January 2026

Storm Goretti brought very wet, blustery weather for the first meeting of the new year but Jayne, President for this year, gave a warm welcome to the 17 members, guest Sue and speaker who had braved the elements!

She thanked Elaine, retiring President, for taking the helm for the last three years and previously as Vice President when Jayne had been unwell.

The speaker, Adam Smith, gave a fascinating and informative talk and slide show about “Georgian Food and Dining” – from the fields to the table. This was the start of the agricultural revolution when fields of crops were enclosed to keep grazing animals out.

The first picture by George Stubbs dated 1785 showed women working in the fields gathering in the wheat, which was grown much taller than today’s plants to outgrow weeds when harvested, then the stalks were used for thatching, animal food and bedding. Every part of an animal was cooked including a Cow’s Head “Pye”, which was a very gory recipe to modern tastes!

Later wealthier people had walled gardens and greenhouses which gave protection when growing more exotic fruit and vegetables, although some food were imported to Covent Garden such as sugar cane from Jamaica (which caused rotten teeth) and spices etc from India, east Asia or China, which were unable to be grown in this country.

Kitchens in large houses had very high ceilings to let out the heat from the fires cooking the food. Breakfast was eaten then an enormous dinner consisting of many dishes with two savoury courses followed by fruit, served at 2pm while there was still daylight. Supper was usually the reconstituted leftovers from dinner or given to the servants so as not to waste anything.

The business of the meeting then continued with Jayne saying that everyone had enjoyed the Christmas meeting and meal. She confirmed that Gillian had already booked Ann Tennant, the caterer, for the meal for 10 December 2026!

Jayne presented the five Resolutions to those members present, which were then voted on.

1. No 1 Accessible Public Toilet Facilities to Promote Dignity, Health & Social Inclusion. 7 votes

2. No 2 Action on Women’s Homelessness. 7 votes

3. No 3 Nearer to Nature. 1 vote

The remaining Resolutions had no votes.

Mary Rose read the correspondence with the forthcoming events :

1. 28 January 2pm Learning Hub Talk at BFWI HQ, Aylesbury “London Beneath the City Streets. £5

2. 3 March 10.30-3.30pm BFWI Speakers Spring Auditions, Pitstone Pavilion. £8.95

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3. 4 March BFWI Mix & Mingle at Chenies Garden Centre.

4. 10 March 10-4pm BFWI Investigation & Discovery Day, Walton Parish Hall, Aylesbury. £25.

5. 20 March 7-10pm BFWI Inter County Quiz South Heats, Great Missenden Memorial Hall.

6. 25 April BFWI Annual Council Meeting, Aylesbury Grammar School.

7. 28 April 7 for 7.30pm Beechwood Group Spring Meeting, Great Missenden. £5.

8. 4 June NFWI Annual Meeting ONLINE.

9. 30 September 7 for 7.30pm Beechwood Autumn Group Meeting, Hyde Heath.

Boards were circulated for both the Hub Talk and Investigation & Discovery Day for those

 interested in attending to sign.

Elaine gave details of the next Board Games meeting at 2pm on 28 January at Irene’s home

Bledlow Institute no longer belong to a group and as Ballinger Institute had closed, members were asked to consider if Bledlow should be invited to join the Beechwood group. It was discussed but as they were 12 miles away, it was suggested that it was too far for convenient travelling.

Volunteers were asked for to make up a team of three for the Quiz.

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on 12 February when Willie Reid will give the second part of his talk on “High Wycombe Unmasked”.

February 2026

On yet another miserable wet night, Jayne gave a warm welcome to everybody present including the speaker, Willie Reid, saying there were quite a few apologies for absence.

Willie gave the second part of his talk (without notes) and slide show on “High Wycombe Unmasked”, which was a revelation about the history of the beautiful buildings in the High Street leading towards the Market Place, Guildhall and All Saints Church in Church Street. I think most of us had not walked beyond the modern façade of the Eden Shopping Centre!

