MONTHLY NEWS AND INFORMATION
BUXTED MONTHLY REPORTS 2012
March 1st
The meeting began with a welcome from our President followed by our regular business notes and information given by our secretary.
We watched with growing interest as our guest speaker for the day, Pamela Sharp, unpacked and displayed some beautiful items of lace. She then proceeded to give us a fascinating insight into how lace making became an important craft in the British Isles in the 18th century. We learned that lace was introduced here from Spain and France.
She told us how the lace makers of Bruges and Malta also influenced the growing industry, with women making and selling their lace, with them often being the sole breadwinner for families, as work for men paid very little. They needed to be producing lace throughout the year and, in order to keep warm in winter, they would collect red hot ashes from the fire and put them under their skirts! Not something “health and safety” would tolerate today! It was very important for the lace makers to keep on the right side of the Lace Merchants, as the livelihood of many families depended on whether he purchased their lace, or not! Pamela had some beautiful examples of lace to show us and a story to go with each of them. She asked several of our ladies to model the lovely antique lace collars to show us how they were worn. It was a truly interesting talk, and Evelyn Smith offered our vote of thanks.
Just two of our ladies celebrated birthdays in March, so cards were given to Roz Warriner and Frances Brett. The competition for “A Piece of Lace” was awarded: 1st Kath Warner, 2nd Sheena Mickelburgh, 3rd Hilary Quinn. The flower of the month winners were: 1st Kirsten Brown, joint 2nd Hilary Quinn and Sue Ashton, joint 3rd Shirley Isted and Evelyn Smith
February 2nd
The Reading Room was warm and cosy on a very cold and frosty February day. But we stillhad a good attendance.
We extended our congratulations to Jenny Johnson and her husband Ray as they celebrate 50 years of happy marriage. Kath Warner made a beautiful card, and all of us present wrote our best wishes with our names.
We also heard that Helen Reynolds is the winner of the Judges Cup for the best photograph entered for the next calendar. She will receive the cup at the East Sussex Federation Annual Meeting on March 28th.
Our guest speaker was Horst Worz – an expert in T’ai Chi. He gave us a most interesting insight into these gentle exercises followed by a demonstration.
The competition “An Oriental Memento” was won by Sheila Whitehouse, with Kirsten Brown second and Sue Ashton third.
The birthday girls were: Muriel Brooker, Sheila Selden, Joyce Harvey, Vix Mann and Joan Cottrell.
January 5th
It was appropriate that we should participate in Jenny Johnson’s first keep fit session of 2012, as some of us probably needed to shed those extra Christmas pounds!
Cards were given to the birthday ladies: Sheena Mickelburgh, Joyce Swinyard, Betty Weaver and JoyceFord.
Emma Creffield, our guest speaker, held us all spellbound for the next hour as she told us of her work for deaf awareness and sign language. We were filled with admiration for this lovely young lady who spends so much of her time helping and encouraging the deaf and hard of hearing to learn to communicate.
The competition was a photo of a snow scene. It was won by Hilary Quinn, with Sheena Mickelburgh second, and Ann Tricker third. The flower of the month competition winners were: 1st – Sue Ashton,
2nd –Hilary Quinn, joint 3rd – Sandra Hatswell and Shirley Isted.
BUXTED MONTHLY REPORTS 2011
December 8th
Buxted Reading Room looked very festive and there was a lovely atmosphere when our members
gathered there for our Christmas lunch. A number of guests from neighbouring branches joined us and it wasn’t long before the room was filled with everyone chattering happily and enjoying welcoming drinks.
The committee and some members had been very busy as the buffet table was laden with some very appetising savouryfood. After every one had enjoyed this, the table was quickly cleared, to be refilled with a mouth-watering display of sweets and desserts. We were spoilt for choice - it was all so delicious.
To get the entertainment off to a good start, a group of our ladies, led by Jenny Johnson, performed a dance routinewhich was received with rapturous applause. A presentation was then made to our retiring president, Helen Wratten tothank her for her love, generosity and tireless work for the branch. We shall all miss her when she moves away from the area. This was followed by our president elect, Ann Tricker, saying a few words. Trophies were then awarded to the winners of our competitions, Shirley Isted receiving the cup as the overall winner of our monthly competition, and Sandra Hatswell a glass bell for the Flower of the month..The afternoon fun continued with Jean Skinner revealing her identity as a mystery singer, and Shirley Isted leading everyone in a lively rendition of “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. Carols were sung and poems were read and later we enjoyed tea and mince pies before everyone left afterreceiving a small gift from a “Secret Santa” box. It was a lovely afternoon! Thanks to all the people who worked sohard to make it such a great success!
