MONTHLY MEETINGS 2024
We meet at Kelsall Methodist Church Hall at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of the month. Find our Facebook page "Kelsall WI" for information on our speakers.
Visitors welcome, we are a friendly bunch!
We meet at Kelsall Methodist Church Hall at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of the month. Find our Facebook page "Kelsall WI" for information on our speakers.
Visitors welcome, we are a friendly bunch!
Wednesday 4th December - see Events and Outings
Wednesday 6th November. This evening was a special one in the year as it's our Annual Meeting where our activities and finances are discussed, and our new Committee members are appointed, along with the roles of President, Secretary and Treasurer. These are crucial roles without which no WI can operate so it takes a little time. However we still had time for an interesting speaker; Karen Murray spoke to us about the connection her family has with Michael Morpurgo and his creation War Horse. A member of her family was the spark that became the famous book, from which the stage play and later the film emerged and she talked about her family with enthusiasm as the story unfolded. Later we all had a chat over our tea and cake.
Wednesday 2nd October.
Our speaker this evening was Dr. Karen Castle who gave a talk entitled "How I ended up in prison". Karen trained as a nurse and after graduating as a qualified SRN began working in the Casualty Department at Leighton Hospital, Crewe. However, she had always dreamt of joining the Military so when the hospital held a Careers Fair she went along and made a beeline for the Army Recruitment Stand. She was very surprised when some weeks later she was invited to an interview with Her Majesty's Prison Service and following a tough recruitment and selection process, including psychometric, physical and mental tests, she was appointed as a Hospital Prison Officer at HMP Norwich, a large Victorian prison, one of the first women ever to hold this title and then to work in a male prison. Karen trained in riot management, drugs management, suicide prevention and hostage negotiation. She explained how prisoners make improvised weapons from toothbrushes, razor blades and even toilet paper and told us about one particular prisoner, the notorious con man Paul Bint, who illegally posed as a surgeon, an airline pilot and even Sir Keir Starmer. Karen shared her experiences in the prison service with good humour. It was a fascinating and funny talk. Most of us agreed it was not a job we would wish or be able to do and everyone working in the prison service deserves our gratitude.
Words: Avril The photo above is HMP Norwich.
Our speaker this evening was Dr. Karen Castle who gave a talk entitled "How I ended up in prison". Karen trained as a nurse and after graduating as a qualified SRN began working in the Casualty Department at Leighton Hospital, Crewe. However, she had always dreamt of joining the Military so when the hospital held a Careers Fair she went along and made a beeline for the Army Recruitment Stand. She was very surprised when some weeks later she was invited to an interview with Her Majesty's Prison Service and following a tough recruitment and selection process, including psychometric, physical and mental tests, she was appointed as a Hospital Prison Officer at HMP Norwich, a large Victorian prison, one of the first women ever to hold this title and then to work in a male prison. Karen trained in riot management, drugs management, suicide prevention and hostage negotiation. She explained how prisoners make improvised weapons from toothbrushes, razor blades and even toilet paper and told us about one particular prisoner, the notorious con man Paul Bint, who illegally posed as a surgeon, an airline pilot and even Sir Keir Starmer. Karen shared her experiences in the prison service with good humour. It was a fascinating and funny talk. Most of us agreed it was not a job we would wish or be able to do and everyone working in the prison service deserves our gratitude.
Words: Avril The photo above is HMP Norwich.
Wednesday 4th September.
This evening we welcomed Russel Clarke and his Tiger Tea Company; not only did Russell give us an interesting talk about how he came to be involved in the tea business, but he also gave us a sampling session of some of his teas and Kombucha. Russell has been a chef for 34 years specialising in Asian cuisine, and he has been blending his own teas for 10 years, drying his own fruit, herbs and flowers, using whole spices to create vibrant blends. All his teas are natural and free from artificial flavourings and are bought fresh and dried on the premises. As well as attending markets to sell his tea blends, Russell offers tailored workshops and in-house training, and he has a number of stockists around the North. We enjoyed his talk and sampling his teas, which were all slightly different; we especially liked the Oolong and Masala Chai which smelled and tasted of Christmas! Heather proposed a vote of thanks and we then moved on to the business of the evening, followed by tea and cakes - of course!
Words Fiona
This evening we welcomed Russel Clarke and his Tiger Tea Company; not only did Russell give us an interesting talk about how he came to be involved in the tea business, but he also gave us a sampling session of some of his teas and Kombucha. Russell has been a chef for 34 years specialising in Asian cuisine, and he has been blending his own teas for 10 years, drying his own fruit, herbs and flowers, using whole spices to create vibrant blends. All his teas are natural and free from artificial flavourings and are bought fresh and dried on the premises. As well as attending markets to sell his tea blends, Russell offers tailored workshops and in-house training, and he has a number of stockists around the North. We enjoyed his talk and sampling his teas, which were all slightly different; we especially liked the Oolong and Masala Chai which smelled and tasted of Christmas! Heather proposed a vote of thanks and we then moved on to the business of the evening, followed by tea and cakes - of course!
