Summer Outing to the Punjab ?

 Not quite the Punjab -  Gravesend in fact!  The Shri Gurn Nanak Darbar Gurwara Temple.

Where the largest Sikh Temple outside India has been built It is a very impressive building, and the people we met there were also impressive, very friendly, welcoming and hospitable.

We had been warned that we must take off our shoes, and don a headscarf and we prepared ourselves, but it seemed that our guide could not be found. 

So we were asked to climb the stairway and wait for our guide upstairs on the first floor. While we waited we were  taken to an enormous  refreshment room to join others in a drink of tea or water 

Once  we were acquainted with our our Guide she could not have been more helpful.

She told us about the history of the religion, the various Guru and the temple itself. It seems that there is little heirarchy within the religion.  We asked lots of questions and she answered them all. Anyone is welcome at any time providing you keep to the few rules re shoes and headscarves and respect for others.  

There were three large rooms each  with a central awning in which the 'bible' is displayed.  Each room has a massive  domed roof and large chandelier.   The floors were carpeted, but each carpet was covered by enormous sheets to keep the carpets clean.

Visitors of any race or creed  (including ourselves) were welcome to greet the Holy Man 

The Swords Dagger and Shields were on display to remind the Sikhs that in 15th Century the religion has been started, and it had been necessary to fight to be allowed to worship a single god rather than the many gods of other Indian religions.   It originates from the Punjab region of India.

The Holy Book is consulted. 

We were taken around three floors, the library, the PA rooms,  and even a room with three double beds in it.  We thought they might be for early risers as the prayers start at 3.30am in the morning, but instead we were told that they were the resting place of the three Holy books when they were not being used. 

                       
                            
This gentleman gave us each a sweet treat - it tasted like sugared maize and it was not to everyones taste.  Before leaving we were taken back into the restaurant and this time chapatties and curry were on the menu,  very spicy. Most of us had just a spoonful, but Jean Kelly's husband enjoyed his so much he had a second helping of a different curry. This was accompanied by a milk pudding - rather like rice pudding, but made with thin noodles.   We were not sure whether this was to dull down the hot curry, or to be eaten separately.   Our Bible may talk about 'feeding the 5000' but at this temple there are around 10,000 people expected in the winter at one of their special events -  so a bit more complicated than arranging a WI Tea.

                         
The outside of the building is made of different kinds and colours of marble imported from India. Indian  stonemasons came here to carve the Marble. The wonderful carved wooden balustrades inside are also of Indian origin.  There are large and small stained glass panels which include the signs and symbols of the religion.

There is a website which  gives a more information   www.guramankdarbar.org and you can contact them via this site.  Take the opportunity to visit - make a day of it.  You could also visit the  Church in central Gravesend where the grave of Pocahontas,  the American Indian Princess is to be found, and take  to the seas(or river) on a Passenger  Ferry across to Tilbury and back.

Our excuse for not eating much was that we had a Carvery Lunch planned at 'Copperfields' on the way home which we all enjoyed.  An excellent day and a chance to see how others live and conduct themselves.

The Olympic Flame July 2012

The WI nationally has an initiative called BIG WALK LITTLE SPLASH

they are trying to get us to be more active.  Hollingbourne is joining in, and one member decided to increase her mileage by a walk to the next village of Harrietsham, along the Pilgrims Way (Winchester to Canterbury) and back. 

The Olympic Flame was passing through Harrietsham

and the locals were out in force to enjoy it. 

 On the way back 14 small planes flew overhead

 heading for Leeds castle where the  flame continued and stayed overnight.  

more on Big Walk LITTLE SPLASH  coming soon.

ORIGAMI - JAPANESE PAPER FOLDING

In July we were lucky to have Mrs YOKO PAGE  to introduce us to the art of ORIGAMI.

A native of Japan she said she had not learned it in school, it was something that is picked up from the age of 3 or 4 from mothers and grandmothers and friends. 

She also finds charity shops a great place to discover Origami Books

Two local PCSO's called in  (you never know who is going to turn  up at our meetings)

and joined in the folding.  At one point all of us made a folded paper cup.  She filled hers with water to demonstrate its capabilities.  She also produced a Large cup, which quickly became the new uniform hat for the PCSO.

Although scissors are not  usually involved, this large shrimp would not have been perfect without his whiskers.

