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Past Events 2017 

Page Index.

                                 

 

                                         2017

 4/02/17  Butterflies Family & Friends Quiz Evening.

7/02/17   Loose Women.

02/03/17 Wine Tasting.

05/05/17 Jo Downs Glass Gallery.

13/05/17 Cherry Trees Coffee Morning.

09/06/17 Production, Exhibition & Theatre Tour

17/06/17 Bookham Village Day

17/06/17 Hogs Back Brewery

20/06/17 Bookham Village Quiz Evening

10/07/17 Mayfield Lavender Fields

19/07/17 Butterfly Walk

30/07/17 Highclere Castle

07/08/17 Temple Bar & Royal Courts of Justice

08/09/17 Creatures of the night , Nower Wood

23/09/17 Hogs Back Brewery

21/10/17 Mole Valley Quiz Evening

23/10/17 The Houses of Parliament

12/12/17 & 13/12/17 Bespoke Christmas Wreath Making

Click on each strip above to see full photograph.

Butterflies Family & Friends Quiz Evening.

04.02.17

An evening of fun ... 8 teams took part with a mix of WI members ,family and friends. The teams were given Butterfly names which have been found on Bookham Common -  Red Admiral, Purple Emperor, Brown Hairstreak, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Comma, Small Copper & Peacock.

This years quiz consisted of 7 rounds and 2 table quizzes with questions that were challenging at times!

Teams often changed places on the leadership board...one team ( Red Admiral) did however mange to pull away towards the end, having played a masterful Food & Drink round, gaining double points for playing their joker, leading them to victory.

As champions of the 2017 Butterflies WI Quiz , special cups (egg) were handed  out to the victorious team.

1st Place: Red Admiral, 2nd Place: Purple Emperor & 3rd Place: Brown Hairstreak.

 

The evenings raffle for The Concert Club, a local charity to support entertainment events for visually impaired adults & those with learning difficulties raised £188.

 

Once again Michael's Fish and Chip shop provided piping hot and delicious food.

Linda & Clare.

A huge THANK YOU once again to Linda & Warren for all their hard work and dedication on putting on another great Quiz Evening.

Loose Women

07.02.17

BBWI visit to Loose Women

On 7th March , twelve ladies took a train up to London to see a recording of the ITV show " Loose Women". Fortunately, the ITV studios are only a five minute walk from Waterloo Station, so we brought coffees to drink whilst queuing outside the TV studios. We passed the security checks and about 12pm we started to file into the studio, which was quite small and only seats about 100 people. The warmup man, Carl Lucas, was incredibly funny and was very entertaining before the show, during the advert breaks and after the show. The Loose Women panel that day was Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Nadia Sawalha. The Show content was a mixture of serious and light-hearted items. One of the guests was Diana Moran, the Green Goddess fitness guru from the 1980s,who, at 78 years young, looked fantastic.Her interview concluded with Coleen and Janet changing into fitness clothes - or in Coleen's case, dressed as a green crayon - and Diana had the whole audience doing exercises in their seats, except Janet Street-Porter who was totally uncoordinated! The hours recording passed all too quickly and then we were leaving. The whole experience was very amusing and entertaining and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Gillian Micklewright

Butterflies go Wine Tasting!

02.03.17

Twelve of us went to Majestic, Leatherhead on Sunday 2nd April for a wine tasting. We had chosen Old World wines versus New World wines to compare the difference between wines produced in these regions. We tasted a total of 12 wines and we had a choice of two sparkling wines, red, rose' and white including a Chablis. Wines sampled came from New Zealand , Chile, Argentina and France, all offering a variety of grapes. We also had snacks to complement the wines we were tasting.

Our hour's tasting session passed too quickly ( no doubt helped by the wine!) but a very enjoyable afternoon was had by all and Majestic offered a very professional tasting with complimentary notes about each wine tasted plus a £10 voucher to spend in store.

