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ACKLINGTON WOMEN'S INSTITUTE
19th MAY 2011
READING ALOUD COMPETITION TEAM
 Out of 16 Institutes who entered the Reading Aloud Team Competition,
Acklington were extremely pleased to gain second place in the final at
Stannington.
They were from left to right:
June Barras (with the most difficult part)
reading an unseen extract from CASE STUDIES by Kate Atkinson.
Barbara King recited her own choice poem by an unknown author titled THE
COLOUR OF YOUR LIFE.
Wilma Nicoll read out the very challenging Federation set poem entitled
REFLECTIONS by Louis McNeice.
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LATEST
MEETINGS - Reports and Minutes |
14 February 2012
Our President, Barbara Cock, welcomed members to the
February meeting of Acklington Women’s Institute. Apologies were
received from June Barras, Barbara King, Audrey Thurgood, Jean Shaw and
Jean McDougal.
There was a short business meeting during which the Newsletter was read
and various items discussed. Barbara Cock will be delegate at the
Annual Council meeting.
Our speakers for the evening were Mr & Mrs Gilbert who took us on a
magical tour of the Tamil Nadu region of Southern India – an area of
great contrasts – colourful, vibrant, noisy, tranquil and, in many
places, very poor. With the aid of a wonderful PowerPoint presentation,
they took us on a trip through this lovely landscape – wonderful
temples, many beautifully painted; the Oxen and Elephants transported us
to a different world, but a very interesting one.
At the end of the talk, Mrs Gilbert demonstrated the art of putting on a
Sari with the aid of a beautiful one she had purchased. The result was
very elegant.
After a short question and answer session, Moira Peden gave the vote of
thanks and we then enjoyed a lovely supper.
The competition for a holiday souvenir was won by – 1st
Barbara Cock; 2nd Ingrid March and 3rd Flora
Steele.
Next month is our 90th Birthday Dinner where gifts will be
exchanged.
Flora Steele
10 JANUARY 2012
Our first meeting of 2012 was opened by the President welcoming
members and eight guests, including five gentlemen, who had joined us to
hear a talk given by Dr. Paul Morrison RSPB warden for the Coquet
Island. Paul started by giving some of the history of the island which
is still owned by The Duke of Northumberland and leased to RSPB, with
slides showing the remains of a Monastery and cottages once occupied by
the families of the lighthouse keepers. This must have been a very hard
life as there is no fresh water on the island and even today it has to
be taken by boat from Amble. The lighthouse is now fully automated and
the only residents are RSPB wardens, volunteers and thousands of birds
during the nesting season. Slides showing the hard work needed to keep
the island in good shape for the birds, many extremely rare, and of
course the pictures of the birds themselves, gave some of us the
inspiration to brave the boat trip from Amble to view the manmade
terraces of puffin nest boxes for ourselves. A vote of thanks was given
by Isabella Telford.
This had followed the business part of the meeting when names were taken
for teams to the Indoor Bowls and The Federation Quiz both in March.
Following a delicious pooled supper Paul judged the competition for a
bird photo awarding 1st to Wilma Nicoll 2nd Moira Peden and 3rd Linda
Aston.
The February meeting will be ‘Beyond Belief’ with Mr & Mrs Gilbert.
Visitors will be most welcome
Barbara Cock
8 NOVEMBER 2011
There were cries of “Where are the
scissors?”; “Who has the ruler?”; “I can’t get the covering off this
double-sided tape”; Can I change my paper?” at the November meeting.
Margaret Davison had just shown us all how to make a small square box
and a pyramid shaped box and how to decorate them. She demonstrated it
all with such expertise that it looked easy—how wrong were we? During
the next hour there was a lot of huffing and puffing, looking at the
neighbour to see how they had done it and asking Margaret for help. We
then had to leave them and Margaret judged our efforts. She said we had
all done really well but the top three were:- 1st Sylvia Linnett, 2nd
Rosemary Patterson and 3rd Audrey Thurgood. Barbara Cock gave a
well-deserved appreciation for the patience of Margaret to get us all
through this.
This had followed the business section of the meeting where the minutes
of the previous meeting were read and agreed and the Northumberland News
was gone through. The President asked for a volunteer, or two, to run
the raffle next month. We were notified that Federation were thinking
of starting up the Coquet Vale Group again. Group meetings used to be
held once year at a different WI where as many representatives as
possible would attend. It was an opportunity to meet others from
different Institutes and have some sort of entertainment put on. There
would be a small committee required with one long term treasurer.
Several members wanted more information before they made a decision as
we have had quite a few members since the last Group meeting and the
President said she would find out more.
The next meeting on 13 December will be ‘In House’ and we have to bring
our own cutlery and crockery. The committee would make the supper and
everyone was asked to put in £2 per head to cover costs. The committee
would also entertain us but if anyone else wanted to join in they were
more than welcome to do so.
Barbara King
11 OCTOBER 2011
Alison Strong was the
Women’s Institute Adviser for the 89th Annual Meeting held on 11th
October.
We were all brought to the attention of the Northumberland News in which
it was with great sadness that the death of Heather Abrahams was
announced. Heather was a past Chairman and Treasurer of the Federation
and also a current WI Advisor. She will be greatly missed. Also
mentioned in the Northumberland News was the increase in subscriptions
to £31.50.
The usual preliminaries were gone through i.e. Record of last AM and any
matters arising, which there were none. There was little correspondence.
Olive Foster gave us all a copy of the annual accounts and there was a
unanimous vote to keep the current auditors. The current Chair gave her
report and adoption of the Annual Report which was given by the
secretary. A vote of thanks was given to the current committee for all
their hard work throughout the year.
Alison spoke to us all about how she went along to WI meetings with her
Mother and now her daughter goes with her. She also reminded us of the
many opportunities open to members of any Women’s Institute and to take
advantage of them. A vote of thanks was given by Barbara Cock.
Apart from one very long standing committee member the same committee
members were voted on and a ballot taken for President for which Barbara
Cock was appointed, yet again!!
The annual competition results were announced and the overall winner was
Moira Peden followed by Linda Aston and then Wilma Nicoll.
After a pooled supper the raffle was drawn and the competition winners
for a paperweight, judged by Alison, were announced. First was Janet
Bell with a beautiful ornate paperweight followed by Jean Shaw’s doggie
paperweight and finally June Barras.
Meetings are held every second Tuesday of the month at 7.15pm in
Acklington Village Hall. All visitors will be very welcome.
The next meeting will be 8th November when we will be given a
demonstration of how to make Christmas boxes and Margaret Davison, the
demonstrator, will judge the best attempt at making a Christmas box on
the night.
