This newsletter has been edited for our website – the full version is sent out in a monthly mailing to our members. If you would like to join, please get in touch via our contact form.
Hello!
Whilst our lovely President enjoys her holiday in far off shores, I am continuing my interim MC duties writing the introduction to our November newsletter.
October has been all about trees ….with spectacular colour displays, this year has been a ‘mast’ year, In brief, there are more nuts than the wildlife can eat, so a good number are likely to grow into much needed trees. And for those not at the meeting, I’m delighted to share that Jane secured the maximum £500 from the WBC Climate Action Microgrant fund to purchase a tree and shrubs which will be planted in the Spring on Clapham Common, in collaboration with the Friends’ group, to commemorate the 110th birthday of the WI. In further tree planting news, our website was recently MOT’d by IT company InspoMedia who plant a tree for every new client to thank them for using their services. What a great idea! You can visit our Albizia Schimperiana here
Next month is our AGM – information about our candidates will be sent out with the November agenda.
Hopefully some of you were able to take up the free ticket offer from Surrey Federation to visit Kensington Palace on the 29th October. SFWI has plenty of workshops and talks coming up for the Autumn/Winter season.
Don’t forget to check the NFWI section: 25th November is the start of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence. This year, NFWI is hosting a webinar about coercive control on 28th November. Battersea WI has donated the proceeds of a number of raffles to Refuge, just one of the ways to show your support.
AI is often in the news these days, and not always for the right reason, so here is some good news: this new spam detection software, Get Safe Online – ask Silver has been endorsed by Crime Stoppers and numerous public and Government bodies. If you receive a suspicious text, email or message, you simply upload it to the website/whatsapp and it will confirm whether or not it’s spam.
It’s always good to hear what members have been up to, so if you have something you’d like to share in a future newsletter, please drop me a line
See you at the AGM, if not before!
Elaine
Newsletter/Website Editor
websiteadmin@batterseawi.com
Contents
- Your BWI Groups
- Coming up:
- Group meet up dates
- Offshoots – activities inspired by WI Groups and Campaigns
- Surrey Federation news and information
- NFWI news and information
Your BWI Groups
Keep up with the latest date BWI news via our Instagram feed
Book Groups – what we’ve been reading
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Battersea Bookends – update by Danielle. This month we read Clear by Carys Davies. This beautifully written novella is set in 1843 at the time of the Highland clearances. The book evokes the hand to mouth solitary existence of a crofter and how the coming of a stranger to his remote island makes him articulate his loneliness. The stranger learns and records the crofter’s language as an unlikely friendship grows between the two, whilst the stranger waits for the boat that will come to take him back to the mainland. The story of the stranger’s wife is interwoven and counterpoints how you can be lonely amongst company. The language is rich. You can almost smell the sea and feel the grass under foot. You experience the wife’s cold as she journey’s through the North Sea wearing every skirt and jacket she possesses. Woven through it all is the richness of language and how it develops to describe the life you live.
Boozy Books – update by Amanda. The Guardian described Odyssey by Stephen Fry as “relatable and full of humour”. Overall, as a book group we did not find this to be the case. A few brave members struggled through to the end and report from around halfway through the book does improve with a more interesting coherent storyline. Most of us have admitted on being defeated by the sheer number of characters thrown at us in the first half and that we gave up.
Chapter One Reading Group – update by Jane H. In October we read Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer. This romance novel set in 1780 was published in 1932 and has been never out of print since. It went down a storm and we all very much enjoyed it. Sir Stephen Fry, a Georgette Heyer super fan has said about Heyer’s romance novels that “you will discover her to be one of the wittiest, most insightful and rewarding prose writers imaginable. Her stories satisfy all the requirements of romantic fiction, but the language she uses, the dialogue, the ironic awareness, the satire and insight – these rise far above the genre.” We couldn’t agree more.
Coffee Morning – update by Clare GH
We had an enjoyable coffee in October catching on news and what people had seen at the theatre. The Importance of being Earnest with Stephen Fry as Lady Brackenell seemed popular.
Cribbage ♣️♦️♥️ ♠️ update by Derinda
The Cribbage Group has grown and now numbers 11. The majority of us were beginners at the start. Our three September meet-ups were instructional and at the first monthly meeting in October we played ‘proper’ games of cribbage which everyone enjoyed. Attendees were paired up with a cribbage board and deck of cards between them and without exception felt that actually playing the game was the best way to progress. In future, we’ll meet in the afternoon on the first Tuesday of each month. Some ad hoc getting together might occur between meetings. This could help to improve confidence and skill as the game of cribbage becomes more and more familiar.
