MEMBERS of the Coads Green WI joined by their husbands and partners, met at Polhilsa on Tuesday, November 2, for a dinner to celebrate the group’s 60th anniversary.

Members were greeted by Alison Gribble, as they arrived, who presented each one with a button hole. The tables had been beautifully decorated by Janet Ham.

President, Daphne Tucker, welcomed everyone, including special guest, Kathy Reed, the North Cornwall advisor for the Cornwall Federation.

Daphne also gave a history of the founding of the group and gave particular thanks to members and the committee for their continued help and support.

Daphne and Kathy cut the celebration cake, which had been made by Pat Mallett. It was a very enjoyable evening, providing the opportunity to share a delicious meal and good company. Paul Mallett represented the male contingent when he gave his thanks. Gerry Rennie provided the archive material.

The story of Coads Green WI (1961-2021)

Although the Coads Green WI is officially 60 this year, its history goes back a lot further than that. It was in existence in the 1930’s between the wars, with meetings being held in the Men’s Institute, which is now the school playground. The WI would hold concerts in the village and children would go along with their parents, singing patriotic songs such as ‘Soldiers of the King, m’lads’.

No one is entirely sure why it was disbanded. There could have been problems with the premises, the Second World War looming, a drop in membership or a combination of all three. So the WI lay fallow for 20 years or more until the village hall was built, offering tremendous opportunities for community life.

It was the actions of founder member Dorrie Phillip’s husband that led to the instigation of the hall and soon a number of ladies were looking to reinstate the WI in the new premises. Blanche Goodman brought her expertis e along from the North Hill WI and, with the help of a supervisor from the Pelynt area, an interest group was formed in October 1961. Other founder members included Joan Tucker, Dorothy Gribble, Derry Maunder, Margaret Hocking, Kath Orchard, Sylvia Jane, Christine Dymond, Joyce Rowe, Nancy Haywood and Nancy Bowyer-Smith. There was also Barbara Tucker who kept the village shop and Mrs Harrison, the minister’s wife, who as a former student of the Royal School of Needlework, proved to be a real asset in running classes.

Mrs Harrison and a Mrs Middleton had both been in other institutes elsewhere. Mrs Parnell and Mrs Bailey travelled from Bray Shop and Maud Strout came from Linkinhorne.

In addition, there was the Andrews family, with Mrs Andrews and daughters Jean and Emm, later known as Emm Martin. Emm attended before her marriage and rejoined several years later.

Another leading light was Doris Baker. Doris, in her time, held every office in the WI and was responsible for the table cloth which still graces the table at every meeting.

In the early days, most members had young families and there were always presents to buy for new babies or for newly-weds. Coads Green has always been a very busy WI, organising a programme of varied practical activities and a range of interesting speakers. In one class, members upholstered a chair, for the Cornwall Room at Denman College. There has always been a monthly competition and ladies have scoured their gardens for the prestigious ‘flower-of-the-month’.

Founder member, Joyce Rowe, donated the competition shield. Members support local events, always entering the Launceston Show and, occasionally, providing an entry for the Royal Cornwall Show.

In the early days, there were trips out every year to places such as Knighthayes, near Tiverton but it was in 2008/2009 that Daphne Tucker successfully applied for the ‘Awards for All’ grant that enabled Coads Green members to attend a wider range of courses and to fund more expensive activities. All members created wall hangings at the Cowslip workshops, there was a photography course, flower arranging and money was provided for Denman courses, which was a wonderful opportunity, especially for those who had never attended before.

In 2002, several members of the disbanded South Petherwin WI joined. They, themselves, were part of a great tradition in their own village. They were founded in 1922 and had celebrated a number of landmark anniversaries over the years. They had some wonderful photographs and memorabilia, including embroidered cloths to celebrate a number of decades, with names of members and their families embroidered on them.

Traditions have been established over the years with the August ramble and, at one time, Alison organised successful summer walks, as well. Another tradition is the senior citizens Christmas party, which started as a sandwich buffet and developed into a light sit-down meal. Derry always called the bingo and the evening ended with carols.

Over the years, members have taken part in county activities with Christine Walters and Derry being long standing members of the county choir. Christine, Alison and Derry also showed their skill at darts, with Derry and Alison as county champions and Christine as the county champion in 2011.

Members have entered the ‘Speaker’s Competition’ and the ‘Festival of the Spoken-word’. Alison Gribble and Sarah Perry have served on the county home economics sub-committee.

But none of this would have been possible without the support of committees and former presidents over the years