This scarf was left behind in the WI Hall on Carnival Day (Saturday 13th July 2019)…
Clubs
Couture Millinery
In July Oggie Weldon gave us a a talk and demonstration of “Couture Millinery”. Oggie was originally a private secretary but when her boss sadly died she took up hat making as a hobby. She did several courses and then began making hats for family and friends before eventually turning her hobby into a business…
Archaeological Dig Opportunity in Clare
There is an opportunity for anyone interested in having some practical archaeological excavation experience locally in Clare between 9th and 13th September…
Ugandan Asians at Stradishall 1972
The Wickhambrook Local History Society has been invited to be involved in an exciting oral history project being taken forward by the India Overseas Trust…
11th W.I. Literary Lunch with Terry Waite
The Eleventh Wickhambrook WI Literary Lunch was held in the WI Hall on Friday 21st June. This year we were very fortunate to have Terry Waite as our guest speaker…
Visit to Lackford Lakes
On Tuesday 18th June a group of Wickhambrook WI members plus one or two husbands and friends made a third visit to Lackford Lakes. As on previous occasions the manager of the site, Will, took us round on a guided walk…
There’s a book in Everyone
“There’s a book in Everyone” was the title of this month’s talk. Jeanette Moser- Bardouleau, accompanied by her husband Alan, came to inspire us to take up writing as a form of therapy and a way to commit to paper memories of life and experiences…
Outdoor Bowls Club July/August News
With the playing season now well under way the weather has been particularly kind mostly being dry for the Club sessions (10.30 a.m. start Tuesday and 2.30 p.m. Sunday for those who wish to come along) with enough rain in between for the watering system not to have been deployed so far. The after-school club run by the Wickhambrook Primary Academy each Monday at the green has not had rain stop play to date!
Missing Board
by Dorothy AndersonFollowing our Spring Fair at the WI Hall in April, one of our advertising boards has gone missing. They are large boards with photographs which we use to publicise WI events. It was securely tied to a pole in Ashfield Green, so it is unlikely to...
History of The Elveden Hall Estate and its development to a modern farm
At our last meeting of the season before the summer outings, we welcomed Ian Robertson who talked on the Elveden Estate and how it evolved from a country estate to a modern farm…
W.I. AGM 2019 and Blind Auction
As usual the May Meeting of the WI takes the form of the AGM. This involves a recap on the year’s activities plus reports from the various groups which run throughout the the year. This includes two walking groups, two reading groups and a newly formed craft group meeting on a Saturday morning. We also had the Secretary’s report and a roundup from the President…
AGM and The 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Cambridge Music Society
At the April meeting of the History Society, the evening started with the AGM. The Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer reported on a successful year and members re-elected all committee members to serve for a further year, thus showing great faith in the team…
W.I. Spring Fair 2019
The weather for the Spring Fair was a bit chilly, but there was a warm welcome in the WI Hall for those in search of tea, cake, craft and books. There was a chance to win a hamper or one of the many raffle prizes and eight children braved the hail showers to look for treasure (well, 20 pieces of Lego each) which could be exchanged for an Easter Egg or Chocolate Rabbit…
CAMSIGHT
The April meeting was originally billed as a talk by the RNIB but in fact turned out to be an interesting introduction to CAMSIGHT. Sally Nott spoke passionately about an organisation that many of us were unaware of…
Outdoor Bowls Club May/June News
By the time you read this the new playing season will have started and the use of the bowls green will be in full swing…
The Mews of Newmarket
What a surprise to discover King Charles II in the hall for our meeting! Alas, it was not the merry monarch himself, but John Sutton of Newmarket, who entertained us with his talk on The Muse of Newmarket…
Animal Health Trust
We had all heard of the Animal Health Trust at Lanwades Park near Newmarket, but no one was exactly sure what went on there. Andrew Simmons, from the Trust, soon put that right…
Magic Lantern Collection
Members of the History Society enjoyed an evening with Brian Norman and his Magic Lantern collection. Long before radio, film, tv and the internet, this way of showing pictures was very popular. In the 1600s, the pictures were shown using a hand held device and the content was usually scary…
More Mark Mason
The title of this month’s meeting reflects the fact that this was Mark’s second visit to Wickhambrook. With such a vague introduction it was impossible to know what to expect from our speaker. As it turned out it seems the talk was as much a surprise to Mark as to us!…
Outdoor Bowls Club January/February News
Just a short report from Wickhambrook Outdoor Bowls Club this edition to keep everyone ‘in the loop’ before the start of the playing season, date to be decided at the 14 March evening meeting of the club…
Sanitation, how we used to go
Our first meeting of the year was entitled ‘Sanitation; how we used to go’ and this amusing title was a taste of what was to come. In the able hands of Tony Redman, we were led through the history of how we kept clean and how human waste was dealt with over the centuries…
Speaker from Denman
New Year/ New Year’s Resolutions! Why not make this year the time to visit Denman College? Our speaker for the January meeting was Janet Brown, member of Rickinghall WI and a trustee of the the West Suffolk Federation. More importantly she is also a Denman Ambassador and a fervent advocate of all that the collage has to offer…
Outdoor Bowls update and caption competition
Hello All and a very ‘Happy New Year’! Yes 2019 is upon us and the Wickhambrook Outdoor Bowls Club is looking forward to the start of the season in April. No ‘leagues’ for us (unless anyone is really keen and wishes to take us forward) but just good, old fashioned, gentle sport for one and all…
Wickhambrook W.I. Autumn Fair 2018
The annual Autumn Fair was held at the WI hall on Saturday 17th November. There was a good variety of stalls selling cakes, books, American style cookies and jewellery, together with home-made Christmas decorations which members had gathered to make on a previous Saturday morning…
W.I. Christmas Party 2018
Crisp white tablecloths, scented red candles, an abundance of artistic greenery and tasteful place settings. It can only be the Wickhambrook WI Christmas party! This was held at the WI Hall on Tuesday 11th December and everyone turned up in their party clothes expecting an enjoyable evening…
Ghosts of West Suffolk
The theme of November’s meeting of Wickhambrook WI was a suitably spooky one. Graham Higgins gave us a talk on the various ghost stories that abound in West Suffolk. Apparently one of the most haunted places in Suffolk is Denham which appears in the Encyclopaedia of Haunted Places…
“Autumnwatch” at Lackford Lakes
Following on from a delightful visit to Lackford Lakes in the Summer, Wickhambrook WI decided to make a repeat trip int he Autumn. Once again we were taken around by Will Cranston, the manager of the site at Lackford…
Anyone for Table Tennis?
Table Tennis Taster session and coaching demonstration in MSC – Saturday 17th November 2 – 4pm. If anyone is interested in testing their skills or helping to join and run a set of regular playing sessions in the village Hall…
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown – Hero or Hooligan?
A joint meeting of Wickhambrook’s Horticultural and Local History Societies on the 19th October was asked to decide! A packed W.I. Hall of members were informed and entertained by the man himself – in contemporary dress, complete with wig. Actually it was Michael Brown, well known speaker and writer on Garden History.
Round East Anglia on a Bus Pass
You never know from month to month what to expect from a W.I. meeting and this September’s meeting was a case in point. Entitled “The First Military Surgeon” with speaker Carol Pook, it was an unknown subject to most present but from the very start Carol had us hooked with the true-life story of Dr James Barry, who rose through the ranks of the British army in the mid 1800’s to the rank of Surgeon General…