Programme 2018/19
Please click on the link to view the full programme for the forthcoming meetings.
Showing posts with label Women's Institute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women's Institute. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Saturday, 17 February 2018
Nocton And District WI - report
February meeting
Proving that our WI isn’t just about our monthly meetings the vast majority of the business section related to the various trips, talks and competitions coming up in the next few weeks/months. These include, courtesy of the Witham Group, the Annual scrabble night in April, a talk from Judith Hibbert on Musical Entertainment at the Spring meeting also in April and the opportunity to join the Lindum group for a day trip to Stamford which includes a free morning in the town itself and then an afternoon at Tolethorpe Hall Open Air Theatre to watch “School for Scandal”. The Federation meeting in Skegness in March has Phillipa Langley, of Richard the Third fame, as the main speaker and plans are well underway for our entries in this year’s Lincolnshire show. A date and venue for the March Luncheon club is to be circulated soon and team entries encouraged for the ever popular WI quiz in Metheringham.On display ready for collection were all of the fabulous mugs decorated at the January “Paint your own Mug” meeting returned to us after firing with many being pleasantly surprised at how well their “works of art” had turned out.
The speaker for the evening brought a welcome return of the highly entertaining and knowledgeable Paul Money who this time brought us “The Wonders of the Universe”. We were blessed with a beautiful dark clear sky so before his talk Paul set up a small telescope and those who were brave enough to face the very cold night were treated to views and information relating to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, the Orion Nebula and Pleiades, more commonly known as the Seven Sisters.
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'Orion Nebula' courtesy of www.publicdomainpictures.net
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Paul`s talk included amazing slides and mind boggling information about the size, shape and contents of the Universe. Sirius is the brightest star as it is the nearest to us at a mere 8.6 light years away with the Seven Sisters at 400 light years and the Orion Nebula at 11,000. It is thought that there are between 100,000 and 200,000 million stars just in our galaxy , the Milky way, with at least 20 small galaxies around us. One of these, the Andromeda galaxy is moving towards us and within 6-12 billion years is likely to collide with us!
Paul spoke about how and where stars are formed and also how they die, sometimes with massive explosions and sometimes with a sudden collapse. It is also known that our galaxy rotates and that we also rotate within it and some experts now believe that some of the periods of extinction which have happened on earth since its formation are due to how our sun moves and rotates around within the galaxy. As Val stated in her Vote of Thanks to Paul all of these facts and figures are hard to comprehend but do make you realise what a small part of this massive universe we are.
The competition “An Out of this World Cupcake” only brought two entries, one from Maddie and the other from Val. Both were so excellent Paul gave them a joint first prize. The raffle was also won by Maddie.
The programme for next year will be available at the A.G.M. in March and it promises to be a varied and entertaining year for us. The April meeting is a talk from Alison Lark about Andy`s Children’s Hospice followed by an Open meeting in May which brings a talk on and tastings of Horncastle Ales.
Our meetings are always the second Monday of the month, 7,15pm in Nocton Village Hall. Please come along to meet us and see if our WI is for you.
More information is also available on the website at: noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Source: Jane Kania - thankyou
Thursday, 15 February 2018
200 Club - results
February 2018
The 200 Club draw took place at the WI Open Meeting on 12 February.Steve Cresswell [166]
Jacqui Fearnley [170]
Janet Goldsworthy [128]
Clodagh West [135]
Next draw: Tuesday 13 March at the Parish Council Meeting
Wednesday, 10 January 2018
Nocton and District WI - report
January 2018
So the excitement of the Christmas and New Year is well behind us and the Christmas trees and decorations packed up and put away. A January meeting always has the risk of being a bit of a disappointment but not with our WI. There was an excellent turn out and much chatting and laughter as friends caught up with each other and what the festive season had brought them. Within the business part of the meeting Annual Subs were collected and individuals gave in their votes for this year’s proposed WI resolutions. These include “Maintaining a Positive Body Image in a Digital Age”, “Stopping Female Genital Mutilation”, “Raising Awareness of Modern Slavery in the UK”,” Mental Health Matters” and “Healthier Mouth, Healthier Body”.Once all the members have voted the matter goes to the National AGM in June for a final decision as to which Resolution the WI is going to campaign on through 2018/19. The WI has been at the forefront of many important and far reaching campaigns over the last 100 years – it really isn’t all about jam and cake making!! The final arrangements for the January Luncheon club were made and this year’s Lincolnshire Show schedule discussed. All five categories are open to us this year so plans and crafts need to be underway soon.
Delicious cakes and biscuits accompanied the raffle draw, a very pretty necklace, which was won by Jacquie and the results of this month’s competition – a most unusual mug. Jacky won with her very interesting Elephant mug, with Maria second and Babs third.
Our speaker for the evening was Helen Keyworth who told us she started her WI life back in Nocton a “few” years ago. Members she remembered were well known from the village though sadly many no longer with us. Helen decorates pottery and brought along a truly beautiful selection of mugs, trays, dishes, bowls and wall hangings. She then discussed and showed us a number of ways and formats in which we could make our own plain white mug beautiful. Stencils, sponging and various images to trace could be used or for the more adventurous free hand drawing and painting.
We all had the same style mug as a blank canvas and the same six colours to paint on but by the end of the evening there was a wonderful selection of very different mugs. Helen has taken them away to fire so we all waiting with baited breathe to see our finished creations at the start of the February meeting.
That meeting is an Open meeting and brings the long awaited return of the highly entertaining and knowledgeable Paul Money with more “Wonders of the Universe”. All are welcome to this meeting including husbands and partners. The meeting is in Nocton Village hall at 7.15pm on Monday 12th February at a cost of £3.50 for non members.
For more information about our WI please visit www.noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Nocton and District WI - report
November Report
November`s open meeting gave us a fascinating insight into the history and regeneration of Heckington Windmill courtesy of Jim Bailey, Director, Trustee and Miller. Heckington Mill, a grade 1 listed property, is the only 8 sailed windmill in the world still in working order.Most windmills have 4 sails but it was discovered through experimentation that the more sails present, though more expensive to build, allowed the miller to work with a lighter wind. In time though it was realised that because of the extra costs involved there was little difference in the overall efficiency of the mill and by 1850 of the 15,000 mills in the country only 7 had 8 sails.
The mill at Heckington was built by the Nash family in 1830 and was originally a 5 sail mill. There then followed a very convoluted family story of death, spurned marriages, marriages and inheritance until in 1890 the mill was no longer profitable to run and was put up for auction. Sadly before the auction date a terrible storm swept through Lincolnshire and the top blew off the mill.
Heckington Mill fortunately was saved from the fate of decay at this stage when John Pocklington, a local miller, used the machinery from another mill to repair it and transformed it to a working 8 sail mill. John was a very successful business man from very poor and humble beginnings and as well as saving the mill developed a builders yard, timber merchants, farm and coal merchants in the lands surrounding the mill.
John died in 1940 and his son was set to take down the mill and sell the properties around it. North Kesteven Council seeing its historic significance bought it but little was done with it other than basic maintenance until 1982 when a group of enthusiastic individuals formed the “Friends of Heckington Windmill” and began to bring it back to life.
In 1986 it began to mill again and in 2007 a massive regeneration project commenced. This involved working through the Heritage Lottery process for 6 years which eventually gave them the £1.6 million needed to complete the full regeneration plan which included the repair of John Pocklington`s old house and the Bakehouse, the development of a Tearoom, Visitors centre, Brewery and a full replacement of the 8 sails on the mill, the later being a topic covered in the BBC programme “Countryfile”.
The whole project was officially opened in October this year by Princess Anne. Baking demonstrations, baking courses and tours of the brewery are held regularly and we were all left with a desire to visit this beautiful and historic site. During the interval we were able to purchase various types of flour, bran and porridge oats made at the mill as well as sample bread made from its very fine flour.
The raffle, a selection of kitchen implements and oven gloves was won by Vicky and the competition, an old kitchen utensil, was won by Janet G , with Jenny K second and Maryann third.
December brings our annual Christmas party with the very welcome return of the magician Paul Vickers, in January we have a “Paint Your Own Mug” session and an open meeting in February where the highly entertaining and knowledgeable Paul Mooney returns to cover more “Wonders of the Universe”.
