Burleydam WI's birthday meeting

Carolyn Wilde reports: "There were celebrations all round on 1st July at Burleydam and District WI's birthday meeting. Visitors from Ash, Aston, Marbury and Richmond Village WI's were there to share in the excellent birthday cake baked as usual by Mary Stevenson. Roma Twinch, a member for 50 years, cut the cake which was enjoyed at the end of a buffet supper provided by members of the committee.

"Members were delighted to hear that their entry in the Summer Delights class at the Cheshire Show won second prize. Jean Cornes, who co-ordinated the entry, paid tribute to everyone who had contributed ideas as well as practical help. In particular though, President, Sarah Lunt, praised Jean Cornes for gaining top marks for her strawberry tartlets, Liz Gentil for her excellent needlecraft in making the beehive tea cosy and Roma Twinch for her stunning watercolour of an English summer garden.

"The speaker, John Hughes, was in nostalgic mood as he remembered growing up in rural North Wales. His mother was a great advocate of using whatever was available in field and hedgerow to make wines, jams and chutneys. Tops of young nettles made excellent soup and, of course, no sloe was complete without the gin to go with it.

"Talking of gins, John himself found a way to supplement his income to fund his college education. He found keen customers at his school for his field and hedgerow bounty, all of which came covered in fur or feather. His parents remained in ignorance of his entrepreneurship which was probably just as well for John.

"The competition was for a piece of driftwood. The winner was Sheila Beeston, second was Eva Sadler and third was Mary Stevenson.

"Terry Davies will speak on Curios at the next meeting on 2 September. Visitors are welcome."

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