Horsham Normandy W.I.

To celebrate Parliamentary week we arranged a belated  visit to the Palace of Westminster  with a tour of the Houses of Parliament in September 2017. Despite the best efforts of Southern Rail, 18 of us including 2 husbands, met at the agreed spot on time. Once inside the Great Hall of Westminster we were met by out MP Jeremy Quin to whom we handed a letter of petition to research the solutions for plastics in our oceans.

Meeting our MP Jeremy Quin in the Palace of Westminster 2017

Jeremy was enthusiastic about the Palace & engaging about the practice of Parliament. Our tour guide, Cliff, led us on a quirky, thought provoking tour of the building and concluded back at the Great Hall below the newest installation.

This beautiful window,  entitled “New Dawn”, celebrates 100 years of women’s suffrage; the circles in the centre represent the scrolls upon which our laws were originally recorded. The outer circles included the biological symbol for the female and the lighting for the whole panel changes with the tidal fall of the Thames nearby.                          A fitting finale to an interesting day.

Six of us attended the centenary event at the Victory Hall, Balcombe. Apart from the quintessential afternoon tea, the purpose of the event was to unveil a blue plaque to Lady Denman.She had been instrumental in the formation of the Sussex WI federation in 1917 and later her drive & determination had created the Victory Hall in her village. The murals within the hall were painted by her friend Neville Lytton. The images move from the serenity of the countryside through to the futility of conflict and war. Lady Denman had continued to promote the WI for the rest of her life and Yvonne Price felt that a plaque to acknowledge her efforts was long overdue; she was grateful to the West Sussex and East Sussex federations for their combined efforts to achieve this.

Brains were working hard at the Federation annual quiz in Fittleworth.  We entered two teams of four and battled away against 30 other teams from the county.    We were certainly stretched with some of the questions, but team 9 – Anne R, Lesley, Pam  and Sue – came third overall.  The second team of Carol, Diana H, Joan and Kath were not too far behind!   Well done to everyone.

Copy provided by Diana H.

A full hall at Fittleworth on a hot summer afternoon enjoyed a Matinee Musicale put on by the Combined Arts Committee.   The WSFWI  Centenary Choir performed under the direction of Aedan Kearney a variety of songs ranging from The Rhythm of Life to a Welsh Lullaby.    We were honoured to have the composer, Christopher Hussey, present to hear the choir perform his challenging piece The Bosham Bell.

It was a privilege to hear 14-year old Amy-Jo Gilbert, violinist, perform for us.  She will go far!   Sidonie Winter sang some solos and also playing were the Sussex Wind Players.

To complement a most enjoyable afternoon, the audience were served strawberries and cream and, of course, the compulsory WI cuppa!

Six members attended and Diana H and Gloria were in the choir.  Diana provided this report.

On Wednesday 14th June Anne R. Hazel, Gloria and Pat went to the Rustington Outward Bounds Centre to play 10 pin bowling organised by WSFWI the Sport and Leisure Committee. This was an excellent centre offering a wide range of sports and activities. The centre gave us a brief introduction to how to play before letting us loose on our lanes. We four all played together and had two sessions of 10 games. Considering that Anne had not played before; and the rest not for some time we were  evenly matched. It was great fun and  the 2 hours sped by very quickly. Pat, to her amazement, came out the best but only by a few points. We then had a picnic lunch at Highdown Gardens before returning home.

After an enjoyable meeting ,with delicious cake (Supplied by Linda) with refreshments,  followed by an entertaining speaker, 30+ members strolled in the sunshine to a nearby restaurant for our “Birthday” lunch. Here we enjoyed good food, good service and friendly banter from the staff.  Our grateful thanks go to Lesley for the considerable time and effort she put into organising this very pleasant lunch.

A BIG THANK YOU from all who were present.

Linda and Doreen  were brave enough to represent our WI at the South East of England Show this year. They proudly showed their exhibits at our June meeting. On a sunny day Doreen’s picture set the scene and Linda’s cake was very well received. The recipe for this easy but delicious cake can be downloaded from this link SUSSEX ALE FRUIT CAKE or can be found on our Share page.

Several of us attended the celebration day created by the Combined Arts Committee for a literary and musical tour of Sussex. We travelled across the Sussex landscape with words by Rudyard Kipling & Hilaire Belloc and  musical accompaniment  by Edward Elgar, Vaughan Williams and the Copper Family. A stimulating talk by author Elly Griffiths provided much to think about.

Whilst some of us took lunch in a nearby garden the choir was busy rehearsing a newly created song for inclusion that afternoon. This was the culmination of much work which included two of our members – Pat on the committee and Diana in the choir.

Hazel and Diana H joined about 20 other members of West Sussex WIs for a walk round Highdown Hill, Goring.   We were all togged up for the cold, but although there was a stiff breeze, the sun shone.   The views were rather hazy, but we could still see a fair distance.    There were skylarks and red kites flying above us.   

 Having completed the walk we treated ourselves to a cuppa and the hugest slices of cake or scones you have ever seen!   Suitably refreshed, we were joined by the Head Gardener of Highdown Gardens and her three-month old son for a guided tour of the gardens.   What a hidden gem!  Literally, as the gardens are mostly in an old chalk pit.  They were started 100  years ago by Sir Frederick Stern and some of the trees and shrubs are original and rare.   The gardens are splendid in all seasons, certainly the spring blossoms and blooms were glorious.    The gardens are now maintained by Worthing Borough Council and are  worth a visit – free entry!   And don’t forget the tearoom……

 Sorry, no pictures as we both forgot our cameras.

 Diana H provided the text for this report.

Some of our ladies enjoyed an afternoon at Christs’ Hospital recently. Looking up to magnificent Brangwyn prints in the chapel. It was a superb visit with such articulate and animated pupils leading us  around the huge school. There was a delicious tea under the Verrio painting. The culmination was a visit to the museum.

Thanks to Anne R. for the report and picture.