President, Elaine welcomed everyone to the meeting and commented that we all had a lovely time at last month’s meeting for our 60th celebration and gave Margaret Dunn the gift of an orchid plant with grateful thanks for producing such a beautifully decorated and tasting cake.

Gillian has sent a copy of the photograph taken commemorating the event to the WI Buckinghamshire News and the Village Website.

Jamie Carter then gave us a very interesting and informative talk about “Queen Mary (the person)”, who was born in this country, her life, character and all her relatives. She was given eight forenames! She was engaged to Queen Victoria’s eldest son, who sadly died of influenza, and subsequently married his brother, the future King George V. During her reign as consort, she was a great support for her husband. She was mother of King Edward VIII (who abdicated) and King George VI, grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II and great-grandmother to King Charles III.

After the conclusion of the talk, Elaine announced that Jayne would present the four Resolutions proposed for the NFWI Annual Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall in June. 1. Dental Health Matters; 2. Impacts of poor housing conditions; 3. Say ‘no’ to gambling advertising; and 4. Improving Outcomes for Women in the Criminal justice System. These were discussed in detail by members who each voted for one Resolution and these results will go forward to the BFWI.

Margaret Dunn will be heading up the organisation of the teas and cakes at the Village Fete, which is on 11th May. A board was circulated for volunteers to help and make cakes. The Cricket Club now have supplies of cutlery and crockery.

The “Cream tea” 60th Anniversary celebration will be held at the meeting on 9th May as there is no speaker.

The BFWI Jigsaw Challenge is on 28th February and the Quiz on 22nd March. Teams have been selected for both these events.

Unfortunately, the Beechwood Group Meeting in Great Missenden has been arranged for the same evening as our Institute’s meeting on 11th April. Details were given but no members present wished to attend the Group meeting.

Those that wished to go to the 11th Annual Investigation & Discovery Day on 12 March, 10.00-16.00, at the Holy Trinity Church in Aylesbury should apply directly for tickets.

Elaine gave a reminder that the annual subscription will be due at the April meeting. This year it is set at £48 but the Committee had decided to give a small subsidy to reduce it to £45, to which members agreed.

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on 14th March when a new speaker, Keith Moses, will talk about “Licensed to Thrill – Work & Play in the 1980’s Soviet Russia”.

It may have been raining outside, but Elaine gave a warm welcome to everyone in the hall, including speaker, Keith Muras, who gave a talk and slide show entitled “Licensed to Thrill – work and play in 1980’s Russia”.

Keith worked for the British Foreign Service and was based in Moscow from 1982-84 during the Cold War. He travelled there with his Wife and 8-year-old child, experiencing many challenges and difficulties both on the journey and after their arrival.

The accommodation was cockroach infested and they were very restricted in their movements, needing to get permission to travel anywhere. However, when Harold Wilson, in his retirement, was invited to visit by the Russian Authorities, Keith accompanied him on all the trips that had been organised for him. It was a fascinating but chilling story of the Soviet Union of Russia at that time.

Elaine then continued with the business of the meeting congratulating the team of Mary C, Anne Underwood and Pam Ruff who gained second place for the second year running, in the BFWI Jigsaw Challenge on 28 February.

Details were given for the Diamond Anniversary Celebratory Tea being held at the meeting on 9th May at the earlier start of 7pm until 9pm. There will be sandwiches, scones with cream and jam plus cakes served at tables with tea or coffee.

A Raffle costing £1 a ticket and a fun quiz will be held. A table will be available to put any memorabilia on Members may have. It was suggested that members could, for fun, wear a glittery item (diamonds?!) or something white. A commemorative photograph will also be taken.

Laminated copies of the group photo that was taken at the January meeting are available from Elaine for £1, which will be donated to our WI funds.

The Beechwood Group Spring meeting in Great Missenden clashes with our meeting on 11 April and as no-one wished to attend, Elaine will notify the Group.

A board for volunteers to sign to help with cake making or serving teas at the Hyde Heath Village Fete on 11 May was circulated.

The Board Games Group’s next meeting will be at 2pm on 19 March at Elaine’s house.

Good wishes for success were given to the BFWI South Quiz team of Avril, Christine and Anne Underwood on 22 March.

Gillian reported on an excellent BFWI Investigation & Discovery Day held on 12 March at Trinity Church, Aylesbury which three members attended. There were four eloquent and eminent speakers whose subjects were connected to climate change and also three BFWI Climate Ambassadors.

The BFWI Annual Council meeting is on 25 April when Helen Fry is guest speaker. Jayne will attend if no-one else wishes to and there are Observer tickets available.

Subscriptions are due in March at the reduced amount of £45, payment to be made to Treasurer, Avril.

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on 11 April in the village hall when Adam Smith will talk about “Country House Servants”.

Elaine welcomed everyone to the 60th Anniversary meeting and Cream Tea and complimented those present on their white and sparkling finery for the occasion. She thanked the committee for all their hard work in arranging the evening and Lydia for the beautiful table decorations.

 Two of the members attending, Eve Brown and Anne Lloyd Jones, were founding members of the Evening Institute and continue to enjoy the meetings. 

