Welcome to Ashendon WI website
We are a lively group of women of all ages and from all walks of life. Our members are not only from the village of Ashendon but also Bicester, Calvert Green and Fleet Marston.
If you are looking for something new to do why not come and join us at our interesting & fun monthly meetings which are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in the village hall at 7.30pm.
It's an opportunity once a month for all ladies to enjoy each other's company. We even have a glass of wine on offer! We promise you will be welcomed warmly and will join a proactive WI where you will make new friends.
We have just enjoyed our April 2018 meeting which was entirely organised by Sue, as our 'Surprise Night'. We followed her in a car convoy to the village of North Marston where we enjoyed a retail experience and heard all about how the community village shop is set up and run. We then visited the artisan pottery and saw a demonstration of how to throw a pot and admired the beautiful bowl and jugs which were the finished results. After that it was a scenic tour of the village hearing about it's unique history as a place of pilgrimage to the holy well in the Middle Ages. Henry VIII apparently visited on two occasions to help cure his gout but there is no record of whether the holy water performed a miracle for him. We finished the evening with a super supper in the newly converted Wesleyian Chapel and our thanks go to Sue and all her friends from North Marston who contributed to a wonderful evening for us.
The annual 'Investigation and Discovery Day' took place in March at the Gateway in Aylesbury . This is run by the BFWI and as usual the speakers were fantastic and gave us a great deal of food for thought about the way that various branches of science are taking us into the 21st century.
The first meeting of 2018 brought us Sue Benwell with the story of Norman Wisdom. From an abusive childhood, through a vagrant adolescence he finally became a drummer boy in the army which led to his learning all the skills he needed for his comedy. Then it was a question of persistence and hard work until he got his first chance and through it all he came across as a really honest, trustworthy man and Sue told us about him in the spirit of his own enthusiasm.
A very entertaining evening. We followed this at our February meeting by Fiona telling us about the health benefits from singing and getting us to join in amid much hilarity. Her own enthusiasm and love of music was inspiring.
The speaker in March, Dave Sivers, wrote locally based crime thrillers and although I don't think that anyone was inspired to follow his example we did buy some of his books to follow the action through Aylesbury Vale.
The vist to London on July 18th 2017 took 12 ladies on a 'Suffragette' walk led by a Blue Badge Guide and resulted in a rendering of 'Jerusalem' outside Downing Street to an embarrassed policeman who had issued them with a challenge!! We have also visited Blethchley Park and Aylesbury Court to see it before the 1720 courthouse closes in March 2018.
We also did a fascinating day trip to London where he heard all about the London sewers (or lack of them) prior to the Victorians. We then visited the pumping station at Crossness near Woolwich which they installed to solve the problem and where they created a 'cathedral' to house four huge beam engines which pumped millions of gallons of sewage from the tunnels up to a level where it could be discharged into the Thames downstream of London. It was a really grand day out !!
Unfortunately the weather caused the cancellation of our December 2017 meeting but we met at 'The Hundred' a week later for our Christmas meal and had a lovely evening full of laughter, good food and wine - a very WI event!!
Film nights continue on a regular basis. In 2017 we have shown 'My Old Lady', 'Gypsy' the musical starring Imelda Staunton, 'Lion' and 'A United Kingdom' , a true story from 1948. On January 18th we showed 'Hidden Figures', the story of the women who helped land a man on the moon and whose contribution was never recognised . We have also recently shown 'Victoria and Abdul' which we all enjoyed.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 8th May 2018, 7.30pm in Ashendon Village Hall when we will discussing the NFWI 2018 resolution which will be proposed to the Annual Meeting in Cardiff. This year it is entitled 'Mental Health Matters'.
Film Night: Tuesday 15th May in the Village Hall - doors open 7.30pm for 7.45pm. Showing 'Dunkirk'. £5 per head to include nibbles and wine. All Welcome.
SINGING GROUP: Tuesday 1st May in the Village Hall at 2.30pm.
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April 2018 Surprise Night at North Marston
March 2018 Visit to Wheelpower at Stoke Mandeville
December 2017 at 'The Hundred of Ashendon'
The Team ready for ACTION (providing lunch for Great Milton Neighbours Club) November 2017
At Crossness during The Great Stink
The Entries for the 'Flowers in a Teacup' competition at our October Meeting
The Ladies Singing 'Jerusalem' Outside Downing Street during the Suffragette Walk in July
June Surprise Night
Greetings from Ashendon WI - making flower posies for the ladies of the Village
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Dinner at The Long Dog January 2017
Enjoying a Committee Meeting - June 2016
BFWI Walk in Westminster with a Blue Badge Guide and the Suffragettes
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Fund Raising for Denman College at Hill Farm
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Blewbury Manor Gardens
The Poppy Factory at Richmond
NFWI Annual Meeting Brighton
Visit to Ray Meadows BBOWT Heritage Site
An Evening at the Chilton Estate - June Surprise Meeting
Visit to the Royal Hospital Chelsea - March 2016
Christmas with Ashendon WI
Making Corn Dollies
Ashendon WI Visits Broadcasting House:
The 2015 BFWI Co-Operative at the Buckinghamshire County Show:
This year the theme was 'A WI Inspiration' and the Ashendon Ladies chose to highlight the campaign to save the Bees. The ladies worked hard with knitting, crochet, baking, flower arranging, jam making and accessorising. Our entry came second by 1/2 a point!!!
The 2015 WI Centenary Celebrations: The WI was founded in Anglesey in 1915 and after 100 years we are celebrating in Ashendon!! The flower 'Parterre' has been planted outside the church gate and our members have been present at the Centenary Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, the Centenary Annual Meeting at the Albert Hall and the Buckinghamshire Federation celebration at Waddesdon Manor. The WI Centenary Baton visited Buckinghamshire and Ashendon WI was involved in welcoming it to Winslow in 'Ethel', the 1937 Morgan driven by Geoff. We also visited the Judges Lodgings in Aylesbury for our June meeting which event was kindly hosted by the Chairman of Bucks County Council, Bill Chapple OBE and his wife, Sue.
The Centenary Flower Display
Ethel with the WI ladies at Winslow
Dressed for the Palace
Ashendon Ladies on site at the EFW Plant
On 4th August Ashendon WI made a site visit to the EFW plant at Calvert. The visit was very informative as well as being enjoyeable and we think we now feel a little more comfortable with the prospect of this huge operation so close to our village.
The Ladies in the Telegraph Media Offices
On August 3rd Ashendon WI took a bus up to London and spent the morning at the Palace of Westminster touring the Houses of Commons and the Lords and being guided through the history of the Palace courtesey of John Bercow, our MP. We also visited the Speakers House which was fascinating.
After lunch we walked (or taxied) down to Victoria Station for a private visit to the Telgraph Media Offices and we learnt a lot about how modern multi media journalism works.
ashendonwi@outlook.com