The meetings are the second Monday of the month at 7.15pm in Nocton Village Hall. For more details please visit our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Report courtesy of Jane Kania - many thanks
Wednesday, 13 September 2017
Nocton and District WI - report
Incredible success
At the beginning of the month our WI had incredible success at the annual Witham Group produce show. The number of entries and level of competition was high but we were very pleased to acquire a fabulous display of silverware in a number of the shows categories including flowers, baking, photography and crafts. We also retained the Andrew cup for a second year which is presented to the WI with the most points overall.
At the September meeting we were off on our travels with a talk from Malcolm Earney entitled “Travels from the Canadian Arctic to the Jungles of Guatemala”. With the aid of photographs Malcolm gave us a whistle stop account of the two and half years he and his wife spent travelling down from Canada working for a voluntary organisation which included helping with building projects and teaching in local schools. Some of the areas they were in were extreme and inhospitable in many ways but they thoroughly enjoyed their time working and living with the local people. The competition for the evening was a Travel Poem which was won by Maddie, with Jane in second place and Val A in third.
My world travels
For more information please visit our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Many thanks to Jane Kania for the report
At the beginning of the month our WI had incredible success at the annual Witham Group produce show. The number of entries and level of competition was high but we were very pleased to acquire a fabulous display of silverware in a number of the shows categories including flowers, baking, photography and crafts. We also retained the Andrew cup for a second year which is presented to the WI with the most points overall.
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| Witham Show - awards |
At the September meeting we were off on our travels with a talk from Malcolm Earney entitled “Travels from the Canadian Arctic to the Jungles of Guatemala”. With the aid of photographs Malcolm gave us a whistle stop account of the two and half years he and his wife spent travelling down from Canada working for a voluntary organisation which included helping with building projects and teaching in local schools. Some of the areas they were in were extreme and inhospitable in many ways but they thoroughly enjoyed their time working and living with the local people. The competition for the evening was a Travel Poem which was won by Maddie, with Jane in second place and Val A in third.
My world travels
- Killer Whales, Caribou and Arctic Fox,
Quetzal, Polar Bear and Musk-ox. - Flying Squirrels, Toucan and Arctic Hare,
Vultures, Llamas and a big Grizzly Bear. - Caiman, Spider Monkey and Vampire Bats,
Geko, Humming Birds and even a Bobcat. - I`ve travelled the world on land and sea
In my comfy armchair whilst watching T.V.!
For more information please visit our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Many thanks to Jane Kania for the report
Sunday, 20 August 2017
Report of WI meeting
Fixter's Falconry
Dean and Natasha from Fixter’s Falconry provided a wonderful and informative talk on Birds of Prey.
Whilst Dean gave a fascinating insight into how he ‘imprints’ (hand-rears) birds of prey and owls from when they hatch or are very young and takes them to shows and talks, Natasha brought round a selection of birds on her falconry-gloved arm, for members to see at close quarters.
The birds included a young kookaburra (the largest kingfisher in the world), a brown owl and a barn owl. We learnt what the various birds were fed on, how to tell according to eye colour whether an owl is nocturnal (dark brown or black round the outer eye) or diurnal (yellow around the outside of the eye) and that contrary to popular belief only 8% of all owls across the world are actually nocturnal.
Despite the saying “Wise Old Owl” because their eyes took up so much space in their head, their brains are quite small... but they can be trained. One of their barn owls performs duties as a ring bearer at weddings, swooping into the church carrying the rings in an organza pouch and flying to the best man with them.
Owls can live between 5-8 years in the wild, whereas in captivity they can reach the ripe old age of 37 years.
Unfortunately, it appears that falconry has a huge void in young members and Dean, who was a very dedicated and communicative individual, was trying to remedy this by School Workshops, Tuition Courses and Falconry Summer Schools.
The session finished with members being invited to hold a bird on their gloved arm if they wished, whilst Dean answered questions from the floor. A most enjoyable and informative evening was had by all.
For more information visit his website at www.fixtersfalconry.co.uk
The competition was won by Val, second was Sheila and third Chrissie. The raffle, a bird feeder and bird seeds, was won by Maddie.
Thanks to Jane Kania for the report - with photographs by Maria Hall
Dean and Natasha from Fixter’s Falconry provided a wonderful and informative talk on Birds of Prey.
Whilst Dean gave a fascinating insight into how he ‘imprints’ (hand-rears) birds of prey and owls from when they hatch or are very young and takes them to shows and talks, Natasha brought round a selection of birds on her falconry-gloved arm, for members to see at close quarters.
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| Plate 1 - Barn owl |
Despite the saying “Wise Old Owl” because their eyes took up so much space in their head, their brains are quite small... but they can be trained. One of their barn owls performs duties as a ring bearer at weddings, swooping into the church carrying the rings in an organza pouch and flying to the best man with them.
Owls can live between 5-8 years in the wild, whereas in captivity they can reach the ripe old age of 37 years.
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Plate 2 - European Eagle owl
[age: four and a half weeks old]
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The session finished with members being invited to hold a bird on their gloved arm if they wished, whilst Dean answered questions from the floor. A most enjoyable and informative evening was had by all.
For more information visit his website at www.fixtersfalconry.co.uk
The competition was won by Val, second was Sheila and third Chrissie. The raffle, a bird feeder and bird seeds, was won by Maddie.
Thanks to Jane Kania for the report - with photographs by Maria Hall
Friday, 14 July 2017
Nocton and District Women's Institute
July Meeting
An already lively turn out for our July meeting was added to by the addition of a further three new members plus two visitors. The business section looked at the various Witham group events, both those held recently and those to come in the near future. Our entry in the Lincolnshire Show was praised and although it did not receive a prize, the full marks for interpretation and presentation were well deserved.
Also during June there had been a visit to Sandra Bright`s garden at Ulceby and a very delicious afternoon tea at the Bluebells café in Potterhanworth.
This month’s Luncheon Club visit to the Tea House in the Woods at Woodhall Spa and Septembers’ planned trip to Denman will both bring further opportunities for good company and good food.
The competition – 'A Small Herbal Arrangement' – brought a plethora of very beautiful and ingenious entries with Jenny gaining first place, Vee second and Ann third. The raffle prize – a lovely collection of herbs planted within a colourful container – was won by Elaine.
The talk for the evening came from Gail and John Summerfield of Westshores Nurseries and with the title “From Plot to Pot” they were encouraging and advising us on how to grow more vegetables to use in our cooking. We were reassured that anyone can grow vegetables virtually anywhere and that getting a good book is an ideal starting point. Although many garden centres now sell vegetable plants it is still better to grow from seed where possible and to concentrate on growing what you like to eat. A large amount of vegetables can be grown in a relatively small space using raised beds and grow bags as well as garden spaces and allotments. The benefits of using good compost, crop rotation and mixed planting of flowers and vegetables were also covered and a demonstration of a range of modified gardening tools for those with disabilities showed that this is a hobby open to almost everyone.
Gail and John strongly believe there are six major factors to successful vegetable growing; picking the right sunny spot, getting the soil condition right, growing from seed where possible, keeping the growing space weed free, not being too ambitious and persevering.
Finally remember that 'the best thing to help a plant to grow is the gardener's shadow'. The August meeting is on Monday 14th at 7.15pm in Nocton Village Hall and is another open meeting. Entitled “Birds of Prey and Owls” this is a talk and chance for “hands on” from Fixters Falconry. The cost is £3.50 for non members which includes refreshments.
For more information about our WI please visit the website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Please note: due to the planned re-build of Nocton Village Hall the WI plans to hold its meetings from September 2017 to Spring 2018 at the Pavilion in Potterhanworth. The dates of the meetings will still be the second Monday of each month at 7.15pm.
Report and photos kindly supplied by Jane Kania
An already lively turn out for our July meeting was added to by the addition of a further three new members plus two visitors. The business section looked at the various Witham group events, both those held recently and those to come in the near future. Our entry in the Lincolnshire Show was praised and although it did not receive a prize, the full marks for interpretation and presentation were well deserved.
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| Lincolnshire Show entry |
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| Sandra Bright's garden |
The competition – 'A Small Herbal Arrangement' – brought a plethora of very beautiful and ingenious entries with Jenny gaining first place, Vee second and Ann third. The raffle prize – a lovely collection of herbs planted within a colourful container – was won by Elaine.
