the approach to the village.
Approximately two hours later they all arrived back at the Hall for a cup of tea and piece of cake, wet through, bedraggled but not downhearted. The roads into Sapcote were tidier and litter free, for a day or two at least, but all agreed that they would be prepared to help Mary Eales again in her quest to help keep Sapcote and its approaches litter free!
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Passing on Skills
Following a request from Sapcote and Burbage Guides, six W.I members went along to their weekend camp to help 17 girls design and produce dresses for a Cinderella Ball. With a generous supply of materials, trimmings and a couple of sewing machines, both groups enjoyed each others’ company whilst working to transform ambitious designs into a finished gown in one day.
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SAPCOTE WI VISIT BARNSDALE GARDENS
It was 9.30am on the morning of the first Wednesday in September 2017 that 34 excited people comprising both members of Sapcote W.I. along with their families and friends boarded a coach outside Sapcote Library. Our destination was to be Barnsdale Gardens, situated some two miles or so from Oakham in Rutland.
Our driver, Dave, chose a picturesque route via Queniborough and on through some pretty villages with magnificent scenery in Rutland including a glorious view of Rutland Water.
We arrived at Barnsdale Gardens one hour later with the sky starting to cloud over. The site covers eight acres and is split in to 38 separate gardens. It was the home of the late Geoff Hamilton who presented Gardeners World on BBC every Friday night for many years. It is now run by his three sons so is still a family owned enterprise.
Each of the thirty eight gardens is self contained. Some are devoted to flowers, some vegetables and some fruit. They are connected by a series of pathways and lawned areas. Some of the connecting paths were bordered by high hedges and gave the impression of being in a maze.
A short shower of rain at the start of our visit did not dampen our spirits and it soon cleared and every now and again there was even a burst of the sun.
Around lunch time we all headed for the Tea Rooms. They offer a varied menu at reasonable prices with waitress service. Then it was time to explore the nursery where a large selection of plants were on offer and no visit could be considered complete without calling at the Gift Shop.
At 3pm it was time to board the coach once more and return home concluding an interesting day.
(Photographs to follow)
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Ladies Day at Leekes.
On the 9th February 2017, 29 ladies were taken by coach, free of charge, to Leekes Department Store at Junction 3 on the M6 in Coventry where we met Annette and Nanette our hostesses for the day.
We were taken to the the restaurant for tea or coffee and while drinking this were given a Talk about the family firm which is ‘Leekes You’re Home’. We were all given a Leekes Privilege Card and two 10% discount cards and then off with Yvette - can’t make those names up - who showed us around the store. Group Activities were planned, one cake making and one interior design. We were split into two groups and taken off to ‘play’. Decorating cakes was won by Audrey Malkin and Interior Design by group of four, Jenny Groom, Audrey Malkin, Mary McNaughton and Marlene Chapman. Wonderful prizes, a £10 gift voucher each for the designers and a bottle of bubbles and chocolate for the cake decorator. Didn’t Audrey do well!! Then a lovely lunch was served, free time to spend in the store with our discount cards and an afternoon cuppa thrown in.
The Store was lovely, the team that looked after us and the shop staff were lovely and we all had a lovely day and we were all given a goody bag to take home. What more could we have asked for ladies?
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 | Our ladies relaxing after their free lunch.
We also used our Leekes store card to
get a free cup of tea (or coffee) later in the day.
Hot chocolate had to be paid for!! |
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Audrey's winning cakes are in the left photo and Glen's winning cakes are in the right photo. |
Winner of the Interior Design Competition | 
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| Other Interior Design Entrants |
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Swan Lake.
5th February 2017 saw 5 members plus 2 family members off to see the ballet. The ballet being Swan Lake which was broadcast live straight from the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow to the new Hinckley Cinema.
What a wonderful experience, we were given a guided tour to parts of the Bolshoi with it’s wonderful decor and chandeliers and felt as if we really part of the people present at this marvellous venue. We were even ‘allowed’ backstage during the interval and saw the dancers practicing and being interviewed.
The ballet itself, exquisite, from the corps de ballet to the prima ballerina and the male ballet dancers were fantastic. The orchestra playing the wonderful music was absolutely spell binding. We were so involved that we found ourselves wanting to join with the applause from within the theatre itself.
A truly wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
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