MONTHLY MEETINGS 2022
2nd November 2022 AGM
Tonight at our AGM we were pleased to welcome Georgina Denny as our guest. The meeting started with Janet playing us in with Jerusalem, followed by the usual reports from our Treasurer, Secretary and President. It has been a busy year for Kelsall WI and we were pleased to hear we have some new members and even though we have endured Covid, still have some money in the bank!
We then modelled our woodland masks, inspired and made from natural resources, before descending on the Christmas Crafts table which was full of lovely handmade crafts as well as some Christmas themed donations. The tea and cakes were a welcome ending to the evening, coupled with an opportunity to chat with our friends and Georgina, who has had a very busy week with all the Cheshire AGM's to visit. It was good to see her and hear that in Kelsall she feels we are a strong and active group!
Words and Photos: Fiona
Tonight at our AGM we were pleased to welcome Georgina Denny as our guest. The meeting started with Janet playing us in with Jerusalem, followed by the usual reports from our Treasurer, Secretary and President. It has been a busy year for Kelsall WI and we were pleased to hear we have some new members and even though we have endured Covid, still have some money in the bank!
We then modelled our woodland masks, inspired and made from natural resources, before descending on the Christmas Crafts table which was full of lovely handmade crafts as well as some Christmas themed donations. The tea and cakes were a welcome ending to the evening, coupled with an opportunity to chat with our friends and Georgina, who has had a very busy week with all the Cheshire AGM's to visit. It was good to see her and hear that in Kelsall she feels we are a strong and active group!
Words and Photos: Fiona
5th October 2022: Northwich Hedgehog Rescue
We were very pleased to welcome two ladies from the hedgehog rescue charity in Northwich tonight, and especially their two baby hedgehog companions! We had a very interesting talk about the work the charity does and how vital it is, plus some tips and hints on how to spot a hedgehog in trouble. As they are nocturnal, it is unusual to see one out during the day and if you do, and if it is sluggish, it may be in trouble. If you cover it with a blanket and put it in a box (with airholes) you can take it to the ladies in Northwich who will be able to test for parasites etc. and treat them. In the case of serious injury they have a number of local vets who are happy to help repair the damage if at all possible. Speed is of the essence as they are often hard to save if not treated quickly enough. We then had the pleasure of handling the babies - not too prickly as the spines don't harden up until they are mature - and talking to one of the "foster mothers" who had come along. We thanked them both very much for coming and telling us so much about these lovely but vulnerable creatures.You can find their details on their Facebook page: Northwich Hedgehog Rescue.
We also had a plant stall this evening to mark the close of the Big Green Week; it was manned by Jane who had helpful advice for those who bought some plants.
Words and Photos: Fiona
We were very pleased to welcome two ladies from the hedgehog rescue charity in Northwich tonight, and especially their two baby hedgehog companions! We had a very interesting talk about the work the charity does and how vital it is, plus some tips and hints on how to spot a hedgehog in trouble. As they are nocturnal, it is unusual to see one out during the day and if you do, and if it is sluggish, it may be in trouble. If you cover it with a blanket and put it in a box (with airholes) you can take it to the ladies in Northwich who will be able to test for parasites etc. and treat them. In the case of serious injury they have a number of local vets who are happy to help repair the damage if at all possible. Speed is of the essence as they are often hard to save if not treated quickly enough. We then had the pleasure of handling the babies - not too prickly as the spines don't harden up until they are mature - and talking to one of the "foster mothers" who had come along. We thanked them both very much for coming and telling us so much about these lovely but vulnerable creatures.You can find their details on their Facebook page: Northwich Hedgehog Rescue.
We also had a plant stall this evening to mark the close of the Big Green Week; it was manned by Jane who had helpful advice for those who bought some plants.
Words and Photos: Fiona
7th September 2022 Wirral Chinese Cultural Association
Tonight we were the lucky hosts to some very elegant ladies from the Wirral and their compare, Mal. The programme was a series of traditional dances in beautiful costumes, the origins and meaning of which were explained by Mal who, as the husband of one of these ladies, has extensive knowledge of Chinese history and way of life. They performed several dances before Mal's wife sang in the traditional style of the Peking Opera for us. We had an explanation of the origins of the Chinese alphabet before more dancing, ending with a complete change - a modern dance in casual clothes to new music. It was lovely to see how much the ladies enjoyed their dancing and they talked with us at the end to answer some questions. It was a fun evening which ended with the usual tea and cakes.
