Monthly Archives: October 2015

The Festival of Choirs

On Sunday 4th October 2015 five WI Choirs from around Cambridge and Papworth and Elsworth’s ‘Lyrical Voices’ Choir performed together in a Festival of Choirs at Papworth’s  newly refurbished  Village Hall.  All the Choirs sang their hearts out and enjoyed refreshments served up by our lovely WI ladies.  This year is the Centenary of the WI and each Choir had previously entered a competition for the Centenary Celebrations.  Having them return to perform locally was brillient and over 200 people crowded into the Hall to enjoy a delightful afternoon of Music and Song.

St Neots Jewels
St Neots Jewels
The Norfolk Belles
The Norfolk Belles

 

Isle of Ely Federation Choir
Isle of Ely Federation Choir

 

 

 

 

Green Ribbons
Green Ribbons

 

 

The Green Ribbon Choir draws the audience in and finish the first half with  everyone singing along  with them.

The Ripton's Choir
The Ripton’s Choir

 

 

 

 

 

Lyrical Voices
Lyrical Voices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Finale
Grand Finale

All the Choirs sang together some  well known Gospel Songs for the Grand Finale.  A wonderful afternoon of music and melody.  It is hoped that we could have a repeat performance annually and would welcome other Choirs to get in touch and join us for what is a very great occasion

 

 

 

 

 

October 2015

Our monthly lunch was held on the 1st of October at The Grand Piano Cafe in Godmanchester.  Eighteen of our members enjoyed the wide variety of food on offer and were particularly impressed with the attentive service from the friendly staff.   

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As attendance at our monthly lunch outings is limited to those members who are available during the daytime, which usually precludes those who are working or who have daytime caring responsibilities, we are planning a dining out evening so that others have the opportunity to join in what is always a most pleasant event.

Festival of Choirs

Lyrical Voices, the Papworth and Elsworth W.I. choir, hosted a Festival of Choirs in which five other W.I. choirs from across Cambridgeshire and from as far afield as Norfolk, totalling almost 100 participants, took part. Having worked towards the Centenary Choir Competition for the past two years it was felt that it would be great to invite choirs for an afternoon of music and song in Papworth’s newly renovated Village Hall. The whole event was a big success and it is hoped that the event will be repeated sometime in the future.

Grand Finale
Grand Finale

The Choir section contains more information and photos.

 

 

 

 

At our October meeting we were in turn entertained, informed, amused and at times horrified by the dramatic story of The Lady Juliana, the first Convict Ship for women, that sailed to Australia in 1789. The speaker Ann James, who is an enthusiastic member of the Huntingdon Family History Society, gave a colourful account of the day to day life on board the ship as well as a detailed history of several individual women who went on to become the ‘founding mothers’ for the new colony of Australia.  Altogether a fascinating and interesting evening.

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Towards the end of October over 300 daffodil bulbs, that had been donated by W.I. members, were planted on our behalf by the Cambridge Unpaid Work Team outside the Library in the grass verge in front of the W.I. Memorial bed. They should provide a cheery display to welcome the Spring and, if successful, we hope to add to their numbers over the coming years.

 

September 2015

Our September lunch at the Golden Ball in Boxworth was as enjoyable as ever and the October lunch is due to be held at The Grand Piano cafe in Godmanchester. As attendance at our monthly lunch outings is limited to those members who are available during the daytime, which usually precludes those who are working or who have daytime caring responsibilities, we are planning a dining out evening so that others have the opportunity to join in what is always a most pleasant event.

The monthly meeting on 16th September coincided with the actual Centenary anniversary of the formation of the first UK W.I. so we took full advantage of the excuse to lay on our own celebrations. The hall was decorated with bunting, the usual rows of seating were replaced by groups of tables and chairs………….

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W.I. memorabilia (scrap books, handicrafts etc) were on display ………………

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………….and the business part of the meeting was minimised to leave plenty of time for socialising. Following a relaxing interval with bubbles and a celebration cake, accompanied by the singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ ………..

 

 

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………….several members entertained us with short talks featuring interesting and quirky events in their own lives from the past 100 (well, somewhat less than 100!) years.

A Bring-and-Buy sale of homemade items raised welcome funds……..

 

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……………and the meeting ended with a celebration raffle.

On the 25th of September Lyn hosted an afternoon tea at her home in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief which raised over £190.00 for the charity. The array of homemade cakes that had been prepared by her and her sister were quite superb – thank you Lyn and family for all your hard work, it was certainly worth it!

The ‘Lyrical Voices’ of our choir have been rehearsing hard for The Festival of Choirs that they are hosting in the Village Hall on 4th October, so if you are interested in joining them (no audition necessary) please just come along or find out more by visiting the choir section on our website or by emailing jb.varrierjones@btopenworld.com.

The invited Speaker at our monthly meeting on 21st October is Ann James who will be talking about The Lady Juliana, the first convict ship transporting women to Australia in 1789, while the meeting on 18th November will feature the somewhat unglamorous but useful topic of Waste Management and Recycling