The evening was hot and the roads were empty, (something to do with football perhaps) when our July meeting began with the singing of Jerusalem followed by the usual business. The recent walk on Cleeve Hill and outing to Trioscope had been enjoyed by those who went and hopefully our August outing to Westonbirt will be just as good. It wasn’t long before we were introduced to our speaker Jill Ruiz and her friends Cynthia and Pat, all supporters of Gloucester’s Waterways Museum and all dressed in period costumes and elaborate bonnets for the talk about canal boat women, their children and crafts. All three played their part in telling the history of canals, the boats and the people who lived on them. It was hard for the wives of the boatmen as they only had a small room to live in and we were shown decorated plates, horse brasses, crochet and rag rugs that were used to brighten the tiny space that they all shared. It was very hard work for the women and sometimes the children as they were expected to steer the boat, help to load and unload and deal with the canal locks. This is a very informative and entertaining talk and is highly recommended. As it is our outing in August there will be no meeting but it’s back to normal in September when we will have a musical evening with Carole and Malcolm Brown telling us about Singing for Pleasure. The competition is a programme for a show or musical. Anyone who would like to come along as a visitor or new member will be made very welcome. We meet at 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall. For more information please visit our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk or find us on facebook.com/quedgeleywi.

It was a lovely warm evening for our June meeting. After the usual singing of Jerusalem we were reminded that the Happy Handbags collection was still on-going and more large bags and contents were requested to distribute to vulnerable women. Although most of our monthly talks have been interesting a few members had questioned the length of some of them so in future speakers will be given a limit of around 45-50 minutes. This will give more time for refreshments, general conversation and time to browse and hopefully buy at the fundraising barter stall. We have a mid-week walk and lunch at Cleeve Hill, our usual monthly coffee morning at The Roastery as well as a Trioscape Lunch all planned for June so plenty of things to look forward to. In July we will be attending the Group Meeting and at our meeting we will be hearing from Jill Ruiz who will tell us about the lives of the narrow boat women, children and crafts. Anyone who is interested can come along as a visitor or new member and they will be made very welcome. Further details can be found on facebook.com/quedgeleywi.

The month of May means Resolutions in the WI World when members choose and vote on important issues that they want to see the WIs National body campaign on. This year the Resolution was Mental Health Matters and after a brief summary of the details we voted in favour. Some of the bags that were donated by members for the Happy Handbags appeal have been given out to vulnerable women who were thrilled to receive them. As this is an ongoing initiative it is hoped that more handbags will be donated, along with toiletries to go inside. Members were given tags on which they put their name, this is a new idea which will be helpful for visitors and new members and even some old ones who know the face but can’t remember the name of someone they have known for many years! We are looking forward to our lunch outing in June and several members will be going on a midweek walk from Cleeve Hill. We were very successful in a recent quiz for MS when we came 1st and hope for more success at other quizzes. While we enjoyed our usual post-resolution wine and nibbles we heard from Bob Scett with his very interesting talk and slide show about Bletchley Park, a place that had been a state secret for many years but is now very well known and which we were urged to visit. Our speaker for June will be Liz Spurway with “An Introduction to Fused Glass” and there will be items for sale. There is also a competition for “an unusual craft item” which it is hoped some of our members will enter. If anyone would like to come along to this or any other meeting they will be made very welcome. Details can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk

The Village Hall was full for our April meeting when we welcomed members, visitors and our speaker. We started with the usual business and apologies. Unfortunately our entry for the GFWI skittles competition was too late to be entered in the draw but we hope to organise a skittles evening later, to be held at The Anchor. We heard that items are still needed for the Happy Handbag scheme for women and babies in crisis and fifteen members had seen an excellent floral demonstration of an altar arrangement and a table decoration using lilies at the Ivy House Florist in Tuffley.

Many of us had attended the funeral of one of our members, Hilda Fleet and donations were collected in her memory. We heard our delegate’s report on the Annual Council Meeting in Cheltenham when WI business is discussed followed by some interesting speakers, one of which was Adam Henson of Cotswold Farm Park. Members were urged to go to other meetings as they are always very interesting and informative. After learning about Henry VIII and his first two wives at our March meeting we had a complete change when we heard another very interesting talk with slides about Birds of the Forest of Dean by Barrie Mills.

