June 2026 – Main Meeting

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, went on a number of courses and eventually gave up her career as a primary school teacher to set up her own baking business and shop. She planned to take the kneaded dough home to bake tomorrow, but did cut up some of her prepared speciality bakes for each of us to have a taste, and donated lots of others to the raffle.

A really interesting, informative talk, followed by an enjoyable social time, then a brief reminder from the 2 presidents of their upcoming social events. The competition ‘An usual kitchen implement, was won by Janet P from Whitley, with a very old kitchen scoop, in its original packaging and priced at 5/6d.

Many thanks to Dutton WI for a lovely evening, we do share quite a few multi-members.

May Outing – Cheshire Museum of Policing

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 used has changed through the ages, and some of the challenges faced by officers today. It was fun to take our seat on police bikes and cars – a good photo to share with the family!

The trip was rounded off by an enjoyable lunch at Grill on the Square. A very good day out, certainly better than an outdoor activity on a rather showery and cold Spring day,

May 2026 subgroup meetings

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 had great pleasure in getting the legs and arms the right length, let alone the body size. We had a super selection of clothes, hats and footwear to dress them. It is our first attempt at anything like this so the final result is something we can be proud of. Lets hope they are spotted by the Village members over the wonderful bank holiday weekend.

Art Group – Our members met on Bank Holiday Monday– the preferred date – with a topic of ‘Still Life’. Most of us concentrated on Fruit/Veg – you will see from the pictures below that we do have some very talented artists – choosing to use acrylic or watercolours.

Book Club – our May book was No Secrets by David Jacob – a Crime Thriller about the murders of young girls – a lead character had the ability to know whether an individual was being truthful or lying, and this helped in the solving the crime – but a complex story. Our members views were mixed, and they gave the book an average of 6.7

Walking Group

Just a few of us did the walk through Marbury Park which was at its finest, the greenery was in abundance and the birds were singing overhead. Ducks and swans were swimming on the Mere. As we were walking we had a few drops of rain but most of the time were sheltered by the canopy of the trees so it was not a problem. We had lunch at the Stanley Arms.

May 2026 – Main Meeting

Our May speaker was David Poppit talking about Christie Hospital. He had worked there as a senior doctor for many years, and described the special atmosphere at ‘The Christie’– a place where all the staff interacted well, without the hierarchy that exists in many hospitals. He reminded us how the understanding of Cancer had developed – the introduction of Xray images and scans enables specialists to have a much clearer picture of what they are dealing with. An interesting and informative talk – the vote of thanks was given by Chris, whose experience in the NHS gave her a good understanding of the issues involved

The competition ‘A Teddy Bear’ was won by Annette, with her 80 year old bear.

Jean congratulated our Quiz team who came 3rd in their heat, only just missing out on qualifying for the final. She reminded members that our June meeting is a joint one with Dutton WI and will be held on Tuesday 9th June at Preston Brook Village Hall. The theme is ‘All Things Bread’.

Village Group Spring Lunch April 2026

Whitley had a good turn out at this annual event and all enjoyed good company and an enjoyable hotpot lunch followed by a delicious selection of deserts provided by different WIs in the group. Our own Melanie opened and closed the event as Chair of the Village Group and guests included the new Chair of the Cheshire Federation, Ann Beckett. The event included a Bring and Buy stall – there wasn’t a lot left on that at the end of the meeting!