Our meetings are held in St Luke's Church Hall on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm except in December.
Visitors welcome - £5 per visit which includes refreshments and a raffle ticket. |
See this year's reports at the bottom of the page
|
Updated: 14th December 2022
Reports
6th December 2022
Christmas Party - meal at The George & Dragon - pictures on the News page
22nd November 2022
Annual General Meeting - Members Evening
After our normal monthly meeting we held our Annual Meeting where we discussed our Year End Accounts and heard the Secretary and President's Reports, followed by voting in our new Committee with Sue Blantern being elected our President for 2023. Once all the serious stuff was concluded we had tea and cake and engaged in various rounds of Stand-Up Bingo, with some hilarious results. We then held a bumper raffle, which meant, with the prizes for the bingo, a lot of us went home with a little prize.
Christmas Party - meal at The George & Dragon - pictures on the News page
22nd November 2022
Annual General Meeting - Members Evening
After our normal monthly meeting we held our Annual Meeting where we discussed our Year End Accounts and heard the Secretary and President's Reports, followed by voting in our new Committee with Sue Blantern being elected our President for 2023. Once all the serious stuff was concluded we had tea and cake and engaged in various rounds of Stand-Up Bingo, with some hilarious results. We then held a bumper raffle, which meant, with the prizes for the bingo, a lot of us went home with a little prize.
25th October 2022
Speaker: Scouting Skills
Competition: Childhood Hobby Memorabilia
Speaker: Scouting Skills
Competition: Childhood Hobby Memorabilia
27th September 2022
Speaker: Peter Sykes - The Life of a Junior Hospital Doctor
Competition: Group - Poppies in any medium
Speaker: Peter Sykes - The Life of a Junior Hospital Doctor
Competition: Group - Poppies in any medium
23rd August 2022
As St Luke's Hall was being refurbished, this meeting was held in the Middlewich Hall at the Methodist Church. Twenty-two ladies (including 2 new members and 2 visitors) enjoyed our talk by Philip Heaton who enlightened us on the world of astrology, which is definitely more complicated than the horoscopes you get in your local daily newspaper. Our raffle winners were Patricia Cotton and Lesley Moores. Our competition - handmade item - was won by Françoise Rothery, Liz Osborn was 2nd and Sue Whitaker 3rd.
As St Luke's Hall was being refurbished, this meeting was held in the Middlewich Hall at the Methodist Church. Twenty-two ladies (including 2 new members and 2 visitors) enjoyed our talk by Philip Heaton who enlightened us on the world of astrology, which is definitely more complicated than the horoscopes you get in your local daily newspaper. Our raffle winners were Patricia Cotton and Lesley Moores. Our competition - handmade item - was won by Françoise Rothery, Liz Osborn was 2nd and Sue Whitaker 3rd.
26th July 2022
Visit to Bidlea Dairy
Visit to Bidlea Dairy
On Tuesday 26th July our monthly meeting was somewhat different, we decided to have a visit to a local dairy farm. So, 18 of our members enjoyed getting to know all about Bidlea Dairy which is the home of the Brown family who have lived at Orchards Farm for over 40 years. They’ve been dairy farmers for three generations and they love what they do and are passionate about their ‘girls’ – Holstein-Friesian cows. From just 20 cows originally to an almost 1000 strong herd, both National and European award winners, I might add. Their welfare means everything to them and are committed to giving them as free and natural an environment as possible, letting them enjoy the wonderful Cheshire countryside and feed from only the best local suppliers, and they love getting up at 3:30pm every morning to milk them. Jill Brown took us around the sheds and explained their family history and how they all help with the processes.
Their products range from freshly processed milk and butter to milkshakes and delicious ice creams, all produced on the farm and they love to experiment with flavours from Jaffa Cake to Christmas Pudding! They also have a café where you can enjoy the stunning countryside and sample the homemade cakes with, of course, some ice cream on the side.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and of course, most of us came away with ice cream to stock up our freezers.
See News for photos.
Their products range from freshly processed milk and butter to milkshakes and delicious ice creams, all produced on the farm and they love to experiment with flavours from Jaffa Cake to Christmas Pudding! They also have a café where you can enjoy the stunning countryside and sample the homemade cakes with, of course, some ice cream on the side.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and of course, most of us came away with ice cream to stock up our freezers.
See News for photos.
