We finished the year with our Christmas party. The hall and the tables were decorated for the season and a meal was provided by the Committee for all members and guests. Afterwards we enjoyed various games and quizzes including a name the carol competition, which got us all into the festive spirit.
At our November AGM the officers and committee agreed to stand for another year and were voted in. A Beetle Drive followed the business meeting. In October we had a light-hearted, historical look at the railways in a talk given by Arthur Barrett, to which men were invited as guests. In September we heard about the valuable work of East Anglian Children’s Hospices (EACH).
In July our members organised and ran the meeting. They provided varied activities, including a picture quiz, describing our imaginary, ideal day and an hilarious round of drawing pub names for our teams to guess. One of our members told us about her voluntary work at Blickling Hall. It was good fun and it made a pleasant change for the committee to be able to take a back seat for the evening.
In June we had fun with our Jubilee Celebration. The hall was decorated in red, white and blue bunting, the tables laid with Union Jack serviettes and our members welcomed with a cold drink. Most of us dressed in red, white and blue and many had decorated old hats in the same colours for our hats competition. We had a picture quiz and a “Find the Flea on the Corgi” competition. Margaret, of Hats Francise, brought along a wonderful selection of hats for us to try on. She knew exactly what suited each individual at a glance and even those who “never wear hats” were pleased with the result. Afterwards we tucked into food brought in by all our members, proposed a toast to the Queen and sang “God Save the Queen” with gusto.
At our May meeting, as well as a light-hearted game of “Call My Bluff”, we had an interesting discussion as to whether or not we felt the WI should back a campaign to end the chronic shortage of midwives.
At our April meeting Martin Philpot described his solo cycle ride across Australia from the west coast to the east – some 3,000 miles, with accompanying photos. We were pleased that our audience included some cyclists and even a few men because the talk was fascinating and we hope one day to invite Martin back to tell us about one of his many other long distance rides.
Richard The Man in Black Thorpe End WI Mar 12
Richard, the Man in Black, was the speaker at our March meeting. He leads Norwich Ghost walks and arrived suitably attired in a black cape and top hat to frighten and amuse us with his tales.
Queen Elizabeth I
When Queen Elizabeth I arrived at Thorpe End Village Hall on 16th February she found a large audience waiting, as our members were joined by 28 guests, including 13 from Rackheath WI. Her Majesty (aka Rachel Duffield, a live interpretation officer from the Norfolk Museums and Archeology Service) entered in her undergarments and dressed in her many layers, giving us a fascinating insight into the costume, fabrics, jewellery, wigs, make-up and customs of the times. This extremely enjoyable talk made our 54th birthday evening really special and we followed it with birthday cake and a finger buffet, plus a short glimpse by one of our founder members into what it was like to join our WI in 1958 , when the annual subscription was 3s 6d.
Our January speakers were Judith and Tony Davies on Explorations and Adventures in Central Africa 1889-1901. Judith gave us a fascinating insight into the time her grandfather, the Reverend Baldwin, spent in central Africa as one of the very first explorers, building a very remote settlement and suffering huge hardships including sickness and the death of his wife. He was later awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society. We saw many unusual artefacts that he had brought back and heard extracts from his diary. It was a moving story which amazed and enthralled. We also celebrated the 90th birthday of one of our members, Pam, with birthday cake.
Pam’s 90th birthday. Hard to believe from the photo that one of these ladies is 90!
Thorpe End WI 