Kingswood W.I. 1965
KINGSWOOD W.I. WAS FORMED ON 27th APRIL 1953
The first meeting was held on 20th May 1953
It had 28 members some of who after getting special dispensation from HFWI were only fourteen
Meetings were held on the second Friday in the month at 7.30pm in The Chapel, Kingswood
It's first President was Mrs E.W. Elliott, Secretary Mrs Hooper and Treasurer Mrs Davies
Cups, saucers and plates were taken to the Chapel in a wheelbarrow and water in a milk churn
There was no heating to begin with until the W.I. purchased a heater!
The first speaker was a Mrs Beach Thomas's demonstration of 'a floral decoration'
The speaker for the next month's meeting was decided the month before until 1954 when the first
Programme was produced.
The first outing was on the 7th August to the recently opened Claerwen Dam in the Elan Valley
We also had links in 1956 with the Goolhi Branch and in 1958 with the Boggabri Branch of the
Country Women's Association of New South Wales but sadly no evidence of communications
can be found.
There was a competition to design the original banner, elements from each of the entries
were used in the finished article (below left).
Entrants were Mrs Gittoes, Mrs Hooper, Mrs Whittle, Mrs Williams and Mrs Prosser.
It was stitched by Miss Wargent and given to the Institute by Mrs Elliott.
Due to its age and deterioration a new banner was made in 2010 and designed along the lines of the old one
(above right) it was stitched by Mrs Teresa Misselbrook
By 2013 the format of meetings seemed not to have changed much since 1953 except
in the fifties there was a social half hour during which members made impromptu speeches
if a member did not wish to do this they were asked to pay a forfeit towards funds
The ladies were very proud of the numbers of mother and daughter members they had and also of the four
Miss Wargent sisters (below) thought to be a county record
Due to its age and deterioration a new banner was made in 2010 and designed along the lines of the old one
(above right) it was stitched by Mrs Teresa Misselbrook
By 2013 the format of meetings seemed not to have changed much since 1953 except
in the fifties there was a social half hour during which members made impromptu speeches
if a member did not wish to do this they were asked to pay a forfeit towards funds
The ladies were very proud of the numbers of mother and daughter members they had and also of the four
Miss Wargent sisters (below) thought to be a county record
After opening in 1960 meetings were transferred to Kingswood Village Hall where they are still held today.
The Hall did have a form of heating which had to be lit some time before the start of a meeting and was no easy task
this was later superseded by oil central heating
In 1965 Miss Sheila Quick (later Diggory) was one of the first members to go to a National, Annual General Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall, an experience she still remembered at the 60th Birthday Celebrations
Miss Quick is on the left of the photograph below, the photo on the right shows inside the Royal Albert Hall 1965
The Hall did have a form of heating which had to be lit some time before the start of a meeting and was no easy task
this was later superseded by oil central heating
In 1965 Miss Sheila Quick (later Diggory) was one of the first members to go to a National, Annual General Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall, an experience she still remembered at the 60th Birthday Celebrations
Miss Quick is on the left of the photograph below, the photo on the right shows inside the Royal Albert Hall 1965
1965 was also the National Federation's Golden Jubilee Year.
The Cogan Cup Competition was 'A Jubilee Scrapbook' for which Kingswood won a Certificate of Merit.
A few of the pages are shown below
Unfortunately no records can be traced for the years 1969 to 1983 but we are still trying all avenues
The only thing we do have is the table cloth below which must have been stitched around 1974
Kingswood W.I. was suspended in February 1984
but on the
3rd April 1985 it was reformed and by general consensus was then to be known as KINGSWOOD AND DISTRICT W.I.
Meetings were then held on the second Wednesday of the month at 8pm
The President elected was Mrs K Matthews but according to the minutes 'in her temporary absence'
Mrs Norma Williams stood in for the remainder of the year as Vice President, Secretary Mrs Susan Bowen and
Treasurer Mrs S Bayliss
Again it was agreed that the age at which girls may join was fourteen
The first speaker was Mr Crabtree with 'Children's anecdotes and monologues'
The first outing mentioned in the minutes was to Hergest Croft Gardens, Kington on 12th August 1987
By the 60th Birthday celebrated on 27th April 2013
the President was Mrs Teresa Misselbrook, Secretary Mrs Judith Price and Treasurer Mrs Eileen Hurley
Meetings were still held on the second Wednesday of the month but started at 7.30pm and instead of the impromptu speech of the 1950's meetings started with a poem/reading or article chosen and read by a member
And they still had two members who were mother and daughter but no sisters
The first outing after the Celebration was on 8th May to Westonbury Gardens
The greatest difference between the 1953 and 2013 was that they could now be found on the web
and they had an email address