Speen WI

Welcome to Speen WI

Speen WI meets on the first Thursday of every month in Speen Village Hall at 7.30pm.

The WI is the largest women’s organisation in England and Wales with over 200,000 members. Each WI is unique and aims to offer a variety of events for its members.

At our monthly meetings we usually have a speaker but there is always time for a social chat as well as hearing an update on all current WI activities.

We aim to appeal to all ages with our topics. A full programme of events is available – refer to the village diary page on this website for details of forthcoming speakers.

In addition to our monthly meeting, Speen WI is also involved with local group and national WI activities. We also arrange social outings including open gardens, theatre visits and pub lunches.

Visitors will be made very welcome at any of our meetings- come and try us, there is no obligation to join but if you decide to the annual fee is just £45.00.

Warm regards

Pat Anderson – President of Speen WI

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Future Plans

Details of the 2024-2025 programme are in the Village Diary on this website.

The August meeting, our summer social, is on Thursday 8th August at 7.30. There will be a village walk/treasure hunt so attendees should wear suitable shoes although the walk will be on level ground. This will be followed by a buffet provided by the committee. Members have been requested to bring a photograph of themselves as a child.

Our summer garden party will take place at The White House in Speen on 8th August from 2.30pm. On Sunday 25th August a visit is planned to Springfield Farm open garden from 2pm. Following the success of the recent visit to the Chenies Manor Tulip Festival a trip to their dahlia festival is planned on Monday 26th August 2pm – 5pm. There is also an optional tour of the house.

On Sunday 1st September a trip is planned on the Chinnor Steam Railway from 2pm to 6.15pm. This includes a return trip on the train, a cream tea and a one hour talk from a speaker on ‘Poisons in Medicine’.

On Thursday October 17th there is a Group Meeting at Great Hampden WI with Lady Howe at 7.30pm. Lady Howe will speak about her life as a Lord Lieutenant for Bucks.

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Latest News

July

Our July meeting saw a welcome return for our speaker Keith Muras. Keith has enjoyed a most interesting life and continues to entertain us, this time sharing his experiences of the KGB during a posting to Moscow. We were also delighted to welcome two new members to the group.

On Saturday 13th July members once again manned the tea tent at Speen fete where the theme was the Paris Olympics.

On Monday 15th July members are taking part in an archery evening at Walters Ash and on Sunday July 21st a visit is planned to Chenies Manor Plant Fair from 1pm.

June

At the June meeting members enjoyed film and slides about Naphill Common and the Dew Ponds.

Members also visited Tythrop Park open garden at Kingsey and Lord Carrington’s open garden at Bledlow Manor. The latter gardens were much admired particularly the avenues of cat-mint, the incredible climbing roses and the weird and wonderful sculptures. Members were also surprised and delighted to meet the current Lord Carrington watering his plants in the new Mediterranean Garden!

Recent Events

May saw the welcome return of Stephen Barker, a local historian who entertained us with some surprising statistics on the English Civil Wars and introduced us to some brave female heroines of the time two of whom were local. At our April meeting we heard a fascinating talk about Wallis Simpson. This proved very topical following the recent release of cabinet papers of the time which had put the story back in the news. The speaker shared some shocking facts of which many members were unaware. The ongoing fascination with Wallace Simpson attracted several visitors to the meeting.

In addition to the monthly meetings five members attended the BFWI Annual Council Meeting in Aylesbury and despite inclement weather, members also enjoyed the Chenies Tulip Festival at Chenies Manor which included an interesting tour of the house.

Some members also enjoyed a coffee morning at 10.30am at ‘The Potting Shed Cafe at Studley Green Garden Centre.

January Meeting

Our Christmas Party was held at the January meeting. Members were treated to a delicious 4 course dinner with fizz prepared by the committee. As you can see, the village hall looked very festive for the occasion.

December Meeting

Marie Louise Morley a trustee of the Ukraine to Chiltern charity gave members an update on the latest situation for those in our community fleeing the on-going war in Ukraine. Many families have settled, found jobs and accommodation but ‘Hosts’ and ‘Mentors’ are still needed.
Our president Pat Anderson presented Marie Louise with a cheque for £300 which was the proceeds from our monthly raffles.

Garden Party

Our annual garden party was held on 10th August in our member, Margaret Chitty’s beautiful house, garden and orchard. As you can see from the pictures we were very fortunate with the weather.

Open Garden Visits

We have enjoyed several garden visits this summer to The Plough at Terrick, Tythrop Hall and Cedar House in Wendover.

The Plough

Tythrop Hall

Cedar House

Speen Fete

WI manned the tea tent again at Speen fete this year and served the villagers with delicious homemade cakes. The theme for this year’s fete was circus and and as you can see the team joined in with the fun.