A good chat over coffee.
THE BRIDGE CLUB
Drinking a toast to two special occasions among ‘ladies who play bridge’ – Jean Cullen on reaching a very ‘special’ age and Jan Straughan, who this weekend celebrates 50 years of marriage to Brian.
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Northumberland Federation Creative Craft Day
Saturday 14 August at Gosforth High School
What a good day we had and what talents were on show – ranging from Art to Cooking, with various Crafts and Flower Arranging. Our members sent us off, piled high with their efforts, to set up the displays and very well done they were too – made me quite envious of their skills and application to detail.
Congratulations to all who made such an effort and took part.
We thought you might like to see some of the entries here, not all from our WI …
As to the food – who would not have some sympathy for the poor judge of the Honey Cakes – over 140 entries and all to be tasted! I gather she needed a very savoury snack when she finally got home.
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Dorothy Stanton
After a long illness, sadly Dorothy died on Sunday 30th May, 2010..
She joined Alnmouth W.I. in the ‘swinging’ sixties a young mother of two daughters and wife of a Boulmer Fisherman , Jack Stanton. Together with quite a few other ‘young mothers’ who happen to be still members, Dorothy enjoyed village life and was very much at the core of what was happening at the time. and was also part of the original ‘team’ in the late 60s that helped to get the then ‘new restaurant’ (Saddle Grill) off the ground before taking over The Village Hairdessers, which she successfully ran for many years. Combining all this with running her home, looking after her family and even delivering her husband’s ‘catch of the day’ on his return from the sea in the evening, to the many customers in the village.
Throughout this time, she was a valued member of the W.I. but unfortunately, during latter years ill health prevented her attending, but fortunately, when she felt up to it, it was good to see her helping Rosetta Annett’s ‘Raffle Team’ out at various ‘events’ in the Village
Dorothy will be much missed by everyone and leaves a big space behind her – it was indeed a priviledge to know her.
Rest in peace Dorothy.
J.D.
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June Meeting
Our meeting, this month, was not as well attended as usual but the beckon of the sun and distant places does make a difference during the summer months. However we, who are ‘left behind’, still managed to have a good meeting and ’ W.I. life’ went on as normal.
Pam started the meeting by paying tribute to a long standing member, who unfortunately died on Sunday the 30th May, Dorothy Stanton. We send our condolences to Jack, her husband, Sandra and Gillian, her beloved daughters, and their families .
After the Minutes of the Meeting were read by Jean Cullen, our Secretary, Pam Muggleton, our President, introduced Gillian Archibold of Howick W.I. who kindly came to give us her report of the W.I. A.G.M. which this year was at Cardiff, before going through her Agenda for the evening. Gillian gave us an excellent report and certainly seemed to have enjoyed the event, especially the entertainers ‘Only Men Allowed’ !
Pam quickly went through the outstanding issues reminding us about the Sandcastle Competition on Alnmouth Beach (our team of 6 are dreaming up designs!), adding our names to the list for our York Outing by train, Haley’s Wine and Cheese, and several other up and coming days ‘away from Alnmouth’ and most important, for obvious reasons, the need to order our 2011 W.I. diaries.
Our Speaker for the evening had now arrived, Eldon Robson of ‘Fentimans’ who told us about restarting ‘the family’ business which was very interesting both from the point of view of starting a business in today’s world, not easy by any means and using, discovered, old family recipes, enabling them to botanically brew ginger beer and quite a selection of organic soft drinks . As Fentimans are now sold world wide, their hard work has started to pay off, so when we see ‘Dandelion and Burdock’, and ‘Rose Lemonade’ (two of many flavours) in a Fentiman specially designed glass bottle we will certainly appreciate the work behind it. Caroline gave the vote of thanks on our behalf and drew the birthday girl of the month’s name out who happens to be Jan Quinn.
Our cup of tea was accompanied by delicious home made ginger and lemon cakes made by the hands of our ‘President’, so of course, we just had to eat it!!