                               
Flat sheets of paper became storks, nuns, penguins, boxes, and flowers - just like magic in her hands.
Yoko is a member of the WI in the East Kent Federation and had given many talks before coming to us.  She says she always carries origami paper in her handbag - it is useful for diverting children when they are being difficult.  We hope we were not too difficult!

Winchelsea and Appledore - part 4 Romney Marsh Churches.

Sadie Curtis from Leeds WI who had arranged all the previous visits to the Romney Marsh Churches (see previous year's blogs)  had arranged  an 'extra' visit - this time and we were not dissappointed.  As usual our coach took us to The Royal Oak for coffee and biscuits where our guide joined us.  We continued to the Church of St Thomas the Martyr, mentioned in 1215 as being situated in Winchelsea which was a seaport on a shingle beach (which was completely demolished in 1280 in a dreadful storm)

 The new, and prestigeous church was built soon afterwards and was to be enormous.
This picture shows only the Chancel with two chapels each side.  A Transept was built which would have  been infront of the current building and extended from left to right of the picture, but it fell into disrepair and was demolished. Although there was originally a plan for a nave, it is not thought that this was ever built

 The stained glass windows are magnificent and by Dr Douglas Strachan around 1933
these pictures give no idea of how wonderful they are  - and are worth the trip alone

  a side altar

 one of the tombs, with the face of a Green Man in the top section

 lots to look at

Jane and Peter  viewing the Blue window - picture 2.

We followed this with a  walk around the  well laid out small town.   When the new town was built most of them were given cellars, probably used for the sale of imported wine.
Look out for adverts for 'Open garden weekends', and 'Open Cellar weekends' well worth a visit.

Returning to the Royal Oak at Broadlands we had a good Ploughman's lunch and then on to Appledore, which was also a port in the 13th Century until it became silted up.  Appledore was once a Viking stronghold, and later in 1380 the French burned the town, and the current church  - St Peter and St. Paul - built subsequently.   Again an unusual building.   Finally to Brenzett for a WI Tea. 

Unbelievably for 2012 -  a sunny day - A day satisfying all our senses including our stomachs!

CHRISTOPHER SAVES THE DAY.

West Kent WI arranged a revisit from Julia Davies

who demonstrated to members from the county, some tasty and easily prepared food. 

Her lively personality had us in fits of laughter - she described a specialist cooking method as being as difficult ' as milking a mouse'.

 She demonstrated to a full Hall (Hollingbourne believe it or not) One meat dish, two vegetable dishes, one fish dish  - two puds and two drinks.   - A lot was achieved in two hours.

 There was nearly a calamity towards the end - her wonderful Strawberry Cheesecake was in danger of becoming a  lemon one - when the strawberries she had prepared earlier had disappeared. However help was at hand and Christopher in Hollingbourne's Village shop came up trumps with a punnet of strawberries.

At the end we had a chance to try everything( the cooking smells had been very tantilizing) - shown here are Smoked mackerel pate,  and Stuffed peppers. On the right was Sesame Chicken breasts with soured cream ( the jellied beetroot to accompany was off the side of the picture unfortunately.)
It is  helpful when West Kent is able to arranged events on our side of the county and it is being repeated next week with a full house again.

An invitation from Penny Johnson

The majority of our members accepted Penny's invitation to a strawberry tea and a walk in her garden in June.   Instead of having to do the 'waiting' - we were 'waited upon,  by Penny and Hilary, and the rain stopped for once,  long enough to explore. 

It also gave us a chance to look at the many paintings and curiosities Penny has.  Having a great interest in Egyptology she explained one of the papyrus tomb pictures she has - including the heiroglyphics- it seemed so clear to her, but still double dutch to us. 

A lovely way to spend time together.

THE WI DUCK HOOK AT THE FETE

Mary Henderson, Sarah Cheetham, Ann Stanton and Snow White at the WI Hook a Duck stall.

Our Traditional Fete stall attracted over 120 Duck hookers of all ages.  If they hooked particular ducks with lucky numbers they could win a delightful duck badge created by Margaret Weaver.The competition for the Highest total score was a close run thing with Charles Gower's score of 85 narrowly beating Lance Taylor-Dean's 82. The highest achievable score was 87 ( 30+29+28)   Charles won a specially designed Duck Pond Cake designed by Penny Smith.      Bon Appetit to the Gower Family.

