At our August meeting we celebrated a century of the WI adopting Jerusalem as their anthem.
Although the Bombshells never sing Jerusalem at our meetings, many WI’s across the country start each meeting with a rousing rendition of Sir Hubert Parry’s iconic hymn.
Here’s a little history: At the 8th Annual General Meeting in 1924 the whole assembly sang along to Jerusalem and it was thought that after this impressive performance that there should be a competition to choose an ‘Institute song’ and as we now know Jerusalem was the winner.
And so for the first time in our history we started our meeting with a full throated rendition of Jerusalem, there are some pictures below of us all singing with much enthusiasm! And although none of us are professional singers, it was actually a very beautiful and moving sound that we produced.
Our President, Sandra, dressed as a land girl in green dungarees gave us all a brief talk (particularly for the benefit of our newer members) on the origin and derivation of our name - why the Bombshells? Inaugurated in 2018, our branch of the WI commemorates the essential work that was and still is being done by Bomb Disposal Squads. From the Second World War until 1966, there was a Joint Services Bomb Disposal School here in Broadbridge Heath situated where Tesco now stands and it is in memory of this that we have our name and logo.
As you can see from the photos, the theme was to dress up in outfits from of the decades spanning the hundred years that Jerusalem has been the WI anthem.
There were costumes from the 1920's through to the present day. Amazing what garments still reside in drawers and wardrobes carrying those memories that are just too precious to be thrown away. We were a colourful lot on Tuesday sporting a fantastic array of fabrics, designs and shapes with our flapper from the twenties, land girls from the forties, a classic twin set and pearls, and a neat waisted, full skirted frock from the fifties. A couple of kaftans, floral tops, flared trousers, scarves, beads, bags and bangles from the sixties and seventies... Crimplene made an appearance, oh remember how thick and warm that fabric was? Then into the 80's with Maddona style footless tights, rah rah skirts and bangles. Then the nineties and through to the present day. The Bombshells had been challenged, and we rose magnificently to meet it!
Our lovely committee treated us to refreshments, we indulged in cakes and prosecco before a lighthearted quiz followed - no prize, just a lot of laughter, some knowledge and quite a lot of guesswork - who knew that there are 7 WI groups in women's prisons? That is a fact of which to be proud. As we were told, one of the core principles of the WI is to educate, so remembering even that one fact meant that we all went away a little wiser than we arrived. It was a great evening of eating, drinking, chatting, reminiscing and being with friends old and new.
Since February we have had a monthly collection supporting Horsham Matters. One of our members gave us some sobering facts and figures. There are many groups and companies in the area that are supporting this organisation that then enables not hundreds, but thousands of residents to be regularly supplied with food, but also given assistance with heating, with advice on managing debt and assistance with budgeting. It had been calculated that the weight of our donations over the months was (TBC), and that our collections could have gone towards supporting a family of four for 38 days.
Information about our next meeting is below (venue is St.John's Church Hall, BBH)
Comments