Meeting Speakers – February 2026

Empowering Communities: enhancing 'carbon capability' for climate action.

Dr Briony Latter, from Cardiff University, and her colleague, Dr Sam Hampton, from Bath University, have been working with the WI and the National Childbirth Trust. Briony visited to present a short, ten-minute introduction to the project. They have been looking at climate change and how it effects us. Briony explained that the project has been looking at how climate change impacts on daily life; have seen that it attracts public support; are stressing that individual and societal choices are important; and raising awareness that we do have a personal capability to reduce our carbon footprint. Areas we can examine personally are the use of energy in our homes; transport, in particular avoiding flying; how we shop; citizenship and our influence on others; and food shopping, consumption and waste, such as eating meat less frequently. Briony emphasised the need for people to have conversations about climate change and what differences we can make personally. The project has discovered that conversations at the hairdressers are a good source of everyday influence.

Women of the Titanic: stewardesses, spies and suffragettes.

Michelle Michaelis gave a detailed and interesting talk on the victims and survivors of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. She also brought a fascinating array of photographs, memorabilia and newspapers all connected with the passengers and crew. The Titanic hit the iceberg at night and many passengers had already gone to bed. Some were woken by the impact but simply went back to bed, unaware of the seriousness of the event. Many passengers believed the ship to be unsinkable, and the situation did not become obviously serious for quite a long time, as the staff were reassuring people that everything was alright, and the musicians continued to play. It was also bitterly cold outside and many preferred to stay indoors where it was warm.

There were 2,224 people on board, but the lifeboats could only accommodate 1100. The crew were not well-trained in lifeboat drill, and the boats were not prepared, lacking lights, water and food. It was over an hour after the collision before the first lifeboat was launched. Some passengers were more frightened of being launched from the height of the deck into the sea than they were of remaining on the ship.

Michelle told individual stories of some of the passengers. One elderly coupled stayed in their cabin to go down with the ship, rather than being separated on the lifeboat. Families were separated because the women and children were instructed to board the lifeboats first. One actress who survived the disaster may have been a spy. Molly Brown and several other women were suffragettes. There were 23 stewardesses on board. Three refused to leave the ship, but 20 survived. Michelle gave many interesting facts and snippets of information, such as Edith Rosenbaum's musical toy pig that she played on the lifeboat to entertain the frightened children (sound available on YouTube: 'Titanic pig'.) 

Celebration and Circle Dancing – January 2026

Whitchurch WI enjoyed a celebratory buffet at the January meeting. Our usual buffet at the December meeting was postponed until the new year because the hall was unavailable. The hall was still not available in January, as the new roof was not yet completed, but we were able to enjoy our meeting in the cafe area. A splendid feast was offered through the generous contributions of the members.

Before enjoying the buffet, we were entertained by Pat Adams, who introduced us to Circle Dancing. She enthusiastically declared that it was fun, good exercise, and had 'gorgeous music'. Pat explained that circle dancing is an ancient tradition practised in many parts of the world, including Britain. Most of the dances practised these days come from Eastern Europe. Most villages would have four or five dances that they practised regularly with the whole community coming together to dance -- from infants to the elderly.

For her demonstaration for our WI group, Pat introduced several simple walking dances. Most of the dances included arm movements relating to the theme of the dance, and she encouraged those who remained seated to join in with these upper body movements. She taught seven dances: the first from Armenia; the second from Ukraine; the third dance was a seed sowing dance from North America; the fourth was a tweed-makers dance from the Hebrides; the fifth a Scottish sea shanty; the sixth a Turkish stamping dance, and the last one a selkie dance from the Scottish islands.

The dancing was most enjoyable, and, followed by the buffet, it was a perfect meeting.

Should anyone wish to join in with more circle dancing, Pat has several regular groups and she can be contacted at adamsp37@aol.com for details. She can also be found on Facebook: Circle Dance in Cardiff. The groups are: Insole Court , Thursdays, 11:00 to 12:00; in Fairwater on Fridays; U3A group meets at the Tabernacle in Cardiff, 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 11:00 to 12:00; and quarterly gatherings in Bedwas.