New President/Presidents

Each year in May a new committee is formed and

 all Hollingbourne WI members then vote for a new president.  

This year however we have a change -  

instead of a single President, 

we have a joint presidency - 

Mary Henderson and Rita Moon -

we wish them every good wish. 

It is also time to thank Val Williams (the retiring president) for all her new ideas in the last three and a half years 

(If you don't know, it was she who brought the idea for the Safari Market to theVillage)

the contact numbers are now - 

 Mary Henderson 01622 734370 (left)

 Rita Moon 01622 880552 (right)

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS IN HOLLINGBOURNE

Hollingbourne is in festive mood, 

check out the Hollingbourne Parish Council website for full details of the programme of events. 

 Christopher's Shop

 and opposite - both  in Eyhorne Street.

Dont forget to come to to the fete on Saturday 2nd June
the WI will behaving a 'Hook the Duck' pool -
Hook  any 3 Ducks and if any them has a number ending 0 or 5 win a special Duck Badge.
Highest scoring three of the Day wins the Family Duck Cake

See you there - Have a great time.

GOLF CROQUET - Ditton May 2012

Yet another Federation Event for West Kent. 

Golf Croquet  lessons- on a misty wet day.

It is an 'all weather' sport and very sociable.  Among 16 'learners', Joyce, Joy, Val and Janice from Hollingbourne braved the elements and were lucky enough to have Heather teach them both skills and tactics - a vital part of the game, akin to snooker.

Janice (in the multi coloured jacket and flowing hair) is going to knock Val's red from the play area, 

encouraged by Joy (in navy). 

Look carefully past the figure in the foreground (who looks as if she could be a formidable opponent) and you will see Val (Purple top black trousers)  and Janice 

being given precise instructions by Heather (in White)

RAIN DOES NOT STOP PLAY IN CROQUET - 

Janice (this time with hood)  and Joy in the play off.

Unfortunately Janice and Joy did not win through,
 but Joyce and Val were Victors in their overall section.

Everyone thought it was very enjoyable and would have been fantastic without the rain!
There are several courts and you do not have to be a member to play. You can arrange your own game for a small fee. The Cobdown Sports and Social club is at the Traffic Lights in Ditton,Kent.

UK's largest Heronry

On 28th April we joined High Halstow WI for a walk to their local RSPB Nature reserve - Northward Hill Nature Reserve (ME3 8DS).  As you can see the skies were grey on the April Day - however we did not get too wet.  We were taken around the site by the Warden and volunteer warden. 

The warden  explained the geography, and then identified birds by their songs as we went around- Nightingales, Blackcaps and sedge warblers.

This Heronry has over 100 breeding pairs  and is the biggest in the UK

We were taken into the woods -full of bluebells at this time of the year -an area forbidden unless with a warden.  There are also 100 pairs of little egrets  -white with an upstanding tuft on their head and saw saw a dozen or so in the low trees.

The rooks were making a lot of noise - in the evenings enormous flocks return from their scavenging across Kent in their thousands making a great display. The vast number of Rooks  have however moved the Herons  to trees further away from the view point though we could still see them with binoculars.

Finally we repaired to the local hostelry, The Horseshoe and Castle at Cooling for an arranged lunch.  Some then visited the Parish Church were we had heard the bell ringers at practice earlier.  We have met High Halstow members before, when competing in a Darts competition in the Sugar loaves in Hollingbourne, and they have also visited out Safari Market - their WI is a similar size to ours and we all get on well together. 

This reserve is very peaceful and full of birdsong.  You take the Exit No1 from the M2, in the direction of Grain, then High Halstow,   and if you want to visit click on this  website

A Taste of India

West Kent Federation organised a TASTE OF INDIA evening in Sevenoaks.

Four of us enjoyed a fantastic evening where our speaker was Sir Nicholas Fenn who was  British High Commissioner for India from 1991 - 1996. The essence of his talk was that India is larger than the European Union and three times the population.  It is easy to recognise, but difficulty to define.  It has Millions of people in poverty and yet a larger middle class than the USA.  Although illiteracy is at 50%, and 5% are crippled or blind - there ARE glories in India.  The Supreme Court is uncorrupt, The Indian Commission for human rights, the contempt of the public for corrupt politicians and the army, which stands aside from politics.   