Barbara King
13 SEPTEMBER 2011
President, Barbara
Cock, began the September meeting of Acklington WI by welcoming members
and six guests. Apologies were received from June Barras, Olive Foster
and Moira Peden.
After reading the
minutes of the last meeting and a thorough perusal of the Northumberland
News, Barbara introduced Susa Gill who had come to talk and demonstrate
to us the art of spinning.
Susan gave us a very
interesting insight into the principals of spinning, describing and
demonstrating the many types of implements used prior to the
introduction of the Spinning Wheel.
Susan uses a large
variety of wools, including Shetland; North Ronaldsway; Cheviot and
Merino. Susan prepares the wool and dyes it herself. She had lots of
beautiful skeins of wool in very vibrant colours and different plys.
Most of the group
tried to spin the wool after watching Susan’s demonstration. This
‘hands on’ session was great fun and Margaret Hammond tried out the
Spinning Wheel.
After this very
enjoyable time we all ate a lovely pooled supper and Susan judged the
competition for an item knitted from 100 grms of wool. The winners
were: - 1st June Pirie, 2nd Margaret Howie and 3rd
Margaret Hammond.
The Annual Meeting
will be held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 11th
October at 7.15pm.
Flora Steele.
9 AUGUST 2011
President, Barbara Cock,
welcomed members, 1 visitor (Lucy Wilkinson) and our speaker for the
evening (Mrs Sarah Annett) to the August meeting. The Northumberland
News was read and items of interest for the coming months ahead were
noted.
Barbara brought to our attention the Acklington WI entry for Warkworth
Show which, this year, is an arrangement in a tea cup. There was a lot
of interest in exhibiting in this class and Margaret Hammond offered to
take entries to the show provided she had them the evening before.
Out of many entries Wilma Nicoll came first on the day with Flora
Steele runner up.
Barbara then introduced Mrs Sarah Annett from the Country Barn Farm Shop
& Coffee Shop at Widdrington and she gave us a very interesting insight
into the ups and downs of running a small business.
Although there has been a farm on the site for over 500 years, and still
held by the same family owners, diversification did not occur until
after the devastating outbreak of Foot & Mouth in 2001. It was decided
to open a butchers shop and, after renovating one of their disused farm
buildings, the Country Barn Shop was born. It sold beef and lamb reared
on the farm and other items such as pork, poultry etc. bought in locally
from chosen producers. Butter, cheese, eggs, bread, ice cream,
vegetables are all sourced locally and the shop carries an infinite
range of items necessary to the regular shopper as well as holiday
makers.
The Coffee Shop and Gift Shop followed after the development of another
farm building. All the food is prepared on the premises by trained staff
and the Gift Shop has a wonderful selection of merchandise. All in all a
very vibrant business employing 32 local people.
We all enjoyed listening to Sarah and Moira Peden gave the vote of
thanks.
Sarah had brought along a scrumptious Victoria Sponge, which formed part
of the raffle. The lucky recipient was Isabella Telford.
The winners of the competition for a kitchen utensil beginning with the
letter B were – 1st Margaret Hammond; 2nd Linda Aston and 3rd Moira
Peden.
The evening concluded with a lovely supper.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 3rd September. The speaker –
Susan Gill; Topic – Spinning/Knitting. The meeting commences at 7.15pm
and a friendly welcome awaits.
Flora Steele
14 JULY 2011
Our President, Barbara
Cock, welcomed members and six visitors to the July meeting of
Acklington Women’s Institute. Apologies were received from members
unable to attend.
A very short business meeting was held. June Pirie, the Secretary,
reported various items of correspondence received from National and
informed us that we had received an invitation from Warkworth to attend
their October meeting.
Our speaker for the evening was Mr Trevor Waddleton of Rothbury who gave
a very interesting, informative and humorous account of how people
‘will’ their property – his talk was entitled “Bizarre Bequests” and the
title fitted the description of the bequests he referred to very well.
Barbara Cock thanked Mr Waddleton.
All members then enjoyed a lovely pooled supper during which the raffle
was drawn and the competition winners announced.
The theme of the competition was – Something Bequeathed. The winners
were: - 1st Barbara Cock, 2nd Flora Steele and 3rd Linda Aston
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th August when Sarah, from the
Farm Shop at Widdrington, is coming to talk to us
We offer a warm welcome to anyone wishing to come along for the evening.
Flora Steele
10 MAY 2011
Members were welcomed to
the May meeting and various apologies received. It was reported that a
profit of £61 had been made at the ACT Table Top Sale in Acklington
Village Hall but as we still have items left it was decided to do a Car
Boot in Amble on 16th July.
Members were reminded of the Cake Break at the home of Margaret Hammond
in aid of Multiple Sclerosis on 23rd May.
Good luck to our team in the Reading Aloud competition.
Margaret Hammond then took us through the resolutions for the AGM
1.Proposed Mega Farms
Following much lively discussion we urge HM Government not to grant
planning permission for such projects
2. Closure of Local Libraries
Again, after much discussion we urge HM Government to maintain support
for local libraries.
Members enjoyed a pooled supper and raffle with plenty of time to chat
with each other. The competition for a topical limerick was won by Moira
Peden.
Next month will be a demonstration by Anne Burke from Amble Flower
Centre who will judge our efforts.
Barbara Cock
12 APRIL 2011
All were welcomed and many
apologies received, mainly due to illness. The Northumberland News was
gone through. Two resolutions have been proposed – Creation of Mega
Farms and Closure of Local Libraries. Various guided tours were
mentioned along with the County Lunch on 8th July and submissions for
the annual Darts & Dominoes events this Autumn/Winter. Acklington was
praised for gaining top place in the recent heats of the Reading Aloud
competition with June Barras, Barbara King and Wilma Nicoll gaining 91½
points and will now go onto the final on 19th May at Stannington. It was
decided to hold a Cake Break to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis on
23rd May from 3pm – 5pm at the house of Margaret Hammond. Barbara Cock
added that a table has been booked for the WI at the ACT Table Top Sale
on 30th April and could members bring along anything they think could
sell.
Peter Shee (Chairman) and Chris Foreman (Trustee and MacMillan Nurse
Co-ordinator) of Hospice Care Northumberland were then introduced as our
speakers for the evening. They started off with the History with Hospice
created in medieval times meaning ‘Old Ward’, mainly where travellers
rested. The 1st was in Dublin then St. Joseph in London which were
modernised In the 60’s by Cicely Saunders who, in 1995, opened four new
Hospices; Widdrington, Berwick and 2 in Alnwick and also a “Hospice At
Home” in Berwick. They are not just for cancer patients but for any
person with a life-limiting illness.
