The history of West Down WI activities in 2010

  

August meeting

THE AUGUST meeting  of the Women’s Institute welcomed a number of visitors who were introduced  by Toni Buchan, the President.

Our speaker was Naomi Devlin  a  Nutritionist and Homeopath.  She spoke on many aspects of our diet and well-being, Members had previously filled in a Metabolic typing Questionnaire which helped decide from which type of race we had inherited our genes .

 Her advice included aspects of lifestyle as well as diet, important points to watch include- Stay hydrated, minimise environmental stress by avoiding plastics, airing our house  daily to reduce volatile organic  chemicals (VOCs).  These are present in our homes from modern furniture and fire retardant curtains  to name but a few.

Avoid food that contains chemicals such as pesticides from plants and antibiotics and hormones in meat. These build up in the system and disrupt the delicate balance of our hormones.

We should also relax and do something just for ourselves, maybe reading, walking or just pampering ourselves, this helps us to cope with the demands of life.

There is so much we can do to help our own and families health by understanding what our bodies need.

The competition was a Recipe for a Healthy Drink, The winners were 1.Jan Jones; 2. Janet Tolman; 3 (tied ) Lydia Odell and Sue Robbins.  The F.O.M. was  won by Janet Tolman’s fine blue Echinops.

The Cream Tea afternoon held at the home of Violet Graham resulted in a profit of £121 . 91.  This was a very enjoyable occasion with a great result.

There has been a suggestion that a number of members would be willing to go to the Primary School and help  teach the children to Knit. The position regarding Police checks will be clarified.

Another chance for members , especially those who have not yet taken part in the W.I. Triathlon has been arranged for Tuesday 1Sept. 14 .   A walk will be starting from Pipcott Tea Rooms at 2.30p.m.

The Craft afternoons will re-start on Thursday, Sept 23 at the Old Vicarage.

The WI joined in the Church Flower Festival at the end of July. (see the church pages on this website for all the displays. This is the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy as depicted by Pat Williams.

 
 
July meeting

The  meeting of the W.I. commenced with welcoming visitors and then singing Jerusalem, the President Toni Buchan conveyed the good wishes of the "Women's Rural "organisation, the Scottish equivalent of our W.I.  She told us that they experience many of the same problems as we do, particularly in reaching out to younger people to join

Our Speaker was Jane Williams from Ilfracombe who is a Pilates Instructor.  She started her career as a professional Dancer which is still apparent by watching her movements and posture.  Many of us envied her agility and found her reasons for the exercises she demonstrated could help with some of the problems that we may have. We all took part in an exercise session and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The Cake stall at the recent Village Fayre raised £113. Members were thanked for their contributions towards this.

The Craft exhibition at South Molton was a great success, All who attended were impressed with the variety and standard of the displays on view.

The competition was for a Limerick on exercise.
The winners were 1. Janet Tolman, 2. Ruth Verney, 3. Lydia Odell.
The Flower of the Month winner as Janet Tolman with a lovely Weigela. 

 

Devon Celebration of crafts at South Molton

West Down's display
 

Cake Stall at Village Fayre

We raised £113.20p
 

Triathlon  - see below
The swimmers have reached the target of 5 miles - in fact they have swum over 6.
 

THE WEST DOWN W.I. JUNE MEETING opened with Jerusalem.
 A new member was welcomed which brought our numbers up to 30.

Congratulations are being conveyed to former members upon reaching significant milestones in their lives.  Pat Bazzard and husband George celebrate their Diamond Wedding and Hilda Lynch has reached her 90th Birthday.

Matt Burridge was our speaker on "The Whole Life Project" which supports adults and young people with learning difficulties. He runs his project together with his wife on their ground alongside the Tarka Trail near the Ashford Garden Centre.  They have a Poly Tunnel and plots for growingvegetables and also keep Pigs and Poultry. The preparation and planting and maintaining and then selling  and eating the results is seen as bringing purpose and satisfaction to the lives of those who do not easily fit into the regular pattern of work and education. He has regular groups who come from various parts of North Devon.  He has great ambitions to expand the centre if suitable premises become available.   Unfortunately he had had to contend with several robberies and planning difficulties. New CCTV Cameras will hopefully prevent more of equipment from disappearing.

Jane Hayes gave her report on the NFWI annual meeting which she attended at
Cardiff.  It had been an enjoyable experience with fine speakers.  These included the Speaker of the House of Commons The Rt Hon John Bercow M.P. and Glyn Jones from the National Farmers Union. The resolution on Food labelling was passed by a large margin.

The competition was for an arrangement of Twigs and stones resulted -
 1.Janet Tolman; 2. Margaret Thomas; 3 Di Pine..  The F.O. M. Winner was a fine Oriental poppy entered by Margaret Thomas
 

WE ARE PLANNING TO DO A TRIATHLON!!! 
No- we are not planning to enter the Olympics but this is a challenge by National Federation to encourage their members to be more active. Between us we have to swim five miles, cycle 20 and walk 50 over the next few months.

The first organised exercise was a walk  round the village on Friday 4th June. 20 members took part- 10 miles chalked up!

Next walk 11th June - Braunton to Trelawny Garden centre.

Nearing the target!
 

Summer Outing

By popular request we repeated an outing of some year's previously. We travelled on the West Somerset Steam Railway from Bishops Lydeard to Dunster and then spent the afternoon in Dunster. Some shopped, others visited the Church and the castle and all of us had some nice food. It was voted a very relaxing day out.

