300 years of the WI celebrated in style with Calendar Girl Tricia

It was in 1918 Nettleton & Moortown, Caistor and Holton le Moor WI’s came into being, after Miss Emily Guest, from the organisation’s founding country of Canada, visited the area.

Members and guests of all three groups came together in Caistor Town Hall to mark the occasion, where the special guest was Tricia Stewart - Miss October from the now famous WI calendar.

Played by Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren in the 2003 film Calendar Girls, Tricia amused the audience with stories of both the making of the calendar and the film, and the subsequent media frenzy.

The main thing Tricia said was that none of this would have been possible if she hadn’t been a WI member.

That was the sentiment of the evening - the many aspects of the WI organisation and the opportunities membership can present.

For Nettleton & Moortown president Midge Thomas that was meeting both the Queen and the Queen Mother and making presentations to them.

The WI is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to campaigning, but it is as a network of support for women and women’s rights the organisation is best known for.

Looking forward, Holton le Moor president Megs Graham Rack said: “We will continue to offer the hand of friendship to women in our own community and beyond.”