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Our much anticipated speaker was Louise Minchin, perhaps best known for presenting BBC Breakfast for over 20 years. She didn’t disappoint and her experience really showed. She was a fascinating speaker – telling us initially about how she went from gaining a degree in Spanish at St Andrew’s university, to working as a reporter on regional television and finally her dream job on BBC Breakfast.In this role she had amazing opportunities to meet celebrities from all spheres of life, and also the chance to take part in lots of different challenges. She also took on the BBC over the inequitable…

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Walking Group – Six walkers had a leisurely stroll around Walton Gardens in rather drizzly conditions but by the time we had checked the rabbits, goats, peacocks etc the sun was shining. The gardens were looking very well groomed and the leaves were beginning to turn to their autumn colours on the trees. We ventured through the garden that people could go to for some tranquility whilst they remembered their loved ones. We passed a small covered stage with wooden benches in the corner and then ventured past the pond where several of our artists had sat earlier on in…

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Our October meeting was members’ night when our regular committee enjoy a night off their usual duties and the members’ night committee take over. Anne T was President for the evening, ably assisted by her secretary Vanessa. As we sang Jerusalem members were asked to think about one of past presidents, June Smither who sadly passed away earlier in the week. Anne introduced our speaker for the evening, Robert Clarkson who told us about his life long love of the multicoloured Danish blocks , LEGO. The name comes from two Danish words LEG GODT which literally mean ‘play well’. Members…

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You can see more information and pictures on all of the activities below by visiting the subgroups menu, or just click on the blue/green links Our Walking Group had an lovely walk around Little Budworth Park. The Book Club discussed ‘Girl Woman Other’ by Bernadine Evaristo The Art Group had a theme of ‘Holidays’, painting beach scenes and painting in the style of some pictures that Jean had seen in Galleries whilst away in Devon. Baking Beauties – 11 ladies met to share their baking with autumn fruits. As usual there was an interesting selection of baked. Apples stole the…

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Well done to our Artists! Our Art Group entered 6 pictures in the CFWI Art Exhibition and Chris S won the ‘President’s Choice’ with her beautiful picture of St Luke’s Church, Whitley. Chris always has lots of ideas for our group and generously shares her talents and sometimes quirky ideas with us. This picture shows her being presented with her certificate by Selina, the Cheshire Chairman. The theme of the exhibition was ‘A Life in Cheshire’ and 5 very talented members of our Art Group sent their work along – see below You can see all the paintings in the…

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After getting through to the quarter finals, there were 8 teams playing at Winnington on a stormy day in September. The Whitley team was made up of Ann T (captain), Ann B, Chris S and Jenny R. It was long wet day and playing in hailstone was not the best of conditions! Our team got through to the final and played against Moulton, who have some very good players and have won the trophy for the last few years. Moulton won again this year, but Whitley did really well to get to this stage and to win the Runners Up…

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Our speaker Dave McClure, a volunteer at the Walton Lea Partnership, told us about the work they do with Adults with Learning Disabilities in the beautiful Walled Garden adjacent to Walton Gardens. The learners gain skills and accreditation in a variety of activities including Gardening, Upcycling furniture, bike repairs, hospitality and Arts and Crafts. Dave’s specialism is teaching learners and the public about resuscitation and the use of a defibrillator. It was a bonus that he shared this training with us. He brought along a number of Manikins and we all had the opportunity to learn what to do if…

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On what proved to be a very popular venue for Whitley WI’s August Outing, 35 members headed off to The Apple Barn at Dunham Massey. We were given a warm welcome from owners Chris and Alison Hewitt and samples of two varieties of apple juice were enjoyed – Jazz and Smiths. During the sampling owner Chris talked to the group about the history of this ‘hidden-away’ apple farm. The family have run the farm for over a century and now grow 76 varieties of apple on the 33 acre site, owned by the National Trust. After sampling the apple juice…

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Our Art group decided to have a go at painting an outdoor view and we met at Walton Gardens in July. The weather was kind and we gathered around the pond area, set up our equipment, and had a go at interpreting the lovely scene of the lily pond – we even had a heron posing high up on one of the trees. Most of our group chose to paint in Watercolours, but we did have one artist using Acrylics. We have a variety of skills and expertise, but it was good for everyone to have a go, and to…

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Hats off to our very own Pat S for organising a wonderful Literary Lunch at Nunsmere Hall on 17th July for 199 ladies! Seventeen of our members enjoyed the very sociable 2 course lunch. The sun even honoured us with its presence and we managed a stroll around the beautiful grounds before our guest author, Milly Johnson regaled us with her tales of how she got into the world of publishing, starting with writing verse for the Purple Ronnie range of greeting cards. Milly has just published her 22nd novel, all of which are based in the North of England…

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