Quernmore Women's Institute

For our July trip, we visited the impressive Dunham Massey house and gardens. We spent a very enjoyable day exploring and learning about the estate. A very knowledgeable guide gave us a tour of the beautiful gardens and we learnt a lot about the trees and plants that grow there. The 18th century house contained an extensive collection of paintings, furniture and artefacts that span the history of the house. We explored the elaborate rooms upstairs and the kitchens downstairs. Some of us also took part in a wellbeing sound and light experience that was on offer within the house. A wonderful day of discovery.

A few of our lovely members had a day out at the Races - Ladies Day at Cartmel Races! And very elegant they looked too!

We joined in with our local community last weekend, providing catering and a competition show tent for Quernmore's annual Sports Day and fell races. Our members rose to the occasion brilliantly by providing baking, sandwich making skills, serving guests and giving their time to make our part of the day a great success.

Our speaker this month was Jackie Mafi – Sweet Memories. Confectionery through the ages.

Jackie took us all on a trip down memory lane reminding us of the sweet brands we enjoyed when we were younger and gave us an interesting history of sweets and chocolate.

Some of our ladies gathered together and had a very enjoyable afternoon tea at The Lemon Tree at Thurnham Hall in Lancaster. The group consisted of current and former members.

Some of our ladies had a lovely day taking part in the walk from Embleton. 90 WI ladies joined the walk to raise funds for the ACWW. It is an annual event in Cumbria.

Our speaker this month was Bez Cooper who was a member of the famous dance troop, The Tiller Girls. She joined them at the age of 16 and had an amazing career working on stage and in television all over the world. They worked alongside many famous singers and comedians and performed regularly at The London Palladium.

Some of our ladies travelled to Edinburgh this weekend to watch the Six Nations England v Scotland Women's Rugby match at Murrayfield. It was a great game, an amazing experience and the Red Roses did us very proud.