With the help of colourful slides Sir Nicholas explained the kaleidoscope that is India.

He was no bumbling civil servant - he knew exactly what his job was and how he should do it.  He had worked in the Diplomatic Service for 37 years in Rangoon, Algiers, New York, Peking, Rhodesia and Dublin.  During the break he chatted to the audience and reminisced with our Jane Deaves who had lived longer in India that he had . (She was born and lived there for 10 years )   He also chatted to Val Williams about Algiers where they had both worked  and the many factions that were represented at that time.

We were entertained by three whirling Indian dancers - we rather fancied ourselves in the  trousers with bells on,  but could not have kept up with the speed they achieved.

Savoury Indian Food was served - Tasty bhaji, samosa and pakora -  but  anxious to taste them,  I  ate mine up quickly forgetting to photograph them  - When I went to look for more these were all that was left.

A thoroughly good evening - well worth going.

We are Certified

No - not for the Madhouse -

But for Basic Food Hygiene.

Having catered for a few events over the years, 

we thought it about time that we received some formal training 

and four of us undertook a Basic Food Hygiene Course last month, 

and we have the certificates to prove it!

Next we hope to do a Health and Safety Course, 

so if anyone would like to join in this training 

please contact the usual number 01622880433

Annual Quiz - results 2012

Our Olympic themed Quiz night was a great success with 13 teams 

vying with each other to win the title.   

As usual the Question Master was  'the lovely' Rita Moon, aided by members of the WI who were  runners , scorers, food warmer uppers  and raffle ticket sellers.

 Rita in command - it was heads down and concentrate!

 At the end there were two teams drawing for the booby prize,

 but after a tie breaker the wooden spoons were won by Alan Williams' team - the Sailing Team - 

suitably looking down in the mouth, with all their energy drained.

 There were also two teams drawing in first place, and after a knock out the winners were 

The Henderson's - Gymnastic Team with joy in their faces and a bottle in their hands

The winning team also were awarded olympic medals to take home

See you next year!!

CLIMATE CHANGE TALK -WI 20th March 7.30

At our next meeting we have a

 Climate change talk with a difference  

as it will be accompanied by appropriate music.

The presenter is the well known and well informed 

 Dr Mick Lynn (too many letters after  his name to quote)

It will be informative,  entertaining and thought provoking 

and will give you a chance to ask as many questions  as you like.

You don't have to be a member and can come along at 8.15 

we look forward to seeing you there. 

CREATIVE STITCHES of many kinds

WE ARE CREATIVE IN MANY WAYS IN HOLLINGBOURNE WI,  

so when an exhibition was staged at Bluewater covering Knitting, Stitching and Hobbies we thought we would go along. 

Firstly the wonderful costumes from Downton Abbey were on Display -

plenty of creative stitching there 

and did you know that the lovely dress on the left, was a CAT Suit, not a dress?

Many needles must have created this imaginative fisherman's hut, complete with fisherman at the door which was an exhibit from the RNLI - every kind of knitting you can imagine.

A wonderful quilt (I think from the Quilters Guild)

There were fashion shows and demonstration of all kinds of crafts - and you could take part in workshops - card Making, Silk Painting, Watercolour painting , Bead making and lots lots  more.

These events are held up and down the country and the link to the internet for more information is -         2012 events

  ..............................................................................

Moving on to other creative stitching

Each year there are competitions within the WI, and a West Kent Federation competition at the moment is for the 'Silver Salver'   - it is for a home made bag - there are sections for all kinds of bags,  knitted, crochet embroidered etc.  One rule was that it must not be any larger than 9 inches in any direction, with the gusset not more than 2 inches - which made it hard to stitch.  One of our members had made a bag for the ' Miscellaneous' section.Made from recycled materials, except for the clasp and the Zip.

It has an inner zipped pocket

and a credit card holder.

We shall wait to see how it is judged amongst the others from Members of other institutes.

And finally our KNITTER IN CHIEF - 

Eileen Jenkins and her friend Viv Carter answered a call for Hats for Sailors and between them have knitted 48 Hats. Val Williams also made 3 pairs of Mitts, so the other 45 sailors will have to keep their hands in their pockets!   Seriously though, very well done - the only reason they stopped at 48 was because the wool ran out.