Ashbourne Show
20 August 2022
Ashbourne WI joined with other local WIs in displays and competitions in the WI tent at the Ashbourne Show. The tent was buzzing as people admired the skills on display in the competitions, bought the cakes and plants on sale and joined in with the tombola. Trustees from the Derbyshire Federation joined us with displays about the WI and its activities. There was a lot of interest in these so perhaps we’ll have some new members joining us next month.
Outside the tent, in the main show ring, we were entertained by the majestic shire horses and amazed by the agility of the JCB diggers. A great day.
Outside the tent, in the main show ring, we were entertained by the majestic shire horses and amazed by the agility of the JCB diggers. A great day.
Dovedale Group Meeting
28 July 2022
We joined with Tissington and Kniveton WIs for our our first group meeting for over two years. It was good to see so many people from the three WIs and we enjoyed listening to David Skillen talking about “Cyclones in Calico”, a look at the women involved in the American Civil War. We heard about some amazing and brave women who had made a difference to the lives of the soldiers.
After the talk we enjoyed refreshments - cheese followed by a selection of cakes. Another enjoyable evening.
After the talk we enjoyed refreshments - cheese followed by a selection of cakes. Another enjoyable evening.
July Meeting
14 July 2022
The packed hall of members enjoyed our improvised evening. A medical emergency meant that our programmed speaker was unable to make it, so we improvised by sharing stories from our past.
Our delegate to the national AGM was present and she gave us a lively account of her long day attending this meeting. The resolution (which we had asked her to vote in favour of) passed with a large majority and the WI will now start campaigning on.
Details of the Ashbourne Show, the rescheduled garden party, the DFWI council meeting and other activities over the next few months were given. The meeting concluded with tea and a chance to chat.
Our delegate to the national AGM was present and she gave us a lively account of her long day attending this meeting. The resolution (which we had asked her to vote in favour of) passed with a large majority and the WI will now start campaigning on.
Details of the Ashbourne Show, the rescheduled garden party, the DFWI council meeting and other activities over the next few months were given. The meeting concluded with tea and a chance to chat.
Celebration Cakes
9 June 2022
For our June meeting, Catherine Etches demonstrated how she decorates celebration cakes. Watching her work was fascinating as she took great care over each stage, making it all look so easy. She had everyone laughing as we tried to follow her demonstration of how to tie a bow - something that not many of us mastered. She decorated two cakes, one an iced cake with a bow and the second a drip cake with two examples of decoration on top.
Our competition was a wearable hat and we also collected butterflies for decorating the railings of the Methodist Church.
A great evening enjoyed by all.
Our competition was a wearable hat and we also collected butterflies for decorating the railings of the Methodist Church.
A great evening enjoyed by all.
Queen's Platinum Jubilee
June 2022
We are celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee with a display in the town's library. As well as artifacts from the coronation in 1953, there is a display showing life in each of the decades of her reign together with details of one of the resolutions for that decade.
We have also made a postbox topper of the Queen with her corgis, her soldiers, her gold coach, and flowers representing the United Kingdom.
We have also made a postbox topper of the Queen with her corgis, her soldiers, her gold coach, and flowers representing the United Kingdom.
Blood Bikes
14 April 2022
We had a fascinating talk at our April meeting from Mark Vallis, the operations manager of Derbyshire Blood Bikes. This group of volunteers provides a free medical courier service to the NHS in Derbyshire using a fleet of vehicles (mainly motorcycles) anytime of the day or night, whatever the weather. They transport blood products, samples, medication, equipment and even frozen donations of human milk. When COVID struck, the group wondered if they would be able to carry on but, with clearance from the medical authorities, their work continued with an increase in journeys of 288% between 2019 and 2020. This fantastic group of volunteers saves the NHS a fortune in courier services but is funded completely by donations.
Our competition this month was an arrangement of spring flowers, bringing a sense of spring inside.
Our competition this month was an arrangement of spring flowers, bringing a sense of spring inside.
Sherwin Singers in Concert
10 March 2022
We had another packed hall for our March meeting last night. After a wait of a couple of years (postponed due to Covid) the Federation’s own choir, The Sherwin Singers, were finally able to come and sing for us. They were delightful to hear as they sang a range of well known songs, encouraging us to join in with some. A great evening enjoyed by all.
