August 2026 subgroups

Baking Beauties

Baking Beauties in August enjoyed an evening meeting. The topic was ‘pastry’… with so many variations as to how to make pastry, ingredients used, Butter or Margarine? Or not or Trex or Not. The results turned out to be a feast for all. Quiche, Custard tarts, chocolate tart, fruit tarts, frangipanes, magnificent mulberry profiteroles, apple tarts and mince-pies made with minced meat!

What is there not to like about this Baking Beauties Sub-Group?

Craft and Garden Group

12 ladies came along to the craft afternoon to make lavender wands.   The season has been a shocker for a lot of plants and lavender is no different, so it was disappointing that the stems of the lavender were too brittle to make the wands so we stripped the stems and filled small bags with the lovely fragrance. Vanessa demonstrated the way to make a wand , but with very fresh picked stems.   It looked lovely- perfect to hang on a coat hanger in the wardrobe.

The chocolate cake for refreshments went down exceedingly well, Annette’s trial for the next Community Coffee morning

August 2026 – Outing to Lion Salt Works

Pat put a lot of work in arranging a guided tour of the Lion Salt Works, followed by a meal at the Antrobus Arms. The guided tour was very interesting, our guides told our group of 29 about the history of the Salt Works and the different roles that the workers carried out. We were surprised at the large scale of the buildings – which now include a very pleasant restaurant and children’s play area – a great day out for all ages.

FOR INFORMATION. The museum is open for a ‘Heritage’ visit on Sunday 20th September. There is no charge on this day.. So revisit and take friends or family with you.

The name comes from the Red Lion Inn which was once on the site. Following a considerable grant from the Lottery fund there are lots of interesting displays as well as the restoration of the original buildings.

Our meal at the Antobus Arms was delicious and other members joined us – 35 in all. Thanks to Pat for arranging such an interesting and sociable evening

July 2026 subgroups

Baking Beauties

Baking Beauties theme this month was strawberries. Lots of delicious dishes as you can see from the photograph. A real taste of summer – mille feuille, strawberry ice cream, strawberry scones, flapjack flan, pastries and a roulade.

Art Group

Our Art group enjoyed a sunny day at Walton Gardens – our annual ‘en plein air’ trip. An enjoyable session giving a good overview of the park – the Hall, the Greenhouse, the Water, Lavender and a lady enjoying the view of children playing.

Craft and Garden Group – Afternoon Tea at Abbeywood Gardens

Our afternoon at Abbeywood was most enjoyable. Some ladies had a walk around the gardens before tea and some after tea when the heat of the day had passed. Although the gardens were not at their best – the dry heat has certainly played havoc with the flowering perennials – the grounds were more than welcome. Sitting under a glorious tree in the shade – what more could anyone want.




The staff at Abbeywood were most attentive. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea, endless cups of tea and also plenty of iced water to keep us cool.

Walking Group

Three walkers did the lovely walk through Delamere Forest on a rather hot day but as we were among the trees most of the time it was not of great concern. Walking on paths among the fern and different variety of trees it was so peaceful and we did not come across many people at all. We are so lucky to have some many lovely places to walk within easy reach. Afterwards we enjoyed a lunch at the Carriers Inn Hatchmere.

CHESHIRE WI LITERARY LUNCH

In early July The Cheshire Federation of WIs welcomed over 159 members to their annual Literary Lunch at Hartford Golf Club for a wonderful afternoon of books and conversation. 16 members from Whitley WI (some full and some multi) attended, the event organiser Pat Sharp is also a Whitley WI member.

Jane Costello, Author
Organiser

All were delighted to welcome bestselling author Jane Costello as their guest speaker for a truly engaging talk presented with warmth and humour. Jane has written 16 novels, with her books translated into 26 languages, plus she has won the Romantic Novelists’ Award twice.

Before becoming a full-time novelist, Jane worked as both a reporter and an editor for several newspapers. She wrote her first novel, Bridesmaids, whilst on maternity leave and she gave a very entertaining account of that ‘first call’ from a leading publisher.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring afternoon, and everyone came away with a greater appreciation of the dedication and creativity involved in writing romantic fiction.

July 2026 – Main Meeting

We welcomed 38 members to our July meeting. Jean, our President, thanked Dutton for their warm welcome last month, and sent thanks to Jonty for organising our very enjoyable garden party. Our speaker, Maureen Fearon gave us a very interesting and professional talk and we all went away some very good tips for how to get a good night’s sleep. Helen H thanked Maureen for her talk. Hopefully we all followed her advise and slept well the night of the meeting!

The competition – ‘What you do before you go to sleep’ was won by Jean W. She advised concentrating on very slowly breathing in, holding breath, breathing out, each to a count of 4.

Our next meeting will be our August Outing – a trip to the Lion Salt works followed by a meal at the Antrobus Arms.