28th June 2022
Speaker: Alison Wright - ‘Fair Trade’
Competition: Teacup/Saucer or Mug
Holmes Chapel WI welcomed their local Co-op Ambassador to their July meeting to talk about Co-op Fair Trade. An excellent talk and free if you are looking for a speaker.
We heard lots of facts about the Fairtrade products stocked in our local Holmes Chapel Co op, with lots of audience participation guessing the prices of lots of items. Plenty of tasters - 3 different wines, 3 types of chocolate and 3 sorts of chocolate coated raisins, crunchy and peanuts!
See News for photos
28th June 2022
Speaker: Alison Wright - ‘Fair Trade’
Competition: Teacup/Saucer or Mug
Holmes Chapel WI welcomed their local Co-op Ambassador to their July meeting to talk about Co-op Fair Trade. An excellent talk and free if you are looking for a speaker.
We heard lots of facts about the Fairtrade products stocked in our local Holmes Chapel Co op, with lots of audience participation guessing the prices of lots of items. Plenty of tasters - 3 different wines, 3 types of chocolate and 3 sorts of chocolate coated raisins, crunchy and peanuts!
See News for photos
24th May 2022 Resolutions Meeting
Entertainment: Indoor Jubilee Street Party
Competition: ‘Sweet Treat’
We decorated St Luke’s Hall with knitted, crocheted and hand-made bunting in red, white and blue along with Union Jack tablecloths and flags as centre pieces.
After the business of the day was conducted, twenty-four members and three visitors, all looking splendid in various guises of red, white and blue, teamed up with hats, scarves, headbands and garlands tucked into a lovely buffet. This culminated in voting for our favourite looking dessert our members had prepared for our competition for the evening. What a beautiful array of ‘Sweet Treats’ we had to taste afterwards. The overall winner was Andrea Petty with her impressive looking cake. Joint second went to Mamie Bell for her Pavlova and Wendy Morgan for her afternoon tea ensemble. This was all accompanied by rousing music which was enjoyed by all.
Amongst a lot of chatter and singing everyone pitched in to clear away and helped themselves to ‘doggy bags’. All those scrummy cakes did not help the diet, but we celebrated Her Majesty’s marvellous achievement in style.
See News for photos.
Entertainment: Indoor Jubilee Street Party
Competition: ‘Sweet Treat’
We decorated St Luke’s Hall with knitted, crocheted and hand-made bunting in red, white and blue along with Union Jack tablecloths and flags as centre pieces.
After the business of the day was conducted, twenty-four members and three visitors, all looking splendid in various guises of red, white and blue, teamed up with hats, scarves, headbands and garlands tucked into a lovely buffet. This culminated in voting for our favourite looking dessert our members had prepared for our competition for the evening. What a beautiful array of ‘Sweet Treats’ we had to taste afterwards. The overall winner was Andrea Petty with her impressive looking cake. Joint second went to Mamie Bell for her Pavlova and Wendy Morgan for her afternoon tea ensemble. This was all accompanied by rousing music which was enjoyed by all.
Amongst a lot of chatter and singing everyone pitched in to clear away and helped themselves to ‘doggy bags’. All those scrummy cakes did not help the diet, but we celebrated Her Majesty’s marvellous achievement in style.
See News for photos.
26th April 2022
Speaker: Open Evening with a short talk by Hazel Sutcliffe on Bee Keeping
Competition: Group - Vintage Motor Memorabilia
30 ladies attended our first open meeting, with 4 of them enrolling. Our Treasurer Ann outlined the hierarchy of the WI and where our WI fitted in. We all enjoyed a lovely talk by Hazel Sutcliffe on Bee Keeping which revealed some very interesting facts about the humble bee. After Hazel's talk all the ladies mingled and viewed the tables on display and asked loads of questions about the WI. Our raffle prizes were won by Donna Caffyn and Sue Blantern. The winner of this month's competition, which will be taken to the Dane Valley Group Spring Meeting later this month, was won by Janet Jackson, with Linda Taylor 2nd and Karen Glendining 3rd.
Speaker: Open Evening with a short talk by Hazel Sutcliffe on Bee Keeping
Competition: Group - Vintage Motor Memorabilia
30 ladies attended our first open meeting, with 4 of them enrolling. Our Treasurer Ann outlined the hierarchy of the WI and where our WI fitted in. We all enjoyed a lovely talk by Hazel Sutcliffe on Bee Keeping which revealed some very interesting facts about the humble bee. After Hazel's talk all the ladies mingled and viewed the tables on display and asked loads of questions about the WI. Our raffle prizes were won by Donna Caffyn and Sue Blantern. The winner of this month's competition, which will be taken to the Dane Valley Group Spring Meeting later this month, was won by Janet Jackson, with Linda Taylor 2nd and Karen Glendining 3rd.