120 volunteers and 8 hospice at home teams save the Charity a great deal
of valuable money and can treat patients with all sorts of treatments
including – Self-Referral Day Care; Lymphoedema Support, Therapeutic
Clinics and Bereavement Support. Hospice At Home have ⅓ of patients aged
40-64, ⅔ Cancer, 50% End of Life and 50% Ongoing Support. They said that
people should be able to die where they want and is the aim of the NHS
and Government to achieve this. £300.000.00 needs to be raised from
Local Communities to achieve this and lots of sponsored events, plus
grants and donations including Gift Aid at 25p in every £1 goes towards
achieving this. It costs £1,250.00 per working day to provide care &
support for over 250 patients. Moira Peden gave the appreciation having
more in common with the speakers than they realised as she was an
Almoner during her working life looking after very ill/terminally ill
people in hospitals.
There was no competition this month but members were asked to sponsor a
Duck at the newly opened Mindrum Garden. This was followed by a lovely
supper and the raffle.
Next month will be discussion on the two resolutions along with a quiz
and games with the competition being for a ‘Topical Limerick’. As usual
our meetings are held every 2nd Tuesday in Acklington Village Hall and
start at 7.15pm. We would welcome any visitors / potential members to
join us on Tuesday 10th May.
Barbara King
18 MARCH 2011
MARCH 2011
Members of Acklington
Women’s Institute held their 89th Birthday Party at The Railway Inn, in
Acklington, on Tuesday 8th March.
After a very enjoyable
meal, birthday gifts were exchanged and two members—Barbara King and
Wilma Nicoll gave poetry readings.
The Secretary, June
Pirie, distributed the Northumberland News.
Barbara Cock, President, drew our attention to next month’s meeting when
the speaker will be Katie Drummond, the subject, Hospice Care. Anyone
who would like to come along to this meeting, which will be held in
Acklington Village Hall, on Tuesday 12th April at 7.15pm, will be made
very welcome
Flora Steele
FEBRUARY 2011
On Tuesday 8th
February members of Acklington WI were welcomed to the monthly meeting
by the President, Barbara Cock. Apologies were received from 3 members,
and we had the pleasure of greeting one new member, Shirley Rowntree and
one visitor Tina Young from Barking Mad.
June Pirie, the secretary, read the record of the previous meeting and
general business was discussed. It was decided that this year’s entry
to Warkworth Show would be a tea cup of flowers. The 89th
Birthday Party will be held at the Railway Inn, Acklington on Tuesday
March 8th and the menu was circulated.
Our speaker this month was John Hodge who gave us a very interesting
talk on dog handling. He has worked for 12 years in the capacity of dog
handling mostly in the pursuit of drugs. He told us how massive and
extensive the operation is in the field and explained, in great detail,
how the dogs are trained. He then went on to give a demonstration with
two of the dogs he had brought along with him.
It was a very interesting and enlightening talk which everyone enjoyed
and Olive Foster gave the vote of thanks.
The competition this month was a photograph of a dog and the winners
were: - 1st Margaret Hammond: 2nd Kath Gregor; 3rd
Linda Aston.
Afterwards we all had time to exchange news with friends as we enjoyed a
lovely pooled supper.
Flora Steele
DECEMBER 2010 AND
JANUARY 2011
It was party time at
the December meeting of Acklington Women’s Institute.
The uncertainty of weather conditions meant that we had to cancel the
party food from Pottergate Pantry and members provided the buffet which
we all enjoyed.
The evening continued with in-house entertainment which included poetry
reading and a spin on the round robin that some of us receive at
Christmastime.
The competition for a Christmas napkin was won by – 1st Margaret
Hammond: 2nd Linda Aston and 3rd Margaret Howie.
On Tuesday January 11th Barbara Cock welcomed members to the first
meeting of 2011. Apologies were received from members unable to attend.
Items from the Northumberland News were discussed. One team will be
entered for the Reading Aloud competition and two teams for the Carpet
Bowls.
Our Guest speaker was Pat Bagshaw – Subject: History of the Teddy Bear.
Pat brought with her a huge basket of Teddy Bears of all shapes and
sizes and gave us a very interesting talk backed up with lots of
pictorial information that she had collected over many years. It was a
lovely topic to begin the New Year and we all enjoyed Pat’s talk, her
love teddy bears and her enthusiasm was very compelling and made us all
bring to memory the happy times we had had with our own child hood
bears.
Wilma Nicoll proposed the vote of thanks.
Members enjoyed a lovely supper and Pat judged the competition for a
teddy bear. 1st Rosemary Patterson: 2nd Wilma Nicoll; 3rd Flora Steele.
Our next meeting will be held in the Village Hall on 8th February. The
subject will be ‘Dog Handling’ with John Hodge as speaker. If you would
like to come along and listen to John’s presentation, the meeting begins
at 7.15pm.
Flora Steele
NOVEMBER 2010
Our President, Barbara
Cock, welcomed members to the November meeting of Acklington Women’s
Institute. apologies were received from 3 members unable to attend. June
Pirie, Secretary, read the minutes of the Annual Meeting and they were
approved and signed.
The Newsletter was discussed, lots to get involved in including
Federation Writer in Residence competition; Christmas at Creswell House;
Researcher Helen Kendell of Newcastle University would like to go
through a questionnaire with anyone who is interested in food and there
is an album featuring the WI singing group ‘Harmonies’, which includes
Jerusalem and other new pop songs, plus lots more.
Dates for the diary include – Carpet Bowls at Stamfordham on 3rd March
when 2 teams will be entered. An invitation has been received from
Warkworth WI to their Christmas Fair in Warkworth on Wed 24th November.
After the business meeting Graham Cock took us on a Greek Odyssey and
what better way to spend a cold, wet, wintry evening than being basked
in sunshine and take a trip through beautiful Greek countryside. The
photography was stunning and the commentary very informative and highly
entertaining. We travelled through the beautiful Island of Corfu, saw a
little old lady selling matches, colourful bazaars selling everything
you could wish for and never seem to close and the imposing fortress –
the Castle of St. George – and the lovely Harbour. We travelled on to
Cephalonia, an island which suffered a devastating earthquake in 1953
lasting 17 seconds and causing widespread damage. The scenery was breath
taking; we saw beautiful old buildings covered in Bougainvillea with its
vibrant colour, olive groves and very colourful fishing boats in the
harbour. Our final destination was Athens. The splendour of the
Parthenon and Hadrian’s Library were two of the many fascinating
historic buildings we saw, many still under restoration but nevertheless
wonderful and awe inspiring. Graham did point out that Hadrian did at
least build us a wall!!
At the conclusion, Margaret Howie proposed the vote of thanks for a
truly interesting Odyssey.
Afterwards, we all enjoyed a lovely supper. The competition for a
favourite piece of pottery was won by – 1st Margaret Hammond – 2nd Flora
Steele and 3rd Moira Peden.
The December meeting is ‘Party Time’ – venue Village Hall, Acklington,
time 7.15pm – catering will be by Pottergate Pantry of Alnwick.
The darts team hosted Shilbottle in the next round and what an exciting
evenly matched game it was with Shilbottle just pipping us to the post.
Flora Steele
October 2010
The 89th Annual Meeting
was a very colourful affair—all members wearing a hat—the range of
colours and styles was amazing. Barbara Cock, our President, opened the
meeting and apologies were received from members unable to attend.
The October Newsletter was read—a team will be entered for the Reading
Aloud Competition and it was noted that Acklington received a special
mention due to June Barras being Ordained at St. Nicholas Church,
Newcastle in July.
As this was a Business meeting, Olive Foster, the treasurer, produced
the financial report and was thanked by Barbara. The secretary, June
Pirie, read the Annual Report and Barbara Cock reported on a busy and
enjoyable year and thanked everyone for their support to her and the
committee.
Barbara then introduced Brenda Houlison, our Women’s Institute Adviser,
who brought us up to date with what is going on in the Northumberland
Federation. She brought with her a tea towel and modelled a kitchen
apron which are being marketed by the WI. Brenda gave us an overview of
WI groups in Northumberland and ended her talk with a poem entitled
“Dust if you must” which was very funny.
Barbara King gave a vote of thanks to the committee and members voted
for the President. Barbara Cock was re-elected.
The annual competition winners were announced and were:-
1st Wilma Nicoll—2nd Moira Peden, 3rd Barbara King
Over supper we enjoyed a Cryptic Quiz which made for lots of laughter
and scratching of heads. This month’s competition—wear a hat—was won
by:-
1st June Barras—2nd Wilma Nicoll—3rd Barbara Cock
On the 9th November our speaker will be Graham Cock, who will take us on
a Greek Odyssey. The meeting starts at 7.15pm and if you would like some
sunshine, please come along. All visitors are made very welcome.
The darts team (Barbara Cock, Olive Foster, Margaret Hammond & Barbara
King) won their match against Eglingham and will now meet either Roddam
or Shilbottle in the next round.
Flora Steele
September 2010
Our President, Barbara
Cock, welcomed members to the September meeting. Apologies were received
from 8 members.
After completing the business section, Barbara introduced Samantha Lomas
who gave a very interesting talk and demonstration on felt making and
the history. She brought along some beautiful samples of her work
together with skeins of sheep wool from which the felt is made and
samples after felting. They included Norwegian, Shetland, Welsh Black,
Texel, Ronaldsay, Cheviot, Blue Faced, Leicester and Herdwick. The
demonstration was fascinating and Samantha produced a beautiful piece of
felt.
As she demonstrated the art of felt making it was obvious what hard work
is involved to produce the felt, before going on to dye and make it up
into the finished article.
Barbara thanked Samantha for a very interesting talk and demonstration.
This month’s competition was for an article made from felt. Samantha was
the judge and the winners were: - 1st Moira Peden; 2nd Wilma Nicol and
3rd Margaret Hammond.
The Annual Meeting will be held on October 12th at 7.15pm in Acklington
village Hall. Visitors will be made very welcome.
Flora Steele
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21st August 2010
Congratulations to
Margaret Hammond for winning the Acklington WI Crystal Bowl at the
Warkworth Show with her Bakewell Tart. Other entries were
submitted by - Barbara Cock, Olive Foster, Barbara King and June Pirie
(2nd).
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August 2010
Three committee members
showed us how to quickly and simply make a pudding. June Pirie started
off with her very easy rich Tiramisu followed by Wilma Nicoll with her
cold Danish Rice Pudding, served with hot cherries and finally Barbara
Cock, with the help of her grand-daughter Lucy, demonstrated her own
version of Eton Mess. All were available for tasting and didn’t last
long.
The competition for a kitchen utensil beginning with ‘C’ was—1st with a
Cherry Pipper, Margaret Hammond—2nd with her special Champagne Corker
(lets the gas escape first), Wilma Nicoll and 3rd Moira Peden with a
wonderful coffee grinder.
The usual super supper followed by the raffle ended another interesting
meeting.
The next meeting will be held on 14th September in Acklington Village
Hall at 7.15pm and is a demonstration and talk on feltmaking with
Samantha Lomas.
All visitors are welcome.
Barbara King
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July 2010
Mrs Margaret Hammond,
Vice President, welcomed members to the July meeting. Apologies were
received from Jean Shaw. The minutes of the previous meetings were read
and approved.
There were many items discussed in the business meeting, including
orders of diaries and calendars for 2010, Darts & Dominoes competition
dates and various events which are to take place in the area, this
included an invitation by Brizlee WI of Alnwick to their July meeting –
3 members are to attend.
After the business meeting Margaret Hammond welcomed Patricia Gatherum
who gave a very graphic talk on Human Trafficking and the tragic
circumstances in which desperately poor people find themselves as they
try to improve their lives and the lives of their families on false
promises made to them by the perpetrators of this terrible trade. Wilma
Nicoll proposed the vote of thanks. After Patricia had concluded her
talk a very good discussion took place on the various points brought to
our attention.
We all enjoyed a lovely supper. The hostesses were Olive Foster and
Barbara Staniforth.
The competition for a topical limerick was won by – Wilma Nicoll with
Moira Peden 2nd and Linda Aston 3rd.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday August 10th in the
Village Hall, Acklington – the topic is Summer Puddings.
Flora Steele
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June 2010
On a damp, cool June
evening 13 members visited the beautiful gardens at Whalton Manor. We
entered the gardens through a small side door; itself a beautiful
example of architectural design, and what a treat in store. The walls of
the house were covered in Wisteria, and rose beds were formally arranged
in the lawns.
The garden had been designed by Gertrude Jekyll in 1908 and, although
altered over time, the essence of her work is still very apparent. The
herbaceous borders were stunning. Our guide, the owner, was so
enthusiastic about her garden and she took us on a tour where we did not
miss any of the lovely plants and beautiful features the garden offers,
including the Irises – stunning, the miniature lilac with its amazing
perfume and a host of roses just coming in to bloom, to name just a few.
