Women’s Institute
About Us
Austwick WI hold their meetings on the second Thursday of the month at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall. We have some very interesting speakers, enjoy exploring the area on foot and entertaining in members gardens as well as helping at the Street Market and joining in the group Christmas Celebrations. New members and visitors are always welcome.
If you’re interested in joining the WI, you’re very welcome to come along. Check out our website at the address below.
Contact Details
Secretary: Pam Smith
Telephone: 015242 51318
E-mail: pamsmithataustwick@gmx.com
President: Sue Dewhirst
Telephone: 015242 51190
E-mail: woodviewaustwick@gmail.com
Website: Austwick WI
2025
January
We kicked off the year with our member’s night Pies, Poetry and Peas. It was a welcome chance to catch up after the Christmas season and thanks to everyone who made it through the ice to attend. Next month’s meeting is with local artist Penny Hunt and places are limited so I’m afraid it is for members only.
Programme
13th February: Drawing with Foraged Pigments, Penny Hunt
13th March: Enjoying Meadows and Roadside Verges in Flower, Julia Pigott
10th April: The Work of Springfield Domestic Abuse Support
8th May: The Sewing Bee, Angela Fletcher
12th June: My Adult Gap Year, Julie Osborne-Tame
10th July: Members’ Garden Party
14th August: Its a Funny Way to Make a Living, Melissa Sinden Grey
11th September: Back to the Land, Alison O’Neil
9th October: AGM
13th November: Craft Evening
11th December: Retro Christmas Party
2024
January
This January we hosted Jamie McEwan from Kingsdale Head Farm. Because we knew there’d be a lot of local interest, we made the meeting open to all and it was a great success. We welcomed lots of friends and the photos of the glorious Kingsdale wildlife made brilliant use of the new projector. Jamie is a passionate ecologist, but he emphasised the importance of choosing the right location and the right approach for these types of projects. Kingsdale Head is ideal for peat bog restoration (critical for carbon sequestration) because it’s relatively unproductive land, but it is not suitable for vast tree planting schemes as these would destroy the peat. He also believes that something is lost when people don’t live and work in these places and is pleased the project involves so many local contractors and volunteers. We learned a lot about damming drainage ditches, using pigs to break up the ground and the importance of just letting nature do its thing – but the biggest revelation was that cows can be herded with music.
February
Our annual members’ event on 8th February was an evening of Pies, Peas and Poetry (and stories and folk songs). It was a great success, with members bringing their favourite poems, some treasured from childhood. Pam Ayres, Jenny Joseph and Roald Dahl provided the laughter and Kate Clanchy’s anthology of poems written by refugee children nearly triggered tears. The big surprise (for me at least) was the group rendition of Owl and The Pussy Cat and the discovery that once learnt, a poem is never forgotten.
March
Dr Loretta Dolan gave a very interesting talk on Child Marriage in the 16thC in our March meeting. At a time when most marriages were pragmatic affairs, child betrothals could be used to arrange loans, protect land, and secure the social and financial standing of whole families. It was fascinating to learn about such different attitudes to marriage and yet hear such familiar emotions in the testimonies of the children involved.
April
Local artist and printmaker Hester Cox expertly shepherded a whopping 27 of us through the process of fabric printing. It was a lively and paint spattered night, and we got through the evening without a single scalpel injury. The resulting tea towels were also quite beautiful, in our eyes at least. All round, a successful evening.
Next week Dr Paul Whittaker OBE will be speaking about his experiences as a deaf musician. He’s an extremely popular speaker so this is an open meeting (non members £5).
May
We had a storming May session with Dr Paul Whittaker OBE, who was speaking about his experiences as a deaf musician. The stand-up comedy was laugh out loud funny but watching him dance sign language with his hands was something other, quite magical. Next month Rowena Lee is speaking to us about Life in Service in 21st Century.
May WI Group Event
If you have a dream follow it. “Opera for the People” singer Nichola Mills says, if you’ve got a gut feeling driving you forward, work with it and achieve your dreams. This down to earth Lancashire lass, who has sung in opera houses all over the world, is now based in Yorkshire and doing an amazing job of bringing opera to the people. With her beautiful, rich soprano voice, she is an inspirational singer, speaker and entertainer.
On Friday the 10th of May, Nicola performed for the newly formed Ingleton and District WI group in Austwick parish hall. Her repertoire included classical arias from Mozart, Julie Andrews’ musicals, Ed Sheeran and ended with Louis Armstrong’s “When You’re Smiling”. Everyone was smiling!
June
‘Life in Service in the 21st Century’ was the title of Rowena Lee’s talk when she came to Austwick W.I.’s June meeting. She gave a fascinating insight into her life as Housekeeper in a Scottish Castle and two English Stately Homes. It would seem that the modern ‘Housekeeper’, rather than overseeing a team of underlings, needs to be able to undertake all domestic tasks – cooking , cleaning, ironing, mending and pouring the wine. She also needs to be discreet and available at all times.
July
We celebrated our 100th birthday this month with a fabulous party. It really was a brilliant night: great food, wonderful music, a beautiful cake, lots of laughter, and some unexpected memories, not least the sight of a table of WI ladies, hands in the air, rocking out to Robbie Williams. A big thank you to Merna, Elizabeth, Pat, Angela and Pam who organised the evening – their hard work absolutely paid off. In August, Brian Topping will give a talk on Minders and Mules
August
Brian Topping made a welcome return to the August meeting. Brian is a retired Customs and Excise Officer and provided an interesting, informative and at times amusing talk entitled ‘ mules and minders’. His illustrated presentation described methods of smuggling illegal drugs, weapons and money through customs at Heathrow Airport. He explained that the Mules are the carriers and minders are the protection for them. His anecdotes and slides were well received.
September
October
Our October speaker was Tim Pitt of the Lune Rivers Trust, now part of the National Rivers Trust. Tim explained that there has been a 70% decline in salmon numbers and a 90% decline in eel numbers over the last 30 years. The talk covered the work the Trust does improve conditions across the 580sq miles of the Lune river. This includes working with farmers to reduce pollution and planting trees near rivers to prevent erosion and provide shade to reduce water temperatures, which is particularly important for trout and salmon.
November
AGM
December
For our December meeting we celebrated Christmas with a lovely evening of music and stories with local musician Kevin McSherry.
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