Willie has investigated the history of the town, which was an important staging post between London and Oxford. He has given walks for 10 years and talks for 7 years. In 1731 M.P. Brian Willis reckoned that High Wycombe was the best town and most well built in Bucks due in part to the continued expansion of the furniture industry. So many well-known names are associated with the town including Oliver Cromwell, John Hampden, William Penn, Disraeli and many titled people. The Military Academy was first started in a building still existing in the High Street, eventually transferring to Sandhurst! Lace making was a craft started in Tudor times

There is a magnificent memorial to the Earl of Shelburne and his family in the church with several notable windows. A tradition from the 17 century is for each new Mayor to be weighed in a chair at the commencement and completion of his tenure to check that he has not filled his pockets with coins!

Jayne said a letter had been received from the Secretary of the Hyde Heath Village Hall Committee asking if the Institute would be able to provide cakes and teas again in the Cricket Pavilion at the Village Fete on 8th May this year. This had been discussed at length by the Committee who felt, with the increasing age of the members, this was an onerous task which they had provided for more than 35 years, but some members may be willing to contribute cakes and give guidance to anyone taking over from them on the organisation of the teas,.

Jayne thanked Sylvia for providing a plant for the Officers table, which could then be raffled.

It was announced that the new Convener had agreed Bledlow Ridge Institute could join the Beechwood Group of WI’s. The Spring group meeting will be at Great Missenden at 7 for 7.30pm on 28 April when “Nicola” will take the part of Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein and had connections with the Marlow area. Cost £5.

Hyde Heath will be hosting the Autumn Group Meeting at 7.15 for 7.30 on 30 September when Anne Tennant (our Christmas Dinner caterer) will talk about “Catastrophes!”. The BFWI County Quiz team of Jayne, Avril and a third member will compete in the heats at Great Missenden Memorial Hall 7-10pm on 20 March.

The BFWI Annual Council Meeting is at Aylesbury Grammar School 10.30am-4pm on 25 April. There will be 3 speakers, tea & cakes will be provided but members should take a packed lunch. There is plenty of parking on the playground. Jayne will be attending but asked if anyone else would be interested in going.

Mary Rose announced that the Investigation & Discovery day had 4 speakers. It is being held at the Walton Parish Hall, Aylesbury, 10am-4pm on 10 March. Cost £25.

The Learning Hub is being updated to VIA starting this month.

The subscription for 2026/27 is being increased by £3 to £54 by the NFWI but the Committee thought that was rather a large increase so Hyde Heath will only be increasing the already subsidised amount of last year by £1 to £48. The amount to be retained by our WI is £22.10, the remainder being distributed to NFWI and BFWI.

Sylvia will be hosting the next Board Games meeting at 2pm on 12 March.

Next month’s meeting is at 7.30pm on 12 March when Jo Cowan will talk about “The Surprising Health Benefits of Magnetic Jewellery”.

Jayne welcomed everyone to the meeting, including Jo Cowan our speaker for the evening. The Investigation & Discovery day was cancelled due to lack of numbers.

A team comprising Avril, Mary R and Jayne have been entered for the BFWI Inter-County Quiz to be held on 20 March at Great Missenden Memorial Hall.

Jayne will be the delegate attending the BFWI Annual Meeting on 25 April 10.30am–4pm at Aylesbury Grammar School. The Committee has decided that the tickets, costing £10, would be funded by our WI and encouraged any other members to join her.

The Beechwood Group Spring meeting will be held on 28 April, 7.15 for 7.30pm at Great Missenden Memorial Hall

The speaker, Nicola Metcalfe, will enact the writer Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) and talk about “Victorian Marlow”. The cost is £5.

It was announced that a letter had been received from the President of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards WI Institute to say, sadly, they had folded due to lack of members. They were part of the Beechwood Group. Prestwood Afternoon and Prestwood Evening WIs were merging and Flackwell Heath WI and Chesham Bois WIs were also closing. Bledlow WI will be joining the remaining Beechwood Group consisting of Wendover, Great Missenden and Hyde Heath.

