By Joyce Swain
On reading Mike Senior’s book on the men who went to war from The Lee, I
went back to the first record book of our village Women’s Institute. This
told me that the Institute came into being in 1919, with the backing of Lady
Liberty and her companion, Miss Lockey.It was no coincidence that the village women needed such a practical organisation – so many were left to hold families together and needed help and friendship. In a short space of time there were over 50 members meeting in the Guild Room – all arriving by cycle or on foot! They got together to sell their produce and to help others (such as the Royal Bucks Hospital); they were very active in crafts and sewing and made a marvellous banner using the plaiting techniques now lost to the village; the Museum at Aylesbury recently accepted this and it is now in proper storage.
This year we celebrate 85 years as a Women’s Institute, and during that time the W.I. has undergone many changes – as witness the film ‘Calendar Girls’ and giving Tony Blair a rough ride when he invited himself to the Annual General Meeting at Wembley.
So do come and join us if an afternoon meeting is good for you. We haven’t taken our kit off yet – but who knows?