The Laburnum trees provided a huge yellow dome as we walked under them,
truly spectacular.
We saw lovely summer houses and pergolas on our tour and a beautiful
paved court yard, all the work of Edward Lutyens.
 We
all enjoyed the lovely home made refreshments followed by a visit to the
plant stalls area where many of us purchased some beautiful and very
healthy plants.
It was a lovely evening which we all enjoyed and our President, Barbara
Cock, thanked our host for the very interesting tour.
Our next meeting will be held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 13th
July at 7.15pm. The subject – Human Trafficking. Visitors are always
welcome.
Flora Steele
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May 2010
Members were welcomed by President Mrs Barbara Cock to the May meeting.
Apologies were given on behalf of June Barras and Gladys Williamson. The
minutes of the March meeting were read and items from the Northumberland
News discussed.
There was a unanimous show of hands for The Resolution – Mandatory
Labelling of Food with Country of Origin.
Janet Bell distributed the updated list of members. A list was also
circulated for 2011 diaries and calendar, and names were taken for the
Darts & Dominoes competitions.
Barbara Cock informed the meeting that Olive Foster and Janet Bell had
raised £34.25 net after expenses at the Table Top Sale held in the
Village Hall. June Pirie had made some small drawstring bags and
embroidered them with initials – they were very popular.
After the business part of the meeting was concluded and we were joined
by other members of the community, Barbara King took us on Part Two of
her wonderful World Tour with John Davison in charge of visual effects.
Barbara left Tokyo for Australia, stopping off at Cairns, Brisbane and
Melbourne before arriving at Adelaide for a reunion with her Aunt &
Uncle – suitcase lost! She was driven firstly to Mawson Lake’s for a two
day stay with her Cousin – suitcase delivered – before a 4 hour drive to
Port Augusta, located in the red desert in the Outback, a meeting place
for the Aborigine people and knows as The Cross Roads of Australia. The
scenery from her relative’s house was stunning with Salt Pans, Spencer’s
Gulf (named after Princess Diana’s Great, Great, Great, Great, Great
Grandfather) and the Flinders Ranges, named after Captain Matthew
Flinders RN who was born in Donnington, Lincolnshire in 1774 who
navigated and chartered much of the Australian coast. Barbara took a
cruise up and down the Spencer Gulf and saw huge mangrove swamps and
dolphins close up as they swam by the side of the boat.
Visits to Orroroo, Quorn with its colonial architecture and the
beautiful Warren Gorge were all very memorable. She saw some of
Australia’s unusual wildlife including the Lorikeet, Blue Tongued Lizard
(Sleepies) and the Bearded Lizard made stunning pictures.
From Adelaide Barbara travelled to Dookie, Victoria to stay with her
ex-neighbours from Acklington, Barbara & Roger Turnbull, who had gained
another dog called Toby. By contrast, this was a very green area and
lovely little town of 250 people – it had its own sports stadium and
university among many other facilities and where she saw the beautiful
and enchanting Koala Bears.
Onto Auckland, New Zealand where she visited the Queen Street shopping
area, went up the 328m Sky Tower, Mount Eden Volcano with its beautiful
gardens and stunning Lilies and saw some of the craters left by long
dead volcanoes.
From Auckland she flew to Los Angeles – travelled on the Christopher
Columbus Highway, visited Beverley Hills, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard,
Hollywood and the Walk of Fame.
Onto Toronto and the Niagara Falls – spectacular. The Maid of the Mist
tours closed for the season but Barbara went under the Falls instead –
very wet!
From there back to Acklington via Heathrow & Newcastle – what a
wonderful tour.
Barbara Cock thanked Barbara for sharing her whistle stop tour, a trip
of a lifetime, with us and presented her with a gift token in
appreciation and to thank John for his help, a bottle of sherry.
This month’s competition for a Sprig of Spring Flowers was 1st Linda
Aston, 2nd Olive Foster, and 3rd Flora Steele.
Next month there is a visit to Whalton Manor Gardens.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 2010
Dubai, Cape Town and Tokyo were the destinations for the Open
Evening of Acklington WI held on Tuesday 13th April.
WI member, Barbara King, took us on the first part of her Round the
World in 40 Days Tour by
aeroplane (Part Two will be shown on Tuesday 11th May at 8pm) stopping
firstly at Dubai—a very opulent resort where she stayed in a luxurious
hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea—known locally as ‘The Creek’.
Obviously a memorable visit from the breathtaking architecture to the
bazaars selling gold and spices and, amongst the many things she did
(and possibly the most memorable) was the Desert Safari by 4 x 4 jeep
scaling the heights and depths of the desert dunes, quite hair raising
followed by a visit to the Bedouin Camp at sunset which looked
spectacular where she enjoyed a typical delicious Arabic meal.
Her next visit was to Cape Town—the photography was stunning, Table
Mountain looked magnificent and Barbara was lucky to get to the top
before the cloud cover (known locally as ‘The Blanket’) came in and the
cable car stopped. The views were breath-taking. Albert & Victoria
Waterfront Bay looked beautiful with the foam topped waves rolling in.
She also told us that many of the main roads in Cape Town bear the names
of our Royal Family.
She also related her most frightening experience of losing her passport
just before starting the next leg of her journey to Tokyo.
Here she saw the Bullet train, visited Ginza (Silver) Street—expensive &
exclusive; got lost!! and enjoyed a City Tour plus lots more.
Our President, Mrs Barbara Cock, proposed the vote of thanks and we all
shared our appreciation to Barbara for her narrative of the tour, which
was very interesting along with the stunning photography. She was ably
accompanied by John Davison who was in charge of ensuring he put the
correct slide upto coincide with what Barbara was saying.
After the film show we all enjoyed a lovely supper.
The competition for a holiday photograph was judged by one of our
visitors and was won by 1st Olive Foster; 2nd Barbara Cock and 3rd
Gladys Williamson.
We had a very short business meeting.
The next meeting will be held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 11th
May at 7.15pm. The final
session of Barbara’s Round the World Tour will start at 8pm. Please come
along and enjoy the evening and that includes Men.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 2010
20 members, including 1 new member, enjoyed a lovely meal at The
Railway Inn, Acklington to celebrate their 88th birthday and afterwards
exchanged gifts.
On Monday 22nd February four members attended a workshop at South
Gosforth to learn about Sashiko Quilting. Our instructor was Mary
Clementson who explained the history of Sashiko work – basically a type
of stitch the Japanese workers would use to repair their dark navy
workwear. She explained also that each family had their own design in a
similar way to the Guernsey designs that are used by fishermen and are
familiar to us by the distinctive ribbed patterns used across the
shoulder.