December 2025 meeting

🎅🎄 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!🎄🎅

Ararat Church are having the roof of the hall renovated so Whitchurch WI gathered in the Ark coffee bar area for the December meeting. This made for a less celebratory event than is usual for our December meeting as we could not share a buffet, but this will happen in January instead.

We were entertained by musicians from Ysgol Glantaf who played a selection of Christmas songs.

 Members sang along and the young people played beautifully. There was also a quiz, guessing the titles of Christmas songs from their initials. It was a joyful and enjoyable meeting.

September 2025 meeting – Life in Pantomime

Ceri Stennett, son of Stan Stennett, illustrated his talk about his father's career in pantomime with slides of the pantos' advertising posters. Stan was a Cardiff lad. He was an orphan but had a happy childhood, raised by relatives. He was an extrovert and happy to be a show off. Stan had wanted to join the RAF during WWII but his eyesight wasn't good enough, being almost blind in one eye after a childhood mishap. So he joined the artillery. After the war, he entered talent contests and won one. The prize was theatre work for the BBC, and so his love of theatre work began.  

In the early years of his career, Stan worked as a lorry driver during the day and as an entertainer in the evening. He was spotted by the comedian Ossie Morris which led to more opportunities. He appeared in the radio show, Welsh Rarebit, and became the compere, along with Harry Secombe. Stan worked with many people who became famous, such as Morecombe and Wise. Stan and Eric Morecombe shared a sense of humour, and used to play pranks on the crew with whoopee cushions. Ceri told the story of a pumpkin, being used as a prop in a show, being insured for £1,000,000 by Stan. One of the conditions of the insurance was that the pumkin never be taken on a bus. Stan took the pumpkin on to the top deck of a double-decker bus and dropped it out of the window. It smashed to bits. The insurance payment was settled at £50 and donated to charity. It was a good publicity stunt.

As well as a long career in pantomime and entertainment both in the UK and abroad, Stan appeared in the TV show, The Black and White Minstrels, and in the soap opera, Crossroads. For pantos in South Wales he wrote scripts that would be particularly relevant and funny for the locals. Ceri explained that 1974 - 79 was the pinnacle of Stan's career with five years of topping the bill in the pantomimes at The New Theatre in Cardiff, and receiving an MBE for his contribution to entertainment. Stan helped raised 1000s of pounds for charity, opening fetes and such like. For a long time Stan had a stuffed dog called Bonzo as a part of his act. Unfortunately Bonzo disappeared one night, believed stolen, and had to be substituted with another dog.

Stan wanted to continue working even into his eighties, but sadly suffered a stroke during an operation to insert a heart stent. Ceri described how he sat by his father in hospital singing songs from the pantomimes. Although unable to speak, Stan moved his lips and clearly enjoyed joining in with the songs. Sadly, after three weeks in hospital, he died.

Ceri is himself something of a performer having appeared many times in pantomimes as a stand in. He also worked as a stage manager, and learned puppeteering while Sooty and Sweep were part of the cast of a pantomime. His professionalism was clear from the enjoyable, interesting and well-presented talk, which was enjoyed by all members.

July 2025 meeting

The meeting began with a short presentation by Dr Kristian Skoczek, Post-doctoral Research Associate for Cardiff University's REVAMP project. He talked to us about the eye condition glaucoma and how we could help with new research. They are aiming to find better ways to detect visual field loss and are looking for volunteers aged over 40 to help them. It was an interesting talk, and Kristian stayed till the end, seeming to enjoy hearing about musicals that would have been produced long before he was born, and the singing. Many members talked to him after the meeting and he was pleased with so many people offering to be involved in the project.

Christine Purkiss entertained us with the Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein – and with her wonderful singing. Not only does she have a beautiful voice, she animates the lyrics bringing the songs to life. Her presentation was highly professional and also informative, lighthearted and witty. She also included a few anecdotes about her singing career.