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| Herbal arrangements |
Gail and John strongly believe there are six major factors to successful vegetable growing; picking the right sunny spot, getting the soil condition right, growing from seed where possible, keeping the growing space weed free, not being too ambitious and persevering.
Finally remember that 'the best thing to help a plant to grow is the gardener's shadow'. The August meeting is on Monday 14th at 7.15pm in Nocton Village Hall and is another open meeting. Entitled “Birds of Prey and Owls” this is a talk and chance for “hands on” from Fixters Falconry. The cost is £3.50 for non members which includes refreshments.
For more information about our WI please visit the website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Please note: due to the planned re-build of Nocton Village Hall the WI plans to hold its meetings from September 2017 to Spring 2018 at the Pavilion in Potterhanworth. The dates of the meetings will still be the second Monday of each month at 7.15pm.
Report and photos kindly supplied by Jane Kania
Monday, 3 July 2017
Report of WI Meeting
June Meeting
The WI produce show is to be held on Saturday 9th September and schedules were distributed. The show has been streamlined in many ways to hopefully improve the efficiency and enjoyment, as well as make it a more profitable event. Cream teas will be served for visitors between 2pm and 4pm. As our WI holds a number of cups from last year’s event entries are encouraged with a hope of retaining one or two of them.
The wristbands for the group booking for Lincolnshire Show were distributed and success was wished for our group entry.
The date of Potterfest has been moved to the 23rd September and again entries to the show will be encouraged once the schedule is announced. We have decided not to hold a stall there this year.
All members were reminded about the upcoming Open Gardens event in Nocton on the weekend of the 24th and 25th June and the two Lunch club dates Р13th June at Bluebells caf̩ and 18th July at the Teahouse in the Woods. Sara Bright's Garden visit is still planned for 20th June.
The raffle – a photo frame and Artificial Sweet pea flower arrangement – was won by Maria and the competition – “Your Favourite Photo – was won by Jane with Janet second and Barbara third.
The talk for the evening was from Geoff Trinder, Vice president of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, entitled “Nature Photography – My Way”. Geoff has taken professional photographs for 40 years and during that time has travelled extensively around the world. He was able to pass on tips regarding cameras and lenses to use and clearly feels very strongly about preserving our wildlife to enable future generations to be able to enjoy and marvel at it, as we can now. We enjoyed a wide range of breath-taking photographs from around the world of animals, birds, landscapes and people accompanied by his informative and often amusing narrative.
The WI produce show is to be held on Saturday 9th September and schedules were distributed. The show has been streamlined in many ways to hopefully improve the efficiency and enjoyment, as well as make it a more profitable event. Cream teas will be served for visitors between 2pm and 4pm. As our WI holds a number of cups from last year’s event entries are encouraged with a hope of retaining one or two of them.
The wristbands for the group booking for Lincolnshire Show were distributed and success was wished for our group entry.
The date of Potterfest has been moved to the 23rd September and again entries to the show will be encouraged once the schedule is announced. We have decided not to hold a stall there this year.
All members were reminded about the upcoming Open Gardens event in Nocton on the weekend of the 24th and 25th June and the two Lunch club dates Р13th June at Bluebells caf̩ and 18th July at the Teahouse in the Woods. Sara Bright's Garden visit is still planned for 20th June.
The raffle – a photo frame and Artificial Sweet pea flower arrangement – was won by Maria and the competition – “Your Favourite Photo – was won by Jane with Janet second and Barbara third.
The talk for the evening was from Geoff Trinder, Vice president of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, entitled “Nature Photography – My Way”. Geoff has taken professional photographs for 40 years and during that time has travelled extensively around the world. He was able to pass on tips regarding cameras and lenses to use and clearly feels very strongly about preserving our wildlife to enable future generations to be able to enjoy and marvel at it, as we can now. We enjoyed a wide range of breath-taking photographs from around the world of animals, birds, landscapes and people accompanied by his informative and often amusing narrative.
Monday, 29 May 2017
Report of WI meeting
Good turnout
The May meeting of Nocton & District W.I saw a good turnout of members, who came to listen to our guest speaker Rosie, who had just returned from demonstrations in Los Angeles. Rosie’s speciality was making and preserving everything and anything you could think of, indeed she told us her latest creation was pickled Brussel sprouts, which were proving very popular.
Before giving us a practical demonstration on how to make Wholegrain Mustard, she gave us a very informative talk about the history of the mustard seed, which was a cool weather crop. Unfortunately, all the mustard seed grown in England was automatically bought by Coleman’s mustard, which meant all other suppliers having to import the seed from India. Mustard was initially brought into this country by the Romans, and Tewkesbury where they settled, is indeed still famous today for its mustard.
After adding honey, nutmeg and salt to yellow and brown mustard seeds which had been soaking in beer, members, then heady with the aroma it produced, put the mixture into jars, which they then labelled and took home to rest for a week or two before using. Rosie’s recipes’ together with all the preserving equipment she sells can be found at www.rosiemakesjam.com.
The competition of providing something yellow was won by Val Abram, second was Jackie Fisher and third Maria Hall.
The raffle was won by Jackie Fisher.
Next month’s guest speaker is Geoff Trinder, a photographer specialising in animals in their natural habitat.
The next meeting is Monday 12 June 2017 in Nocton Village Hall at 7.15 pm.
The May meeting of Nocton & District W.I saw a good turnout of members, who came to listen to our guest speaker Rosie, who had just returned from demonstrations in Los Angeles. Rosie’s speciality was making and preserving everything and anything you could think of, indeed she told us her latest creation was pickled Brussel sprouts, which were proving very popular.
Before giving us a practical demonstration on how to make Wholegrain Mustard, she gave us a very informative talk about the history of the mustard seed, which was a cool weather crop. Unfortunately, all the mustard seed grown in England was automatically bought by Coleman’s mustard, which meant all other suppliers having to import the seed from India. Mustard was initially brought into this country by the Romans, and Tewkesbury where they settled, is indeed still famous today for its mustard.
After adding honey, nutmeg and salt to yellow and brown mustard seeds which had been soaking in beer, members, then heady with the aroma it produced, put the mixture into jars, which they then labelled and took home to rest for a week or two before using. Rosie’s recipes’ together with all the preserving equipment she sells can be found at www.rosiemakesjam.com.
The competition of providing something yellow was won by Val Abram, second was Jackie Fisher and third Maria Hall.
The raffle was won by Jackie Fisher.
Next month’s guest speaker is Geoff Trinder, a photographer specialising in animals in their natural habitat.
The next meeting is Monday 12 June 2017 in Nocton Village Hall at 7.15 pm.
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Report of WI meeting
Nocton and District WI April Meeting
Monday 10th April brought our first meeting of the 2017/18 programme and as the competition was “A single Bloom from your garden” there was plenty of spring colour and scent in the village hall. The flower theme continued in the business section of the meeting with discussion of, and encouragement to take part in, the Lonely Bouquet campaign on Friday 5th May which is National Flower Arranging day. The proposed resolutions for 2017 of “Alleviating Loneliness” and “Plastic soup: keep micro plastic microfibers out of our oceans” and the launch of a new website in June for WI members were also discussed. The NWFI campaign action pack on Food Waste was on display and it was decided that a representative branch of each supermarket in our area would be given a copy of the WI Supermarket Manifesto on the weekend of action planned for 19th to 21st May. This calls for them to aim to meet four commitments; An end to overbuying, Extending the product life of foods in the home, Fully utilising the farm crop and Supermarket transparency on food waste. At the spring Witham group meeting, where there was an excellent talk on Jane Austen and the costumes of that time, Jenny began our collection of trophies for the year with a silver rose bowl after obtaining first prize in the Easter Bonnet competition.
After tea, and as always delicious cakes, Sandra Bright stepped in as our speaker for the evening after Rachel Petherham had to withdraw at the last moment. Sandra was a finalist in the BBC`s Big Allotment Challenge and she regaled us with the trials and tribulations of the application process and interview as well as the hard work and ups and downs of each week during the competition. There was an extraordinary amount of hard work, travelling and planning involved as each week the competitors had to produce three varieties of each chosen vegetable and the same for the chosen flower all having to be grown from seed. Also a recipe had to be developed and the item produced as directed by the judges. The contestants had to work on their allocated plot of land by the Thames in London and were down there from Friday to Monday every week for 6 months whilst keeping their participation in the competition a secret!! Sandra then produced a beautiful hand-tied bouquet using flowers from her large cut flowers garden which was raffled off. Sandra also complimented us on our thriving and bustling WI of which we are very proud.
