Catsfield Village Voice

Catsfield WI’s ‘At Home’ meeting last week took the form of a discussion amongst members about the future of our WI – whether to stay affiliated to the NFWI or to leave and become an independent group.

The weather was atrocious – torrential rain and storms and the committee were concerned that not many members would turn out and thus miss the opportunity for such an important discussion.

The tables were set out in a large square around the hall and with 24 members present and very few apologies, nearly every seat was filled. After we sang Jerusalem and a summary of recent events was given by Ann, our president, she set out some of the benefits of belonging to the WI and told us that she was in favour of maintaining the status quo.

Janet, our treasurer gave the current financial report and went on to lay out the bare bones of our expenses and the amount we have to pay the organisation of the WI, which is a considerable percentage of our annual subscription. The biggest shock was when she told us that if we decided to quit the organisation, the WI would take our bank balance of over £1000!

The discussion was then opened to the members and when one of our newer members quoted two instances in which she had belonged to similar organisations in the past that had taken exactly the same step that we were contemplating, become independent and had soon folded after a year or two, I think any doubts that we may have harboured faded fast.

Many suggestions were made to ease the work of the committee and to raise more funds for speakers etc and when one person suggested having just tea and biscuits instead of a full afternoon tea, there were immediate howls of protest, then roars of laughter. Relinquish WI teas? Not likely!

Although no final decision was made there and then, a token show of hands of those in favour of remaining the Catsfield WI was 100% unanimous. Everyone loves our meetings exactly as they are at present and all are ready to help as much as possible to keep ‘the show on the road’.

We were all ready for the super tea that awaited us and the discussion buzzed on all around the table. The raffle was drawn, as well as the Catsfield 100 Club and a reminder given that our next meeting will be on Thursday, October 3 at 2pm. The speaker will be Penny Philcox talking about ’Natures Fliers’ and visitors are welcome to attend.

Harvest Festival Songs of Praise at St Laurence Church – from Linda – As part of our Harvest Festival celebrations on Sunday, October 6, we are planning an afternoon service of Songs of Praise and we need your help by choosing your favourite hymns.

We are compiling a long list and your task will be to select up to three from that list and we will sing the most popular. For the hymns from which to choose, please contact me - [email protected] or call 07900 566570, or see me in church. Thank you.

Jan remembers – Following on from last week, regarding the open fires, we accumulated a great deal of coal dust in the bottom of the shed.

A bright spark – in the form of Sid Creasey – suggested that we could make ‘brickettes’ out of the dust which we could then burn on the fire and thus save money on coal. Having volunteered him indoors for the job, I found an old pillowcase, cut out eyeholes and a gap so he could breathe and put it over his head – he looked like a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Unfortunately, the exercise didn’t quite pay off and the intended outcome was unsuccessful. When we removed the pillowcase, poor Brian looked like a very forlorn panda and not only did he need a good scrub in the bath but all his clothes needed a very long soaking to get them clean again. The best laid plans …etc.

Sport etc - from Ann - Sad news from me today, my last chance of using up the sausage rolls at cricket teas disappeared on Saturday when our home match against Beckley Park was cancelled due to 1.4 inches of rain falling in the week and further bad spells due on Sunday.

At least with the advent of more accurate weather forecasts, we no longer all congregate up at the Playing Field and spend a good hour huddled in the pavilion looking anxiously out to the west. We have two more fixtures in this difficult season, Hurst Green away this Sunday followed by Mountfield away on the 22nd. September fixtures are always problematical, but when the fixtures were being made, interest was high and expectation of a decent long summer prevailed. How wrong we were.

A match did occur on the Field on Saturday when the footballers played their first fixture in division 2 and secured a 1 - 1 draw against old rivals Parkfield. The groundsman would have been pleased to see the surface a bit wet so sliding tackles could be made and a modest amount of mud got in the socks. Not too much mind you, as there were then worries about the state of the pitch for the forthcoming matches. I remember it well.

Another sad note to finish, is that the ancient Horse Chestnut tree outside The Old Rectory in Church Road has had to be cut down. It's always sad to lose a tree, especially one which held such memories.