Life in the WI with Lorna Wilson, Lesley Armitage and Ann McPhie No shortage of WI debating material and initially our interaction was gentle and ponderous. Then what happened? Wow. A groundswell of powerful debate erupted, highly motivated grassroots opinion expressed. An adrenaline charged atmosphere throughout the room. I had to have more than one calming cup of tea during the refreshment break. Show and Tell. Wear Something Old from your Wardrobe This was a Fashion Show l

Derbyshire is about as far from the coast as it is possible to be in the UK. Yet the county has many connections with the sea, some of which might be expected, and others which are less widely known, beginning 330 million years ago, and ending in the present day. Visitors £5. Refreshments. Our talk in February had to be changed because of the late unavailability of our speaker. The replacement, “The History Of Haddon Hall” given by Margie Burnet, the archivist at the Hall,

Cast rehearsing Knight Fever Yes, Christmas needed attention, and snow is distracting – but all that carbohydrate complexity and journey planning has passed (hopefully) and we’re on to the next event: Baslow’s February Pantomime, ‘Knight Fever’. It is hoped you’ve already got your tickets to avoid disappointment (some nights do sell out). ‘Knight Fever’, written by TLC, on an Arthurian theme is full of infectious laughter, tales of quests, magic and medieval come-uppance. Th

St Anne’s School Choir and Christmas Tea Oh, Bless them, they were wonderful. A chorus of joyful voices melting our hearts. Perfect. Nothing beats St Anne’s School Choir at Christmas. Then Christmas tea, a lovely finalé to our WI year. Chatsworth Christmas Outing Happy chaos. Some of us were early, some late, some poorly and some were there but we never found them. It was busy and it was tricky to keep together because there was a plethora of young burgeoning media influencer

Baslow St. Anne’s CE Primary School Tiger Class Reception and Year 1 and Leopard Class Year 1 and 2 put their enterprise skills into action and managed to raise a phenomenal grand total of £2,724.70 for Children in Need. The children worked together as a team and collaborated in deciding to hold a sponsored walk into Chatsworth, where they had a hot chocolate and Pudsey biscuit before returning to school. They also used their financial and literacy skills, deciding to ask f

Peter Burgess-Allen “Fuel Poverty” Keeping Warm and Safe at Home We’d no speaker! Peter “stood in” at very short notice and was brilliant. Well, so was Mandy who found him for us. Questions were fired at him throughout his talk – no one fell asleep. I think we all picked up some valuable tips. How deep is your roof insulation? Have you got a chimney balloon? What about curtains with a thermal lining ? We’re on it darlings, we’ll be queuing up at the DIY stores tomorrow mornin