November 3rd Annual Meeting
November is not always the best of months, the end of most of the decent weather, shorter days
and the concern of what sort of winter we can expect! So, it was with heavy hearts that we found
ourselves formally saying goodbye to our much-loved President, Helen Wratten, at this month’s
meeting. A true “stalwart” of the WI, Helen has presided over us for the last six years, with her
gentle kindness and wonderful sense of humour!
With the AGM business concluded, she spoke of how much she has enjoyed her time with us and
thanked everyone in turn for the part they played in the successful running of the group. Every
member in the room got to their feet for a standing ovation for Helen. She will be very sorely
missed. We all wish her well in her new home and new life in “Glorious Devon”.
Joyce Harvey then gave us details of various courses and workshops available locally to members.
This month’s birthday girls were: June Tomlinson, Peggy Wright, Kath Warner, Jane Godfrey,
Sandra Hatswell, Marion Jones and Helen Moran. Evelyn Smith told us of an excellent book just
published entitled “A Force To Be Reckoned With: A History of the Women's Institute”. The
author, Jane Robinson, will be the guest speaker on May 17th 2012, “Archive Day”, in Hailsham.
Our final task was to vote-in a new President. Ann Tricker is the new President, and will take up
her duties in January.
October 6th - History of the Tea Party
Before our meeting Jenny Johnson put some of us through our paces with a good musical workout.
Helen, our President, then opened the meeting. At the end of formal business we were encouraged
to consider the forthcoming events and outings.
Alison Vernon, our guest speaker, then told us about tea, and the history of “Tea Parties”. We
learned that tea first came to our shores in 1657, and the first tea bag was introduced in 1920. After
such an interesting and enjoyable talk we all enjoyed, of course, a nice cup of tea!
Our birthday ladies were Pauline Bonner, Gail McCraken, Iris Brayley, Jenny Russell and Evelyn
Smith. The competition quiz was won by Shirley Isted with Helen Reynolds coming second, and
three ladies, Vicky, Anita and Joyce, shared third place. The flower competition was won by Peggy
Wright with Hilary Quinn second and Sandra Hatswell third.
September 1st - English as She is Spoke
After formal business and Jerusalem, we were reminded that our president, Helen Wratten, is
stepping down from office shortly and that we all need to consider carefully which ladies should be
nominated to succeed her.
Our birthday ladies of the month were Sharon Callaghan and Ann Burder.
John Davey was our speaker. After many years in teaching he became Chief Executive at Trinity
College, London, where he formed a company which promoted English as a foreign language
(EFL). He has travelled extensively around the world, examining people in EFL. He described the
vast amount of words in our vocabulary, their different meanings, and how stress on different words
can alter the meaning of a sentence. We learnt how few countries in the world have English as their
first language. It was a most interesting and informative talk and was well received.
The competition was to write a limerick. Writers were then asked to read them out. They were
most amusing. Muriel Brooker was first, while Sue Ashton and Wendy Lawrence were second and
third respectively. Peggy Wright and Shirley Isted were joint winners of our “Flower of the Month”
competition. Sandra Hatswell came third.
August 4th Cream Tea at Barnsgate Manor
Although the weather was dreadful – torrential rain – our spirits were certainly not dampened. We
turned up in our wonderful summer outfits – and some of us in our competition hats. We were
welcomed by the staff at Barnsgate Manor who then served us with delicious scones, cream and
strawberry jam, and pots of tea. The scones were very large, and at least one of our members found
other uses for them! We enjoyed a wonderful cream tea.
Jean Skinner prepared an excellent quiz to test our general knowledge. The competition for a
home-made hat was won by Shirley Isted (who could not be present – but her hat was modelled by
one of our number, and photographs were taken of it). Sandra Hatswell won second prize (with a
name like that she couldn’t fail to win!). Please see the separate item Buxted WI Summer Cream Tea - August 4th 2011 to view photos of the hat competition.
July 7th – Our Own Magazine
The Reading Room provided an excellent venue for our meeting, not only to seat all our members
but the extra tables were soon filled with interesting items that members have brought along for
the “Bring and Buy” sale. All the entries for the home-made strawberry jam looked delicious.
President Helen Wratten welcomed everyone , and after reading apologies from non-attendees, she
announced her intention of standing down as president, possibly as early as October, to move to
Devon.
Joyce read not only the minutes of the last meeting, but also informed us of future events and
outings.
Evelyn Smith raffled merchandise related to the “Bee Hive” project, and Jeanne Cunningham told
us about a cycling event in aid of “Hospice in the Weald”.
Birthday cards were given to Eileen Rowe and Jackie Fowler.