Gillian Micklewright

Jo Downs Glass Gallery

05.05.17

"Seven Butterflies got crafty when they went to Jo Downs Glass Workshop at Ripley on Friday. They used their imagination to create tea pot stands , coasters and wall hangers with pieces of tin, copper and brass on glass in the shape of of fish, hearts, leaves, a cat and a few scenic pictures.

It will be exciting to see the finished products as the metal changes colour when fried and although we were told what colours they would turn to it is not an exacted science. It was very enjoyable way to spend a morning, chatting and making - time just flew by "  

Linda Rockett

Cherry Trees Coffee Morning

13.05.17

 On Saturday Morning (13th May) Bookham Butterflies WI, assisted by West Horsley WI , held a coffee morning at St Nicholas Pastoral Centre, in aid of Cherry Trees, the local care home that provides respite care for children with disabilities. The WI members pulled out all the stops to bake a huge array of cakes, biscuits, scones and traybakes to tempt the customers. There was also a raffle offering super prizes including luxury food hampers ( items donated by WI members) and vouchers for goods and services donated by local shops and businesses ( a huge thank you to all contributors)

Many Bookham residents, friends and family came along to sample the delicious goodies and enjoy a relaxing coffee and chat. Thanks to their generous support, the magnificent sum of £704.81 was raised for Cherry Trees funds.

Well done to everyone involved!

Margaret Jones

Thank You to our Raffle Prize contributors 

*Three food hampers donated by members from Bookham Butterflies & West Horsley WI.

*Nomard Theatre

*Finefettle, Bookham

*Squires Coffee Shop, Horsley.

*PlantPassion, West Horsley.

*Ken Davey Butcher, Bookham.

*Brakenbury Hardware, Bookham.

Ladies Who Lunch

25.05.17

The Ladies Who Lunch went to the RAC Club in Epsom last Thursday ( 25th May). The weather was glorious, the setting delightful and we sat outside enjoying the views and weather. The food was delicious and we had an enjoyable time. We finished the afternoon with a short walk to the start of the golf course and walked through the main building admiring it. Thank you Clare for organising this.

Globe Production, Exhibition & Theatre Tour

09.06.17

The morning after the election blues night was quickly dispelled by 15 Bookham Butterflies with an excellent tour of Shakespeare's Globe theatre and visit to the extensive exhibition.We enjoyed a delicious riverside lunch before the afternoon performance of Romeo and Juliet. The production was modern, energetic, wacky with amazing costumes including Juliet wearing Doc Martens throughout. Sometimes confusing, always entertaining featuring a loud dance routine to YMCA this was a show not to be forgotten!

Trudy Price

Bookham Village Day

17.06.17

Bookham Butterflies WI Keeping Village Day visitors refreshed.

Members of Bookham Butterflies WI , the Village's youngest branch of the Women's Institute  made sure that visitors to this year's Village day were suitably revived with tea and cake . With the scorching temperatures outside many sought refuge inside the relatively cool Barn Hall where they found a vast array of delicious home made cakes and cream teas featuring fantastic scones made by residents at The Grange. Sales raised £900 + for The Old Barn Hall 's upkeep.

This event is just one example of the contribution made by the Butterflies to Bookham Life. This was the 3rd year they have manned the tea stall and this comes hot on the heels of the very successful coffee morning in aid of Cherry Trees .

 

Nicola Reid 

Hogs Back Brewery

17.06.17

Twenty members of the Butterflies, including guests went to the Hogs Back Brewery on a hot Summer,s evening. Yes, we went beer tasting and enjoyed 4 different beers. Some of the group also tried the larger and the Hazy Hog cider. The brewery were very generous with their samples so we were very grateful to our designated drivers Gillian and Margaret . The Hogs Back is a microbrewery and is not as old as you might think. It was set up in 1992 at Tongham, by two friends. A few years ago it started up its own hop garden - hops used to be grown in the area about 100 years ago. We also heard about the beer being used by a local butcher in sausage - the makers having appeared on Dragons Den. The investment they got was paid back very quickly. Several members purchased the sausages to BBQ on Sunday - "Pickled Pig " ( slightly spicy) & "Hair of the Hog"

