Whitegate WI by Alison Gardner

The recent meeting at Whitegate WI began with an informative talk from Joan Coldwell on the model garden village of Port Sunlight, built by Lord Leverhulme, soap manufacturer and philanthropist, to house his employees. It was Port Sunlight from a very personal perspective as

Joan had grown up in the village as her mother was a maid to the elderly spinster daughters of the Lever family. She related many amusing anecdotes and reminisced about living in the village. There are houses designed by over 30 different architects; allotments and public buildings including the Lady Lever Art Gallery; a cottage hospital; schools; a concert hall; open air swimming pool; church and a temperance hotel. After the talk, members suggested that a trip to see the village would be a great idea.

The upcoming lunch trip to Abbeywood gardens is eagerly awaited. The new gardening group will have a trip round a member’s own garden. The walking group will have their final ramble as the evenings are drawing in and the next darts competition was discussed. The book club continues to meet monthly, members are currently reading Henning Mankell's, East meets west, corpse-strewn, The Man from Beijing.

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 7, when Vale Royal Falconry will be bringing their owls. If you’d like to get involved or come as a visitor please contact Alison Gardner on 01606 888359 or see www.whitegatewi.weebly.com.