Agincourt WI

THE secretary of Agincourt WI welcomed everyone to the meeting, with a special welcome to guests from Llandogo, Llantilio Crosseny and The Hendre and prospective new members.

Notices were given out.

They were delighted to have won a Rose Bowl at the Gwent Federation Show for obtaining the most points overall in the medium size WI category, especially as this was the first time they had entered the show.

Sandra welcomed the speaker for the evening, Justine from Far Hill Farm Flowers.

Justine gave members a brief history of how she had started Far Hill Farm, being an army wife she had previously lived in 21 houses and the time had come to settle down. After a great deal of searching, she found a piece of land and a broken-down cottage in rural Monmouthshire in 2004 and decided that this was the place that she could live and work. However, her husband was posted to Washington for three years and then on to another posting so she was travelling back and forth and was not able to settle in Monmouthshire for a time. They lived in a caravan on the site until the cottage had been completely renovated.

She took a course at Horticultural College and thought about growing beautiful cottage garden organic British flowers, which she now uses for all occasions and provides artisan floristry.

It took a long time to get established and she decided to have a stall at a wedding fair, this was a success and her main occupation now is weddings. She grows bee-friendly flowers and combines traditional and native varieties, cultivated and wild. They are seasonal, smell wonderful, have stunning colours and are as fresh as dew. There are no air miles, no refrigeration, no chemicals: she works in harmony with nature, from seed to centrepiece.

Justine had brought along a variety of flowers and she made the most beautiful hand tied bouquet, which one lucky member won for the raffle.

Justine has just become a representative for Flowers from the Farm, a not-for-profit co-operative of British cut flower growers which was founded in 2011 and now has 768 members.

It was a most delightful and entertaining evening and Marilyn thanked Justine very much for coming along. Members enjoyed a social time with refreshments. The group’s next meeting is Monday 9th December, which will be a social evening.

The Hendre WI

The Hendre WI November meeting commenced with President Sue Evans welcoming a good turnout of 19 members.

After going through the newsletter Sue outlined future events such as:-

- “The Light a Candle Service” 10.30am in St Mary’s Church, Usk on 26th November

- “A Festival of Christmas Trees “at Llantilio Pertholey on 29th and 30th November

- Christmas dinner at “The Hall” Gwehelog on 4th December, 12.30pm for 1pm.

The branch did very well to collect 27 points for its entries at the Federation Show Day held at Bridges on 12th October. The bucolic scarecrow won first prize and the Hendre came third in the small WI category.

The business side of the meeting swiftly dealt with, members all settled down to make iced decorations to adorn their Christmas cakes under the expert tuition of member Llinos Garrett.

Members enthusiastically enthusiastically enjoyed an industrious evening constructing penguins and Christmas trees decorated to a high standard. Many quips on the character of the penguins were sallied and a lot of fun and laughter prevailed.

Sue thanked Llinos for her patient and excellent instruction and also for the time spent preparing the craft items prior to the meeting.

The next meeting of the Hendre WI will be held at 7.15pm at The Rockfield Community Centre on Tuesday 10th December when the branch will be holding their traditional Christmas party. Members are reminded to bring a plate of food, a Secret Santa present and a card. The competition for the evening will be “your favourite Christmas Tree Decoration.”

New members always made very welcome. Just turn up on the night.

Garway Heritage Group

Did he poison his wife with arsenic or not?

This was the question put to the audience at the November meeting by Dr Peter Ford from Hay on Wye. Most people have heard of the famous murder case which gripped the country in 1922. Herbert Armstrong, a small dapper solicitor practising in Hay on Wye, was accused of murdering his wife with arsenic. Dr Ford asked us to keep an open mind while he put the facts of the case to club members again.

Hay, in the 1920s was a busy market town, rather isolated on the Welsh border. Everyone knew everyone else and there were the usual hostilities. Members saw pictures of all the buildings involved in the case, such as Armstrong’s offices, the pharmacy, Armstrong’s house; all still in use today.

As the story unfolded with Armstrong being arrested on New Year’s Eve 1921, members heard the case for the prosecution and the defence. This controversial trial was to take place at the Shire Hall in Hereford at the Winter Assizes. Several, yet to-be famous, people were involved. The judge was Mr Justice Darling, known to be a ‘hanging judge’. The Attorney General, Sir Ernest Pollock, prosecuted and Sir Henry Curtis Bennett appeared for the defence. An expert witness was Sir Bernard Spilsbury who was to become famous for his work in modern forensics. Arsenic was readily available in 1922 and had many uses from weed-killer to face creams. Armstrong’s wife had recently returned from a mental hospital, so, did she kill herself? Armstrong was found guilty and executed at Gloucester Gaol on 31st May 1922.

The evening ended with some very lively discussion as members consumed tea and cake (uncontaminated!)

Monmouth Bridge Club

Recent Monmouth Bridge Club results are as follows:

Monday 18th November 7pm to 10pm [SIMS Charity Evening]: North/South: 1st Richard Brierly and Paul Williams; 2nd Jon Dullforce and Gordon Casson; 3rd Joan Rowlands and Mike Roberts. East/West: 1st Sue Burrows and Neil Smith; 2nd  David and Julie Davies; 3rd Michael Owen and Val Conniff.

Wednesday 20th November (No Fear Bridge) 2pm to 4pm: North/South: 1st Terry Hill and Ros Walker; 2nd Rosemary Whaley and Mary Roden; 3rd Charlotte Jones and Chris Everett. East/West: 1st Celia and Norman Skitt; 2nd Jenny Ricks and Daphne Bird; 3rd Jon Dullforce and Diana Whaley.

Thursday 21st November 7pm to 10pm: 1st Nigel Saunders and Jon Dullforce; 2nd Pauline Sanders and Mike Roberts; 3rd Elizabeth Hicks and Rosemary Whaley. 

For details of Club activities go to: www.bridgewebs.com/monmouth