More details about our WI can be viewed on our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
[All images and report courtesy of Jane Kania]
Monday 10th April brought our first meeting of the 2017/18 programme and as the competition was “A single Bloom from your garden” there was plenty of spring colour and scent in the village hall. The flower theme continued in the business section of the meeting with discussion of, and encouragement to take part in, the Lonely Bouquet campaign on Friday 5th May which is National Flower Arranging day. The proposed resolutions for 2017 of “Alleviating Loneliness” and “Plastic soup: keep micro plastic microfibers out of our oceans” and the launch of a new website in June for WI members were also discussed. The NWFI campaign action pack on Food Waste was on display and it was decided that a representative branch of each supermarket in our area would be given a copy of the WI Supermarket Manifesto on the weekend of action planned for 19th to 21st May. This calls for them to aim to meet four commitments; An end to overbuying, Extending the product life of foods in the home, Fully utilising the farm crop and Supermarket transparency on food waste. At the spring Witham group meeting, where there was an excellent talk on Jane Austen and the costumes of that time, Jenny began our collection of trophies for the year with a silver rose bowl after obtaining first prize in the Easter Bonnet competition.
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| The winning Easter Bonnet |
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| Hand-tied bouquet |
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| Sandra Bright with raffle winner, Janet Goldsworthy |
Our next meeting is Monday 8th May at 7.15pm which is not an open meeting but if you wish to come and see what Nocton and District WI is all about you will be very welcome. The very popular Rosie is returning this time to talk about, and no doubt help us produce, Whole grain Mustard.
More details about our WI can be viewed on our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
[All images and report courtesy of Jane Kania]
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Women's Institute - report
Nocton and District WI AGM - March 2017
AGM`s can often be a little dull and boring but not so with our WI. There was much laughter and interest during the business section where the present committee and President were unanimously voted to remain in post and everyone looked back with great memories and at times amazement, at the variety and amount of speakers and activities we have managed to cram in to one year. The success at various shows throughout the year is a reflection of the commitment and enthusiasm within the group not to mention the skills shown at bowling and darts.
The programme for 2017-2018 was distributed to each member and it is clear that this too should prove to be an exciting year. The strongly contended Ireson cup, which goes to the member with the most points over the year from the monthly competition held relating to the subject of that evenings speaker, was won by Jane. Julie, Chrissie and Maryann were joint second. The competition at the AGM was a personally written poem on the subject of Friends/friendship and during the refreshment break all the members present were asked to read the entries and vote on their favourite. Our president Sheila won, with Val A. second and Val M. third. Vicki won the raffle which consisted of the book “Cuppa tea and a Nice Biscuit” with an accompanying packet of deluxe cookies and a box of tea bags.
People Bingo followed on after the break. This was great fun though at times “head scratchingly” difficult trying to work out from the clues who each member was. Ann had done an amazing job of putting together a bingo-type card containing 20 clues after members were asked to send her two facts about themselves. Each of us then, by powers of deduction, clever questioning or sheer guess work went around trying to be the first to complete a line and then the whole card. The clues varied from “Biker on a Ducati” to “Schooled with Elton John but love of my life is “Bitter Creek””, “A wee Scottish Lassie” to “Wet and Wild at 40 then “Hello Sailor” at 50”. Janet won the line and Maddie the whole card and we learned amazing and often unknown facts about our fellow members when each person explained their own clue.
The next meeting is on Monday 10th April at the village hall at 7.15pm. It is an open meeting and promises to be a delight with Rachel Petheram giving a talk on “Flower Power- Growing and Posies”. The cost for non-members is £3.50 which includes refreshments.
More information about our WI is available on our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
AGM`s can often be a little dull and boring but not so with our WI. There was much laughter and interest during the business section where the present committee and President were unanimously voted to remain in post and everyone looked back with great memories and at times amazement, at the variety and amount of speakers and activities we have managed to cram in to one year. The success at various shows throughout the year is a reflection of the commitment and enthusiasm within the group not to mention the skills shown at bowling and darts.
The programme for 2017-2018 was distributed to each member and it is clear that this too should prove to be an exciting year. The strongly contended Ireson cup, which goes to the member with the most points over the year from the monthly competition held relating to the subject of that evenings speaker, was won by Jane. Julie, Chrissie and Maryann were joint second. The competition at the AGM was a personally written poem on the subject of Friends/friendship and during the refreshment break all the members present were asked to read the entries and vote on their favourite. Our president Sheila won, with Val A. second and Val M. third. Vicki won the raffle which consisted of the book “Cuppa tea and a Nice Biscuit” with an accompanying packet of deluxe cookies and a box of tea bags.
People Bingo followed on after the break. This was great fun though at times “head scratchingly” difficult trying to work out from the clues who each member was. Ann had done an amazing job of putting together a bingo-type card containing 20 clues after members were asked to send her two facts about themselves. Each of us then, by powers of deduction, clever questioning or sheer guess work went around trying to be the first to complete a line and then the whole card. The clues varied from “Biker on a Ducati” to “Schooled with Elton John but love of my life is “Bitter Creek””, “A wee Scottish Lassie” to “Wet and Wild at 40 then “Hello Sailor” at 50”. Janet won the line and Maddie the whole card and we learned amazing and often unknown facts about our fellow members when each person explained their own clue.
The next meeting is on Monday 10th April at the village hall at 7.15pm. It is an open meeting and promises to be a delight with Rachel Petheram giving a talk on “Flower Power- Growing and Posies”. The cost for non-members is £3.50 which includes refreshments.
More information about our WI is available on our website at noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com
Thursday, 11 August 2016
Monday, 25 July 2016
Women's Institute - great results
Witham Show
It was a day of excitement and celebration for the members of Nocton and District WI at the Witham Group of WI`s Craft, Cookery and Produce show on Saturday 23rd July. There were entries in every class which included vegetables and fruit, flowers, floral art, cookery, preserves, handicrafts and photography.
The standard and quality of the entries from all of the local WI`s was extremely high but Nocton and District pulled out all the stops to win four of the nine trophies. Julie Partridge won the Minting Trophy for most points in the vegetables and fruit section, Jane Kania won the Branston Trophy for the highest point tally in the photography section and the Area Leaders trophy for most points in the show by a member.
Many of the other members attained an amazing number of first, second and third prizes showing a wonderful commitment and level of skill and ability which led to the best achievement of the day – Nocton and District WI retaining the Andrew Trophy for the Institute gaining the most points in the show.
Report courtesy of Jane Kania
It was a day of excitement and celebration for the members of Nocton and District WI at the Witham Group of WI`s Craft, Cookery and Produce show on Saturday 23rd July. There were entries in every class which included vegetables and fruit, flowers, floral art, cookery, preserves, handicrafts and photography.
The standard and quality of the entries from all of the local WI`s was extremely high but Nocton and District pulled out all the stops to win four of the nine trophies. Julie Partridge won the Minting Trophy for most points in the vegetables and fruit section, Jane Kania won the Branston Trophy for the highest point tally in the photography section and the Area Leaders trophy for most points in the show by a member.
Many of the other members attained an amazing number of first, second and third prizes showing a wonderful commitment and level of skill and ability which led to the best achievement of the day – Nocton and District WI retaining the Andrew Trophy for the Institute gaining the most points in the show.
Report courtesy of Jane Kania
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| Jane Kania with the Area Leaders and Branston Trophies |
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| Janet Goldsworthy with her entries and awards |
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| Nocton & District WI with the Andrew Trophy |
Monday, 25 April 2016
Nocton and District WI
April meeting
The raffle, a pretty Laura Ashley Toilet bag with toiletries, was won by our new member Sue. In the competition, a photo of an Ancient Monument, Chrissie came first, Julie second and Jackie third.
Our first meeting of the 2016-17 programme was an Open meeting which was very well attended and we were delighted to welcome another new member.