Shirley Kirby, our East Sussex chairman, then reported on the WI Liverpool Conference. The
resolution for a campaign against library closures was strongly supported by delegates, with 98%
in favour. The resolution, which proved controversial, against large-scale intensive farming was
moved on the agenda for review. Kath Warner gave the vote of thanks.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon on the theme of “Our Own Magazine”. Shirley Isted made
the first contribution on music therapy. We all joined in singing “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean”
with restricted words replaced by actions. Most enjoyable!! Evelyn Smith (re-christened “Topsy”
in the 40’s by a school friend!) gave a hilarious account of her first home perm in the 1940’s. Jean
Skinner then gave an account of an incident whilst working in W1 (not WI!!)
The Flower of the Month competition was won by Ros Warriner, Evelyn Smith, Shirley Isted and
Sandra Hatswell.
The awards for the strawberry jam were made to: Betty Weaver, Shirley Isted, Vix Mann and
Sharon Callaghan.
June 2nd – How the Lady and the Ladies Changed My Life
It was a beautiful warm sunny day and the room was soon filled with WI members out to enjoy a lovely afternoon. As usual our short session of “Movement to Music” given by Jenny Johnson was much enjoyed and loosened up a few stiff limbs!After our regular President’s introduction and Secretary’s report Joyce gave us news of interesting courses and days out: taster courses in bowling, croquet and computers for beginners; an extra day for an outing to Buckingham Palace; and a summer evening concert at Eastbourne College.
Sue Ashton was thanked for the interesting Orchid Walk (May 18th) which she had arranged for us. A separate account of this walk, with some photos is available to look at on this website.
One of our own members, Mary Mustin, who is also responsible for compiling the Buxted Messenger monthly reports on which these website reports are based, then held us spellbound by her prepared talk. She read from her account on the time, together with her late husband, spent as custodians of Chiddingstone Castle in Kent. We were all interested to hear how Mary prepared for the interview process and how the move to Chiddingstone was one of those life-changing opportunities which sometimes happen in this world. We heard about the day-to-day running of a large home like this, and, naturally, about the resident ghostly presences. We were intrigued to find out that Mary has been approached to read her account on BBC radio.
Celebrating birthdays during June were June Packham, Vi Adams, Di Wakeley and Hilary Quinn.
Our holiday souvenir competition was won by Marian Jones, Daphne Knight and Evelyn Smith. The flower of the month competition was won by Betty Weaver and Peggy Wright.
May 12th – Ploughman’s Lunch and Resolutions
Despite the threatened forecast for showers we enjoyed another sunny day. A most delicious lunch was provided at the start of our meeting, and gave us the opportunity for a lot of friendly chatter. On each table was a pretty arrangement of wild flowers in a jam jar. This was our monthly competition, and the winner was Pauline Bonner, with Ann Tricker second, and Sue Ashton and Evelyn Smith joint third.
Nine ladies had birthdays this month: Anne Bateman, Eileen Claydon, Jeanne Cunningham, Ann Tricker, Helen Reynolds, Vicky Thomas, Daphne Knight, Jenny Johnson and Joan Cole.
Sue Ashton told us about the sugar craft course which she attended, and brought along a beautiful flower bouquet which she created on the course.
The main business of the afternoon was to discuss and vote on the National Resolutions for the AGM. After a lively debate on the pros and cons of mega farms our branch voted against them. We then considered the effect of library closures and the vote went in favour of seeking support from the government to keep libraries open.
The competition for the flower of the month was won by Shirley Isted, Roz Wariner came second, and Joyce Swinyard and Evelyn Smith shared third place.
April 7th – Life & Times of Mabel Lucie Attwell
April had brought with it a wonderful spell of warm sunny weather and, as a result, winter woolies were replaced by pretty skirts and dresses.Our secretary welcomed everyone and Evelyn Smith read a humorous poem by Mabel Lucie Attwell.
Ladies receiving birthday cards this month were Sue Ashton, Wendy Laurence, Sheila Whitehouse and Eileen Rowe.
We were then entertained by our guest speaker, John Henty, who gave us an extremely well-informed and humorous talk about the late Mabel Lucie Attwell. She was born in London in 1879, and lived for a time in West Dean, East Sussex. She became a very successful writer and artist, and was also an accomplished business woman, marketing not only pictures, books and cards but also pottery. An original item of her work today would fetch a considerable sum at auction. She died in 1964 at her home in Fowey, Cornwall
The competition for an early children’s book was won by Marian Jones, Sheena Mickelburgh and Pauleen Hill. The flower of the month competition was won by Helen Reynolds, Roz Wariner, Jenny Johnson, Sandra Hatswell, Evelyn Smith, Sue Ashton and Shirley Isted.