Caroline Martin, our Vice President will be in the chair for our next meeting and our Speaker is Veronica Hind, “Experiencing T.V Cookery” All welcome, as usual of course.
Joan Davidson.
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MAY MEETING
The beginning of our W.I. Year and the first, for our new President, Pam Muggleton, in the chair.
Pam started in the traditional way, by welcoming all members and visitors, then asking Jean Cullen, who is now our secretary, to read last month’s Minutes. After going through A.O.B. from the Minutes, as Pam had put a list of the new committee’s various roles on each table, to keep members in the picture, of who does what, she then went on to explain the actual process of voting for a new President, having discovered that most of the members, had no idea of the process and it was actually a bit of a mystery. Also explaining that the other roles in committee do not usually go to a vote, unless there is more than one ‘applicant’ and strangely enough, that has not happened in living memory!!
As Pam had a full Agenda for her first meeting ‘in the chair’, she quickly went through our calendar of events mentioning our involvement with the Hotspur group - the sharing of a stand on the 3rd June for an ‘Information Day’ In the Northumberland hall and participating in a sandcastle competition on Alnmouth beach followed by a B.Q. on the evening of the 16th June . Reminding us also of a Wine and Cheese on the 18th June in one of our member’s houses and our ‘Summer outing’ on the 2nd August to York. There were other items on her Agenda, but apart from the Summer Exhiibition when much discussion went on as to the various talents of our members, Pam put on hold , the ‘things to do and places to go’ later in the year, for our next meeting.
Our Speakers for the evening, had now arrived so Pam introduced the two ladies, Michelle Moody and Jill Hughes from r.e.a.c.h. an organisation under the umbrella of the Northumberland Constabulary. The subject was not a pleasant one as it dealt with rape which of course does not just apply to adult females, but as we are an open W.I. and very much aware of the horrors of society our talks cover a wide spectrum, indeed one of the W.I.s Resolutions has been ‘The trafficking of Women’ so whilst making jam is perhaps much more pleasant, we are of todays world, and making our presence felt in the dark side of life is another part of the W.I. remit. Isabel Chalmers thanked Michelle and Jill for coming all the way from Newcastle to talk to us and before the meeting closed we enjoyed a very welcome cup of tea made by the ‘tea ladies’ of the evening Hillary Buckley and Joan Allinson and boy were we ready for it!
Our birthday girl this month was Judy Woodford and she went home with a lovely plant.
J.D.
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SO IT WAS OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW
We had an amazing turn out for our Annual Meeting, this year, given the perceived threat of discovering you were on the committee because you blinked at the wrong time!
After welcoming everyone, including our W.I.A. Adviser, Prudence Marks, Our President, Jean Cullen, asked our long standing member, Doreen Warwick to say a few words in tribute to our recently deceased member, Marian Hindmarsh, both of whom actually came into the village the same year – 1945. Marian was the new young vicar’s wife, joining the W.I. pretty well straight away and becoming President 8 years later at the age of 30. Doreen had some good stories to tell of ‘the old days’ and we enjoyed listening to her very much. Marian will be greatly missed by us all.
Before beginning the Annual Meeting, Jean quickly reminded us of ‘things to do’ and ‘places to go’ followed by Barbara reading last month’s Minutes and congratulating the competition winner this year – Caroline Martin. Congratulating Edith Cummings, as well, for running the Book Stall with such great enthusiasm and success.
Pat Tulip, one of our members, who is now on the National Executive Committee and Denman Representative, then gave us a very interesting insight into the running of ‘Head Office’ in London clarifying quite a few points that we did wonder about and whetting our appetites to include a visit to Denman in the future. Its good to have a local voice in London as sometimes we do feel just ‘a little away from things ‘up North’
Jean followed this by handing the meeting over to Prudence Marks, our W.I. Adviser who then conducted the ballot for our new President - and the winner was – PAM MUGGLETON. We congratulated Pam and wished her well in her new roll. The various rolls of committee will be discussed at the first meeting of the new committee.