Matters discussed in the business section of the meeting included:
- The Denman Fund Raising Appeal – as Denman House is running at a loss at the moment a “Save Denman” appeal has been launched where by Federations, WI`s and individual members have been asked to consider donating a suggested sum of £10 per person over the next two years.
- The two Resolutions chosen to go forward to the AGM in Brighton in June are:
- Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia
- Avoid food waste and address food poverty.
- 70th Anniversary Afternoon tea - this will be held at Branston Hall on Monday 4th July
- Flower arranging day - 14th September – there are still two vacant places.
After the refreshments there was an informative, entertaining and thought provoking talk given by the Workhouse Storytellers, a group of National Trust volunteers from nearby Southwell Workhouse. Dressed in period costume they each gave an interpretation of what life was like in the Workhouse from the perspective of the old, the out of work, the sick and of course, from the other side of the coin, as the Matron and Master who ran the establishment. Their tales were interspersed with humour but mainly painted a bleak picture of exactly what the Workhouse represented for the large number of people who found themselves as “inmates” often through no fault of their own.
Our meeting on 9th May is not an open meeting but anyone is welcome to come along and give our very friendly WI group a try at a cost of £3 for the evening. The speaker is Tuula who will be enlightening us on the subject of Sign Language.
Why not visit our website on http://noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com for even more information.
Friday, 18 March 2016
Nocton and District WI
Nocton WI AGM
Well it may have been the A.G.M. but the March meeting of Nocton and District WI was far from dull and dry. There was an almost full turnout of members with the usual buzz of chat and friendship within the room. The main business matters for the evening included the election of the committee members for 2016/17. Sheila received a majority vote to remain as President, Jacky is to remain as secretary, Vee as programme secretary, Jane as media and publicity, and Francis, Ann and Maryann as valued committee members. Jenny has stood down as a committee member and treasurer and we were all very pleased to welcome Babs to take her place. As a show of appreciation for all her hard work Jenny was presented with a card and beautiful orchid.
Jacky gave the annual report on our year 2015/16 which gave us all chance to reflect on how busy, varied, successful and enjoyable the WI centenary year had been for us.
The full programme of meetings for 2016/17 was given to every member present. It was discussed that as this year marks 70 years since there was first a WI in Nocton that there should be a celebration event which is likely to be an afternoon tea at Washingborough Hall as near to 4th July as possible.
Nocton and District WI will again be entering in the group class at this year’s Lincolnshire show and members were encouraged to look at entering as individuals in the wide range of classes available.
Barbara reported back from the recent Witham Group committee meeting as our representative regarding future meetings and events. She has also prepared a report from the 40th Annual meeting of the Lincolnshire North Federation of WI`s recently held in Skegness which she will present at the April meeting.
Nocton`s Easter Fair is being held in the village hall on Saturday 19th March and all members were encouraged to provide items to be sold on the stall. Janet, Jenny and Barbara volunteered to man the stall for us.
The final piece of business before the tea break was the presentation of the Ireson cup. This is presented every year to the WI member with the most points from the monthly competitions and for the first time ever there was a draw for both first and second place. The well deserved winners were Julie and Maria and as they are neighbours sharing the cup should not be an issue!
After our refreshment break Angela Riley gave an incredibly interesting talk about Corn Dolly’s. These date from Pagan times, the term Dolly deriving from the word idol. Corn Dolly’s are made around the world with Angela`s beautiful display showing examples from Poland, America, Wales and Ireland. The Inca`s with their “Sunspray” were the first to design and make these decorative items.
The origins of the Corn Dolly here came from harvest time when the corn was being cut and collected. It was believed that the spirits who lived in the fields and encouraged a good crop were frightened of humans so hid away in the corn. When the last sheaves were cut this would contain all the spirits and these sheaves were made into Corn dolly’s. Every home within the settlement received one and they were kept within the house through the winter months to bring warmth and food to the family. Come the spring when the new corn was being sown the dolly’s were dug back into the field thus returning the spirits to the field to help ensure another good crop that year.
Over time the design and reason for each dolly has developed with many of them being given as a love token or a marriage gift which often included a heart shape in the design or as a gift for a new home which often took the shape of a brush to clean out the old spirits to allow the new to enter to bring health, wealth and happiness.
Regions within the country often have similar shaped dolly`s with Northampton using the basic shape of a shoe and Somerset a Cider bottle or apple. Across Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire the shape is one of a chandelier with Lincolnshire’s being known as a Flycatcher. This chandelier has three spokes coming down to a ring and from this ring hang examples of every grain grown in the area. Although the design would be similar every village was slightly different and there would indeed be differences from family to family in the form the finished product took.
The ribbons attached to the dollies also signify different hopes or wishes; blue is for water, green for garden growth, yellow for sunshine, white purity and red love.
Angela then had the unenviable task of teaching us all how to make a Corn dolly. She recalled the tale of how the first task in her new job a few years ago had been to learn how to make a Corn Dolly in the morning and then use this knowledge in the afternoon to teach 50 five year olds the same skill. As each child had indeed taken home a Corn Dolly that day she assured us that we would all also be successful.
There then followed an enthralling twenty minutes or so of instruction and concentration which did indeed result in each and everyone one of us being able to take home our own version of a “Countryman’s Fancy”. Angela informed us that these would be made by the young men on their way to church or chapel on Sunday and then given to the young woman they wished to court and have as their sweetheart. When they returned to church the following week if the young woman was wearing the dolly over her heart it showed she accepted his courtship. If however it was in her hair or not present at all this showed her refusal.
The competition for the evening was a handmade Easter card which brought a beautiful array of very different cards. Barbara won first prize with Maryann second and Sue third.
The raffle prize, a beautiful Thornton’s Easter egg was won by Lynne.
Aprils meeting is on the Monday 11th and is an open meeting with a talk from members of the National Trust entitled “The Workhouse Storytellers”. Everyone is welcome to come along; the business part of the meeting starts at 7.15pm with the talk due to start at 8pm. Come along and meet us or check out he website at http://noctonanddistrictwi@weebly.com
Jane Kania
Well it may have been the A.G.M. but the March meeting of Nocton and District WI was far from dull and dry. There was an almost full turnout of members with the usual buzz of chat and friendship within the room. The main business matters for the evening included the election of the committee members for 2016/17. Sheila received a majority vote to remain as President, Jacky is to remain as secretary, Vee as programme secretary, Jane as media and publicity, and Francis, Ann and Maryann as valued committee members. Jenny has stood down as a committee member and treasurer and we were all very pleased to welcome Babs to take her place. As a show of appreciation for all her hard work Jenny was presented with a card and beautiful orchid.
Jacky gave the annual report on our year 2015/16 which gave us all chance to reflect on how busy, varied, successful and enjoyable the WI centenary year had been for us.
The full programme of meetings for 2016/17 was given to every member present. It was discussed that as this year marks 70 years since there was first a WI in Nocton that there should be a celebration event which is likely to be an afternoon tea at Washingborough Hall as near to 4th July as possible.
Nocton and District WI will again be entering in the group class at this year’s Lincolnshire show and members were encouraged to look at entering as individuals in the wide range of classes available.
Barbara reported back from the recent Witham Group committee meeting as our representative regarding future meetings and events. She has also prepared a report from the 40th Annual meeting of the Lincolnshire North Federation of WI`s recently held in Skegness which she will present at the April meeting.
Nocton`s Easter Fair is being held in the village hall on Saturday 19th March and all members were encouraged to provide items to be sold on the stall. Janet, Jenny and Barbara volunteered to man the stall for us.
The final piece of business before the tea break was the presentation of the Ireson cup. This is presented every year to the WI member with the most points from the monthly competitions and for the first time ever there was a draw for both first and second place. The well deserved winners were Julie and Maria and as they are neighbours sharing the cup should not be an issue!
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| Ireson Cup winners |
The origins of the Corn Dolly here came from harvest time when the corn was being cut and collected. It was believed that the spirits who lived in the fields and encouraged a good crop were frightened of humans so hid away in the corn. When the last sheaves were cut this would contain all the spirits and these sheaves were made into Corn dolly’s. Every home within the settlement received one and they were kept within the house through the winter months to bring warmth and food to the family. Come the spring when the new corn was being sown the dolly’s were dug back into the field thus returning the spirits to the field to help ensure another good crop that year.