Words Fiona
Wednesday 7th August.
Tonight was the yearly Members Evening when the Committee takes a back seat and the meeting is planned by some of the membership. And it was a memorable evening too! Mary had planned her "world cruise" for us, which was a round-the-world trip stopping off at four very different countries, each with it's own historical, political and cultural identity which she told us all about as we got to our destinations. Not only were we informed but fed and watered too as Mary had cooked and prepared local delicacies from our stops: Tallinn in Estonia, Montego Bay in Jamaica, Singapore and Sardinia, Italy. The Jamaican jerk chicken and pineapple was a particular favourite but it was all incredibly tasty and colourful, finishing off with a polenta and lemon cake washed down with some Nozecco. All this was served at our tables by Mary's helpers, which was just as well as we had no time to fend for ourselves as we had a fiendishly difficult quiz to deal with, answering questions on each of our stopping places. In addition to all this activity, we had each brought a holiday photo which was voted on during the evening; Liz was the winner with a captivating picture of her and her husband! There was also a prize for the winner of the roulette wheel game; and not only that but many of us had dressed up in our ultimate cruise wear which you can see in the photos below.
Mary G was supported by Mary D and her helpers in the kitchen and a vote of thanks from Cathy for all the hard work and creativity was well deserved. It was a brilliant evening.
Words and Photos: Fiona
Tonight was the yearly Members Evening when the Committee takes a back seat and the meeting is planned by some of the membership. And it was a memorable evening too! Mary had planned her "world cruise" for us, which was a round-the-world trip stopping off at four very different countries, each with it's own historical, political and cultural identity which she told us all about as we got to our destinations. Not only were we informed but fed and watered too as Mary had cooked and prepared local delicacies from our stops: Tallinn in Estonia, Montego Bay in Jamaica, Singapore and Sardinia, Italy. The Jamaican jerk chicken and pineapple was a particular favourite but it was all incredibly tasty and colourful, finishing off with a polenta and lemon cake washed down with some Nozecco. All this was served at our tables by Mary's helpers, which was just as well as we had no time to fend for ourselves as we had a fiendishly difficult quiz to deal with, answering questions on each of our stopping places. In addition to all this activity, we had each brought a holiday photo which was voted on during the evening; Liz was the winner with a captivating picture of her and her husband! There was also a prize for the winner of the roulette wheel game; and not only that but many of us had dressed up in our ultimate cruise wear which you can see in the photos below.
Mary G was supported by Mary D and her helpers in the kitchen and a vote of thanks from Cathy for all the hard work and creativity was well deserved. It was a brilliant evening.
Words and Photos: Fiona
Wednesday 3rd July.
Tonight was a special one for us all as we had no outside speaker - but we did have an evening filled with songs and a fascinating story. Janet has been a member of Kelsall WI for years but some of us did not know that she has a famous relative; Janet's great great great great great grandmother was Flora MacDonald, famous all over the world as the woman who saved the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie by taking him from Benbecula, where he had escaped to after the disastrous battle of Culloden, to Skye in a small boat, Charles dressed as a rather tall Irish maid called Betty Burke. Once on Skye Charles Edward Stuart was moved again to Raasay by his followers but Flora remained on Skye and they never met again. Flora was arrested when some of the boatmen confessed and spent time in London where she came under the protection of aristocratic sympathisers who raised money for her. She returned to Skye eventually and married and had seven children, but with poor harvests and high rents the family moved to North Carolina, like so many other Scots at the time. With the American War of Independence, loyalists were penalised by the loss of their lands so Flora returned to Scotland after wandering in North America for some time, following her husband who was in the army. He followed her back eventually and they set up home again in Skye, thanks to one of their sons, but in reduced circumstances. The myths around her life are many but her actual life was surely not without adventures and Janet related it all, interspersed with songs which she accompanied on the keyboard; we all enjoyed the songs, especially as she had printed out the words for us! The evening began with a mocktail or Irnbru and we had a feast of Scottish cheese and oatcakes too. Some of us had dressed up in our tartan as you can see from the photos below. It was a lovely evening, thanks so much Janet.
Mary brought along the items which won her a 2nd prize and a Highly Commended at the Royal Cheshire County Show - have a look at the photos in Events and Outings.