March 3rd – Stone Cross Windmill
A warm and friendly atmosphere prevailed as our third meeting of the year tookplace. Our president welcomed two new prospective members, Gail and Daphne,
and apologies were given from those members unable to attend. We heard the
minutes of the February meeting from our Secretary, who then went on to inform us
of up and coming events, with something to interest everyone. We were impressed
by the wonderful prizes on offer from this year’s raffle. Just a £1 ticket could win you
£5000, a cruise for two in December and many more…. Evelyn Smith appealed for
more recipes for the Cookery File she is collating.
The Group Tea this year will be held at the Reading Room Buxted on 27th April at
2pm. Ladies receiving birthday cards were Francis Brett and Ros Warriner. Jean
Skinner read out a poem entitled ‘The Windmill’, a fitting choice, before Dave Picton,
our guest speaker, who is responsible for helping to restore and maintain Stone
Cross Windmill near Eastbourne, began to tell us of the work involved in restoration
and maintenance of the windmill. Dave, assisted by his wife Hazel and Dutch friend
Dirk, set up a table of interesting items for sale including freshly milled flour from
their own mill, they also showed us a collection of slides during Dave’s talk. We all
learned some amazing facts regarding the windmill and we were so impressed by all
the hard work that had gone into its restoration. A big ‘thank you’ was given on our
behalf by Jeanne Cunningham.
The ‘Windmill’ competition was won by Jenny Johnson, Eileen Row and Evelyn
Smith. The ‘Flower of the Month’ competition was won by Jane Godfrey, Helen
Reynolds, Marion Jones and Sandra Hatswell.
February 3rd – Wiltshire Farm Foods
Our second meeting of the year promised to be an interesting one and it certainly
was. The Reading Room was buzzing with our members meeting and greeting,eager to catch up with one another’s news. The warm friendly atmosphere
was a pleasure to be a part of. Our President welcomed us, then after reading
the apologies of those members unable to attend, we sang a hearty rendition
of ‘Jerusalem’ and settled down to enjoy the afternoon. Our Secretary read us the
minutes of the previous meeting and brought to our notice the additional courses
that are available. These included a new ‘Sugarcraft’ course at Hailsham, always a
popular one, and ‘A Day in the Country’ Course at Uckfield. Volunteer Stewards are
needed for the ‘South of England Show’ their reward being a free ticket to the Show.
Members who attended the Ice Show at Brighton last month, preceded by a nice
lunch, confirmed that it was very much enjoyed by all.
Our Birthday Ladies receiving cards this month were Muriel Brooker, Alannah
Dobson, Sheila Selden, Joan Cotterel, Joyce Harvey and Vic Mann.
We then moved on to a talk and demonstration by Nicki Moore of ‘Wiltshire Farm
Foods’. Nicki explained how the company formed on a farm in Wiltshire from a
farm kitchen serving a few people locally, to the award winning company it is
today, willing to deliver delicious meals at very affordable prices and free of delivery
charges to every mainland address in the British Isles. The tantalising smells from
the sample meals she was cooking, had us all ready with our plates and forks
when we were invited to try the various dishes. They were very tasty indeed. Jane
Godfrey thanked Nicki for coming and working so hard. We were all impressed and
inspired by her demonstration. She kindly presented three prizes for her competition
to Helen Reynolds, Di Wakeley and Hazel Lloyd.
The other winners of the afternoon were: Jenny Russell, Sandra Hatswell, Evelyn
Smith and Marion Jones for the ‘Flower of the Month’ Competition; and Eileen Rowe,
Ros Warriner and Jane Godfrey for the ‘Decorative Plate’ Competition.
The Book Group are reading ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, an excellent read about life on Guernsey
during their occupation in the Second World War.
January 6th
It was with eager anticipation after a busy Christmas break that the first meeting of2011 was held. Surprisingly, considering the dreadful winter weather, it was well
attended. Joyce Harvey, our secretary, read out the minutes of the last meeting,
and then read out a very comprehensive list of forthcoming courses, workshops and
outings with something to interest everyone.
Our scheduled speaker was unable to attend, so “Composting” will have to wait for
another day. Our resident stalwart, Evelyn Smith, provided us with an excellent quiz.
We all had to put our thinking caps on as our knowledge of Sussex place names was
tested, and we all found it very enjoyable.
The competition this month, to make a ‘Potato-Head’, was won by Evelyn Smith with
Jean Skinner a close second.
Birthday cards were presented to Betty Weaver, Joyce Swinyard and Sheena
Mickelburgh.