The next meeting in May always means discussing and voting on the Resolution. Every year WI members have the chance to put forward issues that they want to see the national body campaign on. This year the Resolution is “Mental Health Matters”. Following the vote  we will have wine and nibbles and will be hearing from Bob Scott with his talk on Bletchley Park. If anyone is interested in either joining our WI or coming along as a visitor they will be made very welcome. We meet at 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall. Further details can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk and on facebook.com/quedgeleywi.

There were so many members at our March meeting that we had to put out extra chairs which was due to the attendance of another new member and two visitors and we look forward to having to put out more chairs in the future! It was a sombre start to the meeting when we heard of the recent death of one of our members, Hilda Fleet and those attending her funeral will all be wearing bright clothes as requested. On a happier note a birthday bouquet was presented to Joy, another of our members. Our skittles team is being formed ready for the GFWI Skittles competition, we are still being asked to donate handbags and contents for vulnerable women and the homeless and a request was made for anyone who would like to make bonding squares. These are knitted or crocheted and the same size and colour and are given to mothers and premature babies in hospital and are regularly swapped between them to create the bond between mother and baby. We have our regular coffee morning at The Roastery and a floral demonstration to look forward to as well as the Group meeting, a quiz and an outing later in the year.

Our speaker was Reverend Henderson with his amusing talk with slides entitled Fortitude and Fancy of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, the first two wives of Henry VIII. We learned that Henry’s mother was 12 when she gave birth to him, Henry didn’t write Greensleeves and also about the wedding night Blessing of the Bridal Bed! There were many fascinating facts to keep us interested and we all know a lot more about Henry VIII and his divorced and beheaded wives.

If anyone would like to come along to the next meeting they can listen to a talk on the Birds of the Forest of Dean by Barrie Mills and perhaps they will enjoy what they hear and decide to join our friendly WI. Further details of when and where we meet can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk or facebook.com/quedgeleywi

There was a lovely smell of cooking at our February meeting which could only mean one thing – our 93rd Birthday Supper! Quedgeley WI was formed way back in 1925 but that was several years after the very first Women’s Institute which was started in Canada in 1897. The first WI in Great Britain was in Anglesey in 1915 and since then the organisation has grown to over 6,000 WIs. Women join to meet new friends, learn new skills and make a difference on matters that are important to them. Important to us was our Birthday Supper and the lovely food that had been cooked by some of our members but first we sang Jerusalem followed by the usual business. We welcomed three new members who had joined last month, we will be forming a skittles team and entering the Gloucestershire Federation Skittles Competition, we still meet for a chat at our local coffee shop and will be attending a floral demonstration in March. Several times a year we have competitions at our meetings and prizes were presented to the winners and runners up for the highest numbers of points. Finally, we were able to enjoy a choice of meat and vegetable casseroles with crusty bread followed by the always scrumptious puddings! It will be back to normal in March when we will be hearing from Reverend Henderson with his talk entitled “Fortitude and Fancy of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn” which is sure to be very interesting. We can’t guarantee tasty food at every meeting but we can certainly quarantee a warm welcome to anyone who would like to come along, either as a guest or as a new member. We meet at 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall and further details can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk or www.facebook.com/quedgeleywi

It was a remarkably full Village Hall for the first meeting of the New Year considering it was a very foggy January evening . After the singing of Jerusalem we agreed that our American Supper in December had been every enjoyable where we had food, drink, carols and a quiz. One of our teams had come 3rd in the Community Trust Quiz and we are hoping for better luck next year and a bouquet was presented to Pam Scarle, one of our more senior members, in celebration of her birthday.

We have plenty of things going on this year including a demonstration at a local florists shop, the forming of our own skittle team and more of our regular coffee mornings every month at The Roastery in Quedgeley. Our 93rd Birthday Supper is in February and we will be having one pot meals with crusty bread and butter followed by scrumptious puddings which are always “naughty” but much enjoyed. In March we will hear about Henry VIII’s first two wives and in April it will be the Birds of the Forest of Dean. With talks every month on various subjects we are sure of another enjoyable year.

Our speaker for the evening was the “Breakfast Bard” of Radio Gloucestershire Peter Wyton who gave readings of just some of his amusing poems that covered libraries, babysitting, Dad’s taxi Service and politics, to name just a few. Another good start to the year!