Film Club review by Sue M
10 WI members met up for drinks before going to see The Roses at Clapham Picture House. This update of Warren Adler’s 1980’s novel The War of the Roses, originally filmed in 1989 with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, is about a spectacularly toxic marriage. Despite the best efforts of the cast, including two of the UK’s most prestigious actors, Olivia Coleman and Benedict Cumberbatch, the film failed to delight. Composed in feelgood romcom style there were some ‘laugh out loud’ moments, but overall it left the WI film club members disappointed. However, we loved the locations and scenery.
Foodies – update by Amanda
In September, Foodies had a themed evening enjoying food beginning with CH! – Julie’s cheese straws, Amanda’s chicken traybake, Vivien’s cheesecake and Liz’s chocolates. The food was amazing and everyone enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and relaxed chat of the evening.
Recipe of the month is the chicken traybake from Jamie Oliver’s book “One”.
Knitting & Crochet update by Joan
Only 3 of us managed to attend this month’s knitting group (plus Bertie and Barnaby) but we had a lovely evening nattering over a glass of wine or two. One of the projects on the go is a jumper being made from yarn which couldn’t be resisted during a visit to the Knit and Stitch Show (see Sue’s review below.) Sue has also recently finished off a beautiful doll blanket and hoodie for her grandchildren. The other was to finish off a couple of knitted spectacles cases. Thank you Vivien for sewing on the stud fastenings for me. We’re also very much looking forward to Tom Daley’s new show Game of Wool on Channel 4 which starts on 2nd November. Maybe Sue should enter!
Knit+Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace, October 2025 by Sue L
This was my first visit to the Knit+Stitch Show in approximately 10 years. Although it’s a bit of a trial getting to Alexandra Palace it was worth it. There were so many more craft stalls to browse than I remember seeing 10 years ago. The Open Stage had various presentations throughout the day and you could also sign up for craft sessions. There were a number of food outlets where you can sit and chat to fellow crafters. Needless-to-say I did not come away empty handed having purchased a large shopping bag full of knitting wool!
Corsham Poppies by Elaine
Earlier this year some of us knitted and crocheted poppies for Peacock WI poppy appeal. PWI is one of 3 WI groups in the small town of Corsham in Wiltshire. The last poppy in the cascade on St Bartholomew’s Church was attached by no less than Queen Camilla. Huge congratulations to them, the finished display is a stunning, moving tribute to mark the end of WW2. These photos are courtesy of Peacock WI’s Poppy Committee.
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Photography Group – update by Rosemary
This month, we visited the Lee Miller exhibition at the Tate Britain. Everyone one of us thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, made all the better and significant from having seen the film and the documentary about her last year. Her work was certainly extensive and she really had an extraordinary and varied career. The exhibition starts with photos of her as a model in her early 20’s. We are then taken to Paris when she became the artistic collaborator and lover with the surrealist Man Ray, when she experimented with solarization. She photographed a wide range of famous faces, artists, politicians and others during her life. She worked for Vogue, both as a model and fashion photographer during the war. Desperate to travel and report on the war, she eventually was granted her wish once the Americans were involved, becoming an award winning war photographer. We saw the very famous gruesome photographs of the liberation of the concentration camps, and of course the images of her and her colleagues in Hitler’s bath. There are also photos of her travels through Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Romania and many other countries prior to the war, all of which now are of valuable historic reference. It is an excellent exhibition with so much to see and enjoy and well worth a visit.
Walking Group update by Clare
We managed to enjoy two great outings In October, even though the weather was not helpful; yellow Met Office warnings meant that we had to postpone a planned day out in the Surrey Hills until November.
Our regular Friday morning walk at the beginning of the month also took place in heavy, persistent rain. Nevertheless six of us and one greyhound ventured out to catch the Overground up to Haggerston and follow the new Green Link route from pretty Albion Square down through Islington, Clerkenwell, Smithfield Market and the City of London. It’s a quiet but really interesting urban route, well signposted and featuring lots of historic sites. After clocking up 4.5 miles we were glad to find shelter at the end inside Notes Coffee, a pleasant, dog-friendly café right beside St Paul’s Cathedral.
Later in the month a short local evening walk proved popular, despite the drizzle: twelve of us plus two dachshunds met up to walk along the Thames Path from St Mary’s Battersea up to Wandsworth Bridge. It’s a glamorous route after dark, even with the colour-changing illuminations on Wandsworth Bridge that we’d come to admire stuck on white for the night. We finished off with a drink and a chat at The Waterfront, a cosy and welcoming pub on the Thames Path nearby.
Group meet up dates
- Art Group – next meet up tbc
- Battersea Bookends Book Group – Monday 3rd November: Julia, Sandra Newman. New members welcome.