The original production of Oklahoma was in 1943. It featured the tensions between farmers and cattle drovers. The original production also included ballet. It appeared as a film in 1955, being the first wide screen production. Christine sang the title song.

Her next song came from Carousel which was produced in 1947. Christine sang 'June is Busting Out All Over.'

This was followed by fascinating information about South Pacific, which won the Pullizer Prize. Mary Martin was a favourite singer of Rodgers and Hammerstein, but often stars were given the leading roles in the film productions of their musicals with Mary's voice dubbed. Christine sang 'Some Enchanted Evening'.

Next we heard about The King and I, with Christine singing 'Getting to Know You'. From Flower Drum Song we were had a delightful performance of 'I Enjoy Being a Girl'. Then the last musical described was the famous Sound of Music, in which everyone sang their own songs we were told. Christine entertained us with the title song and 'Climb Every Mountain'.

What a wonderful way to round up the first half of the year and break for the summer. The speakers were followed by tasty cakes with our beverages. Have a lovely summer.

June 2025 meeting

Sheena Crossley gave a presentation on The Gardens of Wales. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Sheena’s humorous talk, with slides of beautifully colourful gardens, from Cardiff to Anglesey. Each slide was accompanied by an anecdote describing her visits over a long period of time.

(Unfortunately we do not have any photographs from this presentation.)

The presentation was followed by a talk from Emma, the fundraising co-ordinator from Velindre, our charity for 2025. She explained how support through donations, events, fundraising and overseas challenges allows them to fund projects over and above those provided by the NHS, which improves the experience and outcomes of patients receiving treatment and care at the hospital. She explained that donations help to fund an entire team of clinical psychologists and counsellors, including a dedicated staff psychologist, providing essential one-to-one care for patients and staff; plus resources for children and families, such as specialist education books, lion teddies, toiletries, new pyjamas and digital devices to keep in touch with loved ones.

Members were reminded about Whitchurch Fete on 5th July, with a call for helpers and donations. 

The meeting closed with a poem to commemorate VE Day read by Jenny Andrews.

Meeting – April 2025

 The main speaker at the April meeting was Nor'dzin Pamo, talking about pilgrimages to Nepal and Bhutan – please separate post.

Lynette Chappin talked to the group about making small blankets from the squares knitted by WI members. These were originally being sent to help African babies, then to a residential home, but now they are going to Ukraine. She said that she did not receive as many squares as she had in previous years. So this is a call to our members to get knitting! Lynette asks for 6" squares of any colour and design. She then crochets them together to form the blankets. Thank you Lynette for your long-standing commitment to this project and skilled crochet work

The photograph is of a representative receiving a number of the finished blankets to transport to Ukraine.

Also at the April meeting we had an Easter bonnet competition. The entries were judged by Nor'dzin and the winner received an Easter egg. Angela was the winner, third from the left.

Meeting – March 2025

The March meeting had the theme of 'Celebrating Wales'. There were winners for craft, limericks, photography and bakery, and a demonstration of choral speaking. All entries had been submitted under a pseudonym and were judged externally.

The meeting began with everyone singing 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau'.

Cake & photography judges, Chris & Bryn

Gill won the limerick competition, judged by Janet who wasn't able to attend the meeting. 

    "A lady in a Welsh WI
    Met James Bond – that incredible spy.
    But in place of sin
    They drank loads of gin
    And so, tipsy, she went home to Dai."

Jenny came 2nd and Gay 3rd. Sheila A. and Carole received commendations for their entries.

There were only two craft entries for 'an item of clothing for a Welsh costume doll'. Nor'dzin was awarded first for her skirt. The judge was Muriel Hewitt.

The photography category attracted quite a few entries. Sheila E. won the 'daffodils' section, and Glenys the 'two of a kind' section.

Two of a kind – peppers

Winner top centre

There were also a good number of entries for baking Welsh cakes and chocolate cakes. Gay's Welsh cakes came first, and Glenys won with her chocolate cake.