Words and Photos: Fiona
Tonight was a special one for us all as we had no outside speaker - but we did have an evening filled with songs and a fascinating story. Janet has been a member of Kelsall WI for years but some of us did not know that she has a famous relative; Janet's great great great great great grandmother was Flora MacDonald, famous all over the world as the woman who saved the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie by taking him from Benbecula, where he had escaped to after the disastrous battle of Culloden, to Skye in a small boat, Charles dressed as a rather tall Irish maid called Betty Burke. Once on Skye Charles Edward Stuart was moved again to Raasay by his followers but Flora remained on Skye and they never met again. Flora was arrested when some of the boatmen confessed and spent time in London where she came under the protection of aristocratic sympathisers who raised money for her. She returned to Skye eventually and married and had seven children, but with poor harvests and high rents the family moved to North Carolina, like so many other Scots at the time. With the American War of Independence, loyalists were penalised by the loss of their lands so Flora returned to Scotland after wandering in North America for some time, following her husband who was in the army. He followed her back eventually and they set up home again in Skye, thanks to one of their sons, but in reduced circumstances. The myths around her life are many but her actual life was surely not without adventures and Janet related it all, interspersed with songs which she accompanied on the keyboard; we all enjoyed the songs, especially as she had printed out the words for us! The evening began with a mocktail or Irnbru and we had a feast of Scottish cheese and oatcakes too. Some of us had dressed up in our tartan as you can see from the photos below. It was a lovely evening, thanks so much Janet.
Mary brought along the items which won her a 2nd prize and a Highly Commended at the Royal Cheshire County Show - have a look at the photos in Events and Outings.
Words and Photos: Fiona
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Wednesday 5th June. Tonight we were delighted to welcome back Peter Solan, who had talked to us last year about our garden birds; this time his subject was Wild Flowers and his talk was part of our Big Green Week activity, which is organised by the Climate Coalition and supported by the WI, to address the crisis in nature and action on climate. It was a fascinating talk delving into the history, culture and medical uses of our commonly found wild flowers from daisies to orchids. We also had a visit from the CEO of Chester Aid for the Homeless which was our chosen charity for this year; Dorothy presented him with a cheque for £150 together with a large collection of toiletries for him to take away with him. Some of the people they help are women who are especially disadvantaged by being homeless or without a permanent roof over their heads. He gave us a fascinating insight into their activities and how they approach each person as an individual with their own special needs. There was a lot of other activity too as we had a summer sales table which was very successful, tickets for the garden party in July were on sale, as were tickets for Trish's flower class next week. There was however just time for tea and cake at the end of the evening! Fiona |
Wednesday 1st May.
Before our main meeting began, we had a brief talk from two ladies from OPAL who told us about the various ways in which the older residents of Kelsall and district are assisted, including help with the internet and smart phones. The organisation relies on their many excellent volunteers to provide a fabulous service.
Our main meeting tonight was a bit different - it was our Resolutions meeting when we discuss the topic which has been voted for by our members nationwide to be lobbied by our National Federation at Westminster and elsewhere during the year. This years choice was Dental Health; there is a crisis in the NHS and the dental area is not exempt; 91% of dental practices in England are unable to take on new NHS adult patients, and where children are concerned that figure is 79%. The problems are many and complex but the WI has never been afraid to tackle these issues; last year our resolution was for clean rivers, and you only had to watch the Boat Race recently when some crews were taken ill to see how relevant that was!
The WI has often been a trailblazer with their campaigns: it was in 1918 that WI first called for sanitary houses and it seems we have not dealt with that yet when you look at our current housing situation. In 1943 the call was for equal pay for equal work, while 1954 saw the litter campaign morph into the Keep Britain Tidy group. Legislation against smoking in public places came in finally in 2007 but the WI was campaigning for this since 1964, just 10 years after the link between smoking and lung cancer had been established.
After all our discussions we were very glad to fall on the tea and cakes to finish off the evening!
Fiona
Before our main meeting began, we had a brief talk from two ladies from OPAL who told us about the various ways in which the older residents of Kelsall and district are assisted, including help with the internet and smart phones. The organisation relies on their many excellent volunteers to provide a fabulous service.
Our main meeting tonight was a bit different - it was our Resolutions meeting when we discuss the topic which has been voted for by our members nationwide to be lobbied by our National Federation at Westminster and elsewhere during the year. This years choice was Dental Health; there is a crisis in the NHS and the dental area is not exempt; 91% of dental practices in England are unable to take on new NHS adult patients, and where children are concerned that figure is 79%. The problems are many and complex but the WI has never been afraid to tackle these issues; last year our resolution was for clean rivers, and you only had to watch the Boat Race recently when some crews were taken ill to see how relevant that was!
The WI has often been a trailblazer with their campaigns: it was in 1918 that WI first called for sanitary houses and it seems we have not dealt with that yet when you look at our current housing situation. In 1943 the call was for equal pay for equal work, while 1954 saw the litter campaign morph into the Keep Britain Tidy group. Legislation against smoking in public places came in finally in 2007 but the WI was campaigning for this since 1964, just 10 years after the link between smoking and lung cancer had been established.
After all our discussions we were very glad to fall on the tea and cakes to finish off the evening!
