Christmas Party for the Winchcombe WI

The Winchcombe WI celebrated Christmas with a party. After the business meeting, we had sausage rolls, scotch eggs and delicious mince pies.

The afternoon was rounded off by members of the  Patchwork Group singing, finishing with carols. It was a very good afternoon.

Christmas lunch at The Wesley House.

Twenty of us met at The Wesley House in Winchcombe for a splendid Christmas Lunch. The restaurant was so well decorated, putting us in a party mood. Lovely food, in a relaxed atmosphere kick started our Christmas festivities.

An Amazing Shopping Day at Highgrove!

Shopping, plus lunch!

Linda, Nancie and Adeline had an invitation to have a shopping experience at Highgrove, including lunch.

We arrived in time for morning coffee and pastries, then into the room full of great gifts! We were handed a Highgrove shopping bag each, and in no time they were full!

Another good look round to see what we had missed, then off to a sumptuous lunch.

It was a memorable day out, and a truly different shopping experience. Back to Winchcombe in a rain storm. Thank you Linda for driving us there!

Winchcombe WI on a night out at the ballet

The Winchcombe WI go to the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury to see the  Nutcracker, on November 16th.

It is in an evening, not our usual outing time! Everyone was enchanted by the young and delightful State Ballet Academy from Minsk.

Jo, yet again very many thanks for a wonderful evening out!

"For many generations, The Nutcracker has been an
integral part of the pre-Christmas season, conjuring
up the magic of falling snow flakes and the smell of
Christmas spices. This production is based on “The
Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” written by E.T.A.
Hoffmann, and tells the story of Marie, a rather sad
little girl, whose godfather Drosselmeier gives her a ALL AGES
nutcracker as a present on Christmas Eve. Before Marie’s astonished eyes, the nutcracker turns into a prince who whisks the young girl away on an enchanting journey into the Sugar Plum Fairy’s realm of sweets.
The ensemble’s masterful classic dance performance, the stunning
costumes and a sublime stage set transport you to another world, filled
with dreams and inspired by festive fairytales."

Monthly meeting, November 15th 2011

This meeting is the 'changing of the guard', with a new committee voted in, and the announcement of some of the officers. Valerie is taking over as President from Doreen, and Brenda and Adeline take over from Sally.

After the meeting we all had tea and cake! And time to chat with other members.

Pat thanks the Winchcombe WI

Pat and her new husband, John are back from their honeymoon, and wish to give the members of her WI heartfelt thanks for all the support at their wedding. From the delicious cake, made by Daisy, to the stunning decorating, done by Brenda, to the wearing of hats and posh frocks to the church service, and last but not least, the singing of all the hymns, in particular, Jerusalem. Pat says the wave of music as she and John stood in the front was amazing, and so supportive. She will never forget it.

Coffee Morning for the Midlands Air Ambulance

The Winchcombe WI served cakes made by them at a coffee morning in aid of the Midlands Air Ambulance

The bright poster was made by Jill

The small brooches were made by members of the stitch and bitch group

Brenda made this lovely turkey

Linda and Sally getting the tombola ready.

The craft stall

The doll for 'name the doll' was made by Renee

Cakes provided by Winchcombe WI

The Midlands Air Ambulance stall.

Renee looking at her tombola ticket, did she win anything?

Enjoying tea/coffee, and a piece of cake

The Tombola stall was a good draw.

It was a very enjoyable morning, and over £375.00 was made for the Midlands Air Ambulance.

An outing to the Everyman Theatre, October 21st

Friday morning saw 6 of us on the local bus to Cheltenham, [using our bus passes!] to see the newly restored and refurbished Everyman Theatre. We had a tour booked, and  firstly were given the history of the theatre, followed by a description of the renovations. It is truly sumptuous, though the carpet in the foyer and stairs seemed to be out of keeping, with a very busy design.

We then were taken through to the dressing rooms, back of stage, and finally front of stage. It was very interesting to see it all. Maybe we will have another theatre outing soon...Thank you, Jo yet again.

October meeting, October 18th.

Our speaker didn't come, so instead we had a really interesting talk from Candy. She described her life growing up in China from 1979 on. A very different life to ours here in the West.

Doreen posted on Facebook,  ''yesterday I presided over the best meeting ever! A beautiful new and young member who is chinese told us of her fantastic and impressive life. you could have heard a pin drop!''

Another great outing!

On Thursday October 13th, 30 of us got onto a coach for a tour of 'The Forest of Dean' with a Blue Cross Guide.

The guide gave a running commentary as we were driven through Cheltenham, on towards the Forest, where we were interested in the history of the area

Sadly the leaves hadn't changed [unlike this picture]

Nor did we see a promised deer!

 

We stopped at Coleford for a WI tea, then back home. It was a lovely afternoon. Thank you Jo.

October 8th 2011, a wedding

Pat and John sign the register

 

The WI are smartly dressed!!

September Meeting of the Winchcombe WI

After a break in August, we met again on September 20th. The talk this month was 'Travels with Auntie', given by Alastair Lack. He gave a fascinating tale of his many years with the BBC World Service. He had travelled round the world for the BBC, and interviewed many well known and interesting people. The talk was full of interest and humour. We would recommend him to other WI's.

