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Baking Beauties Baking Beauties turned their attention to strawberries in July. We had mille feuille, strawberry ice cream, strawberry scones, flapjack flan and pastries as well as a pistachio, chocolate and strawberry roulade. All delicious and a real taste of summer! Craft and Garden Group 12 ladies came along to the craft afternoon to make lavender wands.   The season has been a shocker for a lot of plants and lavender is no different, so it was disappointing that the stems of the lavender were too brittle to make the wands so we stripped the stems and filled small bags…

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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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In early July The Cheshire Federation of WIs welcomed over 159 members to their annual Literary Lunch at Hartford Golf Club for a wonderful afternoon of books and conversation. 16 members from Whitley WI (some full and some multi) attended, the event organiser Pat Sharp is also a Whitley WI member. All were delighted to welcome bestselling author Jane Costello as their guest speaker for a truly engaging talk presented with warmth and humour. Jane has written 16 novels, with her books translated into 26 languages, plus she has won the Romantic Novelists’ Award twice. Before becoming a full-time novelist,…

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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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Thanks to Pat for arranging our May outing to the museum at Warrington Police Station. Pat anticipated CFWI’s Green Month in June – the trip was arranged to fit in with the No 9 bus, with members joining at Whitley, Stretton and Hatton. A slight hiccup with roadworks, but a great idea. Volunteers showed us round the museum which is spread over many rooms – a very interesting display.funded by voluntary donations We learned about how the police force developed, and its history – the Warrington Police force was established in 1847. We heard about how the role and equipment…

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Baking Beauties Our theme for May was Choux Pastry. Members brought along an interesting and tasty selection of bakes – sweet and savoury. Jonty, as ever, kept us entertained. She not only brought along a very tasty looking choux ring but also her first attempt – rather flat! Craft and Garden Group At our last two meetings we have been busy building Mr H and Mrs L Whitley. Our two scarecrows are now in situ by our Sorbus Tree at the Nature Reserve in Raddel Lane. The few members of the craft group (and Archie) that joined in the fun…

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