Six members of the Book Group gave a choral speaking performance: Glenys, Diana, Linda, Jenny, Gay and Nor'dzin. 

It was a most enjoyable meeting with a joyful atmosphere.

December 2024 Meeting

The speaker for December was Peter Davis – a poet. He informed us that his love of poetry was inspired by a past Reverend of Ararat Church, Reverend George Evans, because he used to quote from 'The Hound of Heaven' by Francis Thompson.

Peter stated that even though poetry may not be everyone's cup of tea, as a topic for a WI meeting was highly appropriate for three reasons: firstly poetry is creative, and the WI is creative; secondly we all have lines of poetry in our minds – and he called for suggestions which many members provided; and finally the WI's anthem is 'Jerusalem' by William Blake.

 

 

The format for his talk was to quote several poets on a particular topic and then round up with a piece of his own poetry on that topic. Some subjects were whimsical, some amusing, some touching, and some serious and thought provoking. His poetry was most approachable and enjoyable. 

The rest of the meeting was dedicated to socialising and eating the wonderful food that everyone had brought to share. The Christmas spirit was rounded off by finishing with a rendition of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' with each table allocated one of the numbers to sing and mime to. Everyone was in good voice and had a jolly time.

 

Angels in the Line of Fire

Rosemary Chalmer presented an informative and fascinating insight into the role of women in WWI. The eestablishment of nursing as a profession began with Elizabeth Fry in the 1840s, and was contiunued by Florence Nightingale. The Welsh nurse, Betsy Cadwaldr, worked with her during the Crimean war at Scutari Hospital in Istanbul.

In 1914 the British goverment started recruiting nurses because they knew war was coming. The Queen Alexandra Imperial Nursing Service had been established in 1902 (known as the QAs) and then the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in 1909. The QAs were trained professional nurses, and the VADs were middle-class women orgainised and trained by the St Johns Ambulance and the British Red Cross. The third important nursing organisation in WWI was the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANYs). This group of women came from the well-off classes and they provided their own vehicles to be used as ambulances. Their role was to transport the wounded from the front line to medical centres for treatment. Rosemary provided many interesting details in her talk, such as that the ambulances were not allowed to use their headlights and removed the windscreens from their vehicles so they could see more clearly. She explained that there were also hospitals establised on trains and on ships. Nurses from all these organisation worked on the Western Front and the Eastern Front.

Rosemary talked about many individuals who are mostly unknown, especially mentioning some Welsh women such as Annie Brewer and Miss Tenniswood. In Cardiff the 3rd Western General Hospital was created in 1914 which included Cardiff Royal Infirmary, Mansion House, Albany Road School and Whitchurch Hospital, plus St Woolos in Newport. Other notable British buildings used as auxilliary hospitals were Brighton Pavilion and Blenheim Palace. Many nurses died during the war, either from injuries or disease. Many received medals of honour. Rosemary read a moving piece from 'The Roses of No Man's Land' by Lyn MacDonald which described the conditions under which the nurses lived and worked.

October meeting

Our speaker for October had to cancel because of ill health, so the committee put together a programme of activities.

To begin, Lucy Walsh from AbilityNet gave a short talk on what her charity has to offer to help people make use of technology, such as mobile phones and computers.

Their volunteers visit people in their own homes to help. Lucy said that her role was to deliver sessions on entry-level topics, e.g. how to use a smart phone; what does 'browser' mean; how to use an app; understanding jargon; scam awareness and so on. The sessions are interactive and there are also BT volunteers there to offer a hands-on experience.  

The sessions are not 'training' – there is no certificate at the end. They are to increase confidence. The sessions are free, last about 1 hour, and are funded by BT in order to bring IT (Information Technology) into the community.

https://abilitynet.org.uk

For this meeting, the membership had been divided into eleven groups, with each group 'hosted' by a committee member. The object was to encourage people to get know other members beyond their usual group. A question and answer session was first taking it in turns to be questioner or respondent. Then we played Beetle, which everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy. The afternoon finished with refreshments and more mingling, and the opportunity to buy books, puzzles, games and cards to boost fundraising for our charity.

