Burleydam WI report

The competition at Burleydam and District WI's meeting on 2nd June was a pretty handkerchief. Members may have thought twice about bringing along an embroidered one as the judge would be Daphne Ashby, author and renowned embroiderer, who was there to speak on "Embroidery – an ongoing story". In the event the winner, judged to have the prettiest hanky, was Gladys Burrough with Sarah Lunt second and Eva Sadler third.

Daphne brought an amazing array of her work illustrating different techniques and uses including the subject of her latest book – embroidered boxes. Her books are written with Jackie Woolsey, originally from Audlem, and cover a wide range of subjects from Christmas decorations to evening purses. Their second book Creative Embroidery Techniques using colour through gold was in the ten best sellers list in the USA.

The evening was reminder of the skills that are to be found among WI members but also of the fact that many of these crafts are no longer taught to younger generations. The Cheshire Federation of WI's offers a range of courses on all sorts of arts and crafts and the message from Daphne is that is never too late to learn something new. The Vote of Thanks was given by Ann Rutter.

The day after the meeting was the National Federation's AGM at the Royal Albert Hall when the resolution on honey bees was debated and passed overwhelmingly. Members will be encouraged to do all they can to lobby for action by government to provide more funds for research into the decline of bees and for landowners, farmers and gardeners to bring back the habitats that all pollinating insects need to survive.

Celia Lee will talk on Cheshire Villages on 7th July and on 4th August Ann Draper will talk about Renewable Energy.

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