Over time the design and reason for each dolly has developed with many of them being given as a love token or a marriage gift which often included a heart shape in the design or as a gift for a new home which often took the shape of a brush to clean out the old spirits to allow the new to enter to bring health, wealth and happiness.
Regions within the country often have similar shaped dolly`s with Northampton using the basic shape of a shoe and Somerset a Cider bottle or apple. Across Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire the shape is one of a chandelier with Lincolnshire’s being known as a Flycatcher. This chandelier has three spokes coming down to a ring and from this ring hang examples of every grain grown in the area. Although the design would be similar every village was slightly different and there would indeed be differences from family to family in the form the finished product took.
The ribbons attached to the dollies also signify different hopes or wishes; blue is for water, green for garden growth, yellow for sunshine, white purity and red love.
 |
| Corn Dollies |
There then followed an enthralling twenty minutes or so of instruction and concentration which did indeed result in each and everyone one of us being able to take home our own version of a “Countryman’s Fancy”. Angela informed us that these would be made by the young men on their way to church or chapel on Sunday and then given to the young woman they wished to court and have as their sweetheart. When they returned to church the following week if the young woman was wearing the dolly over her heart it showed she accepted his courtship. If however it was in her hair or not present at all this showed her refusal.
The competition for the evening was a handmade Easter card which brought a beautiful array of very different cards. Barbara won first prize with Maryann second and Sue third.
The raffle prize, a beautiful Thornton’s Easter egg was won by Lynne.
Aprils meeting is on the Monday 11th and is an open meeting with a talk from members of the National Trust entitled “The Workhouse Storytellers”. Everyone is welcome to come along; the business part of the meeting starts at 7.15pm with the talk due to start at 8pm. Come along and meet us or check out he website at http://noctonanddistrictwi@weebly.com
Jane Kania
Monday, 15 February 2016
Nocton and District WI Report
February 2016
It may have been a cold, dark and miserable night but the turn out at the February meeting was excellent and the mood was warm, colourful and welcoming. The business part of the meeting was relatively short. There has been a request from headquarters for assistance with cakes and stewarding at this year’s Lincolnshire Show and also a request for just cakes at the Carrington Steam Rally over the May Bank holiday weekend. Outstanding subs from members were collected and everyone issued with their WI membership card and booklet of discount vouchers. Members were reminded that we did purchase a copy of the book “Women`s Century” which they are free to borrow but it was also felt that it would add to our mementos of the centenary year if every member also signed the book.
The President gave a big thank you to those members who entered the WI Life Hobbycraft Knitting and Crochet Competition. Their entry was a blanket of squares each knitted in different stitches incorporating the WI colours and logo.
Sadly Jenny, our Treasurer, has decided to stand down from this position and the WI committee as a whole. Re-selection for the committee will take place at next month’s AGM and it was stressed to the members that we need to have a committee member who will be prepared to take on the role of Treasurer for the branch to continue. Fingers crossed someone comes forward in March. A place will be booked on the Treasurer`s workshops being run at WI house in Horncastle in April to aid the committee member in the role and tasks involved.
The AGM can be a little “heavy” from the business point of view so to lighten it a little it has been arranged for everyone present to be taught how to make a Corn Dolly. The winner of the Ireson Cup will also be announced at this meeting.
Janet is prepared to arrange another flower arranging day. This was a very popular day when last run in 2014 and 22 members have expressed an interest in attending once the date has been finalised, which is likely to be in September/October.
A number of forthcoming social events in Nocton and Potterhanworth were mentioned, including a night of Irish Folk music and a delicious Irish supper in Nocton on Saturday 19th March in the village hall at 7.30pm, a “Pound Sale” in Potterhanworth Memorial Hall on Saturday 27th February between 2-4pm, where all items on sale will cost £1 and a quiz night on Saturday 23rd April with a Fish and Chip supper again at the Memorial hall in Potterhanworth. The very popular Metheringham WI Quiz, with its delicious afternoon buffet,will be held again in April with teams of up four.
As always delicious homemade cakes, biscuits and scones were enjoyed with a good gossip prior to the evening’s speaker. This month Dave Newman gave us a fascinating talk entitled “Life in the Victorian Garden”. Dave`s horticultural knowledge and skills are wide and varied and his fascinating talk was illustrated with some wonderful slides both old and new. The team of gardening staff to maintain these often huge and very varied gardens was very male orientated and ranged greatly from the Head Gardener who often received an enviable wage and home but a very heavy responsibility to the “Boys” we lived in much less comfort in the Bothy. The Victorians were very ingenious in their approach to solving problems with the warmth generated by manure being used in many ways to warm the crops and growing houses and frames. The garden had to produce flowers fruit and vegetables for the town and country homes and there was always competition as to who could provide and show off the most exotic and out of season produce as possible. The ability to cast iron also led to some of the most beautiful and enormous glass houses one such glory still being present at Kew Gardens. Some were planted up with exotic trees and plants and included a spiral staircase up to a viewing area allowing for afternoon tea to be taken whilst looking out over the “rainforest canopy”. Shows and societies were born and developed with the annual Gooseberry Show still being in existence, as I am sure is the record for the heaviest bunch of grapes at an astounding 17lb!!. With the discovery and import of flowers and shrubs from abroad, so many of which are common residents in all our gardens now, the format and nature of the gardens changed which led to the development of herbaceous borders and bedding plants in glorious colourful displays. The wonderful display in many sea side and town centres of ornamental clocks formed entirely from flowering and non flowering plants were remembered fondly by many. Methods of pest and bug control were interesting with nicotine smoke being used frequently along with more natural methods including of course the resident cat.
The competition for the evening was “Herb – dried or fresh” which led to a display that delighted our senses of smell, colour and taste. Maria won first place with a colourful and pretty posy, Barbara was second with a floral arrangement which included an amazing variety of fresh herbs and MaryAnn third with her very delicious Rosemary Shortbread.
The Raffle prize, a £10 gardening voucher, was won by Julie.
The next meeting is the AGM on Monday 14th March at 7.15pm in the Village hall; don’t be put off – remember those Corn Dollies.
There is of course our website for more information and details. Please visit http://noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com. where the full programme for 2016-2017 is now available.
It may have been a cold, dark and miserable night but the turn out at the February meeting was excellent and the mood was warm, colourful and welcoming. The business part of the meeting was relatively short. There has been a request from headquarters for assistance with cakes and stewarding at this year’s Lincolnshire Show and also a request for just cakes at the Carrington Steam Rally over the May Bank holiday weekend. Outstanding subs from members were collected and everyone issued with their WI membership card and booklet of discount vouchers. Members were reminded that we did purchase a copy of the book “Women`s Century” which they are free to borrow but it was also felt that it would add to our mementos of the centenary year if every member also signed the book.
The President gave a big thank you to those members who entered the WI Life Hobbycraft Knitting and Crochet Competition. Their entry was a blanket of squares each knitted in different stitches incorporating the WI colours and logo.
Sadly Jenny, our Treasurer, has decided to stand down from this position and the WI committee as a whole. Re-selection for the committee will take place at next month’s AGM and it was stressed to the members that we need to have a committee member who will be prepared to take on the role of Treasurer for the branch to continue. Fingers crossed someone comes forward in March. A place will be booked on the Treasurer`s workshops being run at WI house in Horncastle in April to aid the committee member in the role and tasks involved.
The AGM can be a little “heavy” from the business point of view so to lighten it a little it has been arranged for everyone present to be taught how to make a Corn Dolly. The winner of the Ireson Cup will also be announced at this meeting.
Janet is prepared to arrange another flower arranging day. This was a very popular day when last run in 2014 and 22 members have expressed an interest in attending once the date has been finalised, which is likely to be in September/October.
A number of forthcoming social events in Nocton and Potterhanworth were mentioned, including a night of Irish Folk music and a delicious Irish supper in Nocton on Saturday 19th March in the village hall at 7.30pm, a “Pound Sale” in Potterhanworth Memorial Hall on Saturday 27th February between 2-4pm, where all items on sale will cost £1 and a quiz night on Saturday 23rd April with a Fish and Chip supper again at the Memorial hall in Potterhanworth. The very popular Metheringham WI Quiz, with its delicious afternoon buffet,will be held again in April with teams of up four.