Jen Mcallister & Linda Rocket

Bookham Village Quiz

20.06.17

" Where are we burying Yvonne Arnaud"? This was definitely the quote of the night from one of our quizzers during the Surrey round as the Bookham Butterflies battled to a respectable 12th place ( out of 18 teams) at the Village Quiz! ( Note: Re Yvonne Arnaud -her ashes are scattered on St Martha's Hill, with a small plaque nearby - for the record!) Keeping ourselves cool with hand held fans on one of the hottest nights of the year, we answered questions on Surrey, Saints, Space, Fathers, Victorias and London Underground stations, amongst others. We played our joker on the Surrey round - not a resounding success - but surprised ourselves with our knowledge of "Space '. And we were particularly good at the round entitled " four letter words". No , not that type! Bookham Butterflies finished on 71 points, 20 behind this years winners Bookham Tennis Club, who now set the questions for next year, and we were 11 points ahead of the last team. Our ladies had such a fun evening - for anyone else there on the night, we were the giggly ones on table 10 at the back! We were delighted to be part once again of such a wonderful Village Week event.

Jen Mcallister

Mayfield Lavender Fields

10.07.17

A visit to the Lavender Fields on Monday 10th July . 11 Butterflies visited the Lavender Fields, Banstead ,Surrey in the morning. We were met by Brendan, owner of the fields. Our visit started with a tractor ride round the perimeter of the field so we could appreciate the wonderful views of the lavender.After the tractor ride , Brendan gave us a walking tour through the lavender explaining how he started the lavender fields with his wife in 2003 and how the business has "grown" since then. Brendan's account was very amusing, he showed us three different types of Lavender and also a beetle that unfortunately can destroy the lavender and explained how they harvest the lavender. They also have their own beehives and there were plenty of bees on the lavender. We finished our tour with a photo by the iconic and popular red phone box positioned among the lavender . We then sampled various lavender infused items for lunch and then browsed the delightful shop. We left after lunch having enjoyed a wonderful time with blue skies and sunshine and a wonderful host.

Gillian Micklewright

Butterfly Walk : Bookham Common

10.07.17

17 ladies from Bookham Butterflies WI went to Bookham Common on 19th July for an evening walk with Ian Swinney, the National Trust Ranger for the Commons. Although the evening was sunny , because of the earlier rain , butterflies were in short supply and were only briefly spotted in the tunnel car park before we started. Undeterred , we set off for a fascinating walk with Ian, whose enthusiasm, passion for the environment and the Commons and his amusing stories more than made up for lack of wildlife. We did see lots of young toads and some birds and Ian showed us the best places to come and see the butterflies when the weather is better. We learnt a lot about  how the Commons are managed and something of their history. A huge thank you to Ian for a fun, informative evening.

Gillian Micklewright

Highclere Castle ( ITV's Downtown Abbey)

30.07.17

The last Sunday in July saw 48 Butterflies , partners and their guests travel from Bookham to the home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, Highclere Castle. You will recognise this as ITV's Downton Abbey.

The feel of the castle is very welcoming. Entering through the front door and turning left into the library you are met with a collection of over 5,000 books. Making our way through the ground floor rooms you start to see yourself in the roles of Lady Cora or Lady Mary, especially once you've seen the upstairs bedrooms and you come down the grand staircase.

We also loved the view from the first floor balconies looking down on the 'saloon", the wonderful room right at the centre of the castle, which was often a focal point in Downton Abbey. The way it was designed  it felt a little like being in church!

The basement contains the Egyptian Exhibition. It was the 5th Earl of Carnarvon working with Howard Cater, who financed the expedition thet led to the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922. The Earl ended up in debt as a result.