Prudence then entertained us in her usual inimitable style by describing how she became a W.I.A., followed by taking questions from the floor regarding various issues our members had.
Our pie and pea supper was by this time ready to be served so the then existing committee quickly organised it and we were soon tucking in.
Before the end of the evening Pam presented both the outgoing President, Jean Cullen and Secretary, Barbara Anderson with two lovely plants and thanked them for all their hard work over their time in office.
As our new programme is now completed and ready to be printed we look forward to an interesting year ahead and if you wish to see what we get up to, in our W.I. just go to our web site www.alnmouthwi.co.uk and if you find anything you are interested in you would be very welcome any time just to drop by at one of our monthly meetings.
Joan Davidson.
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THE KNITTER
Apart from the myriad of interests we do have within our W.I. some of our members STILL KNIT, and this particular member has just discovered, she actually still can, when she joined the Monday Craft Class.
It’s a self help group who share their expertise with each other and I’m sure that’s not all they share as there is always a lot of chat going on at the same time.
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DUST DOWN THE OLD AND BRING IN THE NEW
Our annual Meeting is only a few days away, on Monday 12th April
A little reminder that it’s time to think of change –
As our W.I. moves into the 21st century we need to think of creating our own history. Our grandmothers and mothers were forerunners in this wonderful organisation and we cannot let them down by stagnating and living on what they achieved.
Our lives have changed; young wives now have to work and this we have to build around, especially at committee level, making sure we offer interesting ideas which fit into busy lives. The W.I. has much to offer and we need all ages on our committee to help achieve this. It is not an onerous task by any means, in fact I would say that once on the committee you really get the feel of what the W.I. is all about –full of friendship and good humour. No one is left on their own to make decisions, everyone has an input of some sort and most of it is done with much much laughter - THINK ABOUT IT, WE REALLY DO NEED YOU.
A quote from a lady who has made a big difference to life, Anita Roddick
“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito”
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A TRIBUTE TO MARIAN HINDMARSH
We lost one of our longest serving members in the early hours of Friday the 19th March.
She has been ill for a number of months, the latter of which she was extremely well cared for at Hillcrest Nursing Home, in Alnwick, where at the end she very peacefully left this earth.
Marian Hindmarsh came into the village in 1945 when her husband, Tom, was appointed ‘Vicar of this Parish’ and from then on plunged into village life. Her talents covered a wide field including needlework, golf and bridge and of course all related activities to being a busy Vicar’s wife, including running the local Brownie pack.
She was also President of our W.I. from 1953 to 1960 which, in actual fact, made her only the third President since the formation of Alnmouth W.I. in 1918. As well as all this she was also a mother raising two children Nigel and Jane who, although now not full time residents, are still well known and frequent visitors to our shores.
She was a great lady, much respected and loved by her fellow members; we will miss her humour and input very much indeed.
God Bless you Marian and may you rest in peace.
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Lent Lunch
ISABEL’S TEAM:
A group of members from both the W.I. and St. John The Baptist Church, giving a helping hand at the Lent Lunch held in the Hindmarsh Hall
There were three soups on the Menu for the Lent Lunch, all made by Isabel Chalmers, but the most popular by far, was the ‘Celery and Almond’ and because of many requests for the recipe , here it is:
50g, 2oz. Butter
225g. 8oz. Celery Trimmed and chopped
125g. 4oz. Onion Peeled and chopped
50g. 2oz. Leek Trimmed and sliced
50g. 20z. Ground Almonds
900mls. 1 & half pints Chicken or Veg. Stock
Method: Melt butter, stir in celery, onion and leek. Cook gently in covered pan for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Stir in ground almonds, add stock and simmer until vegetables are cooked. Liquidise, season if necessary. Best made the day before and either reheat or chill and serve cold.