We worked the designs in white thread on a navy blue background and the
results were stunning. The end product from the workshop was a small
bag, designed on the style of the bags the Japanese use when they go to
collect their Sushi.
On Wednesday 13th March, 2 teams from Acklington played Carpet Bowls in
the Annual Competition at St. James’ Alnwick and, although we didn’t
win, we all had a very enjoyable day.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th April in Acklington
Village Hall when Barbara King will give the first part of her slide
show entitled “Around the World in 40 Days”, which she undertook in
2008. Part one begins at 7.15pm and is open to all. Please see page 13
of the March edition of the Pelican for further details. A small buffet
will be available after the show.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 2010
Our President, Mrs Barbara Cock, welcomed members to the first
meeting of 2010 and wished everyone a Happy New Year. Apologies were
received from Rosemary Patterson.
The guest speaker this month was Louise Frederique of Cabosse Fine
Chocolates & Patisserie of Dial Place, Warkworth. She gave us a very
interesting insight into the world of chocolate from its beginning on
the Cacao tree and the many processes it goes through before we enjoy
its tantalizing taste.
Louise had brought with her a pod containing the cocoa bean, which was
passed around for all to see. She explained that the pods develop on the
trunk and not the branches of the Cacao tree and that they only grow in
the equatorial region. She also brought some of the tools of her trade
and explained how she melts the chocolate then pours it onto a granite
slab and works very quickly with the liquid to make the chocolate ready
to coat the insides of the moulds before filling with one of the many
delectable ganaches that she also makes. It was fascinating listening to
her and all the members thoroughly enjoyed her talk. She brought us some
of her lovely chocolates, which we all appreciated.
After Louise had given her talk we then turned to the business section
of the meeting and we read and discussed items from the January &
February Northumberland Newsletter.
Hopefully, 6 members will attend the Sashiko Japanese Quilting day to be
held at Gosforth on 22nd February. The Carpet Bowls competition will be
held at St. James’ entre, Alnwick on Wednesday 3rd March – we have
entered 2 teams. It was proposed that we look at the possibility of
holding a craft class in the village hall for interested members under
the guidance of June Pirie, to start March/April, to be discussed
further. Janet Bell, Programme Secretary, circulated the menu for our
88th Birthday party to be held at The Railway Inn, Acklington on Tuesday
9th march.
Our entry for the Warkworth Show this year will be a Bakewell Tart from
the Bero Book. The April/May meetings will include a slide show of
Barbara King’s World Tour. More information will be published in The
Pelican.
The competition this month was 3 chocolate biscuits. There were eleven
entries. 1st – Audrey Thurgood; 2nd Margaret Hammond; 3rd June Pirie.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------January 2010
Meeting cancelled due to inclement weather.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 2009
Our President, Mrs Barbara Cock, welcomed 19 members to the
Christmas Party held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 8th December.
The competition this month was for a Christmas Table Decoration. The 13
entries were used to enhance the dining and buffet tables, making a
lovely Christmas atmosphere. There were little treats of chocolate and
perfume provided by Janet Bell. June Pirie presented everyone with a
hand made small black velvet bag containing tea bags, by Taylors Tea,
which she had beautifully decorated in cross stitch in the Christmas
theme of Robins, Holly and Mistletoe and personalised for each member
with their initials, well done June.
We had a lovely buffet, supplied by Pottergate Pantry of Alnwick. It was
delicious and most members had seconds!
The entertainment for the evening was a pantomime entitled ‘Jack and the
Beanstalk Got It Wrong’. Barbara King was the narrator and Wilma Nicoll
prompted audience participation. There were three mimers (Barbara Cock,
Olive Foster and Janet Bell) plus Rosebud the cow played by Margaret
Hammond at the front and Flora Steele at the back in a costume which was
hired from The Alnwick Playhouse. The pantomime lasted 20 minutes and
was videoed so the players could see themselves afterwards. It was
terrific fun and all players and audience had a really happy evening.
The competition winners were – 1st June Pirie, 2nd Wilma Nicoll and 3rd
Audrey Thurgood.
Our next meeting will be held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 12th
January 2010 at 7.15pm.
All visitors will be made very welcome.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25th November 2009
DARTS TEAM
Unfortunately for us,
Hepple beat us in the next round. Never mind, there is always next
year!
18th November 2009
DARTS TEAM
After a disastrous start, the team of Barbara Cock, Olive Foster,
Margaret Hammond and Barbara King got their act together and went on to
win the first round of the annual Northumberland WI Darts League against
Cresswell Women’s Institute and will now go on to play Hepple at
Rothbury on Wednesday 25th November.
November 2009
Our President, Mrs Barbara Cock, welcomed members and four visitors to
the November meeting held in Acklington Village Hall. The minutes of the
88th Annual Meeting held in October were read and approved.
Various items from the Northumbrian Newssheet were discussed, in
particular the 2011 calendar – ‘Gardens in Northumberland’; the
invitation to enjoy a mince pie and mulled wine at Boundary Mill; to
take part in the National Trust Wildlife Habitats 2009 Garden Birds
Survey and an opportunity to enjoy a day Quilting the Japanese Way
Janet Bell, programme secretary, has compiled the 2010 programme which
includes a very wide range of subjects of interest and it has been
printed by the Secretary, June Pirie.
We then went on to have very enjoyable ‘hands on’ evening learning about
Sugar Craft, demonstrated by our Vice-President, Mrs Margaret Hammond.
Margaret had made and iced a cake, which she subsequently used to show
us how to do free form icing using a forcing bag. She then went on to
show us how to make roses, daisies, small flowers and leaves using
fondant icing. As she demonstrated the craft the cake was gradually
transformed as she decorated it with the lovely flowers and leaves she
had made. The final result was stunning.
We then tried to replicate what she had taught us and the results were
truly outstanding. It was a very enjoyable evening. Our efforts were
judged for the monthly competition and the winners were – 1st Barbara
King, 2nd Doreen Colbourne/ and 3rd Olive Foster. The cake was raffled
and won by Flora Steele.
Our next meeting - Tuesday 8th December will be the Christmas Party.
Pottergate Pantry will supply the buffet and there will be ‘In House’
entertainment!!
