THE acting president welcomed members to the January meeting of Charlton WI.

Voting on several issues, both local and Hampshire County Federation of Women’s Institutes, took place.

Birthday cards were given out and members were invited to attend a defibrillator demonstration to be held at St Thomas’ Church.

Susan Howe was the speaker and she gave a talk entitled ‘Cantering Through My Funny Life, which was a series of anecdotes taken from authentic events experienced by this energetic London Blue Badge guide. Her escapades included being kept under siege in her Earl’s Court flat as a madman raged outside her window, looking for tigers in India and getting too close for comfort to a leopard. A stint of working with a group of eccentric bird-watchers must have come as some light relief.

Susan’s talk closed with a hair-raising tale of the morning her friend discovered to her horror that one of Britain’s most notorious murderers had been carrying out work in her home.

There was a brisk trade at the ‘unwanted Christmas gifts’ table. The evening closed with refreshments.

In December members of Andover Evening WI went on several outings. At the beginning of the month some members joined others from the Anton / Danebury Group to go to Kew Gardens for the Christmas illuminations for an early evening visit. Once they were in the gardens they were free to stroll where they wanted, although most followed the well-signed trail. Individual trees were lit up, reminding them of some of children’s books they had enjoyed when their own children were very young.

There were also plenty of set pieces, which included one depicting the first five verses of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’; a large revolving heart in a glade, which lit up the surrounding trees; laser light changes; spiky ‘frost flowers’, which someone thought looked like water lilies and the spectacular main display over the lake area and the main pavilion. One member’s favourite was the ‘Five Gold Rings’ from ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. This was the first display of these five they saw as they walked the trail through the illuminations and it prompted much speculation about dragons, intertwining leaves and others, until they moved round and could see the five interlinked rings.

The group had the early slot of the evening, so there were more children in the gardens, some with their scooters, which officially were banned but some had been sneaked in. There was a fairground area, a jukebox and a large ‘Santa’s Grotto’ with helpers, especially for families. The weather on the day added to the members’ experience being cold and still, which enhanced the atmosphere.

One member found the shop quite a revelation it being much bigger than she had expected, and was well stocked with plants, clothes, lovely scarves and all sorts of things to tempt the visiting members. Their visit ended at 8pm when their time slot came to an end.

Slightly later in the month some members went to Sherborne by train for their annual shopping trip to this lovely town. They were very appreciative of the independent stores in the interesting street.

Later others went to the Rosebourne Garden Centre for afternoon tea and the inevitable chat, and the opportunity to exchange Christmas cards. They explored the garden centre and the farm shop and very much enjoyed their afternoon.

Goodworth Clatford WI’s December meeting was a light hearted affair with mulled wine, mince pies and a beetle drive. In this game time is an issue so there was frantic dice-shaking, many excited raised voices and eventually a worthy prize winner.

On a more serious note the members discussed and voted on the proposed resolutions to choose one to be discussed at the National Federation of Women’s Institutes’ (NFWI) annual meeting in June.

Earlier in the month 18 members enjoyed a day out at Salisbury’s pantomime ‘Aladdin’ with lunch and a visit to Mottisfont to see the house and to have a guided walk around the grounds.

The speaker at the December meeting of Andover Afternoon WI’s meeting was Judy Theobald, who spoke on ‘Life and Other Problems’, which she often illustrated in poetry. She has led a very varied life and made light of any of her problems. She comes from Hampshire and is of an age when girls were expected to train as nurses, teachers or to do a secretarial course. She found this training useful when she eventually got a job on a magazine.

Initially it was impossible to get a job in journalism as a female. Girls were just not employed in journalism. She married and raised her family and when her children were older she was a presenter on local radio and later wrote a column on poetry in a local paper. She wrote school nativity plays, although admitting that she does not like children very much. She illustrated her talk by reading some of her poems, which have been published in several small books. She ended her presentation by singing her own version of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, which gave a rather cynical view of the season. To celebrate the coming of Christmas there were seasonal refreshments of Christmas cake, shortbread and mini mince pies.

In January members enjoyed a post-Christmas social afternoon. Votes on the resolutions to be discussed at the NFWI Annual Meeting in June were noted and the results taken will be forwarded to WI House.

Andrée North started the games with standing bingo. The idea is that everyone is given a bingo card, and if any of the numbers on it are selected then she sits down. The last person still standing is the winner of the round. There was also ‘Guess the number of sweets in the Jar’, with Ann Allen very accurately guessing the correct amount.

Everyone had contributed to a shared tea, which was very popular. After tea Ronnie Crook had organised a short quiz, and to end the afternoon there was a very short game of beetle. Everyone had enjoyed the afternoon with the chance to chat to one another. Later in the month members met at the Chestnut Tree for lunch, which was very popular and again a relaxed time with lots of chat. Many thanks were given to Ann Allen for organising the lunch.

2017 will see Abbotts Ann WI celebrate its centenary. Life for women in 2017 is vastly different to that of the members 100 years ago. Various events and celebrations are being planned through 2017 to reflect these changes. However, the first meeting of 2017 was a relaxing post-Christmas /l ate New Year dinner. Caterers provided a delicious three-course meal, which was an opportunity to sit back and catch up with friends.

The WI was also able to secure, at the last minute, a much sought after local duo (so they said) to entertain the members. They regaled the audience (which included their wives) with a medley of music and words. It was a delightful finale to the whole evening.