Lord Carnarvon went to Egypt each winter to benefit from the hot and dry conditions,as for many years he had not been in good health. He died in Egypt in 1923. Rumours of a curse became rife around the time as a number of other people, who, though sometimes distantly identified with the tomb also died. Whilst some artefacts were sold to cover the Earl's debt, others were kept by the family hidden away for many years as they believed the curse might be true.

The views from the house and the grounds are breath taking. We particularly enjoyed walking through the wild flower meadow, and the formal secret garden, and the walled garden. A mixed bag of sunshine and showers but this did not deter the group from having a fabulous day out.

 

Linda Rocket & Jen Mcallister   Article & Photographs

Temple Bar & Royal Courts of Justice

07.08.17

Walking Tour of Legal London

The Butterflies hit London on Monday 7th August 2017 this time to visit places of legal history. Having met Blue Badge Guide Mark King at Temple Underground Station and grabbing coffees we walked off through the Victoria Embankment Gardens. First stop was the statue of William Edward Forester  ( who set up the National System of Elementary Education) and then the statue of Lady Henry Somerset  ( President of British Women's Temperance Association) She promoted women's issues before feminism became a popular and at one time was tipped to be the first female PM. Her family estate included most of Reigate where they had their fine country house, Reigate Priory.

There are now four Inns of Court - Middle and Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn. Inns of Court date back to the 13th century, the first being built next to the River Thames, the M25 of its day. Since then the Inns, built around tranquil gardens, have been the home of the legal profession. At Middle Temple is Middle Temple Hall, a a very large dinning hall containing a top table made from one single oak tree that was floated down the River Thames. Once in position the hall was built around it. This is where William Shakespeare first performed Twelfth Night.

On our way into the Middle Temple  we pasted 2 Temple place, the former home of the Lord & Lady Astor and a number of working gas lights.

Before breaking for lunch we entered the Royal Courts of Justice, built and designed by George Edmund Street, who died before it was completed. It was opened by Queen Victoria in 1882 and is the largest court in Europe. If you think the building is impressive from the outside think again! You enter into the most amazing hall, easily the size of a couple of badminton courts ( and in the evening badminton is still played here.)  It has a lovely high vaulted ceiling off of which are the courts plus lots of nooks and crannies ( 1000 rooms in all) where one can easily get lost. We saw the courts and display cases of various court attire ( gowns and wigs) learning that the  clothing had first been introduced so that barristers could not be recognised out of court.

After lunch the tour continued, stopping by the oldest public connivance, and the court tailors Ede & Ravencroft, before visiting Lincoln Inn. We then winded our way through narrow time locked alleyways and courtyards until we arrived at the Rolls Building ( the newest  and very modern looking civil court) We then made our way through Inner Temple , with stops of various squares and buildings, before arriving at our last stop, Temple Church. This was built by the Knights of the Temple as their headquarter. It is a round church modelled on the circular church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. In 1214 and it was here the Magna Carter was first drafted. Many knights associated with the order are buried in the church including one of the instigators of the Magna Carter.

Article and Photographs Linda Rocket.

Nower Wood

08.09.17

Creatures of the night, Nower Wood

After a day of heavy rain, we went along to Nower Wood in our wet weather gear expecting to get rather wet.However we had a fine evening and enjoyed a wonderful couple of hours with Ben and Alan,our Surrey Wildlife Trust Ranger guides. They were very knowledgeable and told us lots of interesting information during the evening.Ben and Alan had laid some small mammal traps before we arrived and greeted us with a wood vole to see. We were taught how to use the traps and we laid some ourselves to see what we could catch by the end of the evening. We put bedding and food, seeds and mealworms, and a piece of apple as a source of water, into the traps, to keep whatever we caught safe.

We had a lovely walk through the woods as the sun went down, to a beautiful pond where we saw bats flying  over the water to catch the midges. Our detectors translated the bats sonar into audible clicks, which speeded up as the bat approached its prey and ended with a slap or raspberry sound as they caught it.

