Sadly, due to Coronovirus Gunfleet WI has not been able to have a regular meeting. We will post information when we know we can resume

County Centenary Meeting March 2017

Our area organised a coach and several of us set off for the 100th Essex Centenary Annual meeting of the WI at Crowne Plaza in Maldon. We were looking forward to hearing the main guest speaker Anton Du Beke.

The venue is a large hotel complex with conference facilities but it was very busy with many WI’s in Essex so it took some time to park. Despite a very large hall we found the seating was very squashed together! However it was worth it for the very interesting speakers and entertainment showing the history of Essex WIs. Then we were hugely entertained actor Alex Jennings and by Anton, whose talk was absolutely hilarious and greatly enjoyed by everyone. All in all, apart from long toilet queues,  it was a very good day.

Anton hugging Janice Langley, NFWI chairman.

Scarecrow Making in June.

Our June meeting was a craft evening making scarecrows for the Essex County Show at Hatfield Peverel in July.

This was a fun evening with two teams allocated to creating a scarecrow ‘sailor and his tart’!! Members had donated a good supply of materials and we soon managed to create two scarecrows we were happy with. These were to be taken to Hatfield Peverel by our president Pauline. They ended up with a ‘highly commended’ in the show for our efforts.

A TRIP TO GREEN ISLAND.

At the end of June some of us went by local bus to Green Island , a nearby gardens. The weather was good and it was a very enjoyable afternoon wandering round this beautiful site. Our entry price included a ticket for tea and cake with a choice of delicious home made cakes. I think we will be doing a return visit next year!

Summer Garden Party 2017

In July member Mary Johnson kindly held our Essex WI 100th Anniversary Garden Party in her home. Mary has a large beautiful garden and it was a lovely sunny day. We had a really delicious afternoon tea made by the wonderful Mary, supported by her husband Roderick (he’s a star!). Lots of sandwiches, cakes and scones were soon eaten. Our secretary Rose made a cake for the occasion and we had prosecco bought with money donated by our headquarters. After tea were played games and did a quiz. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

Walton-On-The-Naze Carnival, Saturday 12th August

For August we decided we should have a float in our local carnival to raise money for local charities and give out leaflets. We met at Mary Johnson’s house on the Thursday to decorate Roderick’s trailer and turn it into a boat. Pauline had collected our scarecrows from Hatfield Peverel and we had decided to use these on our float. Despite occasional showers and a very windy day we managed a boat of sorts! Denise had made a lovely sail and painted cardboard to form our boat sides. We had paper flowers made earlier and donated by Holland Haven WI.

On the day we assembled on The Naze at 4pm ready to do the walk down through Walton and along the seafront into town and back to the Bath House meadow. Denise had to climb into the trailer to hold the sail to stop it flapping about!  We were very surprised but pleased when the mayor awarded us a trophy for the best small float!

Wearing our lilac t-shirts we walked alongside the sterling Roderick who towed our ‘boat’ with his car, shaking our buckets to collect money from the many locals and holiday makers who had turned out to watch the procession.

We all collected lots of coins for charity and distributed 150 leaflets to hopefully get some new members for our small WI.

Backwaters Seal Trip

On Monday 14th August 12 members assembled at the Naze Marina ready to board the boat Katrina for an exciting trip out to see the seals and other wildlife that live on our Walton Backwaters. The skipper, Tony Haggis, is a great naturalist and very informative. It was a lovely sunny day and we were soon enjoying  the beautiful scenery all around and looking out for the many birds and any seals. Tony would stop occasionally to talk about what we could see. After a good distance we finally began to spot seals. They have an unusual orange fur due to the iron deposits in the soil of the river banks. It was exciting when we saw large numbers sunbathing on the shore and frolicking in the water. A very enjoyable 2 hours later Tony sailed us back to the marina. Definitely a trip recommended to anyone!

We are very lucky that Mary Johnson has a lovely garden, big enough to seat us all and is really great at hosting an entertaining party! Our June meeting was held at lunch time in Mary’s garden and we all enjoyed lasagna with salad followed by delicious pavlova. Mary had set out various games in her garden and we had a sales table too. The weather was kind and everyone had a good time.

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In June 2016 we had an afternoon tea at 4 Tea’s in Walton to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday. It was a lovely tea with delicious cakes and we had a good time. Then at the Street Party in Walton we had a very successful stall selling home made sweets and fruit punch.

This year is The W.I.  centenary so  the month of June saw Sarah attending the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace as our representative.

Despite the wet weather she had a lovely time. Gail was also in London, attending the Centenary Annual Meeting at The Royal Albert Hall.

The latter was attended by Her majesty The Queen, along with Princess Anne and The Countess of Wessex, all of whom are WI members.

  The Queen cutting the WI Centenary cake.

For the 100th Anniversary of the Women’s Institute, which is this year, our WI branch have sponsored a flower bed outside our local library.

Our treasurer Gail arranged this through ‘Walton In Bloom’ and it was written up in the local paper.

Our 2014 December Christmas party was held in Emmanuel Church and once again we had a sit down hot meal of jacket potatoes, which went down well. We were entertained afterwards by The Emmanuel Singers with a variety of Christmas Carols sung beautifully and some amusing poems. Some members from Frinton and Clacton WI’s were able to join us and a pleasant evening was had by everyone.

We had a Vintage Tea Party in July in Alma Goodfellow’s garden and invited ex-members. Alma was delighted that we could make use of her lovely garden and the event was well attended.

(Click on each picture for large version.)

Our December meeting was our annual Christmas party and was very well attended.

Hot food was provided in the form of jacket potatoes with fillings and we all sat down together to eat. Entertainment was provided by a group of handbell ringers who played Christmas carols and encouraged everyone to sing along. The bells had a beautiful sound. Afterwards we had the opportunity to try playing the bells ourselves and several members enjoyed doing this. It was a very enjoyable evening.