22nd February 2022
Speaker: Caroline Peters - ‘The Story of Tropic’
Competition: Something tropical
Twenty-two members enjoyed a talk from a local Tropic Ambassador. Caroline explained the history behind the cosmetics - Susie Ma is the founder and CEO and was inspired by two things. The first was her grandma, a medicinal chemist and toxicologist, who taught her that, like our bodies, our skin deserves to be fed with the healthiest, nourishing, natural ingredients. The second source of inspiration was her upbringing and childhood home in Cairns, Australia. From fresh aloe Vera plants to exotic fruit trees, the abundance of ingredients she saw every day and had a huge effect on the products she would later create.
After moving to London, she started to think about selling her homemade body scrub recipe to help her mum pay the bills and at the age of 15, poured a freshly made batch into 50 jam jars and sold it Greenwich Market, and sold out in one day! Alongside her studies over the next six years, she devoted weekends and evenings to formulating recipes, making products in her mum’s kitchen and selling them across London.
In 2011 she appeared on BBC’s The Apprentice, Lord Sugar was so impressed by the products that he invested to become a 50/50 partner, and Tropic’s life as an official company began. They finally moved from her mum’s kitchen into the first ever Tropic HQ! In 2013 they began a social selling business platform with 400 founding Ambassadors. Today that has grown to over 20,000 active Ambassadors.
Our members then enjoyed testing hand creams and other lovely things, the smell in the room was gorgeous. Our competition 'Something Tropical' was won by Francoise Rothery, second was Linda Taylor and third Andrea Petty. Our raffle was won by Andrea Petty and Therese Barnett.
Speaker: Caroline Peters - ‘The Story of Tropic’
Competition: Something tropical
Twenty-two members enjoyed a talk from a local Tropic Ambassador. Caroline explained the history behind the cosmetics - Susie Ma is the founder and CEO and was inspired by two things. The first was her grandma, a medicinal chemist and toxicologist, who taught her that, like our bodies, our skin deserves to be fed with the healthiest, nourishing, natural ingredients. The second source of inspiration was her upbringing and childhood home in Cairns, Australia. From fresh aloe Vera plants to exotic fruit trees, the abundance of ingredients she saw every day and had a huge effect on the products she would later create.
After moving to London, she started to think about selling her homemade body scrub recipe to help her mum pay the bills and at the age of 15, poured a freshly made batch into 50 jam jars and sold it Greenwich Market, and sold out in one day! Alongside her studies over the next six years, she devoted weekends and evenings to formulating recipes, making products in her mum’s kitchen and selling them across London.
In 2011 she appeared on BBC’s The Apprentice, Lord Sugar was so impressed by the products that he invested to become a 50/50 partner, and Tropic’s life as an official company began. They finally moved from her mum’s kitchen into the first ever Tropic HQ! In 2013 they began a social selling business platform with 400 founding Ambassadors. Today that has grown to over 20,000 active Ambassadors.
Our members then enjoyed testing hand creams and other lovely things, the smell in the room was gorgeous. Our competition 'Something Tropical' was won by Francoise Rothery, second was Linda Taylor and third Andrea Petty. Our raffle was won by Andrea Petty and Therese Barnett.
25th January 2022
Speaker: John Clowes - ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’
Competition: Caption - on the night
We welcomed 5 new members and one visitor to our first meeting of the year where John Clowes explained what the Preserving the Story of Holmes Chapel (in pictures) was all about. He went through several pictures which showed the same view but in different decades. Very interesting for us all, from those who were brought up in the village and those who have recently moved here. After he answered several questions, John judged our competition which was a photo he brought along on the night and we had to devise a caption on the spot. This was won by Andrea Petty. See our News page for photos.
Speaker: John Clowes - ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’
Competition: Caption - on the night
We welcomed 5 new members and one visitor to our first meeting of the year where John Clowes explained what the Preserving the Story of Holmes Chapel (in pictures) was all about. He went through several pictures which showed the same view but in different decades. Very interesting for us all, from those who were brought up in the village and those who have recently moved here. After he answered several questions, John judged our competition which was a photo he brought along on the night and we had to devise a caption on the spot. This was won by Andrea Petty. See our News page for photos.