Christmas Lunch at Dainton Golf Club

Members of Higher Teignmouth enjoyed a superb Christmas lunch today at Dainton Golf Club.  The company and the food were excellent and a good time was had by all!

Happy Christmas and see you all again at our meeting in January!

Christmas Party

A good time was had by all last night with excellent food and drink and lots of singing!

 Huge thanks to Angela and the catering committee for all their hard work.

Happy Christmas everyone!

IT'S CHRISTMAS

It's that time of year again - come and join us at our Christmas Party on Tuesday 10th December at 7pm.  There will be a return visit from Anthony Powell the popular local musician and everyone is bringing something to eat or drink so there should be plenty of opportunity to eat, drink and be merry!

Don't forget the Competition to wrap and decorate an empty box as if it is a Christmas present for someone special.  There will also be some Christmas themed goods on sale.

And also the Secret Santa - bring a present and take one away!

See you there!

Evening Meal at The Old Rydon

A group of us met up at The Old Rydon Inn on Tuesday evening for an evening of good company and delicious food.

Although the weather outside was freezing, we enjoyed the snug atmosphere of The Apple Loft and it was quite a shock to come out into the cold.

We organise meals every month - alternating lunch and evening meal - if you would like to recommend a restaurant, we always welcome any suggestions!




Do look out for these events and join us.  It is a great way to get to know fellow WI members better and an opportunity to try those dishes you would never try at home!

Spiral Rope Beading

Maureen Gleave ran an excellent Craft Workshop this afternoon showing us how to do Spiral Rope Beading.  This was tricky for some of us and great concentration and focus was needed to try to produce jewellery as Maureen does.

Examples of Maureen's work
  

We all gave it our best shot and the time just flew by!  It was a really enjoyable afternoon. A big thank you to Maureen for sharing her expertise and giving up her time to help us.  Great patience was required!

A Lighthouse Keeper's Story

It was very nearly full house last night at our November meeting when members and visitors listened to a fascinating talk by Gordon Partridge about his 22 years as a Lighthouse Keeper.

Gordon gave us a bit of the history of lighthouses in the UK - first introduced by Henry VIII - and followed the story from beacons through to the present day computerisation of lighthouses.

We were given a glimpse of the day to day living conditions of a lighthouse man as well as learning about the challenges and fun that Gordon had in his career.  It was an excellent talk - very entertaining and informative.  Thank you Gordon!


Our competition this month was to bring in an interesting seashell.  As you can see from the picture below, these came in all shapes and sizes!  Well done Betty for winning first prize!

Driftin' Away

Some of Angela's Driftwood Art

At the Craft/Social Club this afternoon, Angela Purnell gave a demonstration of the Driftwood Art she has created.  Angela showed us how she makes art from driftwood found on our beaches and impressed us all with how she creates such things of beauty from such simple and natural materials.

Angela's demonstration

About 20 members enjoyed the stimulating and creative demonstration and the opportunity to have a good chat with friends.

Many thanks to Angela for sharing her talents with us and to the members of the Craft/Social Club for their hospitality.

HARVEST SUPPER

Last night's Harvest Supper was a most enjoyable and successful evening.  About 45 ladies met up to celebrate the season with a delicious meal of goulash followed by apple pie.  The hall looked lovely.

And after much hard work and preparation behind the scenes, the meal was served.

Everyone enjoyed the food and afterwards Maureen had created a very difficult Harvest Quiz which was won by Pam Webb's table.  Anita Edgar also sold goods to raise funds for El Shaddai, a charity which helps Indian street children. It was lovely to see Cynthia Somerfield, our WI Advisor who spoke a few words to the group and welcomed our newest members, Cathy, Helen and Marian.

A huge THANK YOU to Angela and the Catering Team for such a great evening!

HTWI Donate Hampers to Autumn Fair

The Richard Newton Autumn Fair took place today from 12 noon.  HTWI donated 3 hampers for the raffle as seen below:

Thanks to everyone who donated items.

McMillans Coffee Morning

This morning Maureen Hunter held a very enjoyable and successful Coffee Morning and raised £260 for McMillan Cancer Research.  A big thank you to all who attended, bought cakes and raffle tickets as well as those who were washing up!

Well done, Maureen!

