Hampton Court

September 16th and we visited Hampton Court in glorious sunshine and had a fascinating tour of the amazing rooms of the palace.

Our September Meeting

For our first meeting back after our summer break we had an evening of games and quizzes, necessitated by an unavoidable last minute cancellation by our speaker nonetheless all agreed that it was a lovely way to meet up again.

AGM

Our AGM in May included a sock puppet competition with some very creative entries. It was won by Nicole with her Highland Cow!

Our July Meeting

In July we had the opportunity to learn African drumming with a demonstration from Souleymane who showed us a variety of techniques which we all tried hard to follow. A very noisy and fun evening

Summer Picnic

June 24th arrived with the summer picnic in Beckenham Place Park. Members enjoyed a relaxed afternoon in the sunshine

A thespian in our group

In June one of our members, Katherine S, was the star of a production at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley as the murderous Lady Clara in The Generals Daughter. A group of members went along to support her.

Backstage at the National Theatre

The 13th May brought a trip to The National Theatre on the South Bank for a tour of the backstage area. We learned that the brutalist design of the building, using an awful lot of concrete, has made it very difficult to achieve optimum sound in the theatres and a problem which has taken years to solve. We also learned that the fake beards used in productions are made from hair from the underbelly of Tibetan yaks!

Darts Night!

On the 16th May Catford WI hosted teams from Lee Green, Peckham, Petts Wood and Blackheath & Greenwich WI’s for a friendly darts tournament. A fun time was had by all. Thanks to Pauline for organising…..and we even made WI Life!

A City Walk with Kate Boyle

On the 22nd April our favourite guide, Kate Boyle, led a walk around the city of London from Cannon Street to Cheapside. A small area with an enormous amount of history from Roman times, through the medieval guilds and the Great Fire of London to the modern city.

Our March Meeting

Our presentation this month was from Ben and Freya who are Rangers from Kent County Council with responsibility for the 9 country parks in the West Kent area, including Lullingstone our regular Christmas lunch spot. They spoke about their conservation work and its increasing importance. It was also fascinating to hear about the new methods being used in their work, including the introduction of goats to keep the scrub down.

Our March Meeting

We were joined, in person this time, by Paulus the Cabaret Geek. he talked about the show he was touring called “Looking for me Friend” his tribute to the late, wonderful Victoria Wood and entertain us with some songs from the show self accompanied on his trusty Ukulele

February Catford Extra - Painting Watercolours

At our February Catford Extra a group of us learned how to paint sunsets in watercolours. The results were beautiful and it was agreed that we would hold another painting class later in the year

Our February Meeting

We held a craft meeting in February when Caroline demonstrated making tea light holders

Our December Meeting

We had our Christmas celebration with a special performance by the College Park Players with Christmas readings and versions of the 12 days of Christmas…including one from the point of view of the recipient of all of those strange gifts! Our food for the evening was a Caribbean feast provided by many of our talented members including a delicious Rum Punch!

Our November Meeting

November brought us Kayleigh Vincent the landlady of the Coach and Horses in Beckenham who told us about her life in the pub trade. Whether coping with rowdy customers or thinking up new promotional ideas it’s hard work but rewarding and she answered lots of our questions.

Visit to the Cockney Museum

Saturday 12th November saw our group visiting the Cockney Museum where they got to see an amazing collection of outfits worn by generations of Pearly Kings and Queens followed up by Pie and Mash…what else!

Islington Walk with Kate Boyle

On the 29th October we joined Kate on a tour of Islington starting at the Angel and wandering through the Georgian and Victorian sites to the commemoration of Bob the Cat

Witch Walking Tour

October also sent us on a walking tour of discovery in Farringdon where we learned of the lives of many women who were persecuted as witches.

Axe Throwing!!

Catford WI returned to more active pursuits with 2 sessions of Axe Throwing in October. As you can see we were rapidly showing some expertise!