WI Newsletter – March 2014

If you suddenly see any of our members running up down the village streets, or taking up cycling or any other form of hearty exercise then you will know which ones are now taking a daily dose of bee pollen. Fred the Wiltshire Beekeeper told us that not only does he take it every day, but so does the British Cycling Team and look at how well they did at London 2012. Apparently, one of its many benefits is to repair muscle damage.

Fred likes to do things the traditional way, no fancy sprays or insecticides for him, he leaves enough honey for his bees to overwinter, no feeding them sugar substitutes and to keep his bees free of the Varroa mite he merely sprays them with a sugar solution. Beekeeping started as a hobby when he retired 15 years ago, but it has got out of hand as he now has hundreds of hives located all over Salisbury Plain and it has become a commercial enterprise, but he himself hates honey!

Not us, we were swarming round him at the end of the evening to purchase not only this wonderful bee pollen, but also honey and hand cream amongst other products. There was also some sloe gin on offer.

We have also been to the Cinema to see the Book Thief, walked around the outskirts of Andover, supped at the Black Swan and got together for coffee. We went to the Anton Danebury Group meeting and the replacement speaker, contacted at the last minute, was our ex W.I. Adviser Eryl Thompsett. Eryl talked through her hat, or more precisely her many hats as she took us through her life from being a farmer’s daughter in mid-Wales, going to university, the first female in the marketing department at Cadburys before marrying her colleague Clive. Married life took her to Nigeria, Australia, back to the UK and finally she travelled to Europe and the States. All the time collecting hats to be worn at family occasions such as weddings, she has been to Buckingham Palace twice and then of course she was county Chairman. There was a hat for every occasion – from the frivolous to the practical.

Finally came the lunch club and what goes on at lunch should stay at lunch, but all I can say is that cider was drunk, undergarments revealed and thongs discussed! Who says the W.I. is staid and boring.

Our meeting next month is on 24th April at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall and we have asked a representative of the Breathtakers OB Trust to attend our meeting and give us an insight into their charity’s work.

Must go, off to find a bicycle – Rio 2016 here we come!!

Diary Dates

01 April – Reading Group

08 April – Coffee Morning

10 April – Supper Club

12 April – Walking Group

24 April – Monthly Meeting – 7.30 p.m. in The Village Hall – Breathtakers OB Trust

Sharon King