Shropshire WI ladies knit out public spaces
It's a cross between public art and a cuddly form of graffiti, and what the upstanding members of the Women's Institute would have made of it 100 years ago is hard to say.
But one Shropshire WI group has decided to mark the centenary of the first ever meeting of the first ever Women's Institute group with 'yarn bombing' – the practice of adorning public spaces with knitted items.
Sandra Warner, speaking for the Caynham Ashford WI group, which covers the villages of Caynham and Ashford Carbonell near Ludlow and is 92 years old, said:
"Some people call it 'knitting graffiti'. You're supposed to go and put it out at night so nobody knows where it's come from, but we didn't feel the need to go out in balaclavas or anything.
"In Ashford Carbonell we've got a bird, bees and flowers, a snail, a frog and lots of strips of knitting that we've put around telegraph poles, the entrances to the village hall and the gates and fences outside.
"In Caynham, they've got a nice display outside the village hall with sunflowers, and also a few other pieces. If it makes people smile then its done its job."
Meanwhile, in nearby Richards Castle, the village's WI celebrated its birthday with an exhibition at All Saints' Church, complete with commemorative cake by vice-president Judith Sharod.
President Gloria Corfield said: "Our WI was formed in June 1921 and we thought it would be appropriate to mark our 94th year and the national centenary at the same time.
We looked at all the old minute books, press cuttings and photographs to show the work of the institute, and to compare the aims set out by Colonel Cotton with those of the modern day WI – and they are remarkably similar."
The first Women's Institute meeting took place in Llanfair-PG on Anglesey, the brainchild of Colonel Stapleton Cotton.
