WI Day is celebrated on 16th September every year. This year it was 111 years since the very first WI in the UK opened. Members from Whitley WI got together at the newly opened Antrobus Loaf Community Café, which is run entirely by volunteers. It was a very happy occasion, lots of chatter and delicious coffee and cake to enjoy. ‘Go local’ is a good philosophy to have, and all attendees will visit again, especially as they were told that on Thursdays, there is always home-made bread to purchase. The café is open every morning from 9.00am until 12.30pm.

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We had a lovely enjoyable and sunny day for the Adelaide Shield bowling competition. 11 members competed including 1 lady who had never bowled before! The competition was won by Ann Brock. Janet Patterson was 2nd and Caroline Priestner was 3rd.

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Craft Group – Willow weaving – Making Christmas Stars 11 craft members had a very happy afternoon with Robyn from Nature Makers making Christmas stars at our usual monthly meeting . The stretching of the whips after soaking to make them pliable was the first task and then the cutting of 5 lengths to the correct size got us on our way with the weaving. After the first corner all became obvious and we all managed to get the stars into the right shape. We could then add our fairy lights for the finishing touch. The afternoon soon got us…

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Baking Beauties Baking Beauties in August enjoyed an evening meeting. The topic was ‘pastry’… with so many variations as to how to make pastry, ingredients used, Butter or Margarine? Or not or Trex or Not. The results turned out to be a feast for all. Quiche, Custard tarts, chocolate tart, fruit tarts, frangipanes, magnificent mulberry profiteroles, apple tarts and mince-pies made with minced meat! What is there not to like about this Baking Beauties Sub-Group? Craft and Garden Group 12 ladies came along to the craft afternoon to make lavender wands.   The season has been a shocker for a…

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Pat put a lot of work in arranging a guided tour of the Lion Salt Works, followed by a meal at the Antrobus Arms. The guided tour was very interesting, our guides told our group of 29 about the history of the Salt Works and the different roles that the workers carried out. We were surprised at the large scale of the buildings – which now include a very pleasant restaurant and children’s play area – a great day out for all ages. FOR INFORMATION. The museum is open for a ‘Heritage’ visit on Sunday 20th September. There is no…

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Baking Beauties Baking Beauties theme this month was strawberries. Lots of delicious dishes as you can see from the photograph. A real taste of summer – mille feuille, strawberry ice cream, strawberry scones, flapjack flan, pastries and a roulade. Art Group Our Art group enjoyed a sunny day at Walton Gardens – our annual ‘en plein air’ trip. An enjoyable session giving a good overview of the park – the Hall, the Greenhouse, the Water, Lavender and a lady enjoying the view of children playing. Craft and Garden Group – Afternoon Tea at Abbeywood Gardens Our afternoon at Abbeywood was…

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We welcomed 38 members to our July meeting. Jean, our President, thanked Dutton for their warm welcome last month, and sent thanks to Jonty for organising our very enjoyable garden party. Our speaker, Maureen Fearon gave us a very interesting and professional talk and we all went away some very good tips for how to get a good night’s sleep. Helen H thanked Maureen for her talk. Hopefully we all followed her advise and slept well the night of the meeting! The competition – ‘What you do before you go to sleep’ was won by Jean W. She advised concentrating…

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Jonty opened her beautiful garden in June for Baking Beauties and other members of the WI to enjoy an afternoon tea and a stroll around the flowers. No rain to contend with, just extreme heat! Jonty had set out the seating in the shade of the trees and even provided a lovely breeze so the weather didn’t stop our enjoyment of the event. Those present enjoyed the delicious refreshments made by our members and a very sociable afternoon. On behalf of us all Pat L thanked Jonty for her hospitality.

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Walking Group A sunny day for members of both Whitley and Dutton WI to walk around Little Budworth Common following the Woodpecker Heathland Trail. We walked through beautiful woodland, past ponds and met a lady rider on a lovely grey horse who stopped for a chat on the bridle path. We passed the infamous log carved like a dragon which is looking rather weather-beaten now A lovely walk followed by an enjoyable lunch at Tarporley Garden Centre. Book Club Our book this month was Transcription by Kate Atkinson. Most of our members found it very difficult to get into and…

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Every 2 years we have a joint meeting with our friends at Dutton WI – this year it was their turn to host it. They gave us a really warm welcome and an excellent speaker, Ma Baker (Liz Wilson) who talked to us about making our own bread. She mixed together all the ingredients at the beginning – you only need strong flour, salt, water and dried/fresh yeast. She then ‘talked as she kneaded’ as this process takes 20 min to move from a very sticky mix to smooth, stretchy dough. Liz explained how she fell in love with breadmaking,…

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