On the way back through the woods we all experienced what its like as a nocturnal woodland creature feeling your way around in the dark, as most of them have very poor eyesight. We put on blindfolds and felt our way round a trail through the trees following a rope to guide us.

Once back at the centre, we checked our traps to see what we caught. Sadly none of our traps had anything in  them, but a couple Ben and Alan had put out earlier revealed a massive slug and another wood vole.

A really memorable evening

Article Elspeth Young

Photographs Linda Rocket and Elspeth Young

Hogs Back Brewery Hops Party

23/09/17

 The Bookham Butterflies went to a TEA Party at the weekend, but this was a party with a difference. Instead of drinking dainty cups of tea the 33 members, including guests, downed pints of Traditional English Ale ( TEA) at the Hogs Back Hops Party in Tongham. The outing was organised after members had a very successful tour of the Brewery in the summer. We were extremly lucky with the weather as it was a dry, mild evening with the sun shining as we arrived at the site to the sounds of one of the many bands playing at the venue and the aroma of food being barbecued. Being the 25th Anniversary of the Hogs Back Brewery, the hops party had to include a Hog Roast served with apple sauce - there were also burgers, sausages and handmade pizzas. Whilst the bands changed over we were treated to a very English sight, a group of very traditional Hampshire Morris Dancers ( all men ) , one of whom came and spoke with a few of our members, telling us about their extensive travels dancing across Europe where they were treated as royalty  Jen was presented with a flower from the flute players hat. Another dancer decorated his hat with hops. As the sun went down members sat or bopped away to the various groups with their chosen drink of the evening.

Article Linda Rockett

Photographs Linda Rocket and Jen Mcallister

Mole Valley Quiz Evening

21/10/17

On Saturday 21st October, two teams from Bookham Butterflies took part in Mole Valley WI's quiz at Fetcham Village Hall. The evening, which was very enjoyable, included a fish n' chip supper and surprise delicious puddings. The questions covered a range of topics, testing our brains and knowledge and making it difficult to decide on which round to play our joker. To our delight, one of our teams actually won - and it must have been our winning team's lucky night as we also won four of the raffle prizes, one for each couple on that table! A very enjoyable event and thank you to Mole Valley WI for organising a good evening.

Article Gillian Micklewright

Photograph Gillian Micklewright

The Houses of Parliament

23/10/17

On Monday 23rd October, 25 Butterflies and some partners travelled to London for a tour of The Houses of Parliament. We walked from Waterloo across Westminster Bridge, went through the security procedue and had time for a coffee before our tour. Our tour started at 11.25am with a guide who used to work in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. the tour started in Westminster Hall and then went through St Stephan's Hall, the Robing Room, the House of Lords, Central Lobby, Members Lobby and the House of Commons before finishing back in Westminster Hall. Although the tour lasted an hour and a half, it was too short to fully appreciate the Hammerbeam wooden ceiling of Westminster Hall, all the elaborate decoration elsewhere ( much in gold leaf ) the artwork, the statues, the carvings both in wood and bronze, the ornate ceilings and the tiled floors. We also learnt about many of the historic and idiosyncratic customs of Parliament, one quirk is that visitors are not allowed to sit in either of the Chambers of the House!

Our guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. A new feature of the building was the New Dawn glass light sculpture, above the entrance to St Stephens Hall.

This commemorates 150 years of the Suffragette Movement. The desgin consists of hand blown glass scrolls that make up a dawning sun, desgined to reflect all the individuals involved in the movement and the contribution they made to modern democracy. Different  scrolls are illumated at different times of the day and this is controlled by the Thames tides! After our tour we visited the Houses of Parliament shop for themed souvenirs, then had lunch before returning home. thank you to Margaret for organising such an informative and enjoyable day.

Article Gillian Micklewright

Photographs Warren Rocket and Gillian Micklewright

Bespoke Christmas Wreath Making

12th & 13th December

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