News

A Day at the Royal Cornwall Show

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Gill Gowland and Helen Kestle set off today to work as stewards at the Royal Cornwall Show, with a kind lift from Dorothy Oliver and her husband, Alan.

The W.I. tent was easy to spot …

… and our Crowlas & Ludgvan pennant looked lovely displayed with the others from all over the county:

Beth Marshall and Mary Venn were there too, wearing their CFWI hats, and County Chairman Kathy Reed manned the Chairman’s Table:

Before our first shift, we had time to have a look around at the Royal Cornwall’s flower show and were particularly taken with this cauliflower sheep:

We reported for duty and were provided with very official-looking sashes:

Meanwhile, both the Trading Post and the plant stall were doing roaring trade:

And our own Dorothy Oliver held painting demonstrations throughout the day:

The Jubilee-themed W.I. entries were all so impressive …

… but the winning entry from St. Breward was definitely deserving of the trophy:

Feeling exhausted and with aching feet, our only remaining dilemma was to try and remember where we’d parked the car!

Photos!

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Thanks to Pam Smith, some lovely photos of our WI have been added to the website. Click on the ‘Photos’ tab along the top and take a trip down memory lane.

If anyone else has any photographs they can share, please either email them to crowlasludgvanwi@gmail.com or bring them to the next meeting and give them to Helen to scan and post here.

 

May Meeting

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Our May Resolution meeting was a great success.

Our own Shirley Battle, a retired midwife, spoke eloquently about the NFWI’s resolution for 2012 which calls for an increased investment in the training, employment and retention of midwives in England and Wales. Following Shirley’s talk, we voted and the result was overwhelming (if not unanimous) support for the resolution.

Gill will now take the results of our vote (along with those of the other WIs in our link) to the AGM at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the end of the month.

We had four guests at last night’s meeting and it’s always so nice to see new faces. We do hope they’ll all decide to join!

Camelford Twinning Trip to Caerhays Castle

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We’ve all had a superb day.  We met up with the Camelford ladies at Caerhays Castle, and were met by our guides, Elizabeth and Robin, who showed us around the gorgeous home of the Williams family of Caerhays.

Lunch with lots of chatter followed!

After a short sharp shower of rain, the sun came out, and we all had lovely walks, some to the gardens, others to the beach, or to the Garden shop/Gift shop.

It was great to see Jo and ladies from Camelford. We are looking forward to meeting up again next year.

Many thanks to Robin our coach driver, those who organised the day and to all who came and made it a day to remember.

Let’s get crafty!

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We have a whole lot of wonderful crafts events coming up that I thought you should all know about.

On Friday 22nd June from 10am to 4pm, we’ll be having an oil painting workshop led by our own very talented Hazel Brown. The workshop will be at Hazel’s home (directions found here). No experience is necessary and Hazel assures me that she can turn any of us into artists! We’re asking those who attend to pay a £2 hostess fee and also purchase some supplies – those will be explained later. There are still a few spaces available for the workshop, so if you think you’d like to become the next Picasso, please either sign up at our next meeting or give Lis Davies a ring on 01736 754146.

We will also be holding a Marquee Day, as we did last summer, on Friday 10th August in Rosevidney, complete with a craft tent which Lis and Heather are organising! This exciting day will also include lunch, a raffle, a sales table and lots of fun. Please mark your diaries and stay tuned for more details.

We’ll also keep you posted about a couple of really good autumn crafts events coming up. In October, we’ll be holding a basket weaving day and in November a fabric fusion workshop.

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Although this isn’t anything to do with crafting, we think a lot of you will also be interested in our first computer workshop, to be held at Julia’s house (directions here) on Friday 6th July from 10am to 3pm. The cost of the day is £10 plus a £2 hostess fee. If you have your own laptop, do bring it along, but don’t feel you can’t come if you don’t have a computer. This workshop is suitable for all levels, so don’t worry if you have no experience. That’s what it’s for! And if this day is the success we think it will be, we may be offering further classes in the future.

To book any of the above events or if you’d just like more information, do contact Lis Davies on 01736 754146.

An afternoon with Bette and Joan

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Today, quite a big group of us went to the Hall for Cornwall to see Bette and Joan, starring the wonderful Greta Scaachi and Anita Dobson. The play was all about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford during their filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and provided some interesting insights into both women’s lives … as well as a lot of good laughs and some VERY RUDE WORDS!

Lis, Gill, Janet and Helen
Gill, Pat and Val

 

A big thank you to Mary who arranged the trip and booked us some great seats!

You ladies might enjoy this excerpt from an interview with Joan Crawford in which she talks about Bette Davis and about the film: