Meeting Reports - 2010

10th Aug

Our talk this month was entitled ‘Full Frontal’, which intrigued members and got them guessing as to what it could be about. It wasn’t anything like we’d expected, but we did have an amusing speaker in the form of Professor Ronald Spiers, who spoke to us about his childhood years growing up in Glasgow, his days of National Service, and his life in academic medicine.

Our September meeting (on the 14th), will be a Surprise Evening. We will be having a Ploughman’s Supper, and we’ve been promised live entertainment… quite what that will be is being kept under wraps! Everyone is welcome to this, but please let our President, Sue Melling, know if you’d like to come… she can be contacted on 820867, or alternatively contact me on 821087. We only charge £3 for visitors….

As usual, details of all our future meetings, photographs of visits we’ve been on, and links to the NFWI website, amongst others, can be found on our own website at www.bagpuizewi.co.uk. We’re also on Facebook! You never know you might just be inspired to join be a part of this wonderful organisation!

P.S. I mentioned last month that we were expecting a visit from the Celebrity Chef, James Martin. We were not disappointed!! Sixty very excited WI ladies welcomed him at the village hall, asked questions and got their books signed by him. Unfortunately he didn’t stay very long as he had other commitments that evening, but we had a fantastic time, and some of our members are still on Cloud 9!

Mel Gulliford

13th Jul

Unfortunately the arrangement for this meeting was changed at the last minute and we held a competition, a quiz, and the President of Buckland WI told us about the AGM in Cardiff, where she had acted as our representative.

10th Jun

Our WI were very pleased to be approached by a womens’ group from Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. They had found out about us via our website, and approached Sue Melling, our President, to see if they could visit us whilst they were on a trip to the UK. So on 10th July, we entertained 18 ladies at the Village Hall, and laid on a fantastic traditional afternoon tea for them. A great time was had by all, and the feeling from both sides was that we would like to visit them at some point, having made, I think, the start of a firm friendship between the 2 groups.

Our speaker in July will be a lady from Sue Ryder Care, giving a talk about the history and work of the Sue Ryder Care Homes. The meeting will be on Tuesday 13th July, in the Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm. As usual, details of all our future meetings, photographs of visits we’ve been on, and links to the NFWI website, amongst others, can be found on our own website at www.bagpuizewi.co.uk. We’re also on Facebook! You never know you might just be inspired to join be a part of this wonderful organisation!

Mel Gulliford

8th Jun

The speaker at our June meeting was Martin Way, a local historian with a particular interest in the First and Second World Wars. Martin came along to talk to us about Tin Hats and Gasmasks, which sounded very intriguing. He’s been collecting memorabilia from both wars for a number of years, and he’d brought along a selection of items to show us, including a Lee Enfield rifle which had seen action in both wars! His talk had audience members spellbound, and we were all fascinated by what he had to say, even though some of us were too young to have actually been there! P.S. I mentioned last month that we were expecting a visit from the Celebrity Chef, James Martin. We were not disappointed!! Sixty very excited WI ladies welcomed him at the

Mel Gulliford

11th May

The speaker at our May meeting was a lady called Marion Emery, and she was there to talk to us about the life and work of William Morris. She spoke about his early life, how he became involved in Socialism, and she ’d brought along some samples of his designs, some of which were very familiar to our members. The hall was almost full, and the competition table was as full of entries as I’ve ever seen it!

Word seems to be spreading about our WI, as we are due to welcome a group of Belgian ladies from St. Niklaas, who will be visiting us on 10th June. They found out about us on the Internet, got in touch with Sue Melling, our President, and we will be entertaining them in full WI fashion next month!

As I’ve said before, anyone is welcome to any of our meetings; they’re held on the second Tuesday of the month, at 7.30pm in the village hall. We’d love to see you there! Our speaker next month is going to be Martin Way, who will be giving us a talk about ‘Tin Helmets and Gas Masks’. Should be interesting!

The meeting will be on 8th June. As usual, details of all our future meetings, photographs of visits we’ve been on, and links to the NFWI website, amongst others, can be found on our own website at www.bagpuizewi.co.uk. We’re also on Facebook! You never know you might just be inspired to join be a part of this wonderful organisation!

Mel Gulliford

13th April

Our April meeting was very well attended, and we welcomed 2 visitors, which is great. Anyone is welcome to any of our meetings; they’re held on the second Tuesday of the month, at 7.30pm in the village hall. We’d love to see you there!

Our speaker was Tim Williams, who is a specialist in Inheritance Matters. He was talking to us about Wills, and some of the reasons why people don’t make a will, including that they don’t think they’ve got anything to leave after they’ve passed away!

He explained what happens when people die ‘intestate’; without a Will, and also explained about the different types of Will that people can make. It certainly gave us all food for thought, and raised a lot of questions from the audience!

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 11th May, and our talk is entitled ‘Not Just another Roll of Newspaper’, which will be about William Morris and his life and work.

Mel Gulliford

09th March

Firstly, my thanks to Pat Dando, who very kindly stepped in and wrote the report for our last meeting, which I understand was very interesting!

Our AGM was held on 9th March. The committee were required to ‘stand down’ for the first part of the meeting, to allow our President, Secretary, and Treasurer to read out their reports for the previous year. Business then turned to the election of the new Committee, as 3 of our members had decided not to stand again. The 2010/2011 Committee is staying the same, with the addition of Hilary Clements, and Victoria Parlett (apologies if I’ve misspelt her name!).

With official business out of the way, the fun part of the evening began! Elaine had devised a quiz, centred on identifying various well-known people, and general knowledge questions. The quiz was won by Pat Smith.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th April, at 7.30pm in the Village Hall. The speaker will be giving a talk about ‘Inheritance Matters’.The competition for April is a ‘Moneybox/Piggybank’. Visitors are welcome to all our meetings.

Mel Gulliford

09th February

Our speaker at the first meeting of the year on February 9th was Jill Bailey from Cassington. The unusual title of her talk was “ A kookaburra stole my tent peg “. She explained that in 2000 she was working as a wildlife writer and through a charity organised by the Millennium Fellowship and Earthwatch she had the opportunity to visit Australia for two weeks to study frogs.

We were entertained by her interesting talk and a fascinating collection of slides taken during her camping tour depicting a variety of frogs which she encountered on her tour. We were kept in suspense until the last slide wondering when a kookaburra would appear. Jill then explained how she had watched one of these lovely birds hop up to her tent, pull out a tent peg and throw it over its shoulder.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 9th March at 7.30pm in Southmoor Village Hall. This will be our Annual Meeting when the new committee will be formed. It is hoped that as many members as possible will be able to attend so that they can cast their votes for the new committee. As well as the formalities there will be drinks, nibbles and fun afterwards.

www.bagpuizewi.co.uk. Be inspired to join our ranks!

Pat Dando