Botley WI

07/10/2026

Lots of interesting activities you can get involved in!

Have you ever considered joining our Federation Trustee team? Now is your chance to! You’d be joining a very happy team who help shape the future of the WI in Oxfordshire but also enjoy the camaraderie, fun and friendship of being part of the team. Why not find out more and give it a chance. You don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

08/09/2026

Our monthly meeting was well attended and we had 3 visitors who seemed to enjoy the evening. We welcomed back Liz Woolley, local Oxford historian who is interested in 'Town as opposed to Gown'. The talk was about 'UPP' Ultimate Picture Palace,Jeune St, Cowley. It's history and how it's progressed over time from 1911 to today's moden cinema. This was Oxfords first purpose built 'Electric Theatre'. We learnt how the Lemiere Brothers in the late 1800s invented and pioneered 'Cinematography' which was lighter and more versatile than the Thomas Edison invention (still photo projection). The brothers left France and toured Europe and introduced slient movies to the world. The rest as they say is history.
The rest of the evening was tea/coffee and cakes, talk about our upcoming Autumn fair 24th October, 10-3. (All tables now taken)
Our next meeting is 6th October "Do woman make better series then men" speaker Melanie King.
Please feel free to visit, Botley WI Hall, Hinksey Lane, Botley.
Please call 01865 245273, email [email protected],

02/09/2026

Just a reminder that not everyone is nice, stay safe.

01/09/2026

Save the date, don't forget we have parking behind the hall. Come and take a look, maybe start your Christmas shopping 😁

07/08/2026

What a wonderful afternoon tea we had (instead of our evening meeting); this has become an annual event. With sandwiches, homemade cakes and scones with copious amounts of tea, about 50 members and guests. Thank you ladies for all the hard work.

We had a guest speaker Mike Wells, who is a community ambassador for Sobell House Charity ( based at the Churchill hospital, Oxford) he explained that the Hospice opened in 1976 ,50 years ago!, here they specialise in palliative and end of life care, for people who live in the Oxfordshire area. He mentioned about how much money is needed for the unit to run and the NHS pays so much and the rest is fund raised by volunteers.
All profits from the afternoon were donated to the charity.
We would like to thank local businesses for their generous donations for the raffle.

Our next meeting is Tuesday September 1st at 7:30 at the WI Hall, Hinksey Lane, Botley. Speaker is Liz Woolley talking about the Ultimate Picture Palace. Visitors welcome.
Tel: 01865 245273, email [email protected]

14/07/2026

We had a very warm evening and a full house with 2 visitors, well done to everyone who made the effort.
The speakers were Karen and Brett Wyles, who spoke with a passion about children in the Second world war in the UK. This was illustrated with videos and still images of children playing on bomb sites, within school and home. They said how some children were evacuated and some stayed with their families and all the hazards of living in dangerous conditions. We were told how all children, even the very young were taught to sew and knit which gave them useful skills. How various children groups guide, scouts etc helped to raise money for the war effort.How they had to carry gas masks at all time in cardboard boxes with string over their shoulders.
They showed us some of the knitted clothes that had been made and war time pieces from the home.
After the break we had our usual announcements and what the various groups are doing. There is no meeting in August as we are having an afternoon tea for the members and any profits made will be donated to Sobell House Charity.
The next meeting is on Tuesday 1st September 7:30 at WI Hall, Hinksey Lane, Botley with Liz Woolley talking about 'Ultimate Picture Palace ' all welcome.
More information call 01865245273, email [email protected] or take a look at our page.
July 7th 2026

04/06/2026

On Tuesday evening Botley had a visit from Launton Handbell Ringers in their 75th year; congratulations!
The team played beautiful and familiar folk and Morris tunes as well as music especially composed by a member of the group. Towards the end of the evening four of our members were able to take part in playing a piece.

09/05/2026

Our program for the next 12 months

04/04/2026

Big plant (and craft sale) on at the hall, Hinksey Lane. 23rd may 10-30am - 1pm all welcome

09/03/2026

We had another busy meeting with 38 members and 3 guests. This week was fun as our speaker was author Peter Tickler, a writer of 'Whodunnit' stories based in and around Oxford. He went on to explain how he gets his ideas for the characters, he encouraged us ( with the help of his wife) to create 2 of them, by asking us lots of questions and as a group we gave some interesting answers and had a lot of fun with it.
Peter explained that he is a descendant of the 'Ticlker's jam ' makers of apple and plum jam and giving out to WW1 soldiers as part of their ration.
The evening continued with our AGM and Liz Manson voted in as return president. Notices read out and noting that all our groups are up and running now the weather has somewhat improved.

Next month's meeting Tuesday 7th April (7:30) we will be welcoming Christina Hardiment talking about Alyce Chaucer who built Almshouses in Ewelme and more.