25th June
This afternoon's meeting of the Book Group resulted in the local organiser having to fight her corner for offering up The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath as the book of the month.Why are we asked to read such depressing books was the query from several readers. This novel is looked upon as a modern classic and is even set as a book to study for school exams but it was not a popular choice. It is autobiographical and it is a witty commentary on life in the sixties and it is beautifully written but that didn't help its reception with the more vociferous of our readers.There cannot always be happy endings and at least we could agree that there had been improvements in the treatment of mental illness, away from the near torture of not so long ago.

We spent a jolly evening playing cards in the local pub which did have a happy ending. Next month we are going to descend to the euphoric depths of playing bingo which should prove a rather noisy activity but I don't suppose the members will shoot the messenger here.

19th June
There has been a lot in the media about the WI's campaign to save the High Street. Some people think it is a lost cause: the high street is already dead for basic food shopping. The only way to rescue it is to introduce a change of use, to emphasize its social side and make it the centre for the local community.That would mean more eating places and more living accommodation right in the middle of town.Perhaps WIs should at one meeting sit down and ask every member to make one change in their lives which would benefit the high street; it wouldn't need to be a large thing but something, because we have voted this year to act on this issue and I bet 98% of us visit a supermarket at least once a month.

The local WI is planning its August meeting as an open garden party so we met today to work out stalls and activities for that. It sounds as if it is going to be a super event which we hope will attract lots of visitors from neighbouring WIs and villages but we need to stress that it isn't just for WI members.

17th June
Today two coaches filled with WI members descended on Broughton Castle, the home of the Fiennes family and Banbury town.The guides in the castle were excellent and we were privileged to be there when it was closed to the general public. Many of us had read the Music Room about growing up in such a lovely place and swimming parties in the moat and now we are looking forward to reading The Snow Geese by William Fiennes.The castle itself is still very much lived in and it felt warm and inviting, full of well-used treasures, paintings and photographs. Banbury is an interesting town with a busy high street and not too many charity shops: several of the shops were independent cheek by jowl with the usual chainstores. A lovely day out and another well organised outing.

16th June
The local WI was called upon to provide refreshments for the Winslow in Bloom event today. This meant lots of cakemaking of course and standing about serving teas. Unfortunately the number of people visiting the gardens this year was down so we had rather a lot of cakes left to sell but that is not a real problem as we can always fall back upon our good reputation for producing lovely cakes.The weather hasn't helped summer activities of this kind this year.

14th June
Today the relief coach party travelled up to Royal Greenwich to view the Cutty Sark and to take a ride in the cable car.It looked very grey when we arrived but improved throughout the day so that by the time we swung out over the Thames, the weather conditions were ideal. We could see for miles and miles.The guide was excellent and coped so thoughtfully with our member in a wheelchair who was returning to Greenwich after an interval of 90 years and proudly told everyone that she had been eight when she left.Unbelievable, and with a bit of enlisted braking power we managed the downhill path in fine style.As we travelled up to London that morning, we read on the front page of the Daily Telegraph that to stay young and healthy in retirement one should join the WI. Case proven! We also had a mother-to-be on board which was lovely and added a topical note to the party.There is so much to see on this tour that I think it could be repeated next year when perhaps we will not have to disappoint so many members as this time, when we taken by surprise by how many wanted to come along.

12th June
The local WI Discussion Group met this evening and the topic was Health&Safety. The main point coming out of this gathering was that initially a lot of the legislation had been a good thing: it had removed many of the dangers and risks in the old workplaces where everyone was exposed to all sorts of dangerous inhalations and unprotected machinery. However, it had all become rather silly.Youngsters should be informed about risks but not over-protected; they should be allowed to play conkers, climb trees and play outside but taught to be aware of dangers.The culture of having to find someone to blame for insurance claims was a contributing factor which resulted in notices warning that water in the hot tap was hot and a walnut loaf may contain nuts.

