Meeting 11 November 2019

Seasonal final arrangements were being made in November for the Christmas meal on the 2^nd Dec with a record 30 members signed up and there was still just time to bring some shoe box items for the YMCA. The business items also included information about the Frome Group Social at 7.30 in Frome on Monday 16^th December and two lunches, one at Wells golf club with author Nicola Pryce on 29th November and a Social History lunch on 11^th February in Trull near Taunton.

We are collecting Christmas items for the Frome Food Bank – members who haven’t already donated may like to bring items to our December meeting.

Members then spent the rest of the evening making ribbon trees under the tuition of Karen, one of our members and her helpers. The pieces of ribbon had all been pre-cut for us and counted into small packs with the right numbers needed for each stage. They had to be atttached to a polystyrene cone with the tiny pins provided in several layers with a star available to put on the top to finish it off. The ribbon had come in different shades and patterns, mainly red, green and silver so there was a great variety of finished trees. The room was fairly quiet while everyone concentrated on what they were doing and all who took part went home with an attractive table decoration.

Meeting 14 October 2019

A fairly brief session of business matters in October which included taking deposits for the Christmas meal at the Mendip Inn on Mon 2^nd Dec and reminders about the Wells Carol service and the shoe box appeal. There was information about the county meeting in Taunton on the 23^rd Nov which would include an autumn wreath competition, a Denman Dip and the issuing of sheets for the annual Christmas quiz.

Members had brought a lot of items for the “bring and buy” and we were encouraged to buy what we could, although Mary would take anything left to a charity shop.

We then got on to the main theme of the evening which was “Back to School” Several tables had been set out with school related activities on such as colouring in, indoor games and even an exam. We went round in groups of 4 or 5 taking a turn with everything. Many of us found things like balancing a book on our head or answering mathematical problems pretty tricky. Thankfully it was all just for fun! When everyone had tried them all there was a “show and tell” session where many members had brought photos of their school days and some old items of uniform and entertained us with the memories they triggered..

Meeting 9 September 2019

Members had been enjoying several social occasions during the summer. These included the ACWW walk followed by tea and cake at a member’s house, the County Quiz in Frome where one of our teams actually won and the President’s Evening social with the golf croquet and supper. Looking ahead, Christmas loomed into the picture with a mention of the Christmas Meal possibly being at the Mendip Inn as last year, a request for items for the shoe box appeal and the agreement to once again bring some food treats for the food bank in lieu of a Secret Santa arrangement.

For the October meeting we were asked to bring items for a Bring and Buy and also anything to help us take part in a “Back to School” session. This could be a piece of an old uniform, a photograph or simply your memories of the time, your triumphs or misdemeanours.

We then had a fascinating and encouraging talk from Craig Shaw, the founder of local company Advetec. We heard about his career path from the steel industry to diving and finally his present undertaking. Working closely with biologists, Advetec manufactures machines which use specific molecules to digest waste leaving harmless and actually useful by-products suitable for compost or fuel. The company has contracts to deal with waste all over the world including big organisations such as Apple in the US and the whole of Hawaii. They are confident that in a relatively short time they will be able to provide machines we could have in our own back gardens to dispose of rubbish on the spot. This is partly dependant on manufacturers changing the composition slightly of their plastic to include an element susceptible to the microbes. There is even the possibility they will be able to clean up large areas of the sea. It was wonderful to hear some good news on the ecology front for once.

President's Evening

No business matters to report from our August meeting as this was the President’s evening and as usual a very different format to our normal monthly meetings. This year we all met at the Recreation Field for a session of golf croquet followed by refreshments. Members had all brought a plate of food to share and drinks were provided by the committee. Earlier in the day the weather had looked threatening with dark clouds and some light rain. However, as often seems to be the case in Leigh, as the evening approached things improved, the sun came out and we were able to go ahead as planned.

The golf croquet turned out to be good fun with a proper instructor and a lot of members taking part. We went round the course in groups of 4, two teams of 2, competing for the first team to get one of their balls through each hoop in the correct direction. It was even trickier than it sounded and could be quite tactical. With 7 hoops to negotiate most results were fairly even but one team managed to win 5 hoops so well done to them.