As always delicious homemade cakes, biscuits and scones were enjoyed with a good gossip prior to the evening’s speaker. This month Dave Newman gave us a fascinating talk entitled “Life in the Victorian Garden”. Dave`s horticultural knowledge and skills are wide and varied and his fascinating talk was illustrated with some wonderful slides both old and new. The team of gardening staff to maintain these often huge and very varied gardens was very male orientated and ranged greatly from the Head Gardener who often received an enviable wage and home but a very heavy responsibility to the “Boys” we lived in much less comfort in the Bothy. The Victorians were very ingenious in their approach to solving problems with the warmth generated by manure being used in many ways to warm the crops and growing houses and frames. The garden had to produce flowers fruit and vegetables for the town and country homes and there was always competition as to who could provide and show off the most exotic and out of season produce as possible. The ability to cast iron also led to some of the most beautiful and enormous glass houses one such glory still being present at Kew Gardens. Some were planted up with exotic trees and plants and included a spiral staircase up to a viewing area allowing for afternoon tea to be taken whilst looking out over the “rainforest canopy”. Shows and societies were born and developed with the annual Gooseberry Show still being in existence, as I am sure is the record for the heaviest bunch of grapes at an astounding 17lb!!. With the discovery and import of flowers and shrubs from abroad, so many of which are common residents in all our gardens now, the format and nature of the gardens changed which led to the development of herbaceous borders and bedding plants in glorious colourful displays. The wonderful display in many sea side and town centres of ornamental clocks formed entirely from flowering and non flowering plants were remembered fondly by many. Methods of pest and bug control were interesting with nicotine smoke being used frequently along with more natural methods including of course the resident cat.
The competition for the evening was “Herb – dried or fresh” which led to a display that delighted our senses of smell, colour and taste. Maria won first place with a colourful and pretty posy, Barbara was second with a floral arrangement which included an amazing variety of fresh herbs and MaryAnn third with her very delicious Rosemary Shortbread.
The Raffle prize, a £10 gardening voucher, was won by Julie.
The next meeting is the AGM on Monday 14th March at 7.15pm in the Village hall; don’t be put off – remember those Corn Dollies.
There is of course our website for more information and details. Please visit http://noctonanddistrictwi.weebly.com. where the full programme for 2016-2017 is now available.
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Nocton and District WI
New Website
You will see in my Companion Sites a new entry for 'Nocton and District WI'.
Much detail about this group's inauguration is contained in Chapter 17 of the publication: "Nocton - The Last Years of an Estate Village - Volume One" by Sheila Redshaw & Sue Morris. Further information is contained in Chapters 3 and 4 of Volume Two by Sue Morris. I understand there was also a scrap book that was made by Mrs Ireson to commemorate the formation of Nocton WI and the many years that followed.
The WI scrapbook was initially passed to Mrs Phyl Redshaw and then given to Mrs Eileen Moulds for safe keeping in 1992. I'm not sure of its whereabouts nowadays, but it would be nice to think that it has found its way to Nocton & District WI for the archive records.
You will see in my Companion Sites a new entry for 'Nocton and District WI'.
Much detail about this group's inauguration is contained in Chapter 17 of the publication: "Nocton - The Last Years of an Estate Village - Volume One" by Sheila Redshaw & Sue Morris. Further information is contained in Chapters 3 and 4 of Volume Two by Sue Morris. I understand there was also a scrap book that was made by Mrs Ireson to commemorate the formation of Nocton WI and the many years that followed.
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| The WI second birthday party gathering at Embsay House |
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Nocton & District WI Report
November Meeting
The November meeting, which was an open meeting, was very well attended with several new faces, at least one of whom is joining as a member next year.
The business element of the meeting included an update following the outing to Lincoln WI Evensong at The Cathedral, where several members had enjoyed a joyous evening of song amongst the wonderful atmosphere of the Cathedral. The October W.I meeting had been a social event held at Washinborough Bowling Alley, where it was reported a fiercely, but good humoured competition took place with Val McCracken emerging as individual highest scorer. Members then got together to discuss their victories, or defeats, over a meal.
It was also reported that several members and their husbands attended the Branston Boozy Brains Quiz and although their team did not win, put up a gallant effort and did not come last!
It was announced that we would be putting in an exhibit for the Christmas Wreath Competition being held on the 28th November at St. Andrews Church, which along with Ann Jones, several members would be helping to produce.
Members were thanked for all their time and effort in making contributions towards the Nocton W.I Christmas Fair, taking place on the 28th November in the village hall. A wide variety of items, including, jams, preserves, cakes, Christmas tree ornaments, and small stocking filler gifts would be on sale.
Our Programme Secretary circulated a list of possible speakers for next year, for members to indicate their preferences. The list was extensive and 2016 proves to be another good one for speakers and outings.
After refreshments, our speaker for the evening was Ann Barnes, who we were told was such a popular speaker she had been booked since February. She gave a very interesting talk and demonstration on easy and different ways of making Christmas wreaths, for both indoor and outdoor use, together with ideas for table decorations and centrepieces. She worked with a variety of materials, including oasis, which she informed us all had been modified to only require soaking for a matter of seconds before ready to use, in relation to the overnight soaking they used to require. She then simply pinned foliage from trees she found in her garden into the oasis and decorated with berries or small Christmas baubles. She also demonstrated with Polystyrene wreaths which she wrapped wool around and stuck simply made felt flowers onto them. She used wreath templates onto which she placed wired cones, again adding berries or baubles for added decoration. She offered a wide variety of materials to use including hessian and even tree bark, both of which she informed us was available on a roll. A good tip she advised when making wreaths was to simply push a length of wire through the top of the wreath and make a butterfly knot at the end to stop it slipping back and then do the same with the other end of the wire, thus making a horse shoe hook, which she said would enable the wreath to sit tighter against the wall or door than if hanging from a ribbon.
She then gave us some quick present ideas, including a poinsettia wrapped up in colourful tissue and sitting on top of a piece of oasis in a pretty carrier bag. Chocolates in colourful wrappers, sitting in a goblet or a bowl. Pine cones mixed with Christmas baubles placed in a large ceramic bowl with a candle in the middle. Coffee beans, clover or cinnamon placed in a decorative glass with a sprig of holly made a lovely aromatic gift.
Another useful tip was taking an orange, slicing it, putting them on kitchen roll in a microwave on full power for 2 mins, taking them out putting back in the microwave on clean kitchen roll and watching them until they start to turn brown, at which point you take them out and allow to cool. The orange aroma they give off will last for weeks.
Ann assured us that none of the ideas took a lot of effort or expertise and she gave us all the inspiration to go home and try at least one of her ideas.
Julie gave the vote of thanks.
Competition, which was making a cracker was won by Julie 1st, Maria 2nd and MaryAnn 3rd.
The December meeting would be open to friends and family. Members were asked to bring a plate of savoury or sweet items and there would be wine and celebration cake, left over from our Garden Party. A beetle drive would be the form of entertainment and members were asked to bring along a wrapped gift to the value of £5 for the Secret Santa. They were reminded that if they were bringing along their partners to also bring a gift suitable for a male, to avoid any man receiving a bottle of bubble bath! The competition would be a table decoration.
The November meeting, which was an open meeting, was very well attended with several new faces, at least one of whom is joining as a member next year.
The business element of the meeting included an update following the outing to Lincoln WI Evensong at The Cathedral, where several members had enjoyed a joyous evening of song amongst the wonderful atmosphere of the Cathedral. The October W.I meeting had been a social event held at Washinborough Bowling Alley, where it was reported a fiercely, but good humoured competition took place with Val McCracken emerging as individual highest scorer. Members then got together to discuss their victories, or defeats, over a meal.
It was also reported that several members and their husbands attended the Branston Boozy Brains Quiz and although their team did not win, put up a gallant effort and did not come last!
It was announced that we would be putting in an exhibit for the Christmas Wreath Competition being held on the 28th November at St. Andrews Church, which along with Ann Jones, several members would be helping to produce.
Members were thanked for all their time and effort in making contributions towards the Nocton W.I Christmas Fair, taking place on the 28th November in the village hall. A wide variety of items, including, jams, preserves, cakes, Christmas tree ornaments, and small stocking filler gifts would be on sale.