Jayne had advised the Village Hall Management Committee of the Wis decision that they were no longer able to continue to organise and provide “Teas in the Pavilion” at the village fete, which this year will be on 9th May. She had received very complimentary letters of appreciation from the Management Committee and Chris Sargeant, which she read out to members. Help with provision of cakes may be possible.

An arrangement for the St Andrew’s Church Flower Festival on the day of the fete would continue if this was requested.

All members were asked to complete the new WI Membership Form for April 2026. As a result of changes to the Law, NFWI membership is only open to women registered female at birth (biological women) who have reached the age of majority. By completing and signing the new form, individuals will be confirming their eligibility for membership. These forms should be completed before paying their 2026/27 subscription of a subsidised amount of £48, which are due by 1 April.

The two Resolutions chosen for the NFWI Annual Meeting in June were

1. Accessible public toilet facilities to promote dignity, health and social inclusion (44.7%)

2. Action on Women’s homelessness (27.0%)

These had been discussed and voted on at the Hyde Heath January meeting.

No-one was available from Hyde Heath to be the Link Delegate to attend the online meeting of the NFWI Annual Meeting on 4 June. The other three Wis in the group (Penn & Tylers Green, Whelpley Hill and Ashley Green) had all been asked if they had a volunteer, but no response had been received. BFWI have been advised.

The next Board Games meeting will be at 2pm on 25 March at Janet Bangay’s home.

Christine offered to loan a book titled “Jam Busters”, which included descriptions of the WI in the war.

Jo Cowan, our speaker for the evening, gave a very enthusiastic and interesting talk on the health benefits of magnetic jewellery which appears to give pain relief for humans and animals! Some members bought a variety of pretty jewellery with magnets to wear.

Next month’s meeting will be at 7.30pm on 9 April when Keith Muras will talk about “Yardies & a Windy Day” (a visit to Jamaica).

April 2026

Jayne opened the evening with the sad news that past member, Sue Flint, had died on Easter Monday morning after a long illness. She used to attend the meetings with the dogs she trained for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, with whom she and her husband were associated for many years.

The team of Jayne, Avril and Mary R did very well coming 4th in the South Bucks Heats of the Inter County Quiz, albeit this year there were only 9 teams competing.

The BFWI Council meeting on 25 April will be attended by Jayne as Delegate with Mary C and Avril attending as Observers, but if anyone else would like to go contact Jayne, who will arrange purchase of tickets through the Institute.

The Beechwood Group Spring meeting is at Great Missenden on 28 April, 7 for 7.30pm, cost £5 when 10 members will attend. Nicola Metcalfe will talk about Victorian Marlow. Refreshments will be provided.

Carol, President of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Institute, told Jayne that sadly they were unable to continue as a group in the WI as only five people had renewed their membership, senior age being a factor.

Jayne said, although the Village Hall Committee had been informed 2 or 3 months ago that we had to opt out of providing teas in the cricket pavilion from this year, and had received two really nice letters of thanks for all the service we had provided in past decades, no-one had taken up our offers of help in either providing some cakes or information on organising it. There will not be a Flower Festival in St Andrew’s this year and thanks were given to Sylvia for volunteering.

This year’s NFWI Raffle tickets are available on the Welcome Desk for £1 each with a 1st prize of £10,000 plus 6 other prizes!

Members who had not already filled in the form and paid for this year were requested to do so as subscriptions were due this month.

Our speaker, Keith Muras, made a return visit to tell us about “Yardies & a Windy Day (a visit to Jamaica)”. Keith is a retired Diplomat, who this time told us about his fascinating but frightening posting to the Caribbean Island of Jamaica, capital Kingston from 1988-1992.

There is a beautiful side in the north of Jamaica which was home to Ian Fleming, Noel Coward and Mick Jagger which is a complete contrast to the Downtown violent Ghettos where gangs are controlled by leaders called Dons and gang members Yardies, because the only outside area they have are yards. The politicians “paid” the different gangs with weapons for their support, which resulted in total lawlessness!