Tonight we were the lucky hosts to some very elegant ladies from the Wirral and their compare, Mal. The programme was a series of traditional dances in beautiful costumes, the origins and meaning of which were explained by Mal who, as the husband of one of these ladies, has extensive knowledge of Chinese history and way of life. They performed several dances before Mal's wife sang in the traditional style of the Peking Opera for us. We had an explanation of the origins of the Chinese alphabet before more dancing, ending with a complete change - a modern dance in casual clothes to new music. It was lovely to see how much the ladies enjoyed their dancing and they talked with us at the end to answer some questions. It was a fun evening which ended with the usual tea and cakes.
Wednesday 3rd August 2022
Members Evening
Janet Kibblewhite and her musicians accompanied the members who all stood to sing Jerusalem. Sue Claxton welcomed the meeting in place of Mary Diggle, who was recovering from a knee operation. Sue thanked the wind instrument ensemble for coming to play for us this evening. Sue also thanked Ann Tindall for the flowers which were to be taken to Margaret Davies by Ann, and thanked the tea ladies, Fiona Bazley, Pat Symms and Jane Baker Jones for the delicious cakes.
Sue Claxton introduced the evening's entertainment, an ensemble called Con Fuoco, led by Janet Kibblewhite. Janet started off by announcing that this evening was the first time they had played to an audience for over 2 years. The name Con Fuoco means in Italian "with fire" and denotes life and vigour. They used to rehearse in the Old Fire Station in Chester, which seemed appropriate, although they now rehearse elsewhere. The group this evening consisted of 4 flutes, 3 standard B flat clarinets, 1 base clarinet and 1 keyboard player.
Janet introduced each piece of music they played, and members had to identify several melodies. Amongst the pieces they played were: All through the Night, Welsh National Anthem - Land of my Fathers, Men of Harlech, The Ashgrove, Sun-Gan, Teddy Bears Picnic, an aria from Orfeo ed Eurydice, When I'm 64 - the members were invited to sing along. Mud, Glorious Mud - Jeremy, Janet's husband, led the singing in his glorious baritone voice, and the members sang the chorus. Also, If I only had a brain, We're off to see the Wizard (or Oz), Over the Rainbow, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, Moon River, Putting on the Ritz. Film music:- The good the bad and the ugly, Bonnie and Clyde, Pop goes the Weasle. The programme was closed with a medley of songs from My Fair Lady.
After the finale, Sue Claxton thanked the group, and invited Pat to give the vote of thanks. The evening was a resounding sucess and was greatly enjoyed by all. The meeting concluded with refreshments.
Words Liz. Photo: Fiona
Members Evening
Janet Kibblewhite and her musicians accompanied the members who all stood to sing Jerusalem. Sue Claxton welcomed the meeting in place of Mary Diggle, who was recovering from a knee operation. Sue thanked the wind instrument ensemble for coming to play for us this evening. Sue also thanked Ann Tindall for the flowers which were to be taken to Margaret Davies by Ann, and thanked the tea ladies, Fiona Bazley, Pat Symms and Jane Baker Jones for the delicious cakes.
Sue Claxton introduced the evening's entertainment, an ensemble called Con Fuoco, led by Janet Kibblewhite. Janet started off by announcing that this evening was the first time they had played to an audience for over 2 years. The name Con Fuoco means in Italian "with fire" and denotes life and vigour. They used to rehearse in the Old Fire Station in Chester, which seemed appropriate, although they now rehearse elsewhere. The group this evening consisted of 4 flutes, 3 standard B flat clarinets, 1 base clarinet and 1 keyboard player.