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 2009
October is the month for the Annual Meeting and Prudence Marks, the
Women’s Institute Adviser, was in attendance. The formalities of the AM
were gone through and the treasurer gave a written report of the current
finances. The secretary gave her report on what had happened each month
and the President gave their annual reports of how the Institute had
faired throughout the year and hoped that next year could be even better
and maybe recruit some younger members. Prudence gave some very helpful
tips on fund raising of which the Institute will adopt some of them. The
current committee were stood down and immediately re-elected. Barbara
Cock, once again, agreed to be the President for another year. June
Pirie stays as secretary and Olive Foster agreed to continue as
treasurer.
The trophy winner for the overall annual competitions was Barbara Cock
followed by joint second places of Linda Aston and Wilma Nicoll with
Olive Foster third. All were given small prizes for their achievements.
During supper the WIA chose the first, second and third places in the
competition for a favourite necklace won by Moira Peden, second Barbara
King and third Gladys Williamson.
Their were several raffle prizes this month so this took some time and
several lucky winners went home with an extra gift.
The next meeting, on Tuesday 9th November at 7.15pm in Acklington
Village Hall will be Sugar Craft as demonstrated by one of our members
Margaret Hammond. There is sure to be a lot of sticky fingers that night
and some very interesting creations! All visitors are extremely welcome.
Barbara King
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"ACKLINGTON WOMEN'S INSTITUTE VISIT TO THE RNLI IN AMBLE
Following a talk by the RNLI at Acklington Institute in July we were
invited to pay them a visit so on Tue 6 Oct 09 several members and some
of their guests paid a visit to the RNLI in Amble. A talk and slide show
was given showing the RNLI in action, how they are trained, where they
are based and the area that is covered. We were then split into two
groups and taken round the 'Four Boys' All Weather lifeboat, the Inshore
lifeboat and the operations/dressing room.
It was certainly an enlightening visit as none of us realised just how
much the boats contained or how many actual people they can take on
board. The Four Boys can travel virtually anywhere and can take around
60 people, although there is only seating for 9 crammed together down in
the depths of the boat, all others standing on top holding onto the
safety rails. The In-shore boat can take upto 6 but is limited to where
it can actually go mainly staying nearer to the shore.
All life guards clothing is set out in separate compartments for each
individual person and made ready to put on immediately they are summoned
to a rescue. It all looked very neat and regimental which will save a
lot of time instead of scrambling around for clothing that fits.
The RNLI welcome anyone to go and have a look around and especially
parties of people, but it is better to contact them first so they can
have everything ready and people available."
Barbara King
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 2009
Our President, Mrs
Barbara Cock, welcomed members to the September meeting. The minutes of
the August meeting were read and approved.
The Northumberland Newsletter was read and items discussed. Our
President informed us that this will be the last Newsletter until
January 2010 due to the amalgamation of the Federations. We will,
however, receive a shortened version until then.
Our speaker was Mr Jack Herdman and the topic—Turkish Delight—not the
confectionary but a slide show of a holiday he had taken in Turkey. The
wonderful sights of the ancient city of Ephesus, the bustling port of
Kusadasi and the resort of Pamakkall were all very interesting and the
photography was beautiful.
The competition for the most interesting holiday souvenir was won by
Gladys Williamson, 2nd Olive Foster and 3rd Moira Peden.
After supper we had a very full discussion on the forthcoming Open
Afternoon on Sunday 4th October in Acklington Village Hall. We hope our
invitations to this event will be widely accepted.
Our current members are working hard to make sue that the afternoon will
be successful and enjoyable, giving the WI an opportunity to show the
wide range of interests and activities that are regularly enjoyed by our
members.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th October in Acklington
Village Hall at 7.15pm.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------August 2009
The President, Mrs
Barbara Cock, welcomed members and three guests from North Broomhill to
the August meeting.
Barbara said that a letter of thanks had been sent to Winefride Noble
thanking her for all her many years of hard work on the WI committee.
Although still a member, Winefride has had to resign from the committee
due to the ill health of her husband. We all wish them well for
the future. Barbara Stanforth (a new member) has kindly offered to
stand in until the AGM in October.
The minutes of the July meeting were read by the Secretary, Mrs June
Pirie, and approved. The Northumberland Newsletter was read and various
items discussed.
Birthday gifts were presented to Janet Bell, Barbara King and Jean Shaw.
We then turned our attention to the task of ‘Iris-Folding’. Joyce
Woodcock and Heather Young of Cornhill WI had come to show us how to
create a greetings card using this fascinating craft. They had brought
along a large selection of coloured card strips from which we chose our
colour scheme and then, following a pattern, we created the most
beautiful cards finishing them off with gold and/or silver
embellishments. Joyce and Heather’s guidance kept us on the right track
and we were all pleased with the results. Quite a number of the cards
are being entered in the craft section at Warkworth Show on 22nd August.
It will be interesting to see if they choose the same winning cards as
Joyce and Heather did. They chose 1st Linda Aston; 2nd Flora
Steele and 3rd Karen Parker
The evening concluded with an enjoyable supper and the raffle was drawn.
The next meeting will be held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 8th
September at 7.15pm. Visitors are always welcome.
Flora Steele
THE FINISHED CARDS
1st
2nd 3rd
Flora Steele won
the Iris Folding Card competition (middle card on front row) at the
Warkworth Show
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------July
2009
RNLI AMBLE
Ingrid March
Barbara Cock
wearing the full
inshore clothing
wearing the
offshore life jacket
President, Barbara Cock, welcomed members of Acklington WI to the
July meeting. A record of the May and June meetings were read and
correspondence dealt with.
Barbara King then spoke about the voluntary work she does for Age
Concern called ‘The Rural Access Project’.
Our speakers for the evening were John Young and Rodney Budge from
the Amble RNLI. They gave us a talk about the history of the RNLI
and showed films of them in action. Ingrid Marsh was then
volunteered to don the All Weather Gear and Barbara Cock the
in-shore life jacket.
The monthly competition was won by Barbara Cock for a kitchen
utensil beginning with B.
The next meeting will be held at Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday
11th August at 7.15pm. All visitors will be made very welcome.
June Pirie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------June 2009
Visit to
'Kaleidoscope', Paint Your Own Pottery, Morpeth
Pottery before glazing
Pottery after glazing
On Tuesday 9th June we all
arrived at Kaleidoscope wondering what we letting ourselves in for.
Alison welcomed members and firstly explained what exactly we would be
doing. Each member then chose a piece of pottery to paint.
With much laughter and concentration the pots and plates were finished.
Alison then had the hard task of judging them. Congratulating us
all on our attempts she awarded first place to June Pirie, second Mary
Sammons and joint third to Barbara Cock and Margaret Hammond.
Barbara Cock thanked Alison on behalf of everyone for a very enjoyable
evening. Margaret Hammond volunteered to collect all the
pottery once it had been glazed.