If anyone would like to come along to our friendly, fun and enjoyable meetings, either as a guest or new member they will be made very welcome. We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall. Details can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk on www.facebook.com/quedgeleywi or ring our President Pat Watts on Glouces

The last meeting of the year means an American Supper and Social Evening with a few carols to get us in the mood for Christmas. In January we will be hearing from Peter Wyton, a prize-winning performance poet who has published a number of books and has appeared on the radio. In February we will be enjoying our 93rd Birthday Supper and in March Reverend Henderson will give a talk about the first two wives of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. In April we will hear about Birds of the Forest of Dean and May always means Resolutions when WIs discuss important issues which, when voted on, form the basis of W.I campaigns. In June Liz Spurway will give us an introduction to the fused glass art that she uses to make colourful wall plaques, pictures and jewellery. The following months will include a Group Meeting, our Summer Outing, Singing for Pleasure and a visit by Peter Preece with another talk with slides on Wildlife Photography. November always means our AGM and then once again we come round to December and another American Supper and Social Evening.

If any of these talks have interested you then please come along to one of our meetings when you will be made very welcome. We meet on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall and more details can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk or facebook.com/quedgeleywi.

November means it’s time for our Annual General Meeting and this year it made a change to have a speaker as well as hearing the usual business.  Unfortunately our original speaker was unable to attend so we heard from Peter and Margaret Preece with Every Picture Tells a Story, a slide show of wildlife photographs taken by Peter and his wife.   He worked as a graphic designer for over 30 years and took up wildlife photography after he retired. Living in the Worcestershire countryside he has plenty of opportunity to see and photograph a wide variety of birds, insects and mammals.  Peter enters various wildlife photography competitions and has won several prizes for his stunning photographs, many of which have been turned into calendars, cards and notebooks.

Peter showed a variety of slides and explained how he attracts the wildlife to various perches using an ingenious device to be sure of getting the best pictures, especially of kingfishers.  We saw beautiful pictures of birds, voles, seals, snakes, hares and even rats as well as many butterflies and insects (but not spiders) that Peter and his wife photograph in the UK and on their many trips to Northern Spain.   Peter gives his talks all over the country and we were very lucky to see his stunning pictures of British and European wildlife.

After a break for wine and nibbles it was on to the usual business and the AGM.  Our fundraising Afternoon Tea had been very well attended by WI members as well as local people and had raised some money for our funds.  The last meeting of the year is an American Supper social evening with food and mulled wine followed by carols. We heard a report on all the talks we had listened to over the year which certainly helped us to realise just how interesting and entertaining it is to be a member of Quedgeley WI.   A list of next year’s talks will be published soon to tempt anyone who would like to come along to one of our meetings as a visitor or new member.   We meet on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall and further information can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk, at www.facebook.com/quedgeleywi or you can give our President Pat Watts a call on Gloucester 502252.

Our October meeting began as usual with the singing of Jerusalem and the official business when we heard details of our fundraising Afternoon Tea which will be held at Quedgeley Village Hall on Saturday 4th November from 2-4.   As well as tea or coffee with a cake for £2 there will be stalls that include bric-a-brac, books, cakes, a Christmas themed stall and a raffle.  It is hoped that many people will come and enjoy a pleasant afternoon in friendly surroundings. Unfortunately the planned Fashion Show has been postponed until the New Year but we are looking forward to our Christmas meal in early December.

Our speaker this month was Philip Wilkinson with his talk entitled High Street Histories.   He has written many books on architecture and buildings as well as other subjects for both adults and children.  His book What the Romans Did for Us accompanied a BBC programme as did Turn Back Time: The High Street.  He illustrated his talk with pictures of shop fronts dating back to the 17th century and earlier. From a simple covered stall through to shuttered then glass-fronted shops and covered arcades, he showed how the High Street changed in style, especially after the First World War when people wanted more modern fronted shops.   Many of these are still in use today, even though they mainly seem to be coffee shops!  We heard about the history of W.H Smith, started as  a newspaper distributor then moving on to stalls on railway station platforms and eventually to the High Street shops we see today.  A brief history of Boots brought this highly interesting talk to an end and will certainly make us more aware of the history and architecture of our local shops.

Our next meeting in November is our AGM but we will also be having a speaker with another history theme when Malcolm Sadler asks Family Trees, do we need them?  If anyone would like to come to a meeting, either as a visitor or new member they will be made very welcome.  We meet on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall and further details can be found on our website www.quedgeleywi.co.uk  on www.facebook.com/quedgeleywi or by contacting our President Pat Watts on Gloucester 502252.