Kenilworth Women’s Institute 1969-1970
There are only a few records from the next two years of Kenilworth WI. There was a talk about diamonds from local jeweller Mr M R Kirkpatrick who advised the whitest diamonds originate from Brazil and were discovered there in the 17th century. Sadly, the bane of archivists everywhere, many of the newspaper clippings have not been preserved with the date of publication so it is not clear what meeting this was from.
Kenilworth’s archives contain an early membership card from one of its original members, Thelma Bassett. It states the subscription rate of 10/0d and shows that Warwickshire Federation headquarters were then at 3 Clarendon Square, Leamington Spa.
The March Easter meeting in 1969 saw the members take part in an Easter Bonnet competition that was won by Mrs Janet Roper. The newspaper gives her address which seems very odd – I am not sure newspapers would do that these days! Mrs Roper won an Hydrangea plant donated by Sturman’s of Kenilworth. Mrs A Truesdale won second prize and Mrs D Gready came third. The speaker was Mr Watkins of Watkin’s Roses in Balsall Common who talked about all things Roses. 70 members attended the meeting. April’s speaker was Mr Tallis from Coventry Post Office who explained to the ladies how the postal system worked.
There is a gap then in newspaper cuttings – or perhaps the paper did not report on all the meetings held? There is a lovely article about “attractive”, 23-year-old, Margaret Evans from Offchurch and her year abroad volunteering with the VSO – she had been sponsored by the Warwickshire Federation for £200 to help cover her travelling costs. Margaret had trained as a nurse in Oxford and worked at Great Ormond Street hospital. She was off to use her skills at a mission hospital in Guntur, south-East India.
The November meeting saw Mrs Truesdale give a talk about Japan after she had spent just under a year in that country and of course the December meeting was a Christmas party with all the food provided by the members.