More from our Fashion Show

Many thanks to Tom who provided us with more pictures from our recent Fashion Show at M & Co

Third Time Winners

Last night, at the Group meeting the HTWI once again won the overall prize, beating off strong competition.  The scarf made by Doreen Rogers, the muffins made by Janet Williams and the floral display by Pam Webb were awarded the highest marks by the judges.

President Maureen was presented with the rose bowl which HTWI will keep for another year

It was a most enjoyable evening with many HTWI members attending.  The talk was by Elizabeth Cook who is one of only three Court artists in the UK who produce the drawings of what is taking place in the court.  You will have seen her drawings in the press and on TV as they capture the accused and any dramatic moments.  Elizabeth is seen below showing us a drawing of Ian Brady.  It was a fascinating talk which held us all enthralled at her talent and at the horrific trials she has attended.

However, the winning streak for HTWI did not stop there - Joan McClelland won the draw for a bursary to attend a course at Denman College and many HTWI members won raffle prizes.  It was a bit of a clean sweep and we all left exhilarated at a most successful evening.

Some of our raffle prize winners!

For those who missed the Group Evening the HTWI Secretary's Report is reproduced on a separate page of this blog.  See you on 8th October for our Harvest Supper!

HTWI Visits the Donkey Sanctuary Ivybridge

A brilliant day out was had when members of HTWI visited the Donkey Sanctuary in Ivybridge.  
The tour of the sanctuary and watching a riding lesson was followed by a cream tea.  The weather was kind and everyone enjoyed a lovely day out.

Fashion Show at M & Co

On Thursday 12th September the ladies of HTWI strutted their stuff at a Fashion Show at M & Co.  M & Co have raised close to £1.5 million for Cancer Research - find out more at their website http://www.mandco.com/our-charities/page/ourcharities

Keep Young and Beautiful

At last night's meeting, Eve from Estee Lauder in Exeter came to give us a talk about skin care and make up for the mature lady.  Eve introduced the range of products available and one of our members was lucky enough to have a make over.  Eve then answered questions on specific problems and gave us some useful advice.  It was an interesting and fun evening.

Eve works from the House of Fraser store in Exeter and if you would like to book an appointment you can phone her on 01392 223000 ext 3020 or just pop in and have a chat.

Social / Craft Afternoons are starting again!

Bring along unfinished projects, patchwork, crochet or anything else you have on the go.  Or just pop in for a chat and a cup of tea.  Our Social/ Craft afternoons are starting again.

We will be meeting on Thursdays at 2pm in the Richard Newton Hall - that means the 12th, 19th and 26th of September

We are also organising Craft Workshops in October and November:

• 10th October - Angela Purnell - Driftwood Art
• 14th November - Maureen Gleave - Spiral Rope Beading

This group is open to anyone who feels like dropping in

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Shop Local & Save our High Street

Here at HTWI we’re thinking about how we can support the NFWI resolution to save the High Street. 

Our local traders are important whether in shops or markets and we want to support them.  At our last get together Emma Kay the Town Development Officer spoke to us about the initiatives she is taking to boost Teignmouth and get more people coming into the town and shopping there.  

Do you have any ideas about what needs to be done and how we at HTWI can support our local shops?  Add your comment and let’s get a discussion going.  We will be calling for ideas at our meeting on 10th September so have a think and share your ideas.

The main idea raised at the Cream Tea was the need for free parking in the town to make it as easy to shop there as it is at the big supermarkets.  Do you agree and how can we put pressure on the Council to do this?

Another idea that Emma developed was that we should be proud of the positives of living in such a great place as Teignmouth.  So let’s share our experiences.  Give us your recommendations for friendly High Street businesses in Teignmouth.  Who has been great and why?  

Cream Tea

A full house of members and guests enjoyed a delicious Cream Tea on Tuesday 13th August.  A huge vote of thanks to Angela and her Catering Team who seamlessly produced lovely scones, strawberry jam and cream with a good cup of tea. 

Maureen introduced Emma Kay,  the Town Development Officer for Teignmouth and Dawlish who told us about her work and her plans to encourage local shopping in these towns.  As HTWI strongly support the national WI resolution to increase support for local shops, Emma's short talk gave us some ideas of how we can do this.  Any suggestions from members are most welcome. 

We also welcomed representatives from other local WIs in our Group - it was lovely to have the chance to make contact and have a good chat.  There were also a number of visitors who we hope will soon become members.