DFWI Annual Council Meeting
2 March 2022
We had a great day at the DFWI Council meeting in Derby starting, as usual, with singing Jerusalem. Our morning speakers were Tim and Trish from Lubrizol who talked about encouraging more young females to enter STEM fields. This was followed by Anne Davies with an amusing talk about her life in media. Lunchtime gave us chance to catch up with old friends and to browse the stalls, including one with ideas of how to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. In the afternoon the tenor Adam Smith took us on an entertaining trip through musicals and at times had us all singing along.
Aquabox
10 February 2022
We nearly ran out of chairs at February's meeting of Ashbourne WI. It was really great to see so many members as we resumed face to face meetings again. Our speaker was Kevin Barclay who told us all about the work of Aquabox in getting simple equipment to disaster areas to enable people access clean water. Sadly there are still too many people in the world for whom safe water is inaccessible. Aquabox send out sturdy boxes with pump-filters which can be used thousands of times giving drinkable water to families and communities. He demonstrated how, using this filter device, he could turn brown dirty water into clean drinkable water.
With last month’s competition ‘a piece of needlework’ held over to this month we had two competitions. This month’s competition was ‘water - any medium’. Well done to all who entered.
With last month’s competition ‘a piece of needlework’ held over to this month we had two competitions. This month’s competition was ‘water - any medium’. Well done to all who entered.
The Bayeux Tapestry
13 January 2022
We were joined by most of our members last night for the January meeting - we were not put off by reverting to zoom again temporarily. The talk was on the Bayeux Tapestry and Lois started with showing how it has become part of life, being copied in cards, films and cartoons etc. Her talk took us through the story shown by the tapestry bringing to life the events of 1066 and explaining how these had changed life in England for ever.
She explained that although it is known as the Bayeux Tapestry, it is not actually a tapestry at all but an embroidery using a unique stitch. Hearing of the tapestry's many lucky escapes from destruction, it is amazing that it has survived, but fortunately it has.
It was a fascinating talk and a great start to 2022.
She explained that although it is known as the Bayeux Tapestry, it is not actually a tapestry at all but an embroidery using a unique stitch. Hearing of the tapestry's many lucky escapes from destruction, it is amazing that it has survived, but fortunately it has.
It was a fascinating talk and a great start to 2022.
Christmas Party
9 December
We enjoyed our Christmas meeting despite needing to take extra precautions with the increasing rate of infections. We took our own supper this year, rather than have our usual buffet, but we were all given mince pies on a 95th anniversary Ashbourne WI plate. After this we shared stories of how we came to Ashbourne - all very different. The meeting ended with Christmas readings.
In common with much this year it was a very different sort of meeting but nothing stops Ashbourne WI!
In common with much this year it was a very different sort of meeting but nothing stops Ashbourne WI!
95th Anniversary Celebration Meal
22 November
We had a great time as we celebrated 95 years of Ashbourne WI with a Celebration Meal at The New Sail Restaurant, Carsington. Even the weather was celebrating as we had a glorious day yesterday with beautiful blue skies. A great meal in great company.
Annual Meeting
Thursday 11 November 2021
We held our annual meeting last week. Despite the difficulties of the last year, the annual report reminded us all just how busy we had been, how many activities we had done, and how many competitions we'd held. This is also the meeting where our competition cups are presented.
Over the last few weeks, members of Ashbourne WI have been busy preparing gift boxes for the Teams4U scheme managed by Ashbourne Rotary. We collected these at our meeting last night and some can be seen in the picture. Also collected last night were the green squares knitted for the Craft & Chat Christmas tree.
After the formal meeting we made square yoyos as broaches. It was quite fiddly but we all had fun.
Here's to another twelve months of Ashbourne WI.
Over the last few weeks, members of Ashbourne WI have been busy preparing gift boxes for the Teams4U scheme managed by Ashbourne Rotary. We collected these at our meeting last night and some can be seen in the picture. Also collected last night were the green squares knitted for the Craft & Chat Christmas tree.
After the formal meeting we made square yoyos as broaches. It was quite fiddly but we all had fun.
Here's to another twelve months of Ashbourne WI.
Derbyshire Federation of WIs - Council meeting
Tuesday 5 October 2021
Members of Ashbourne WI joined many others at the DFWI autumn meeting in Chesterfield today, after a two-year gap. The Winding Wheel resounded to our singing of Jerusalem at the start and the Federation Chairman thanked WIs for managing to keep going during the pandemic, declaring “We’ve survived, so now’s the time to thrive.”
As well as the business of the day, we had two excellent speakers.