- Boozy Books – Monday 3rd November 7pm: The Life Impossible, Matt Haig. New members welcome.
- Chapter One Reading Group* – Tuesday 11th November, 7pm, Duke of Cambridge. Eight Detectives, Alex Pavesi.
- Coffee Group – Wednesday 12th November and Thursday 27th November, 11am. This group is run by email only.
- Craft Group – Festive themed session 6th December.
- Cribbage – Tuesday 4th November, 3pm.
- Exhibitions Group – tbc.
- Film Club – last Monday of the month
- Foodies Group* – Thursday 13th November, theme: fishy bites.
- Foraging Group – Outings arranged via WhatsApp.
- Knitting & Cochet Group* – Wednesday 26th November, 6.30pm.
- Photography Group – December meet up date tbc. Themes: Yellow, Sky, Nature.
- Swimming Group – Meet ups arranged via WhatsApp. Contact: Rosemary
- Walking Group – Friday 7 November, around Roehampton. Thursday 13th November, rescheduled Surrey Hills walk from Witley.
- WI Members Monthly Meeting – Tuesday 18th November, 7pm. AGM.
If you’ve been unable to attend the meeting to sign up for an activity please contact our BWI Secretary
*group has a waiting list
Forthcoming speakers and events
December 16th – Christmas Party
Bring and share seasonal food.
2026
Speakers and events for 2026 tbc. If you have any suggestions for future speakers and/or activities, please contact the Committee.
Offshoots
a round up of members’ activities inspired by the WI
Climate Ambassador’s update by Elaine
The Quarterly Climate Ambassador meeting took place last week via Zoom. I shared information about our various activities for Sustainable September. The WI Week of River Action ran from 29th September to 5th October. Other current climate related campaigns run by the NFWI are End Plastic Soup looking at the impact of microplastics, and Climate Change. The resources hub is full of ideas and information.
Closer to home, Battersea Beach Clean-up dates for November and December have been published, more information and sign up here. At the last clean up a whopping 34 bags of detritus were collected including plastic water bottles, NOX canisters and tennis balls… (Photos by Charlotte Weddell (IG @lottiecamera) shared with permission)
Wandsworth Council launched a Clean Air Schools programme to help pupils, parents and teachers tackle air pollution in their communities.
If you have items that need repairing, Transition Tooting runs sessions every other month in Balham and Tooting. St Mary’s Church, Putney runs a monthly Repair Shop on the second Saturday of the month.
London’s green space is under threat following the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework glossary’s definition of ‘grey belt’ as ‘poor-quality’ Green Belt land, like disused car parks. The new definition leaves Green Belt at risk. CPRE London has a petition to revise the definition to ensure we do not lose more of our countryside – vital for health and wellbeing, combatting climate change and supporting wildlife. Please sign and support this campaign if you can.
For more information about the WI’s Climate Ambassador Scheme click here
Putney WI Quiz night 8th November
Surrey Federation
Battersea WI is a member of the Surrey Federation of WIs.
Surrey Fed’s website has all the latest news about events as well as links to their monthly newsletter. You should also be receiving the newsletter by email to your inbox, so if you’ve not received it, check your junk folders. Their newsletters are packed with information including upcoming events and workshops, from literary lunches with authors to group visits to the theatre to pastry making and glass fusing, as well as Christmas Crafting workshops. Although you have to pay for workshops and outings, prices are kept as low as possible and are great value. If you do go, why not send a review for the next newsletter? It might inspire others to go too! Don’t forget the random member bursary – each month someone will be selected to attend the workshop/event/course of their choice! To book, visit their events page
NFWI News from HQ
The WI campaigns on a huge range of issues – from promoting women’s rights and fostering health awareness to encouraging sustainable development and building a fairer society. For more information about Campaigns please visit the My WI section of the NFWI website
Current Campaigns The NFWI campaigns on a wide range of issues from Climate Change to ADHD in Women and Girls. Read all the latest news on the Campaigns page
This month the focus is on the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (25 November – 10 December) calls us to unite, take action, and raise our voices for a future free from violence against women and girls. NFWI is inviting every member to take part in bold, compassionate, and creative action Click on the link to sign up for the webinar on Coercive Control on 28th November. As a proud, regular supporter of Refuge, Battersea WI is already taking action to support women in our local community.
WI membership includes full access to WI Learning Hub resources on the NFWI site. We’d love to hear your recommendations. Online courses are free when you are logged in to your account. There is such a wide range of subjects from talks on history and travel, to art and crafts and chair pilates. You can sign up for the newsletter for weekly updates about what’s on.
This newsletter has been edited for our website – the full version is sent out in a monthly mailing to our members. If you would like to join, please get in touch via our contact form.
