Holcombe Brook and Summerseat WI

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.

As usual our December meeting was replaced by our Christmas meal. It was a very jolly event with many members taking part in the now infamous 'elaborately wrapped present' game. For those not familair with the game, it's basically a secret santa present swap BUT the item inside the wrapping must be disguised! Normally this involves a blizzard of wrapping paper, glitter, ribbon and occasionally a brick or two to lend some false weight! Here's wishing you and yours a very Happy Christmas!

Earlier this week we had our craft evening in which we created Christmas gift bags and worked on our amazing wall hanging for the Hare and Hounds pub. (No pictures of the wall hanging as yet - all will be revealed soon!) We also knitted 'traffic light' beanie hats for premature babies. These help hospital staff denote the level of attention each baby needs. It was a relaxed and enjoyable evening; filled with chatter and laughter.

October's AGM saw us reflect on our branch's past year, elect a new joint President and Treasurer and present our financial statement. Thankfully we are in good order and fine fettle! After the business part of the meeting we held a swap shop event where each member brought a few lightly used accessories and items of costume jewellery to swap for other items on the night. It was great fun and we came away with a few new splashes of colour to perk up our wardrobes.

Kay Hopkinson from Grindleton WI is Lancashire Federation's Denman Ambassador. She spoke to the group about the history of Denman and the many courses available to WI members.

A group went to see the ' House Style' exhibition , celebrating five centuries of fashion and adornment at Chatsworth House.