Optional: Substitute 300mls. Cream for equivalent of stock and stir in when reheating, but do no boil. Freezes well.
Enjoy.
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Flower Girl
One of our senior W.I. members, Doreen Warwick, was completely taken by surprise when she attended Morning Service at St John’s last Sunday as the Vicar began, not with the usual format, but by presenting Doreen with a beautiful picture of one of her favourite views,’ her Church’
She has been involved in the Church flowers for the last 50 years, keeping the church full of beautiful seasonal arrangements and her touch was certainly on many village weddings and special occasions throughout that time, but because of a little lack of mobility, Doreen, decided it was time to hand over her task to her younger team mate, Barbara Naylor. On hearing this news, it was decided (all in secret of course) to look into the possibility of presenting her with a gift from the Congregation. Isabel Chalmers, one of our Church wardens, took on this task and after consulting Doreen’s daughter Ann, who suggested a picture of her beloved Church, contacted Clair Ford-Hutchinson and the problem was solved.
Peter, our Vicar, took Doreen completely by surprise, and although initially being completely dumbfounded when he started the presentation, she rose to the occasion beautifully and with great dignity. Most of the Congregation were, of course, crying their eyes out by this time. A lot of history there and many stories Doreen can tell; one thing’s for sure, she will still be giving the flowers a quick glance, just to make sure they don’t need a ‘drink’.
A wonderful achievement Doreen, very much appreciated by all.
Joan Davidson.
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February report
Pam Muggleton was in the chair for the February meeting, as Jean our President, was in the midst of ‘household repairs’. Before starting she welcomed a very full house, including four prospective members and a lady visitor and went on to thank everyone involved in making the Nearly New Sale, held in the Hindmarsh Hall, such a resounding success. The total made on the day was in excess of £1,000, but the ‘The Smile Train’ will benefit , by the doubling up of this amount , if banked during the month of February, by one of the Charity’s anonymous Sponsors. None of this would have happened without tremendous input from a group of ladies, mainly members of the W.I. but in particular the ‘Fashion Team’ who did all the sorting etc. they are Esme Forster, June, McQuade, Margaret Stephenson, Laraine Jobson and Joan Allinson. We take our hats off (if we hadn’t already sold them!!) also to the ‘givers’ and ‘buyers’, they were amazingly generous and because of all this, now 15 children’s lives will be changed forever.
Pam then started the meeting by asking Barbara to read the minutes, then quickly went through the normal monthly business. Diaries at the ready (what would we do without them) various dates were noted of up and coming events and as it is our 92nd birthday, a vote was taken whether to celebrate going out for either lunch or dinner on Tuesday 16th March, and the latter won hands down. After finalizing one or two matters and reminding everyone its ‘make up your mind’ time of year and to think about joining the committee, Pam announced our Speaker . Ali Arrowsmith, so after helping her get organized with the screen, lap top etc. she introduced herself and explained what ‘life coaching’ is all about.
She is a highly qualifed young lady, starting her career in nursing, and gathering up various degrees to further her career, recently training as a Life Coach and Hypnotherapist and from this year also moving into Holistic Therapies. We were enthralled by all that she told us in her natural and amusing way, assuring all, that hypnotherapy does really work, especially in connection with phobias, slipping in that in no way would we be doing the ‘chicken dance’ in the middle of Alnmouth Village Street, during therapy. Her talk covered a wide area and of course, we all wanted to get involved in all that she had to offer. Pam thanked Ali for taking the time from her busy life to talk to us, widening our knowledge of a subject few of us new little about.
Laraine Jobson was the birthday girl and the winner of the competition was Caroline Martin and as Eileen Holland had made some delicious cakes to accompany our cup of tea we ended our excellent evening enjoying what we like to do best – eat and chat.
Our March Speaker is Dorothy Osler and her subject is North County Quilts and Quilters, anyone interested in joining us for the evening is very welcome indeed.