 
 

 

 

THE MAY MEETING.

In the absence of the president, Pippa Stafford and Ruth Verney conducted the business and welcomed visitors.  Letters and cards  were read from various Institutes  thanking us and praising the presentation and entertainment at the Lundy Group meeting which we hosted in April
Jane Hayes gave a report on the Spring Council Meeting recently held at Torquay,  Leslie Garrett was the principal guest speaker which was a great attraction.
Jane then went on to discuss the resolution to be put before the members at the NFWI  annual meeting  at which she will be our delegate. This will be held at Cardiff on June 2. The only resolution is " The meeting urges HM Government to introduce clear and mandatory Country of origin labelling on all meat poultry and fish products sold in this country.  After discussion we agreed that our delegate will vote in favour of this on our behalf.

 

We welcomed Sue who gave us a very interesting history of the formation of the now very popular "Shoe Box" appeal which we take part in each year. She described the conditions of the children that receive these boxes at Christmas time and the efforts that are made to ensure the most suitable requirements for each age group. Arrangements are made to have the correct number for each area and no child is left out or with something unsuitable. Gifts of paper and pencils sometimes make it possible for children to go to school, they have no provision at  some schools to provide these essential items.

The F.O.M was won by Jan Jones with a beautiful blue Pansy.

 

LUNDY GROUP SPRING MEETING
 
The spring meeting of the Lundy group of  Women's Institutes was held at West Down Parish Hall on Thursday 22nd April. The Lundy group is comprised of Croyde, Georgeham , Lee,  Mortehoe, West Down & Woolacombe. The theme of the evening was "Devon Delights"
West Down's president, Toni Buchan, welcomed 86 members & guests to the meeting. Each president  gave a short report on  their institute over the last twelve months - it was quickly apparent that the monthly meeting was only one of the many activities undertaken. We heard about pancake races in the snow, walks,  courses undertaken, book clubs and fund raising teas  & lunches for own funds and charities, local & national.
The guest speaker was Tony Beard, the Wag from Widecombe who kept the room convulsed with laughter in his inimitable style.
After a supper of Devon pasties, trifle & scones the results of the competition were announced. Georgeham was voted the institute that had best depicted the theme of the evening.
West Down then gave a short entertainment comprising a rendition of "Where Be Ye Going, You Devon Maid?" by John Keats and "Widecombe Fair" with the whole room joining in the chorus.
The retiring Group Secretary & Treasurer, Jean Eggerton & Lucy Butt were presented with bouquets of flowers as a small thank you from the Institutes for their hard work over the last nine years.
 

 

April meeting
 Members were welcomed by President ,Toni Buchan and Jerusalem was sung.

 The speaker was Mike Turton a butcher from Ilfracombe, who was accompanied by Julie, his wife. There were two whole lambs waiting to be jointed and this proved to be both entertaining and informative.  We all learnt a lot about the presentation and names and uses for the various cuts.
And  watched as  Crown roasts. Rolled breasts, cutlets and more take shape at an amazing speed.  Mikes dexterity and skill with the knife was a pleasure to watch.

The competition was for a Lamb ornament , there were a wide variety of lambs on display, the winners being 1.Jan Jones; 2. Beatrice Brooks; 3. Ruth Verney.

The F.O.M. was won by Ruth Verney.

There is an opening for any interested members to become W.I.Advisors. (formerly known as V.C.O.s) members were asked to give this some consideration.

The annual outing on May 26  will be a Journey on the West Somerset Railway from Bishops Lydeard to Dunster. The afternoon will be spent at Dunster where a visit to the Castle will be an option. The coach will leave the Village at 8.30 a.m.

At the next meeting we will be discussing the resolution to be put to members at the NFWI AGM at Cardiff in June. Jane Hayes will be our delegate.

The wording of the resolution is on clear labelling of food.  
The meeting urges  HM Government to introduce clear and mandatory country of origin labelling on all meat, poultry, and fish products sold in this country. 
This is a motion that is sure to find support in our area.

 

 

 

 

THE MARCH W.I. meeting was a very glamorous occasion, this was apparent when on entering the Hall we were surrounded by hats suitable for all occasions with Weddings ,Ascot and Royal garden parties all catered for in many styles and colours.
Our speaker was Hilary Hammond who runs Hilary's Hat Hire.
She gave a talk on the history of hats . First they were worn either for protection, as in uniform or to show status.  It was not until the 15century that they were considered a fashion  item.
 The term Milliner seems to have stemmed from the products such as straw, ribbons  and haberdashery goods which were imported from Milan from about 1529.
She demonstrated a walk through time, showing the different hats worn through the last century.  These showed the changes in fashion and the styles that  we could hardly remember, some of which are now coming back into favour.  We were told that felt was made from sheep's wool and peach bloom and fur felt from rabbits fur.Members then had the chance to try on the many styles and a few were looking for ideas for forthcoming events and others looked back on the era when the hat was of everyday fashion item, worn with pride on everyday occasions.

 

 

 

The competition continued the millinery theme." A Mad Hat" brought forth six entries, these varied from those with lavish decorations for Easter and stage productions to the demure bonnets now only seen in period dramas . The results were 1. Janet Tolman; 2. Jan Jones; 3. Marguerite Holland

The Flower of the Month winner was Jane Hayes with a lovely cowslip.

During March the WI had held a "Soup & Puds" lunch at the home of Pippa Stafford.