Our Programme Secretary circulated a list of possible speakers for next year, for members to indicate their preferences. The list was extensive and 2016 proves to be another good one for speakers and outings.
After refreshments, our speaker for the evening was Ann Barnes, who we were told was such a popular speaker she had been booked since February. She gave a very interesting talk and demonstration on easy and different ways of making Christmas wreaths, for both indoor and outdoor use, together with ideas for table decorations and centrepieces. She worked with a variety of materials, including oasis, which she informed us all had been modified to only require soaking for a matter of seconds before ready to use, in relation to the overnight soaking they used to require. She then simply pinned foliage from trees she found in her garden into the oasis and decorated with berries or small Christmas baubles. She also demonstrated with Polystyrene wreaths which she wrapped wool around and stuck simply made felt flowers onto them. She used wreath templates onto which she placed wired cones, again adding berries or baubles for added decoration. She offered a wide variety of materials to use including hessian and even tree bark, both of which she informed us was available on a roll. A good tip she advised when making wreaths was to simply push a length of wire through the top of the wreath and make a butterfly knot at the end to stop it slipping back and then do the same with the other end of the wire, thus making a horse shoe hook, which she said would enable the wreath to sit tighter against the wall or door than if hanging from a ribbon.
She then gave us some quick present ideas, including a poinsettia wrapped up in colourful tissue and sitting on top of a piece of oasis in a pretty carrier bag. Chocolates in colourful wrappers, sitting in a goblet or a bowl. Pine cones mixed with Christmas baubles placed in a large ceramic bowl with a candle in the middle. Coffee beans, clover or cinnamon placed in a decorative glass with a sprig of holly made a lovely aromatic gift.
Another useful tip was taking an orange, slicing it, putting them on kitchen roll in a microwave on full power for 2 mins, taking them out putting back in the microwave on clean kitchen roll and watching them until they start to turn brown, at which point you take them out and allow to cool. The orange aroma they give off will last for weeks.
Ann assured us that none of the ideas took a lot of effort or expertise and she gave us all the inspiration to go home and try at least one of her ideas.
Julie gave the vote of thanks.
Competition, which was making a cracker was won by Julie 1st, Maria 2nd and MaryAnn 3rd.
The December meeting would be open to friends and family. Members were asked to bring a plate of savoury or sweet items and there would be wine and celebration cake, left over from our Garden Party. A beetle drive would be the form of entertainment and members were asked to bring along a wrapped gift to the value of £5 for the Secret Santa. They were reminded that if they were bringing along their partners to also bring a gift suitable for a male, to avoid any man receiving a bottle of bubble bath! The competition would be a table decoration.
 |
| On a wild and windy Monday night most of the members and friends attended the absorbing and informative demonstration of 'Table Decorations - especially for Christmas’ by Anne Barnes, teaching us a few tricks of the trade. Anne made all of her projects look deceptively easy. We will now have no excuse not to enter our Christmas Party competition which is a Christmas table decoration! |
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Women's Institute - September Report
Nocton and District WI - September
Never mind Jam and Jerusalem, for many the WI is all about friendship, fun and food and there was an abundance of all three elements at the September meeting. The room was buzzing with chat and laughter and our ever growing membership was swelled further by three more new members. It was also a privilege to welcome Chris Morgan, Chair of the North Lincolnshire Federation (NFWI) and the Vice Chair, Joan Wines. Chris is planning to attend, through the year, every WI within the NFWI a huge, but in her words, pleasurable undertaking.
Within the business section of the meeting the “Care not Custody” WI campaign was discussed. This campaign began seven years ago when, very sadly, a WI member`s son committed suicide whilst in prison. A gifted and talented man who suffered with schizophrenia, he ended up in prison when there wasn`t a secure place available for him. This campaign is back in the fore front as funding issues and changing government plans make this tragic case more likely to re-occur.
On a much lighter note the success of the Tuesday weekly swimming sessions was discussed and members were also encouraged to think about entering the Christmas Wreath Competition being held again at St Andrew`s church in Potterhanworth. Our very talented member Ann won the competition last year and it was suggested that the entries this year might reflect the WI centenary and/or what the WI represents.
There was a full feedback from our wonderful Centennial Garden party in August with thanks, flowers and bubbly being given to Francis who had made the magnificent celebration cake. Members were encouraged to view the slide shows running on two laptops of the photographs from the afternoon and the plan is for every member, past and present, who either attended or responded to the invitation, to receive a group photograph as a memento of the day.
This was an Open meeting and during the break for tea and delicious cakes we were pleased to welcome three gentlemen who came along for the evening`s talk on “Extraordinary Bread making” from Linda Hewitt. Linda`s talk was fun, fascinating and inspirational. As always with talented people she made her craft appear easy and her ability to produce delicious breads with an amazing selection of fillings and additions was wonderful to see and sample!! She even suggested and demonstrated a bread wreath for the Christmas wreath competition. Bread making by hand, with bread makers or using mixers was all discussed and I am sure that her e mail box will be full of requests for her recipes from those present.
The competition “Toppings for Bread” was won by Julie, with Maryann second and Jane third and Frances won the main raffle prize, a bottle opener to beat all openers with a bottle of wine to accompany it. Linda however very kindly added some delicious loaves of bread and a bottle of Rapeseed oil, the magic ingredient in all her bread baking, as additional raffle prizes.
The October meeting is our annual Bowling event at Washingborough followed by a meal and November brings another open meeting this time given by Ann Barnes on “Easy Christmas Floral Craft”. Why not come along and give Nocton and District WI a try; you will be very welcome. We always meet on the second Monday of the month at 7.15 in Nocton Village Hall. For more information please ring Jane Kania 01526 323633.
Never mind Jam and Jerusalem, for many the WI is all about friendship, fun and food and there was an abundance of all three elements at the September meeting. The room was buzzing with chat and laughter and our ever growing membership was swelled further by three more new members. It was also a privilege to welcome Chris Morgan, Chair of the North Lincolnshire Federation (NFWI) and the Vice Chair, Joan Wines. Chris is planning to attend, through the year, every WI within the NFWI a huge, but in her words, pleasurable undertaking.
Within the business section of the meeting the “Care not Custody” WI campaign was discussed. This campaign began seven years ago when, very sadly, a WI member`s son committed suicide whilst in prison. A gifted and talented man who suffered with schizophrenia, he ended up in prison when there wasn`t a secure place available for him. This campaign is back in the fore front as funding issues and changing government plans make this tragic case more likely to re-occur.
On a much lighter note the success of the Tuesday weekly swimming sessions was discussed and members were also encouraged to think about entering the Christmas Wreath Competition being held again at St Andrew`s church in Potterhanworth. Our very talented member Ann won the competition last year and it was suggested that the entries this year might reflect the WI centenary and/or what the WI represents.
There was a full feedback from our wonderful Centennial Garden party in August with thanks, flowers and bubbly being given to Francis who had made the magnificent celebration cake. Members were encouraged to view the slide shows running on two laptops of the photographs from the afternoon and the plan is for every member, past and present, who either attended or responded to the invitation, to receive a group photograph as a memento of the day.
This was an Open meeting and during the break for tea and delicious cakes we were pleased to welcome three gentlemen who came along for the evening`s talk on “Extraordinary Bread making” from Linda Hewitt. Linda`s talk was fun, fascinating and inspirational. As always with talented people she made her craft appear easy and her ability to produce delicious breads with an amazing selection of fillings and additions was wonderful to see and sample!! She even suggested and demonstrated a bread wreath for the Christmas wreath competition. Bread making by hand, with bread makers or using mixers was all discussed and I am sure that her e mail box will be full of requests for her recipes from those present.
The competition “Toppings for Bread” was won by Julie, with Maryann second and Jane third and Frances won the main raffle prize, a bottle opener to beat all openers with a bottle of wine to accompany it. Linda however very kindly added some delicious loaves of bread and a bottle of Rapeseed oil, the magic ingredient in all her bread baking, as additional raffle prizes.
The October meeting is our annual Bowling event at Washingborough followed by a meal and November brings another open meeting this time given by Ann Barnes on “Easy Christmas Floral Craft”. Why not come along and give Nocton and District WI a try; you will be very welcome. We always meet on the second Monday of the month at 7.15 in Nocton Village Hall. For more information please ring Jane Kania 01526 323633.
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