Joan Davidson
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Nearly New Sale
Well, Wednesday morning, the 27th January, the day of the ‘Nearly New Sale’ turned out to be truly amazing. The ‘fashions’ had started to come in just after Christmas and our ‘team’ consisting of Esme Forster, June McQuade, Margaret Stephenson, Laraine Jobson and Joan Allinson ‘set in’ sorting out. It certainly kept them busy as contributions came in from all over our area, there must now be a lot of wardrobe space available out there!
The morning started well as from 10.00 we were busy, everyone needing that coffee fix before facing the delights of bargain hunting and ‘the team’ hardly drew breath, from there on helping everyone find exactly what ‘they thought’ they were looking for. By 12.00 noon the stocks were greatly depleted (probably now filling up the spaces made available!) and a very tired group of ladies sat down and sampled the left over scones accompanied by a well earned cup of coffee. When the money was counted all the fatigue suddenly disappeared as the total amount came to just over £1,000.
This amount could never have been raised without the fantastic support of everyone who ‘turned their wardrobes out’ , the ladies (a couple of brave men too!!) who braved the cold to join us at the Hindmarsh Hall to see what was on offer, of course, the ‘raffle’ and ‘coffee girls’ and last but by all means not least ‘the team’ who gave up quite a bit of their time to make this possible.
Members of our W.I. have been supporting this charity ‘The Smile Train’ which helps to fund operations to correct cleft palates in children living in the ‘third world’ , by running a book stall for a while and actually this is where the idea came from. A group of members decided to perhaps do a bit more towards this charity and that is when the idea of the ‘Nearly New Sale’ was born.
We believe that if this amount is banked before the end of February it will be doubled, pound for pound, by one of the Charity’s very generous ‘annonymous’ Sponsers and rest assured, this we have done.
As mentioned, it was an amazing day, lots of laughter, chat and bargains.Thank you once again everyone who took part – this amount will change of the lives of 15 children. WOW.
-Joan Davidson
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JANUARY MEETING
The first meeting of our W.I. this year certainly presented us with a challenge. Firstly, Alnmouth was under quite a few inches of very firm snow and, whilst extremely picturesque, not good for walking and, just to test us further, the central heating had decided to be unco-operative. Never to be beaten, members hastily robbed their homes of portable electric heaters and it was business as usual.
A good many members braved the elements so it wasn’t long before we warmed up and Jean, after welcoming us all, quickly went through whatever outstanding business there was and as it is Resolution time made a note of everyone’s personal choice out of 6 very diverse subjects , which had been comprehensively covered in the W.I. magazine ‘W.I. Life’ . Our votes will be sent on, to be included in the national vote of W.I.s not to be trifled with considering there are over 200,000 active members of the W.I.! We were once described by a well known writer and journalist as a ‘sleeping giant’; perhaps we are starting to stir!
Our Speaker for the afternoon (always an afternoon in January) had been waiting in the ‘wings’ and was subsequently introduced by Jean and as his subject was ‘Alnmouth’ we sat back ready to enjoy. Alan began his talk by explaining how it all started – he actually applied to the Millennium Fund of Small Grants to video the village as a ‘Time Capsule’ project which he was successful in winning, enabling him to record three years of village activity. He spent many hours unobtrusively filming whatever was going on in the village including many projects our members were involved in and this is what he mainly showed us.
The making of the Village Map, which actually hangs in our downstairs meeting room in the Hindmarsh Hall, * was one of his first endeavours, involving both past and present members and is still beautiful.
* One of our members has sent us an amendment to this information as follows
“Just a small correction to the January meeting.
The village map was not part of Alan Bowdens Millenium project
It was completed at the Old School Arts Centre with me as Coordinator/Project Leader and completed by a total of 30 people, mostly ladies of the village and in addition children from Hipsburn School Alan did do the helicopter!