Fiona
Wednesday 3rd April.
Tonight we had expected to welcome a singing duo but due to illness they were unable to entertain us so we were very lucky to secure at short notice Anne Naylor. She told us the story of her mother, the 6th child born in the 1930's to a very poor family; so poor in fact that she and one of her brothers were sent by the parish to live with a spinster nearby. Her treatment while there was cold and lacking in every way and it was not until she began working as a teenager that she was properly fed. She gradually moved from working as a maid to nursing, where she eventually became a midwife. She was clearly an impressive and inspirational woman and Anne made her story live for us all. Anne also went on to a career in nursing so her mother was obviously for her a real role model. Marian gave the vote of thanks on our behalf.
We not only had our speaker tonight but also the subscriptions for the year were due, and we had our Spring Sales Table as well, so it was quite a busy night. Marian and Jane were excellent sales ladies as you can see from the photo, and we all enjoyed talking to our speaker over tea and cake.
Words and photo: Fiona
Tonight we had expected to welcome a singing duo but due to illness they were unable to entertain us so we were very lucky to secure at short notice Anne Naylor. She told us the story of her mother, the 6th child born in the 1930's to a very poor family; so poor in fact that she and one of her brothers were sent by the parish to live with a spinster nearby. Her treatment while there was cold and lacking in every way and it was not until she began working as a teenager that she was properly fed. She gradually moved from working as a maid to nursing, where she eventually became a midwife. She was clearly an impressive and inspirational woman and Anne made her story live for us all. Anne also went on to a career in nursing so her mother was obviously for her a real role model. Marian gave the vote of thanks on our behalf.
We not only had our speaker tonight but also the subscriptions for the year were due, and we had our Spring Sales Table as well, so it was quite a busy night. Marian and Jane were excellent sales ladies as you can see from the photo, and we all enjoyed talking to our speaker over tea and cake.
Words and photo: Fiona
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Wednesday 6th March 2024
This evening we were very pleased to welcome several visitors as Dorothy mentioned in her Notices, following which we welcomed Tony Bostock, a local historian, who was our speaker for this evening. His talk was about Mary Fitton of Gawsworth Old Hall, a Cheshire historic house well known to many of us. From Tony's account it was clear that Mary had a full and interesting life, was a Maid of Honour at the court of Queen Elizabeth 1, involved with many prominent men of the time, and married to some of them, and with whom she had a number of children. There has been speculation that she may have been the inspiration for William Shakespeare's references to the Dark Lady in his sonnets; Tony definitely feels that this is quite possible given various literary references he quoted. It was an interesting talk about a scandalous lady who despite her challenging life lived into her 60's, ending her years at Gawsworth. After the talk we admired and voted on the competition for tea-cup spring floral arrangements, photo below, brought in by some of our members; Liz won and took home a pretty cyclamen plant to prove it. We had tea, cake and a chat before we went home. Words and Photos: Fiona |
Wednesday 7th February 2024
The February meeting was our first meeting of 2024, following on from our successful coffee morning in January. The meeting was very well attended and we welcomed three visitors. After some notices and the Budget presentation for 2024, Dorothy welcomed our speaker for this evening, ex police officer Judith Walmsley OBE who spoke about "Working with the Homeless in Manchester". It was a serious topic but Judith spoke with a lively sense of humour and with real kindness and empathy about the people she was trying to help. Judith was talking about the 1990's when she worked with a multidisciplinary team consisting of housing specialists, social services and medical personnel. Many of the people begging on the streets had drug and alcohol problems or mental health issues and often became homeless to escape complicated home circumstances. But we also learned about some success stories: one young man turned his life around after going into rehab and one who, after having his leg amputated due to his drug addiction, became a successful wheelchair basketball player.
It was a riveting talk and was well received by all. The meeting rounded off with the usual coffee, tea, cakes and chat. It was a great start to the year.
Words: Avril
The February meeting was our first meeting of 2024, following on from our successful coffee morning in January. The meeting was very well attended and we welcomed three visitors. After some notices and the Budget presentation for 2024, Dorothy welcomed our speaker for this evening, ex police officer Judith Walmsley OBE who spoke about "Working with the Homeless in Manchester". It was a serious topic but Judith spoke with a lively sense of humour and with real kindness and empathy about the people she was trying to help. Judith was talking about the 1990's when she worked with a multidisciplinary team consisting of housing specialists, social services and medical personnel. Many of the people begging on the streets had drug and alcohol problems or mental health issues and often became homeless to escape complicated home circumstances. But we also learned about some success stories: one young man turned his life around after going into rehab and one who, after having his leg amputated due to his drug addiction, became a successful wheelchair basketball player.
It was a riveting talk and was well received by all. The meeting rounded off with the usual coffee, tea, cakes and chat. It was a great start to the year.
Words: Avril