Janet introduced each piece of music they played, and members had to identify several melodies. Amongst the pieces they played were: All through the Night, Welsh National Anthem - Land of my Fathers, Men of Harlech, The Ashgrove, Sun-Gan, Teddy Bears Picnic, an aria from Orfeo ed Eurydice, When I'm 64 - the members were invited to sing along. Mud, Glorious Mud - Jeremy, Janet's husband, led the singing in his glorious baritone voice, and the members sang the chorus. Also, If I only had a brain, We're off to see the Wizard (or Oz), Over the Rainbow, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, Moon River, Putting on the Ritz. Film music:- The good the bad and the ugly, Bonnie and Clyde, Pop goes the Weasle. The programme was closed with a medley of songs from My Fair Lady.
After the finale, Sue Claxton thanked the group, and invited Pat to give the vote of thanks. The evening was a resounding sucess and was greatly enjoyed by all. The meeting concluded with refreshments.
Words Liz. Photo: Fiona
Wednesday 6th July 2022
Our speaker tonight was Sam Johnson, a retired police officer, who is a volunteer with the Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire Blood Bikes. We all knew that the Blood Bikes carry blood products to where they are urgently needed but we were surprised to hear about other items they are asked to carry, such as small pieces of urgently needed medical equipment, patient notes and electronic scan information, bone marrow, breast milk, faecal matter and, during the pandemic, coronavirus samples and PPE. Sam spoke movingly of collecting breast milk from a young mother who had lost her baby shortly after giving birth but was donating her breast milk to help other premature babies.
SSC Blood Bikes is an entirely voluntary organisation, it started in 2014, receives no government funding and relies solely on donations from the public and in some cases local businesses. The riders are not paid so Sam was asked why he and the other volunteer riders do it. They are all motor bike enthusiasts, want to give something back to society, and find it incredibly rewarding.
More information about SSC Blook Bikes can be found on their website https://ssbbgroup.org.uk
Words: Avril
Our speaker tonight was Sam Johnson, a retired police officer, who is a volunteer with the Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire Blood Bikes. We all knew that the Blood Bikes carry blood products to where they are urgently needed but we were surprised to hear about other items they are asked to carry, such as small pieces of urgently needed medical equipment, patient notes and electronic scan information, bone marrow, breast milk, faecal matter and, during the pandemic, coronavirus samples and PPE. Sam spoke movingly of collecting breast milk from a young mother who had lost her baby shortly after giving birth but was donating her breast milk to help other premature babies.
SSC Blood Bikes is an entirely voluntary organisation, it started in 2014, receives no government funding and relies solely on donations from the public and in some cases local businesses. The riders are not paid so Sam was asked why he and the other volunteer riders do it. They are all motor bike enthusiasts, want to give something back to society, and find it incredibly rewarding.
More information about SSC Blook Bikes can be found on their website https://ssbbgroup.org.uk
Words: Avril
Wednesday 1st June - Platinum Jubilee Celebration
Tonight was a special evening, with the hall decorated with bunting and red, white and blue balloons, which started with a Cranberry Crush mocktail created by our Present, followed by a Royal Quiz, won by The Royal Dorgies team of Audrey, Jean, Sue, Jane, Marie and Barbara. There was also a Crown making competition with many excellent entries which you can see below in the photos; after a vote by the members it was won by Fiona, Carolyn came second, Ruth was third. After all that excitement there was a Jubilee themed tea served by some of the Committee with the added bonus of a Jubilee fruit cake, created by our President which you can see below in the photos. It was a fun evening enjoyed by all.
Wednesday 6th April - The Story of a Street.
Our speaker this evening was David Cummings, who gave a wonderful, illustrated talk entitled The Story of a Street. The street in question was Bridge Street in Chester and what David doesn't know about Chester is not worth knowing. He is a keen photographer who is passionate about Chester's history and architecture. Apart form his own photographs, David showed slides of Louise Rayner illustrations, postcards, paintings, drawings and many museum items to show how Bridge Street has evolved over the centuries. Old illustrations show many of the buildings in a very dilapidated state before our Victorian forebears renovated them with mock Tudor facades, taking their inspiration from Little Moreton Hall.
Until the growth of Liverpool, Bridge Street was the main thoroughfare to and from the bustling Port of Chester, with boats loading and unloading at the bottom of the street. Over the years Bridge Street has been a thriving part of the city with all sorts of businesses including butchers, vets, watchmakers, wine merchants, leather goods, glove makers, fabrics, haberdashers, to name but a few.
