Members of Shillingstone WI gathered in the Portman Hall to celebrate the group’s centenary. A vintage tea with an array of cakes and sandwiches awaited them, served on vintage china and set out beneath strings of bunting.
Speeches were made by the President, Mary Crabb, and a former President, Vicky Thomas, with congratulations being given by the County Chair, Jenny Preston. The wonderful sound of Jazz filled the hall, played by local duo the New Orleans Joys. Celia Paulley baked a celebration cake, which was iced by her daughter. This was cut by the longest current serving member Pam Glanville and the recently joined Daphne Garrett.
Members had the chance to look at old records and scrap books with a plea to identify those present at the 30th and 40th anniversary parties.
I would very much like the opportunity to offer a talk to your WI group. I live in Kent, but am due to be in Dorset in May 2025, so am wondering if it might be possible for me to give a talk then. I think you meet in the evening of the first Tuesday of the month, so the date I am proposing would be Tuesday 6 May 2025.
My talk is entitled “A Schoolgirl’s War”. This tells the story of school life during WW2 and features the recently discovered and exquisite artwork of a WW2 school art teacher at a secondary school where I was headteacher. This teacher set out to document in paint and pencil the lives of school children and their teachers as the war unfolded. I don’t think there is a similar collection of paintings anywhere. Her work features in paint the disrupted schooling, air-raids, doodlebugs, and underground lessons in shelters which were experienced by so many children. The talk also features fascinating photos of the underground shelters where those lessons took place. The talk has been hugely popular.
I do hope you are interested, and that I can use the opportunity of being in Dorset to speak to your group.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Very best wishes
Mary Smith