Thank you to the committee for organising an enjoyable meeting.

Becoming and Artist in Retirement - Sue Trusler

(Cymraeg)

Sue began by reading from her book Time to Start your Art: 'If I can paint so can you!'

After 37 years working in finance, she retired and bought a narrow boat. On the outside it was covered with pictures of dolphins and she knew that they had to go. She and her husband had expected rest and relaxation but it turned out that they had to restore the boat . Not being able to find a canal artist to paint traditional roses, Sue decided to have a go at painting them herself. Using acrylics, she copied roses from books, and came to realise that a soft and flowing touch was needed. She also realised that she only needed to learn to paint one rose really well because then she could repeat it in different sizes, orientations, and colours. Using the same approach with painting leaves she developed some satisfactory results.

Having enjoyed painting the roses, their conservatory became a makeshift studio and Sue painted roses on watering cans, jugs, plant pots and everything! Later she moved on to watercolours and inks, making greetings cards, bookmarks and also printing her designs on fabric for cushion covers. She also creates photo books of her paintings and of inspiring photographs of things she wants to paint. She sent some of her canal boat roses to the Paint and Draw magazine, and they featured them. She joined the Orchid Society and entered their competitions three times, achieving two second places and at last first place. She then wrote an article for the Orchid Society Journal encouraging others to paint. This was her message throughout her talk: you can do this too.

Sue stressed that she painted for enjoyment and had no wish to turn it into a business despite a string of successes: giving a talk to thirty members of a women's art society; writing a book about her experience of beginning to paint; being part of a group of artists whose work was displayed in Times Square, New York; and being part of an 'Artists Talk' exhibition in tubes stations in London.

One venture that she was clearly delighted about was being asked to run a children's art class in Penarth during the half term holiday. She devised her 'art family' of introducing painting to children: characters who use a spiky, dotty, wobbly, smooth or curly method to make art. The class went really well and Sue told us that she found it moving to see just how much work the children had produced and how much they had enjoyed themselves. She eventually brought this method together in her 'Art Family' book. Sue contributes profits from sales to charity, makes calendars for charity, and donates painting to City Hospice. She is most prolific and inspired us all with her seemingly boundless energy and enterprise in producing artwork.
 

 

 

Morris Dancing – July 2024 meeting

(Cymraeg)

Speaker – Lynda Edwards

Lynda explained that she had been a dancer for over 50 years. She described it as being like ‘joining a family’. She informed us that there are various Morris dancing traditions that date back to fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The musicians were Ian and Phil playing piano accordion and an English button melodian.

Lynda then described the costumes of the various traditions as shown in the group dancing today. Cotswold traditions use hankies and sticks, wear bells on their shins, and also crossed tapestry baldrics. Northwestern traditions dance in clogs and wear garlands. Traditions from the borders of Wales and England wear ‘tatty jackets’. They used to blacken their faces, but this tradition ceased in 2020. The reason for blackening was to disguise the dancer. Nowadays faces may be painted in any colour or a mask may be worn.

Cardiff Morris ladies took their style of costume from the traditional Welsh lady outfit (as displayed on the mannequin). Lynda also mentioned the USA style of Morris dance costume which included a bowler hat and baldrics.

Cecil Sharp was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England during the Edwardian period. He travelled around the country and collected and encouraged the dance traditions, enabling them to survive and flourish.

The dancers then entertained us with the Lichfield dance.

After this, members had a go at learning this dance.

This lively and most enjoyable session ended with the performance of a jig.

Forest Farm – Our Local Nature Reserve / Fferm y Fforest – Ein Gwarchodfa Natur Leol

Speaker: Albyn Austin

Albyn began with an outline of background and history of the Forest Farm Nature Reserve. It was originally a mixed farm and didn't become part of Cardiff until 1967. In 1982 the canal and long wood were declared an SSSI. In the 1980s the farm had become derelict and some of the land was lost when the M4 was built, and then by the creation of the industrial estate. In 1992 it formally became Forest Farm Country Park and Local Nature Reserve.