July Meeting, Winchcombe WI

The talk this month was 'Kiss Chase Conkers' given by Caroline Sanderson.

Caroline took us back to our past by asking which playground games we remembered, and from there, she gave a funny and interesting talk on the games we all played, and how, historically they haven't changed much.

A Day Out in Stratford-upon-Avon

15 members of the Winchcombe WI boarded a small bus en route for a tour of the newly renovated RSC theatres in Stratford.

We arrived in good time to do a little shopping, and to have lunch at one of the many venues along the river, or in the main streets.

Then onto the main item, the theatre tour. It took the understanding of theatre to a whole new level. We started in the RST, and were amazed by the new seating arrangements, where by even the cheaper seats could have a good view of the stage. Past the dressing rooms, and up a lift to the Swan theatre, a smaller version of the RST, but really similar in layout. Off to the high tec area, where it all 'happens'. This is the amazing part, where all the lights, scene changes and so on are managed.

Time for our Tower Tour. Up to the 8th floor, and out to the amazing views of 4 counties. Luckily the sun had come out briefly, so we could see the view!

Back down, where we had time for tea before boarding the bus back to Winchcombe.

A great day out, thank you Jo for arranging it for us!

WI meeting on June 21st.

We enjoyed a talk by Brian Partridge on his time as an umpire at Wimbledon. It was very timely as it is Wimbledon fortnight, starting on the 20th!

The Winchcombe WI outing to Madresfield Court

On May 19th, 28 of us went to Madresfield Court for a tour of the house, and a chance to see the gardens.

 

 

 Jo enjoying the view over the moat.

Valerie, Muriel and Gill.

Muriel, Gill and Jo in the gardens.

 

A welcome seat.

 

Doreen, Gill and Muriel admiring the view.

 Doreen feeling liberated....

 Madresfield Court.

 

After the tour, we went to have a ploughman's lunch at Great Malvern's Methodist Church, followed by a bus tour of the Malverns.

Thank you, Jo, for organising such an interesting day out.

WI meeting on May 17th

After the meeting, where Resolutions had been discussed, we had an entertaining talk given by Ross Simms, 'A Policeman's lot...' Who would imagine being a policeman in the 50's could be so varied, albeit gruesome at times!

Visit to the Bristol Blue Glass

A few of our members visited the Bristol Blue Glass factory with the GFWI.

After coffee and biscuits, a member of staff gave a talk on the history of the company and glass making in Bristol which was followed by a demonstration of glass-blowing by the highly skilled craftsmen. The outing culminated in a visit to the shop and most of us succumbed to temptation as the objects were so beautiful.


The workers



The shop!

Craft and Chat, aka Stitch and Bitch

Members of the group are knitting little things for our stall at the Street Fair on May 30th. Today was knitted flowers day, and we are so glad to report, Val knitted one, and will try another in 2 weeks!

April's Meeting

An extremely funny talk by Dr Graham Shepherd on 'Being a GP in the 50's'. How life has changed!

An afternoon at The Cheltenham Ladies' College.

A group of 14 met at the front entrance of the Ladies' College, where we were joined by the CLC archivist, who was conducting the tour.

We were taken round many of the wonderful pictures and artefacts owned by College, as well as an interesting history of the founding of CLC by Miss Beale in 1853. The Princess Hall was particularly impressive, as was the Performing Arts Centre, which opened in 2009

A lovely tea was enjoyed, and the afternoon was a success.

The March meeting

Allotments, then and now!

Fionna Warrin gave an amusing talk yesterday on 'Life on the Plot'. We had no idea that allotments went so far back into our history, and it was fascinating to hear that, plus many other details of allotment life, including how trendy they now are!

Nothing is as it seems!

A stitch and bitch con!!

We were so impressed when Val produced one finished bootee last time. Today she had the second one..however..the blog had caught up with her, as she had been horrified to read last week's post...
Today she confessed, Brenda had offered to make them!! Amazed howls of laughter as the truth came out, but they are still admired, and we enjoyed the truffles Val had brought in as a conscience appeaser!

Craft and Chat, aka Stitch and Bitch

Val had another break through, she has finished one bootee, and very fine it is too. You still have 2 months to finish the second Val!

While most do fine knitting and crochet work, Adeline is putting patches on small boys trousers, for her grandchildren. The trousers travelled from NZ, and will end in Yorkshire! only 3 more pairs to do..

February at the Winchcombe WI

Our speaker was cancelled for our last meeting, so instead we had a fun beetle drive. We also celebrated Nancie and Audrey's 90th birthday, though only Nancie was there to enjoy the cake made for them...

On Wednesday February 16th 16 of us went to the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury to see 'The King's Speech', which we all thought was excellent, and well deserving of the Bafta's already awarded, and we are hopeful of several Oscars for the film.

A New Year at the Winchcombe WI

The speaker this month was Glenda Ford, demonstrating diabetic and gluten free diets. She made scones, shortbread and soup, and we were able to taste the dishes. She had brought some extra, so our monthly raffle had many more items in it!

We also heard that our charity table last year made £310.00, which we are to send to 'Help For Heroes'

Christmas at our WI

We had a really successful Christmas party on Tuesday December 14th. A splendid tea, followed by carols and a quiz, designed by Linda.