Marchwood Village is situated just off the A326 to the West of Southampton on the Waterside of the New Forest. Belonging to the Beaulieu Group, the first Marchwood WI meeting was held on May 11th 1921, when 45 members were enrolled. The President was Lady Crofton, the Secretary and Treasurer a Miss R. Longman.
Our meetings take place on the second Tuesday of each Month at 7:15 p.m. (No meeting in August).
Venue – Marchwood Village Hall which is situated behind the Village Centre. Accessed via Vicarage Road adjacent to St. Johns Church. The Hall has full disability access.
Our president is Dulcie Webster.
Marchwood currently have 50 members. We are a friendly group of women, not all from Marchwood, but along the Waterside as well. Please come to one of our meetings, or one of our shows. You will be made very welcome. There is always something to look forward to at the monthly meetings and it is a great way to make new friends and maybe discover talents you didn’t even know you had!
Each month we have a speaker, competition and a bloom of the month.
Marchwood WI has a Book Club, Darts, Skittles and Quiz teams. The members also belong to local groups such as “Stitch and Chat” and the “Solid Silver Club”.
We are involved various ways within the community, for example at the school, local churches the Village Hall and a Waterside Charity.
Our ‘Education Day’ is a biennial event in which we can participate all kinds of new activities such as chocolate making, crochet, jewellery design, ribbon work, to name but a few!
Programme
8 January 2019
- Talk – The History of Tea
- Speaker – Jane Glennie
- Competition – A pretty china cup
12 February 2019
- Talk – The QE2 Story
- Speaker – Steve Herra
- Competition – A photograph of a liner
12 March 2019
- Talk – Isle Of Wight Radio Presenter Meets
- Speaker – John Hannam
- Competition – A signed photo or autograph of a famous person
9 April 2019
- 98th Birthday Party
14 May 2019
- Annual General Meeting
11 June 2019
- Plant and Produce Auction
Centenary Snowdrops March 2018
On a cold, March day, fortunately when it wasn’t raining or snowing, 6 ladies from Marchwood WI volunteered to plant 1000 snowdrops, representing WI colours, in the village to mark the Centenary. 5 plants were placed in each hole so the job didn’t take too long. They all had a lot of fun and a laugh or two, and hopefully there will be a great display in 2021 when we will celebrate our own Centenary. Many thanks to Judy Saxby for suggesting the idea and to Lynda Butterfield for directing the operation!
Marchwood WI Summer 2017
“The Antiques Copse Show” and “Florries Diamond Day”
The members of Marchwood WI always have a very diverse programme to look forward to and this Spring offerings were no exception.
In February Peter Raw the Winchester Auctioneer, came to speak to the WI bringing a wealth of experience and humour to his interesting talk of his years in the profession.
After a quiz whereby the audience had to guess the value of items….that was so hard, with most people either undervaluing or massively over-valuing. Peter then spoke about the various items that had been optimistically brought in to be valued by him….”is my picture by Rembrandt, is my glass Lalique or my jewellery Faberge?” Well, sadly there were no instant millionaires made that evening but it was a good evening and showed how hooked we all are on anything to do with antiques.
The meeting in March was such a lovely evening. Dave Dibden a coppicer with “local roots” came to talk about his life managing the “Pondhead Reserve” near Lyndhurst.
Dave gave a fascinating talk, illustrated with slides telling how he came to be involved with this wonderful wooded area after working for some years for the Forestry Commission.
Coppicing involves controlling the trees and shrubs within an area on a rotation. This allows the copse to mature but not die or become overgrown. Dave manages the reserve with the help of a band of dedicated volunteers. They have actually just won a prestigious award for their work. The slides showed the wood throughout the year and how it looks and grows during the various seasons and wide variety of fauna and flora that live there. It was a wonderful talk by someone who has a natural ability to connect with his audience in an informal way but still hold their attention and inspire them to visit this part of our New Forest.
At the 96th Birthday Party, we were entertained by Paul Nicholas’ beautiful voice….a fabulous rendering of “Bring him Home” from Les Miserables and lots of Swing, rock and classic vocals showing his ability and versatility.
Before Paul sang Florrie Sexton was presented with a bouquet to mark her very, very long term involvement with Marchwood WI.
Florrie has been a staunch and very regular member of Marchwood WI for an incredible “SIXTY YEARS” Florrie and her late sister, Gwen joined in 1957, following a family tradition. Her Grandmother was a founder member, whose daughter Rachel (lovingly known as Auntie Pop) became the first Secretary. Florrie’s mother Edna was working in domestic service at Dibden Manor for the then President Mrs Kettlewell, who insisted on all her staff becoming members of the WI! When the WI wanted to form a Drama Group , Edna encouraged her two daughters to join as well. Both Florrie and Gwen have been the WI President and committee members and Florrie’s nieces Pauline and Debra have been very active within Marchwood WI as well. We are really proud to have such a long family history within our membership.