Women rally to feed the nation
Local WI members on an outing in the early 30s. Some names: Betty Taylor (beret, John Willie Taylor’s wife), Hannah Proudfoot (glasses, Townfield shop), Elizabeth Armstrong (behind Hannah, Hilda Everitt’s mother), Mrs Oxley (big hat at the back), Kate Hall (front left, Daisy Hall’s mother-in-law), Annie May Jameson, Annie Westgarth (white hat), Annie/Minnie Pears, Mrs Clegg (schoolmistress).
Nationally, the WI was formed in 1915, partly to revitalise rural communities, but perhaps more importantly at the time, to encourage women to become more involved in food production during the First World War.
It was to be a full 12 years later before the women of Hunstanworth decided to form their own branch. They may have been late starters, but they were enthusiastic; now deposited in the Durham County Record Office, the opening entry in the minutes book for September 29 1927 shows that 14 women were present at the School Room for Hunstanworth WI’s inaugural meeting, with a list of 20 interested locals. It’s decided that meetings will be held in the Church Room at 1 o’clock every second Wednesday in the month, and Mrs Joicey is elected president.
The format for the meetings was business first, such as subscriptions and appointing sub-committees, then a demonstration by a visiting speaker. This was followed by ‘Mystery parcels’ – the women would take little wrapped gifts along to swap, then tea served up by three hostess members. The meetings would be rounded off with songs and games, concluding in the early years by singing Jerusalem and the National Anthem.
Demonstrations could cover anything from basket making, perfect rough-puff pastry, “fur-craft” and more bizarre topics such as ‘Making a tea cosy from crepe paper.’ But there were times when members’ initiative was tested to the limit as in January 1930: “There being no demonstration available, Miss Robson kindly stepped into the breach and showed how to make a hassock out of treacle tins.”
Larger organisations saw the marketing potential offered by the WI demonstrations as a valuable way of reaching their most important target audience. In September 1934 Hunstanworth ladies had a visit from Mr Wignall the County Poultry Instructor who showed them ‘How to Truss a Fowl for the Oven’, and another demonstration was entitled ‘Washing with Acdo’.
Daisy Hall, Hunstanworth resident from 1932 to 1976 and WI member for nearly 70 years.
But it wasn’t all ‘Jam and Jerusalem’; the women discussed serious issues, and even today the WI campaigns actively for change. In 1930 the women of Hunstanworth compiled a list of the changes which would most improve their village, and it shows that even by then, many rural families lacked even the basic essentials…
Road improvement
A telephone
Cutting down old trees
Laying water into all houses
Daisy Hall, now aged 100, was persuaded to join Hunstanworth WI as a recently wed 21-year-old by neighbour Meggie Armstrong who lived in the last lead miner’s cottage on Boltshope Park. “I didn’t really want to go along,” said Daisy, “To me they were all old fogeys who wore black skirts and black straw hats! Anyway I did join, and over the years I was president, secretary… in fact one year I was president, secretary and treasurer all at the same time because no-one else wanted to be!
“I was in the WI from the age of 21 to 90, as I joined the Wolsingham group when I moved from The Park in 1976. I started off thinking they were all old fogeys and I ended up being the oldest fogey there!”
Daisy remembered the meetings as being just good fun. She said: “We’d wait for Carol Bean from Whitelees to arrive as she sometimes came on the tractor.”
Close alliances with neighbouring WI branches such as Blanchland and Muggleswick groups. Hunstanworth women were often the guests of other branches at meetings, and on trips out – such as the one planned to Harrogate in 1933 – seats on the coach would often be offered to other WIs to help spread the cost of the trip.
It may have been fun at the time, but in 1939 the WI was once again called upon to perform its original function – making the best of scarce food resources to keep the nation healthy.
Fascist dictators beware… The indomitable Albert Hall WI audience.
Daisy Hall was at the Albert Hall for the 1939 national conference, and remembers it vividly: “During the June 1939 conference, a German woman stood up as a guest speaker. Before she spoke, she raised her arm in a Heil Hitler salute to the crowd. Well, the audience was furious, and started stamping their feet so loudly that she couldn’t speak.”
Three months later, the minutes show that the women have been ‘caught on the hop’ somewhat: “No meeting held owing to war emergency – windows not darkened.”
But in October the WI is back in business, and doing what they can to aid the war effort. The women decide to by khaki and grey coloured wool to knit socks for the soldiers – Mrs Walton is given £1 from the kitty to get the wool.
Daisy Hall said: “During the war we did some good things, like we went up onto the fell and gathered sphagnum moss for injured soldiers.”
And in October the branch received correspondence about “The Tobacco Fund for Forces” and it’s decided to make a collection for Tobacco for the Forces “as we did last year and that the list be exhibited in Proudfoot’s shop.” Hannah Proudfoot – another WI member – was the owner of Townfield shop at the time.
Food was in short supply. Just how short is only hinted at, but a telling entry of September 1941 reads: “It had been intended to have a demonstration on ‘Making tomato sauce’, but as we were not able to obtain the necessary materials, the recipe and method were described instead.”
Among the letters read out at one meeting was an appeal from the YMCA for WIs across the country to set up Fruit Preservation Centres, where whole communities of women would make enormous batches of jam in a bid to maximise local food production. Hunstanworth women were keen to see if they could establish a centre in their village, but at a later meeting it’s reported that there is: “…not sufficient fruit either wild or garden to form a centre. Some members had hoped to gather nettles…”
In May 1943 Hunstanworth WI holds two group discussions. The two competing proposals are “Town and Country women should amalgamate” and “Men should be allowed to join institutes” – no prizes for guessing which one won!
Waste nothing… a wartime public education poster.