The correspondence was dealt with and teams would be entered for the
darts and domino competitions.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 14th July at 7.15pm in Acklington
Village Hall
June Pirie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 2009
At the May meeting
the President, Mrs Barbara Cock, welcomed everyone. Mrs June Pirie read
the minutes of the previous meeting and they were approved. The
Northumberland Newsletter was read and members discussed various items
of interest.
The birthday girls were June Pirie, Jean McDougal and Barbara Stanforth.
They were each presented with a gift.
The Resolution this year is ‘SOS for the Honey Bees’. We enjoyed a bee
awareness talk given by Mr B Ripley, Vice chairman of Alnwick & District
Bee Keeping Association, which was fascinating, interesting and very
informative.
From the Resolution briefing we had already received informing us of
what is being done at present, how we can help, and what the various
agencies concerned are doing, Mr Ripley brought all this information
into sharp focus during his explanation of what is happening to the bee
population.
He told us that there is great concern regarding the health of the Honey
Bee worldwide and research into the ‘Varroa Mite’ (which comes from
Asia) and how to overcome it and other blood diseases that are already
reducing bee colonies is crucial to the bee populations survival. Mrs
Barbara Cock thanked Mr Ripley for his very interesting presentation.
The competition—a house plant—was won by Barbara King—2nds Flora
Steele—3rd Margaret Howie.
To conclude the evening a very tasty super was enjoyed by all.
For our June meeting we are visiting Kaleidoscope Pottery, Morpeth where
we will paint a pot.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------April
2009
Our President, Barbara
Cock, welcomed all members of Acklington Women's Institute to the April
meeting.
The minutes of previous meetings were read by the secretary June Pirie
and were approved.
Three members - Margaret Howie, Barbara King and Wilma Nicoll - recently
took part in the Reading Aloud competition held at Belford. They
were thanked by the President.
The Northumbrian Newsletter was distributed, together with the
Resolution briefing - SOS for Honey Bees.
A birthday gift was presented to Moira Peden.
A limerick entitled 'There was a young man called Gerry' was this
month's competition. The entries were very amusing, and the
winners were - 1st Margaret Howie, 2nd Barbara Cock, 3rd Moira Peden.
The guest speaker for the evening was Mr Gerry Evans - the topic -
What's in a name, His talk was very informative, beginning with
Biblical names, progressing through the ages to present time. We
all found it very interesting and entertaining. Margaret Howie
thanked Mr Evans on behalf of everyone.
We all enjoyed a lovely supper, and to conclude the evening Wilma Nicoll
and Barbara King entertained us to a repeat of their performance at the
Reading Aloud competition.
The next meting will be held in Acklington Village Hall at 7.15pm on
Tuesday 12th May. All visitors will be made very welcome.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 2009
We began the March
meeting by raising our glasses to toast Acklington Women’s Institutes
87th birthday. The toast was proposed by our President, Mrs Barbara
Cock.
A delicious buffet, supplied by Pottergate pantry of Alnwick was enjoyed
by everyone, followed by the exchange of presents, which was great fun.
After the lovely meal and exchange of presents, we were entertained by
Mr & Mrs Gilbert with an excellent film of their visit to Namibia and
Botswana. The photography was truly outstanding of the very varied wild
life, as was Mrs Gilbert’s vivid description of the trip. The
background music, so evocative of Africa transported us through their
journey which was absolutely magical.
The Northumbrian Newsletter, together with a schedule of forthcoming
events was circulated to all members.
Our next meeting will be held in Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 14th
April commencing at 7.15pm. All visitors will be made very welcome.
Flora Steele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 2009
Visit to Sanofi Aventis on 10 February 2009
Picture taken in the Pharmacy with WI members and researchers
Starting with a slide show explaining that Sanofi Aventis Alnwick is
just one of 100 world wide centres and explaining all the processes that
go into the research of vaccines, and drugs which can take about 12 yrs
before production we had a thoroughly interesting and informative visit
following a meticulously planned programme. We were taken round many of
the departments where researchers gave us an insight into the work they
do. This was followed by a specially prepared supper and very welcome
tea/coffee.
A very short WI meeting took place arranging details for the Institutes
birthday next month, which will be a hot supper at £5 per head and slide
show of Wild In Botswana deferred from January. It was decided that a
team of 3 will enter the Reading Aloud competition this year.
Birthday gifts were given to Margaret Hammond, Ingrid March, Winefride
Noble and Flora Steele.
Before leaving we were all given a goodie bag with literature, pen,
mints and lanyard.
An excellent evening.
We welcome any visitors to our held on the second Tuesday of each month at
7.15pm in Acklington
Village Hall.
Barbara King
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 2009
Barbara Cock extended a Happy New Year to all members. Birthday gifts
were given to the January birthday girls. Members were asked to vote in
priority their selections for this years resolutions. The usual business
matters were gone through and then we all sat back for a slide show of
‘Wild in Botswana’ by Mr & Mrs Gilbert, who have shown us several
extremely interesting slide shows of their travels in the past. Sadly,
the speaker refused to work, despite several attempts and one member
dashing back to her house to retrieve a small screwdriver. All was not
lost though as Mr & Mrs Gilbert, quite off the top of their heads, told
us some interesting and often hilarious stories of their adventures.
Both Mr & Mrs Gilbert were totally in tune with each other and when one
stopped the other carried on as though it was the most natural thing for
them to do. We were totally captivated by their wonderful tales and
Moira Peden gave them a well deserved appreciation which was echoed by
us all. Mr & Mrs Gilbert hope to return in March, when the speaker is
fixed, to show us the film, which we all eagerly look forward to now
that we have had a taster.
Mr & Mrs Gilbert judged the competition for the funniest Christmas card
which was won by Janet Bell.
Next month is the trip to Sanofi Avensis and arrangements were made for
transportation.
Barbara King
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 2008
We celebrated Christmas with our meal/party, held in our village hall.
We were entertained at the start by Gill Hambleton, Artistic Director of
the Northumberland Touring Theatre Company, and a very talented lady she
was. We all sat enthralled as she talked and acted her way through her
presentation. Alnwick are very fortunate to have such a talent in their
midst. We then had a super buffet provided by the Pottergate Pantry and
what a delight that was. It was accompanied by a glass of wine or soft
drinks. The competition for the prettiest wrapped parcel was won by
Barbara Cock; Flora second; and Roma third. Mrs June Pirie had made
every member a pretty gift of tea bags in a decorated card chest. All in
all, a very lovely evening.
A Happy New Year to you all.
Mary Sammons
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