Our first speaker was Sue Wall, Chair of the Independent Monitoring Board of Foston Prison. Foston is a “local” prison, taking people on remand as well as sentenced prisoners. But as many at Foston have short sentences (40% less than one year, 12% of less than one month) it is difficult to address issues such as mental health, poor attitudes, finding a place to live or setting up a bank account. Members of the Independent Monitoring Board are local, unpaid volunteers from different backgrounds. They monitor the support prisoners have to enable them to rebuild their lives and make sure they are being treated fairly.
Our second speaker was Amanda Owen, The Yorkshire Shepherdess, famous from the Channel 5 programme, currently on at 9pm on Tuesdays. The daughter of a model and a mechanic, she was an unlikely candidate to become a shepherdess on the remote Ravenseat Farm, the highest farm in England 1,350 feet above sea level, but a seed was sown when, on her grandfather’s suggestion, she read the James Herriot books. Determined to become a shepherdess, she took courses and worked on a range of farms from Yorkshire to Salisbury Plain before heading to Cumbria. Sent by her boss to pick up a ram, she met Clive Owen and the rest is history!
Amanda and Clive run their remote farm with a “Can Do” attitude. Their nine children all help with farming tasks. The older children help the younger ones and they all enjoy the freedom to roam across the hills until dusk. Kindness, empathy and hard work are key. Living remotely and with freedom to roam, the children have a different experience of life – she told of one daughter’s first experience of a school swimming lesson was disbelief, “The water was in a house!!” Amanda describes her life as juggling book-writing and speaking with raising a flock and a family – just ordinary people getting on with life.
There were the usual displays in the ballroom and the banners made from our centenary ‘bricks’ were on display. We spotted Ashbourne’s on the third row!
It was a good day.
As well as the business of the day, we had two excellent speakers.
Our first speaker was Sue Wall, Chair of the Independent Monitoring Board of Foston Prison. Foston is a “local” prison, taking people on remand as well as sentenced prisoners. But as many at Foston have short sentences (40% less than one year, 12% of less than one month) it is difficult to address issues such as mental health, poor attitudes, finding a place to live or setting up a bank account. Members of the Independent Monitoring Board are local, unpaid volunteers from different backgrounds. They monitor the support prisoners have to enable them to rebuild their lives and make sure they are being treated fairly.
Our second speaker was Amanda Owen, The Yorkshire Shepherdess, famous from the Channel 5 programme, currently on at 9pm on Tuesdays. The daughter of a model and a mechanic, she was an unlikely candidate to become a shepherdess on the remote Ravenseat Farm, the highest farm in England 1,350 feet above sea level, but a seed was sown when, on her grandfather’s suggestion, she read the James Herriot books. Determined to become a shepherdess, she took courses and worked on a range of farms from Yorkshire to Salisbury Plain before heading to Cumbria. Sent by her boss to pick up a ram, she met Clive Owen and the rest is history!
Amanda and Clive run their remote farm with a “Can Do” attitude. Their nine children all help with farming tasks. The older children help the younger ones and they all enjoy the freedom to roam across the hills until dusk. Kindness, empathy and hard work are key. Living remotely and with freedom to roam, the children have a different experience of life – she told of one daughter’s first experience of a school swimming lesson was disbelief, “The water was in a house!!” Amanda describes her life as juggling book-writing and speaking with raising a flock and a family – just ordinary people getting on with life.
There were the usual displays in the ballroom and the banners made from our centenary ‘bricks’ were on display. We spotted Ashbourne’s on the third row!
It was a good day.
A celebration of our 95th Anniversary
9 September 2021
It was a special evening for Ashbourne WI last night as not only could we meet in the hall for the first time since March 2020 but we were also celebrating the 95th anniversary of our first meeting. It was good to meet up with old friends and to meet the members who have joined us over the last 18 months for the first time.
After the business we were kept laughing as Pat Hall shared tales of her experiences as a speaker, and she ended with cautionary tales of what not to do to your speaker.
There was the opportunity to look at scrapbooks of activities over the 95 years and to watch a slide show of recent events.
No celebration would be complete without cake. Our anniversary was celebrated by cup cakes laid out as the number 95 and they were delicious.
After the business we were kept laughing as Pat Hall shared tales of her experiences as a speaker, and she ended with cautionary tales of what not to do to your speaker.
There was the opportunity to look at scrapbooks of activities over the 95 years and to watch a slide show of recent events.
No celebration would be complete without cake. Our anniversary was celebrated by cup cakes laid out as the number 95 and they were delicious.