Thank you to everyone who came and brought food and drink to share.  And a BIG Thank You to Marianne Merchant who got so many of us involved in playing golf croquet.

It’s back to indoors for the September meeting on Monday the 9^th, when we will hear about Microbes & Mayhem, a deep sea adventure!

ACWW Walk

Friday 9 August

Better late than never!  Women Walk the World is held on 29 April - but for various reasons Leigh on Mendip delayed until the summer.  Fortunately, not in the hope of good weather as in early August the recent spell of hot, sunny days became a thing of the past!

Hoping the thunderstorms would pass over we met at the Hall.  At 2pm the heavens opened but after sheltering  we decided to go!

We walked up Leigh High Street, passed the allotments  (looking very good with produce and flowers) and mainly followed the route of the Community Access Footpath.  It didn't take long for the rain to clear and we walked most of the way in the dry.

With good views across to our village and the house where tea and cake were to be served.

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Thank you to everyone who came, made cakes, hosted the refreshments and joined in a very enjoyable afternoon.  We made £76.50 which will be sent to the WI at Wilton Lodge to go forward to the ACWW (Associated Countrywomen of the World). This is a Charity that supports projects which allows us to support real-life changes for women in rural; communities around the world. They are women-led, designed by women in their own communities who know best what they need, and we fund them through local women's organisations, like the WI, to ensure maximum impact.

Meeting 8 July 2019

We had a brief recap of the fete at the July meeting, no overall profit figure at that point but Mary thought both the ice creams and tombola had done well and there should be a reasonable pay out as both the weather and footfall had been quite good.

Members had enjoyed the Kilmersdon supper evening and the re-located first Friday lunch, the latter due to be back in the Bell on 2^nd August. Numbers had been down for the last coffee morning and Barbara would monitor these to check if worth continuing.

Final reminder for the ACWW walk on Friday 9^th August, meet at 2pm at the Hall for about an hour’s walk followed by tea and cake at a member’s house. We then have the Presidents evening on Monday 12^th from 6pm on the Rec Field, with a chance to try golf croquet. Please bring along a plate of finger food to share, sweet or savoury, which we will probably eat around 7.30pm, the drinks will be provided by the committee.

Our entertainment was a tasting session which committee members had spent a long time putting together. It was worth their efforts, providing an enjoyable and informative evening. The categories included items such as digestive biscuits, sausages and chocolate. Nearly all had a choice of three samples, mainly with one popular brand item and two different own supermarket’s offerings. We had to choose which one we preferred in each section, not knowing of course which was which. Many of the more expensive brand options did come out of top but there were also some surprises, not least the tap water beating both the bottled offerings. So we can sometimes save some money without sacrificing the quality.

Meeting 10 June 2019

Mary gave us a brief update in June from her visit to the National AGM and will give a fuller report at a later date. We had given her the freedom to decide how to vote on the rural bus issue and although the arguments for it had not been conclusive she did vote for the resolution as those against were not strong enough and it was passed. The Resolution “Don’t Fear the Smear”, already voted in favour of by us in May, was passed with a large majority. It was interesting to know that Resolutions made many years ago are still being worked on and results achieved on many different topics.

Another reminder that the belated ACWW walk would take place in August on Friday 9^th from 2pm, starting at the Hall  and the Presidents evening on Monday 12^th from 6pm on the Rec Field, with a chance to try golf croquet. Please bring along a plate of finger food to share, sweet or savoury.

Our speaker was a puppy walker from Guide Dogs and brought along her current trainee, Grace. There was so much more involved in the training of these dogs than I think most of us realised with many of the candidates not making it in the final selection due to being either too boisterous or too timid or the discovery of possible health problems. It was particularly interesting to hear about MP David Blunkett’s dogs who have to be black to avoid hairs showing on black suits, to be calm around sheep where he lives in the North, cope with his commute to London by train and then with the busy road traffic in the city, so very special dogs.

The entertainment for our next meeting on July 8^th will be rather unusual, as we will be blind tasting various products and comparing our thoughts on them, so maybe only a light dinner beforehand!