This afternoon some of our members attended the Literary Lunch when Duncan McNair was the speaker.The hotel laid on a lovely meal and it was a pleasant occasion again. Duncan is a lawyer who has made a book out of writing letters to famous people apparently from a rather dotty lady called Mrs Morello and publishing the replies.He added a little advice on how to get our own efforts published, which really boiled down to "Keep trying!"

5th June
We went along to the monthly meeting expecting a talk and demonstration of cookery and found instead a talk on Ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement which was expertly demonstrated. We listened to a very good report of the AGM at Cardiff and heard that a second attempt was being prepared to obtain funding for the activity centre planned for the town with the Town Council's support. The craft stall at the Young Farmers' event at Singleborough had been a disaster for us. Not because of a lack of craft items to sell nor a lack of helpers to watch the stall but because hardly anyone came into the barn where the stalls were sited.The organisers had unexpectedly demanded extra money for tables on top of the hire of the stall space.This was all very disappointing for the craft group who had produced over a hundred good quality items for sale. We shall have to find another outlet as soon as possible.

31st May-1st June 2013
Annual General Meeting, Cardiff
It is always exciting to attend the AGM and it re-kindles my enthusiasm for the WI. Two coach loads of members travelled west to Bristol and spent the night in a hotel there before moving on to Cardiff in good time for the opening of the doors of the huge Motorpoint Arena where 6000 people spent the day.

The proceedings started with the Extraordinary General Meeting so that the new WI Articles of Association could be approved and the new constitution could be discussed and passed.It must have been galling for the Trustees to listen to members from the floor say that they knew nothing about this when for 2 years information and consultation sheets had been circulating around the federations and had been featured in WI Life. The constitution is more flexible than the former one and more geared to modern methods of communication but basically it holds good to the aims and objects of the WI movement which need to be expressed in a formal legal language.

Ruth Bond, our National Chair, described her busy schedule, drew attention to the new WI Guide, reported that we were gaining 500 new members a week and that our campaigns were gaining recognition. Although Denman College was still costing money, it had a rising bed take-up on last year and there were lots of new courses planned.
Stephanie Fort, the Hon. Treasurer, welcomed news that now the subscription was exempt from VAT it would bring in a £500,000 gain to funds and the share of the subscription to NFWI and the County Federations would be re-worked to give the individual WIs a larger share.

William Shawcross, the Chairman of the Charities Commission, praised the WI as "a model charity" and said his job was to regulate charities in order to safeguard society: there are 5000 new charities set up every year.
Presentations were made and these included the winning Makower quilt which was a beautiful piece of work on display from a Bucks member. We hoped our cheer was audible to everyone.
After lunch Griff Rhys-Jones, full of Welsh fire, talked about Britain's urban heritage under threat from de-restricted planning laws. He wanted us all to conduct neighbourhood audits and make our towns "destinations" because the high street was the local front room of a community.

The resolution about the decline of the high street was then discussed. It was introduced by the NFWI Board of Trustees which had enlisted the support of the CPRE chairman who championed local food to local shops and stressed the importance of the Great Food Debate. Partly in opposition to the motion was a very good speaker from the Retailers' Association who gave us hard facts about modern shopping patterns which could not be altered but he thought the town centres needed to be regenerated with lots of social activities and local input.
Discussion from the floor expressed dissatisfaction with the resolution. Jean Morris, our chairman queried the destination of choice phrase but the general feeling was that until the high street could offer as much parking and more free parking as the out of town supermarket giants there was little possibility of changing things and only limited action available to WI members.
The resolution was passed with an 87% majority
John Humphrys then told us about his career in broadcasting by asking for questions from the audience which he answered off the cuff. He was a very entertaining speaker and easy to listen to as we all knew he would be.

In her concluding remarks, Ruth Bond announced that next year's AGM would be in Leeds and the 2015 Centenary meeting would be very special so that as many WI members as possible could join in with the celebrations. A commemorative rose would be on sale and even a special postage stamp.
Then Jonathan Willcocks, the WI Choir Adviser led us in a song with actions to stir us all up before the closing anthems.
We had a good ride home and arrived back tired but re-enthused.I saw only one hat worn! If you get the chance to go to Leeds next year jump at it: you'll remember the experience.