Holcombe Brook and Summerseat WI

On Friday, 14th December a group of members headed to Manchester to take part in the suffrage march and unveiling of a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst. Karen and Shirley fly the suffrage colours of purple, green and white The weather was kind - cold but dry and the turnout was impressive.

In December, we forego our usual meeting in favour of a Christmas meal at the Hare and Hounds pub. Photo by  freestocks.org  on  Unsplash Following the meal we enjoy our traditional game of swapping elaborately-wrapped (and disguised!) presents. We rounded the evening off with a quiz, raffle and some Christmas songs. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Some members of our WI, took part in a fantastic day of willow weaving to learn more about this art. After some excellent instruction they were each able to create a range of Christmas willow ornaments and decorations and were very pleased with themselves :)

As is usual, our November meeting gave us a chance to get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy a fun craft evening. Image copyright Stampin' Up! Amid the glue, glitter and much giggling, we managed to produce some really lovely gift tags.

Following our AGM at the beginning of the October meeting, we were joined by representatives of Althams travel agency who delivered a fascinating presentation about Canada. Photo by  Trevor Cole  on  Unsplash Their enthusiasm about that country; from the remote wildnerness to the bustling cityscapes, left us all feeling like a trip to Canada was an experience not to be missed!

Deborah McCallum showed us how to get the most out of hanging baskets and containers. Her ideas on how to ensure we have colour and foliage through the autumn and winter months were especially interesting.  Members then decorated tin cans and planted bulbs in the hope of seeing some early Spring colour. We were also visited by representatives of Stoneclough WI as part of their 70 th  anniversary preparations. Finally, Karen Clark spoke to the group about the taster course she had enjoyed at Denman and encouraged us to avail of this marvellous facility.

Following the fascinating talk by Yvonne Pinder, some members attended a craft session and had a go at decorating plant pots for ourselves.  The technique involves transferring images from paper napkins to plant pots which are then sealed and glazed. This simple process gives amazing results. We all felt quite the artist ;)

In June we replaced our normal monthly meeting with a guided walk around the local area. Members very much enjoyed the sunshine and the exercise. (And a well earned drink afterwards!)

The DUCK races that is!  Building on the success of the event in 2017, we once again set up stall as part of the Rotary Club's charity fundraiser. The weather was kind and the crowds were thick as the 1940s weekend was in full swing at the same time. As you can see, some of us were inspired to don vintage clothes to join in the period fun!

As you can see from these photos, the amazing wall hangings being created by our members just keep getting better. We are excited that they are nearing completion and will soon be hanging on the walls of our monthly meeting room in the Hare and Hounds pub, Holcombe Brook.

William Catlin was our speaker at the May meeting. He gave an uplifting and inspirational talk about the search for happiness, how to frame what happiness means to us and how to work towards it. Photo by  Gaelle Marcel  on  Unsplash Members certainly left the meeting with a spring in their step!

In preparation for sprucing up our patios and window sills in time for summer, Yvonne Pinder joined us to show how to decorate plant pots. Photo by  Annie Spratt  on  Unsplash Yvonne shared some of her techniques with us including using how she uses designs on paper napkins and transfers these to the plant pots. She sometimes enhances the overall look of the plant pot by adding some handpainted details. We were so encouraged by Yvonne's enthusiasm and talent that we plan to run a dedicated workshop soon to try decorating pots ourselves!

Tom Patterson joined us in March to share his bee keeping experiences and stories. He showed us the equipment he uses and explained how a hive is made. Photo by  Annie Spratt  on  Unsplash It was an illuminating presentation about the clever world of bees and left us enthused and motivated to do what we can to halt their decline. We were also able to buy some of Tom's delicious honey!

Unfortunately the planned speaker for February was unable to attend. Nonetheless, we had a fun evening discussing forthcoming events, the WI Resolutions for 2018 and the centenary anniversary of votes for women.

Happy New Year! Our first meeting of the year saw Val Maden join us to give a talk about the history of textiles and the Textile Trail. As Ramsbottom is a former mill town the talk was of particular relevance to our members and the locality.