Alistair Sinton and Fred Bettess had the idea after attending a meeting on millenium maps
Isabel Chalmers was instrumental in securing the funding and managing the finances
Judi Hill”
We saw the, now annual, village variety show with one or two members strutting their stuff in extremely short leather mini skirts and also our 85th Birthday dinner in 2003. There were lots more village events he has recorded on his camera, some we saw and even more we haven’t, but as he actually managed to record 30 hours of ‘Alnmouth life’ perhaps we might persuade Alan to return. Our superb pooled afternoon tea was then already for us so Jean thanked him for a very enjoyable afternoon indeed.
Our next ‘get together’ is our ‘Nearly New Sale’ on the morning of the 27th January at 10.30 to 12.00 when we will be delighted to see you. Coffee and scones will be served whilst you are perusing our bargain fashions. Our Febuary meeting Speaker is Ali Arrowsmith whose subject is ‘Life Coaching’.
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Twas the month after Christmas
’Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house
Not a thing there would fit me, not even a blouse,
The biscuits I’d nibbled, the wine I did taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales they raised such a number!
When I walked to the store, (less a walk than a lumber),
I’d remember the marvellous meals I’d prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The drinks, the rum babas, the bread and the cheese
And the words never said, “No thank you, please.”
As I dressed myself up in my husband’s old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt ..
I said to myself, as I only can
“You can’t spend a winter disguised as a man!”
So away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruitcake, every cracker and chip.
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
‘Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won’t have a biscuit – not even a lick.
I want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won’t have hot scones, or those cakes, or fruit pie,
I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore
But surely that’s only what January’s for?
So, unable to giggle, no longer a riot,
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!
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DECEMBER MEETING
After a pretty good year of a wide variety of monthly meetings it must be said our last meeting of the year was a ‘blinder’. The upper hall of the Hindmarsh Hall, where we hold our meetings looked and felt full of the Christmas spirit, thanks to the expertise of a number of members.
Our President Jean Cullen, quickly got through whatever business was outstanding, leaving the Minutes to be read by individual members in their own time, and the evening began.
We had the luxury this year of being completely looked after by ‘Strawberry Lounge’ an outside catering company in Alnwick and after ‘grace’ said by Isabel Chalmers, we were served a delicious Christmas dinner. There were 53 of us in total so there was no shortage of conversation as we devoured all put in front of us which was washed down by, whatever ‘tipple’ each member preferred, as it was a b.y.o.
After Jean thanked the caterers for looking after us so well the second half of our evening began – it was this year ‘in house’ and began by Mary Hollins introducing ‘the team’ which consisted of Caroline Martin, Judi Hill, Ann Hobbis, Edith Cummings, Sarah Goodman, Barbara Naylor, Carol Knowles, and Margaret Reece. The programme was extremely varied for so few consisting of poems, music and comedy – we couldn’t have had better for our 2009 Christmas Party. Our last meeting of the year closed with the usual exchange of gifts (via a bra tub) and the very loudly sung ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’. Judi Hill was the December birth day girl.
Our speaker for January meeting is Alan Bowden showing us Alnmouth’s recent history through the lens of a camera and on the morning of the 27th January we are having a ‘Nearly New Sale’ - proceeds to charity. This is open to everyone and as we are serving coffee and home-made scones. It will be a good catch up point after the festivities.
All the the best to everyone from the members of Alnmouth W.I.
Joan Davidson
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January 27
Coffee and Scones at 10.30 in the Hindmarsh Hall
Once Christmas is over, don’t forget to sort out all those clothes,accessories etc which you no longer need or wear. Esme and June will be delighted to receive any items in good, saleable condition.
“Won’t it be fun seeing people in the village wearing each other’s clothes?”, thinks one of our members - and it’s all in a good cause as the proceeds are going to charity.
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“La Cage aux Folles”
We’ve booked 20 tickets for the show being staged by the West End Operatic Society in April at the Theatre Royal.
Tickets are for the matinee on Thursday 29 April and cost £17. Transport details later. See Pam at the January meeting if you’re interested.