 

Dechreuodd Albyn gydag amlinelliad o gefndir a hanes Gwarchodfa Natur Fferm y Fforest. Fferm gymysg ydoedd yn wreiddiol ac ni ddaeth yn rhan o Gaerdydd tan 1967. Ym 1982 cyhoeddwyd y gamlas a'r pren hir yn SoDdGA. Yn y 1980au roedd y fferm wedi mynd yn adfail a chollwyd peth o'r tir pan adeiladwyd yr M4, ac yna trwy greu'r stad ddiwydiannol. Ym 1992 daeth yn Barc Gwledig Fferm y Fforest ac yn Warchodfa Natur Leol yn ffurfiol.

 

The canal was an important means of transport for local industry. It was used by the ironworks, and later by the coal industry. The development of the railway in the 1940s gradually took away its traffic until it was no longer being used by industry by 1944. In 1965 Forest Hall was demolished and is now the location of the car park. The Friends Group created disabled access and planted the orchard in the 1990s. The pond and its sculptures were created in 2017, and the Redwood Giant in 2018.

Roedd y gamlas yn ffordd bwysig o deithio i ddiwydiant lleol. Fe'i defnyddiwyd gan y gweithfeydd haearn, ac yn ddiweddarach gan y diwydiant glo. Symudodd datblygiad y rheilffordd yn y 1940au â'i thraffig yn raddol nes nad oedd bellach yn cael ei defnyddio gan ddiwydiant erbyn 1944. Ym 1965 dymchwelwyd Neuadd y Goedwig a dyma leoliad y maes parcio erbyn hyn. Creodd y Grŵp Cyfeillion fynediad i’r anabl a phlannu’r berllan yn y 1990au. Crëwyd y pwll a'i gerfluniau yn 2017, a'r Redwood Giant yn 2018.

The canal is fed from limestone hills in the Castell Coch area, which is the reason for the existence of some unusual plants along the canal, including toothwort and elf cap fungus can be seen. The top end of the canal has tended to be short of water, but it is 5ft deep the Melingriffiths end. There has been an ongoing problem of erosion of the towpath. A large variety of wildlife can be seen in the Nature Reserve, including owls, woodpeckers, nuthatch, herons, snipe, egrets, buzzards, foxes, rabbits, voles, shrews, stoats, weasels, grass snakes, slow worms, otters, mink, salmon, dragon flies and damsels flies – and of course kingfishers for which the canal is famous. 

Mae’r gamlas yn cael ei bwydo o fryniau calchfaen yn ardal Castell Coch, a dyna’r rheswm dros fodolaeth rhai planhigion anarferol ar hyd y gamlas, gan gynnwys llysiau’r dannedd a ffwng capan y gors. Mae pen uchaf y gamlas wedi tueddu i fod yn brin o ddŵr, ond mae'n 5 troedfedd o ddyfnder ym mhen Melin Gruffydd. Bu problem barhaus o erydu'r llwybr tynnu. Mae amrywiaeth eang o fywyd gwyllt i’w weld yn y Warchodfa Natur, gan gynnwys tylluanod, cnocell y coed, delor y cnau, crehyrod, gïachod, crëyr glas, bwncathod, llwynogod, cwningod, llygod pengrwn, chwistlod, carlymod, gwencïod, nadroedd y gwair, nadroedd defaid, dyfrgwn, mincod, eog, pryfed neidr a phryfed mursennod – ac wrth gwrs glas y dorlan y mae'r gamlas yn enwog amdanynt.  

For more information visit their website: www.forestfarm.org.uk, and follow them on Facebook: #forestfarmphotography #forestfarmwildlife

I gael rhagor o wybodaeth ewch i’w gwefan: www.forestfarm.org.uk, a dilynwch nhw ar Facebook: #forestfarmphotography #forestfarmwildlife