The Windy Day was only three months after Keith and his family moved to Jamaica when the worst hurricane the island had ever had hit them, destroying and flooding everything in its path, including the beautiful large house they were living in, forcing them to abandon it and move to other accommodation sharing with a large number of people. Keith and his wife then had the job of helping with the organisation of rescue and support for the many islanders who had suffered too.

The Resolutions will be presented and discussed at the next meeting on 14 May at 7.30pm so there will be no speaker but an extended social time instead.

President Jayne welcomed members to the Resolution meeting and said that she, Mary Collins and Avril had enjoyed the BFWI Annual Council Meeting at Aylesbury Grammar School on 25 April. 

The speakers were very interesting and as the weather was warm, they had lunch outside in the grounds.  Aylesbury Town WI had provided tea and cakes.

Members had been urged to book up events online promptly when the announcements were made.  Speakers pay £40 to be on the Speakers List, which is available on request if needed.

Ten members had attended the Spring Beechwood Group meeting in Great Missenden on 28 April when Nicola Metcalfe had come dressed in costume as the author Mary Shelley.  She gave a lively and fascinating story, involving some of the members, about the history and life of people in Victorian times in Marlow and the surrounding area – all without notes!  We were given delicious sandwiches, cakes and wine.  Bledlow WI joined us for the first time.

Hyde Heath will be hosting the Autumn Beechwood Group meeting on 30 September when Ann Tennant will talk about “Catastrophes!”

Jayne again mentioned the fete cake stall and teas, if any members wished to contribute.  Mary Rose had already sent a copy of the guidance sheet for the requirements for the teas.  She hoped they had a very successful day.

Instead of the normal meeting in August, a summer social was usually held, and it was suggested this year that perhaps a lunch rather than an evening meeting might be arranged.

There will be a Thames Valley Air Ambulance fund raising Afternoon Tea on Saturday, 13 July, 2.30-4.30pm at the Damian Hall, Great Missenden.  Tickets £10 from Samways Post Office in Great Missenden.  They are desperately in need of funds, especially with the disruption of tanker movements in the Strait of Hormuz causing high costs of fuel since the conflict between USA and Iran.

28 Members have now filled in the membership forms and paid subscriptions to rejoin the Institute.  The next Board Games meeting will be held at Irene’s home at 2pm on 24 June.  The NFWI Annual meeting will be held online on 4 June.

Jayne then presented the two Resolutions which were chosen nationally to be voted on:

1.      Accessible Public toilet facilities to promote dignity, health and social inclusion.

2.      Action on Women’s homelessness to reduce risk to women.

Members present discussed and unanimously voted in favour of both Resolutions, which will be put forward to the NFWI.

We then stretched our brains for an entertaining Quiz given by Mary Rose, followed by tea, biscuits and longer to socialise!

Next month’s meeting will be taken by Vice President, Christine as Jayne is on holiday, at 7.30pm on 11 June when Jeff Rozelaar returns to talk about “Princess Margaret – a Controversial Life”.

Jayne, President, gave a warm welcome on a very hot evening (the third heatwave of the year continues) to those members present plus our speaker, Sheila Keatinge, who has kindly stepped in at very short notice. Janet Manson, Programme secretary, had received a phone call the previous week from the original speaker, Bill Hamilton, who was in Harefield hospital awaiting a heart procedure so would be unable to be with us. We wish him well and hope to see him sometime in the future.

Christine, Vice President, will preside over our August meeting as Jayne will be on holiday. This is on 13 August at 7.30pm this year will be a social “Bring and Share” pot luck supper in the Village Hall. A board was circulated for members to fill in details of whether they will attend and choice of whether they will bring a sweet or savoury dish. Soft drinks will be provided otherwise bring your own. Plates, cutlery etc should be brought too.

Chris Sargeant will be unable to produce the slide show of old WI photos that Barbara Aris had collated as he didn’t have the equipment but offered to produce one later in the year.