The NFWI Resolution, “Calling for more NHS Dentistry” was carried with a unanimous vote and members gave agreement that the Link

Delegate, from Ashley Green, should have discretion to change the vote after hearing the speakers and debate at the NFWI Annual Meeting.

The List for the Fete teas in the cricket pavilion was available for members to check the times of their duties for helping.

Copies of the photograph taken by Elaine’s Husband, Colin, of celebrations from the January meeting were available for £1 and a table was laid out with photographs and memorabilia from past years.

Elaine announced that as late notice of the St Andrew’s Flower Festival on Fete day had been received, she volunteered to do a window display to commemorate the 60th Anniversary on behalf of the Institute.

As Avril was unable to attend, Elaine gave the financial update. The Board Games Group will meet at Janet Bangay’s home at 2pm on 22nd May.

Colin again kindly took photographs to commemorate the delicious celebratory cream teas and sandwiches which were enjoyed by all, followed by two table quizzes, a raffle of prizes and the table flower decorations.

The next meeting will take place at 7.30pm on 13th June when Mike Payne will share the very interesting topic of “The History of Pinewood Studios”.

Elaine, President, gave a very warm welcome to everyone at the meeting including the speaker, Mike Payne, and thanked everyone for their appreciative cards and emails for the enjoyable 60th celebratory tea, Margaret Dunn for the delicious scones and Lydia for the floral table decorations. The Raffle made £89 which helped towards the costs.

Colin, Elaine’s husband, had taken photographs of the evening and they were displayed on a table. If members wished to choose any, there would be a charge to cover costs of £1 for a laminated copy and any surplus will go to our funds.

Special laminated copies of the photograph taken by Gillian of Eve Brown and Anne Lloyd Jones, who were founding members of the Evening Institute, were presented to Eve and will be given to Anne, who was unable to be present.

Elaine thanked Margaret Dunn and everyone for the many ways they had helped with the teas at the Fete, which, after expenses had been deducted, raised £437.70. Cash refunds were available at the meeting, or they would go into the Institutes funds. A very kind email had been received from John Thornton who wanted to express his thanks for all that the WI had done and the Secretary, Libby Piper, sent a letter offering her sincere thanks to the Hyde Heath WI.

Jayne attended the BFWI Annual Meeting in Holy Trinity Church, Aylesbury and gave a report of the afternoon’s meeting. There were two speakers, Steve Irons, Bucks Council Resilience Team and Andy Turner from the Fostering Service who spoke about the shortage of Foster Carers. The Chairman urged volunteers from the various WI’s to join one of the six sub-committees.

Avril has offered her garden again this year for an informal summer social meeting on 8 August, time to be confirmed. Attendees to take a contribution of a plate of food.

The next meeting of the Board Games will be on 19 June at Di Coombes’ house.

Mike Payne gave an amusing, illuminating and nostalgic talk about “The History of Pinewood Studios” from its inception when the Victorian estate of Heatherden Hall with was bought by building tycoon Charles Boot, who opened it as a film studio to rival Hollywood in 1936. During WWll the Royal Mint and Lloyds of London moved there from London. The beautiful gardens were the backdrop in a number of films, and we all remembered films such as Bond, the Carry On and the Doctor series which were made there.

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on 11 July when Neil Rees will talk about “The Other Bucks County”.

Elaine, President, welcomed everyone including the speaker, Neil Rees, to the July meeting with announcements of forthcoming events.

The photographs from the 60th celebrations were again on display for members to choose a copy at £1 each if they wished.

Elaine mentioned that she had been most impressed with the beautiful St John the Baptist Patronal Flower Festival in the church on the weekend of 22/23 June, and thanked seven members, Gillian, Joyce, Lindsay, Sylvia, Sandra, Anne Lloyd Jones & Veronica, who helped arrange displays.

Our Summer Social Meeting will be from 6.30 – 8.30pm on 8 August - details to be confirmed.

In the afternoon 18 September Holmer Green WI are holding a Fashion Show costing £3 each.

On 16 October the Beechwood Group will be meeting at Hyde Heath for the Autumn meeting. The cost will be £5 each and £1 for a raffle ticket. Members should arrive at 7pm. Alison Bailey, from the Amersham Museum, will give a talk on “Amersham – Market Town to Metroland”.

Neil Rees then gave us a fascinating talk about “The Other Bucks County”. I don’t think any of us had any idea that there is a County of Bucks in America. When Willian Penn sailed there with other Quakers to avoid persecution in England, they settled in a wooded area which was subsequently called Pennsylvania – Penn from his own name and Sylvania meaning ‘of the forest’

.

Nearby Jordans Village is a centre for Quakers and has a meeting house and churchyard where William Penn is buried along with his family and many other Quakers. Neil was so interested in the history of William Penn that he visited the Province and the County of Bucks and noticed many other areas with names from this area such as Chesham, Chalfont and High Wycombe.

The speaker at the meeting on 12 September at 7.30pm will be David Coulton will talk about “Tales from a Woodland Clearing”.