On a bitterly cold Saturday, 14 intrepid souls gathered for a New Year's walk. We met at Thorpe and walked a circular route, taking in Blore, Ilam and Dovedale, the first three miles were undertaken in hazy sunshine with crisp conditions underfoot and beautiful 360 degree views. At Ilam we sat underneath the arches to enjoy a picnic lunch accompanied by hot mulled wine, brought for us by a kind member. During the second half of our walk the frost had thawed, leaving deep, slippery mud and then the mist descended! Conditions were extremely challenging and those of us with walking poles were very grateful for their support and those who had left poles at home ended up with very muddy trousers! However we all survived, with the assistance of friends, and then drove to the always welcoming home of Wendy and Richard Forrester for refreshments of hot drinks, mince pies and shortbread.
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The members had a lovely time at our Christmas meeting, there were three excellent quizzes, carols, mulled wine and Christmas treats ( mince pies, shortbread and cake)
The table of goodies are for the women's refuge, there was a huge selection of toiletries, socks etc both for ladies and teenage boys. On Monday November 15th, Denstone W.I. met to celebrate their 100th Birthday. A beautiful and delicious cake made and decorated by member Anne Harris was cut by Jean Langton, our longest serving W.I. member (58 years) the photograph shows Anne Harris, Rose Barker (president) and Jean Langton. Prior to cutting the cake and enjoying a glass of port we had a most entertaining talk from Helen Chambers entitled "A Tudor Christmas." Helen took on the character of a Tudor wife, Mistress Mountford from Cheapside, a fashionable part of London in Tudor times. She regaled us with lots of interesting facts, many of which explained the story behind our modern traditions and words, such as the yule log, mistletoe, the 12 days of Christmas and the box office. Helen wore beautiful and colourful clothes from the period and was a very accomplished musician, playing the bagpipes, various wind instruments and the harp, the evening was rounded off by the singing of Tudor carols accompanied by Mistress Mountford on the harp. Members, along with family and friends, enjoyed their extra special birthday lunch on Sunday. We had old photos and records on display with a slideshow of more recent activities.
The toast was for another 100 years with possibly less Damson jam ! Action shots from last night's activities. Great fun for all who came along. Many thanks to Rose and Ed for setting it up.
With the relaxing of restrictions we met on the 19th of July in a members beautiful garden with respect of covid concerns over sharing plates of food everyone brought their own picnic and, because it is our centenary year, members dressed up in the costumes of the 1920's. It was extremely hot but this didn't stop our intrepid ladies from donning their vintage dresses, feathers and pearls. We posed for a photo shoot trying to replicate photos we have in our archives of members down the decades.
After 18 months of zoom meetings Denstone W.I. have taken advantage of the dry and sunny weather to begin a few social activities outdoors. On a warm June evening 12 members and partners went for a walk across our local fields and onto the Staffordshire Way, we walked approximately 5k through glorious scenery and learnt a lot about the history of a few of the dwellings we passed.
Although late to the party compared to some, we are proud that we had our first round of Zoom meetings last week.
Small groups were led by one of the committee and we enjoyed chatting and catching up with others who we may not have seen for a long time. For newbies, it all went very well with very few hiccups. One of our members, Mandy, told of the YouTube video her craft group had made just before Christmas. Below is the link for the video, see if you can spot Mandy? Craftea 12 Days Of Christmas - YouTube Big thanks to the committee members who hosted the meetings, they were such a success we shall hold more until we can meet again properly. |
GillGill Brown is our current President Archives
April 2024
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