David could have talked about Chester all evening and we would have been happy to listen but he ended his talk with a view looking up Bridge Street towards The Cross, with a Pickfords truck turning out of Eastgate Street, towing an aeroplane (without its wings!) en route to Hawarden.
Words: Heather
Wednesday 2nd March - "The Corset Unlaced", Gill Roberts
This evening Gill introduced us to the history, construction and art of the corset in a very entertaining talk. Her illustrations were sometimes unexpected and ranged from metal corsets made for Catherine de' Medici (by the court armourer) which had a 13 inch waist, through the leather fetishist versions of the 1990's, to catwalk models wearing Jean Paul Gaultier today. Initially their purpose was to conceal the body shape so that elaborate embroidery could cover the split cane structure such as those Elizabeth I would wear, and they changed through time to employ wooden stiffeners and corded fabric. Men also wore corsets, Beau Brummel starting the trend, as they made expensive military uniforms last much longer, no diets needed! New skeleton styles were created for the memsahibs who travelled to India with the Raj so they could cope better with the heat, although they were still expected to wear at least three undergarments at the same time! When the eyelet was invented in the 1820's it was initially a sewn version but this still enabled lacing to be a feature of the corset; once steel eyelets replaced the sewn ones, lacing began a life of it's own as you can see from the photos below, culminating in the "tightlacing" of the late Victorian era which was damaging to health, constricting organs and leading to fainting. During the First World War there was a demand for metal which led to a change in the structure of corsets and from the 1920's underwear changed into a less controlling and more comfortable blend of material with the new elastics being invented, becoming more like the girdle we might all remember from our youth!
Today corsetry encompasses everything from overwear and underwear to dramatic occasion clothing and Gill had brought many examples of her own creative art to display. The exquisite embroidery defies description and is best seen in the photos below, although that is really no substitute for seeing it in reality when the colours and flashes of gold and silver threads bring the pieces to life.
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Philip's violin dates from 1750 and
was made by the German Sebastian Klotz. |
Wednesday 2nd February - Violinist Philip Chidell
At our first meeting in 2022 we had a truly inspiring recital by a young, accomplished and gifted musician. Between playing his moving and popular programme, he talked engagingly about his years at Chetham's School of Music where he was the youngest pupil when he first went there there at age eight. He talked to us about why he loves the pieces he plays, and his easy manner informed our enjoyment of his programme. He has performed at some varied venues, including the Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Chester and Manchester Cathedrals, and Windsor Castle. As well as music, Philip is interested in film making and would one day like to have his own orchestra. Our own musician Janet gave the vote of thanks; our evening had been a real pleasure.
Words and Pictures: Fiona
19th January 2022 Extra Zoom Talk - "Super Sniffers"
This evening we had a very interesting talk from Pauline Miller on Medical Detection Dogs, a charity based in Milton Keynes. Dogs have noses which are very many times more sensitive than ours, and dogs' brains have 40% more capacity for analysing smells than we do. It is this ability that can be focused and trained to recognise the smell of illness in humans when dogs analyse our breath and sweat.
There are two different ways in which dogs can aid us. Bio Detection dogs can give early diagnosis of diseases like cancer and malaria in a way which is non-invasive and highly accurate. Work is going on in this area with international clinicians and universities; MIT are hoping to develop smart tech called "E Nose" building on this knowledge. The other area where the dogs' skills are used is in Alert Dogs who live with people with a medical issue where early warning is imperative; someone liable to have seizures, heart issues, diabetes and epilepsy benefit from early warnings which mean they can find somewhere safe in time. This gives them back their independence, confidence and freedom, and also lessens emergency hospitalisation.
There is very little Government funding in this area and Pauline told us MDD needs £2.5 million annually to continue their work. It takes 2 years to train a dog and costs £29,000. One interesting point is that these dogs are 94% accurate when detecting Covid 19!
Dorothy thanked Pauline for her interesting talk and hoped to see us all face to face at our meeting on 2nd February.
Words and Picture: Fiona
