THE Women’s Institute has come a long way from its ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ days.
The range of activities enjoyed by members at the 150 branches in Oxfordshire has expanded greatly over the years, as these pictures from the Oxford Mail archives show.
Picture 1, above, shows members of Charlbury WI in 1984 with a quilt they had taken nine months to make.
It was put on show at a WI exhibition at Olympia before being sold to raise money for Helen House hospice in Oxford.
Pictured with the quilt are, left to right, Nell Stripp, Signe Brandon, Morag Moore, Eleanor Judge, Kathleen Green, Jessie Stone and Dorothy Hunter.

 

Oxford Mail:
The Oxfordshire federation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1969 with a garden party at Denman College, Marcham, attended by 2,000 members from across the county.
The attractions included two 1919-1969 fashion parades, including nightwear modelled by two Tackley members, Sonia Buckle and Daphne Simpson, seen in picture 2, above.

Memory Lane this week

Oxford Mail:
Picture 3, above, was taken at a WI handicrafts exhibition at Holton Park School, Wheatley, in 1972.
Margaret Bruce is shown demonstrating the Indonesian art of Batik.
WI members dressed in bonnets, clogs and colourful swirling skirts when they organised a Dutch evening at Wheatley in 1974.
They heard a talk on Holland, then tucked into a buffet of Dutch delights, including numerous cheeses served by a dairymaid from the Dutch Dairy Bureau.

 

Oxford Mail:
Picture 4 shows Mrs A Eden, Mrs D Warne, Mrs D Woods and Miss J Eden admiring some of the Dutch goods on display.
In 1976, WI members decided they wanted to know more about farming and wildlife, so they organised a series of visits to farms to find out more.

 

Oxford Mail:
Picture 5, above, shows a party taking a ride on a trailer at John Wilmer’s farm at Clanfield.

  • Look out for more WI pictures in Memory Lane during this centenary year

 


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