WHITLEY WI

Our outing this year on Wednesday 9^th May took us to Llangollen.

Heading off early by coach from Whitley Village Hall we took a scenic route stopping off at the Ponderosa Café at Horseshoe Pass, where we had tea, coffee, cakes and scones. After taking in the impressive views and a quick look around the gift shop we headed off to Llangollen.

At Llangollen Wharf we boarded our boat and started our two hour guided boat trip down the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire union canal. Some of us as you can see from the photos were enjoying the wine with our packed lunches as much as the gorgeous views from the windows of the barge?

The highlight of the trip was when the boat crossed the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Some of us ventured out to the open part of the boat at the back to get the full effect of the awe inspiring views and to marvel at the engineering as we went across the aqueduct.

When we disembarked the boat at Froncysyllte most of us took our coach back into Llangollen where we had two hours free time to see the local sites, go shopping and to visit the local cafes. Some of us however decided to stretch our legs and walked the five miles back along the canal footpath to Llangollen. It sounded a good idea at the start but what with the dearth of milestones enroute I for one at times wondered if we would miss the bus back which was due to leave the town at 4.30pm. ! I need not have worried as my group of walkers even had time to visit a coffee shop before boarding the bus back. We did however walk quite quickly.

A very enjoyable day and even the rain held off until just before we headed back to Whitley.

Many thanks to Ann Tolson and Anne O’Neil for organising the trip

Ten ladies set out for our May walk round Marbury Country Park.  It was a bright but chilly morning, one of those days when you wonder which clothes and shoes to wear.  Once we had donned or shed a layer or two and made our minds up about our footwear, we set off on our walk.

We made our way through the woods; the scenery was just magical, the sun was shining through the trees flickering through the young spring leaves .  There was a magnificent abundance of bluebells and wild garlic everywhere, we couldn’t have chosen a better time to for our walk.

As the morning warmed up, it wasn’t long before we all began to shed our outer layer and fasten them round our waist. We were delighted to see tiny ducklings bobbing about in the water, and even more amazed to see a small boat with red sails passing by; I think we all had our cameras out for that special shot!

Of course, we couldn’t end our morning without something to eat, so we all made our way to the Spinner and Bergamot for a light lunch and of course a ‘natter’.

Thanks to our leader Ann O’Brien, another memorable morning.

RMS Titanic, a British Passenger Liner, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15th April 1912. This “unsinkable” giant of the seas collided with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. An estimated 1500 people lost their lives.

The story of Titanic is a 5 times Tony Award Winning Musical, which is now on its 1st ever UK and Ireland Tour.

Many of Whitley WI’s Culture Club more than enjoyed this spectacular, moving, dramatic and breath-taking performance at the Lowry Theatre.

The presentation was so moving .. we felt that we could have been on that ship!

This stunning musical focussed on the hopes and aspirations of all passengers, regardless of their class of travel, when they arrived in America… In real life all their lives were ruined.

Thank You to Chris for your organisation …. Whitley WI really does what the WI stands for: “it educates women”, as well as giving us time for lunch and lots of chatter.

Our walk this month was a special one arranged by Chris Jones.  She was taking is us to meet up with her friend Anne Mitchell and members of Longford WI in Tissington Derbyshire.  Chris Jones, Anne Stubbs, Ann Brock and Annette Minor volunteered to drive but we all managed to fit into 3 cars as one member couldn’t make it. So  11 members from Whitley WI set off in 3 cars on a rather damp and dull morning.  Chris had mapped out a very scenic route with wonderful views of the scenic Cheshire, Stafford and Derbyshire countryside. That in itself was pretty amazing, but Tissington was ‘the icing on the cake’,  a stunning little village tucked away in the Derbyshire countryside.

 After our journey which was approximately one and three quarter hours, we met up with The Longford WI members at Herberts tea room at Tissington Hall.  We were served tea/coffee and of course Cake!  Longford members welcomed us and soon the room was filled with laughter and chattering.

 The weather did brighten up a little after a very short shower and we set off on our walk through the beautiful countryside guided by the Longford Ladies.  It was good to chat to each other along the way, Longford is a small WI compared to Whitley, they have just 17 against our 70!  Longford was started when two friends met and brought the WI together!  It was good to talk about their WI, the ‘best speakers’, life in Tissington, and of course ‘The Weather’ which did warm up as the walk progressed.

 As lunchtime approached, we were rounded up into cars again and headed for Denstone Hall Farm Shop.  Our leader Chris had planned the day with ‘clockwork precision’ allowing us pre and post meal ‘browse time’.  The shop was a real Aladdin’s cave, so many beautiful  things to see and buy, books, cards, accessories, toys etc. as well as food, drink, pottery etc.,  but we were all ready for our lunch.  No time was wasted in getting served, as one again Chris thought of everything, we had pre-booked our choices from their menu, and what as superb meal we all had, we can see why Denstone Hall were finalists for ‘Best Farm Shop Restaurant 2016 FARMA Awards’, as well as we as ‘Retailer of the years 2015’ and ‘Food retailers of the year 2014-2016’.

 Of course all good things come to an end, we all said our goodbyes to our new found friends, and made our way back home to Whitley.

 All those in our car, and I guess in the other two cars as well, were already saying what a fantastic day we had, agreeing ‘we must do this again’!

Our thanks to Chris, our drivers and Longford WI for organising this very memorable day.

The Gardening Interest Group (suggested by Pat Sharp) had its first meeting this week. Twenty members are making plans to visit a number of local open gardens on weekends in May, June and July and also plan to visit the Southport Flower Show in August. Members will also be selling their plant cuttings at the monthly meetings – increasing WI funds.

The Craft and Chat group had its second meeting this month at the home of Annette Minor, who is kindly leading this project. Demonstrations of tapestry and knitting were given to eager members. There was a discussion between members about projects and visits to Craft exhibitions. The group will meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at Whitley Village Hall