Hyde Heath will be hosting the Beechwood Autumn Group meeting in the Village Hall at 7.15 for 7.30pm on 30 September so help was requested from members to make traybakes to serve. A board was circulated for members to sign with details of attendance and choice of cakes (the cost of ingredients will be refunded). The cost is £5 each in cash. It would be appreciated if some members could come promptly to help set up tables and chairs etc. Ann Tennant, our Christmas dinner caterer, will be our speaker talking about “Catering Catastrophes”!

Mary Rose, Secretary, gave various details from the Bucks News including a series of talks about “Tudor Day” at the Bucks Museum on 17 September, cost £28.

Avril, Treasurer, asked if any member knew of someone who could audit the Institutes financial statements as the Federation have stopped providing one. Payment would be given.

The June Board Games meeting was cancelled as it was felt to be too hot in the heatwave, but it was rearranged for 2nd July at Irene’s house.

Sheila Keatinge gave us a delightful talk and slide show on the beautiful, calm Isle of Scilly which she visited in 2015 for a rather special holiday with her brother and sister-in-law and their dog. They had adjoining cottages on Bryher, which entailed travelling on the ferry from St Mary’s. They visited several of the other islands, most of which did not have vehicles or were not inhabited and saw others by boat. Trescoe has beautiful gardens which were begun in 1834 when Augustus Smith took a 99 year lease from the Duchy of Cornwall when he chose the island for his home beside the ruins of the medieval St Nicholas Priory. He transformed a bare rocky island into a now world-famous sheltered garden, still looked after by his descendants!

September’s meeting will be on 10th at 7.30pm when Michael Kerry White will talk about “Tales of the Accidental Actor”.

Gillian O'Flynn

Jayne, President, welcomed all members and our speaker to the first meeting after the summer break.

Avril, Treasurer, was unable to attend as she had moved house that day, it was hoped that all had gone smoothly.  Margaret Ritter kindly provided a plant for the President’s table, which was raffled at the end of the evening.

Very sadly, we lost two of our members in the last month, Di Coombes and Ann Honour who had both been involved in local activities.  Di’s funeral had been held that afternoon, which several members attended, and Ann’s was being held the following Wednesday.

Instead of a meeting on 13 August, we had a very successful “Plate Supper” in the village hall when each member brought their own drink and a plate of food as a contribution to a delicious supper with a chance to enjoy a sociable time.  I don’t think anything was duplicated!

September 16^th was WI Day marking 111 years of sisterhood, empowerment and community action.  The theme colour chosen was purple.  An important new WI supporter is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally.

It is Hyde Heath Evening Institutes turn to host the Beechwood Group meeting on 30^th September which will now come round every two years due to diminishing numbers of village institutes remaining.  A board was circulated for members to sign and pay £5 for attendance.  Prosecco, drinks, savoury nibbles and tray bakes would be served for refreshments, and Ann Tennant will speak about “Catering Catastrophes”.  Those offering to help should arrive at 6.45pm with others arriving at 7.15pm

If anyone knows of a retired accountant who, for a small fee, could examine the accounts at the end of the financial year, please let Avril or Jayne know.  Avril will be sending a form round relating to Gift Aid.

The Board Games Group had to cancel two of their meetings due to the excessive heatwaves, but the next meeting will be at Irene’s home at 2pm on 23 September.

Elaine announced that the South Bucks Choral Society, which she and her husband belong to, are holding two concerts in St Mary’s Parish Church, Old Amersham on 28 November and 19 December, leaflets were available on the information table.

Michael Kerry White then gave us a very entertaining talk (without notes!) about how he became an “Accidental Actor”.  He retired early in 2012 after 35 years in business travelling around the world. 

After about three weeks a friend, who was a member of a choir and amdram group, were casting for Beauty & the Beast, thought Michael would be ideal for a particular part. He auditioned, was accepted and so started the next stage of his life in acting, signing up with agencies and continues to take part in numerous and very varied parts from the Olympics closing ceremony in 2012 in London to a part in a James Bond film with Daniel Craig, enjoying a multitude of different experiences over the years!

The next meeting will be on 8 October at 7.30pm when Rachel Platt will talk about “Garden Designs – RHS Behind the Scenes”.

Gillian O'Flynn