The Women's InstituteThe Women's Institute is a thriving part of the life of our villages. Monthly meetings are well attended and attract a fine range of speakers. Recently, members have learnt about herbs and their uses, bell ringing, self defence, cycling in Nepal, and have heard a convincing talk by a Church of England priest on men being the vainer sex! There are monthly competitions, and a quiz often sharpens the wits. The Histon and Impington Women's Institute was inaugurated in November 1927 at a meeting called by Miss R Hope Chivers. The Institute's first meeting was held in the Infants' School in New School Lane. The first President was Mrs Roberts of The Gables. According to a diary kept by Mrs Bryant 78 women were enrolled. She notes: "they wanted me to be Vice President but I daren't undertake such an unruly crowd!" In the 1930s numbers increased to over 100. Today there are around 60 members. To celebrate the Cambridge Federation's 75th Anniversary, in 1994, a new wood was planted in Histon, alongside the railway line. The trees are flourishing and, thanks to subsequent bulb planting, daffodils and bluebells should be blooming this year. The Institute has always taken part in village affairs. In 1977, Ethel Jamson, the President at that time, served on the Queen's Silver Jubilee Committee. More recently members added their signatures to a protest against the Sainsbury's Arbury Camp Development. Both villages are represented by the Institute in Histon Feast activities. They enter a decorated float in the procession; in 1997 the theme was My Fair Lady. Games on the Green are organised for the school children and the Institute has stall at the Feast Market Members take part in Group Meetings with Cottenham, Rampton and Girton and in Cambridge Federation activities. There are opportunities to take part in quizzes, darts competitions, craft demonstrations, visits to the theatre and to places of interest. Members visited the beautiful city of Bruges- a pity it rained all day! Those wishing to pursue a particular interest in depth may attend residential courses at the Institute's Denman College in Oxfordshire. These cover arts, crafts, sports, public speaking and history, to name but a few topics. The National Federation also organises home and overseas holidays and produces a magazine; an excellent publication, full of articles on a great variety of subjects. The current President, Helen Allen, knows how much members enjoy being able to take part in these activities and extends a warm invitation to any non-member to "come along and give it a try". Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month in Histon Church Hall at 7.30pm.
IVC Members AssociationBored? Need to get out and about and meet new people? Missing your days on the PTA and looking for a good local cause to support? Impington Village College Members Association needs new members to help maintain and expand its programme of activities. The Association believes that learning should be a life-long activity. We support the unique Cambridgeshire concept of the Village College as a centre of local education and leisure activity from the cradle to the grave. One of our main aims is to ensure that a rich and varied programme of Community Education is maintained at IVC. We recently conducted a survey of the villages served by the College, asking people what types of classes and other activities would interest them. This year's programme contains a number of new activities and there is a continuing dialogue between the Association and the College about how to meet the needs of today's adult students. We support the Community Education programme by raising money to improve College facilities, helping with administration, organising the annual art exhibition and providing start-up grants to new activities. We also organise social events which we hope will appeal to a wide spectrum of the local community. There is much more we could do. We always need more help! Typical activities include: poster design and distribution, ticket selling, setting up and managing fundraising and educational events, catering, taking bookings, processing enrolment forms. We have a friendly core of supporters who are fun to work with and always make newcomers welcome. If you are interested in helping please contact Morrison Sellar (563696) or Carol Huxley (276134). We look forward to hearing from you. Our next two meetings are on 20 April and 15 June, at the Village College. Why not come along?
In Brief.... Could you spare a few hours to help the visually impaired? Camsight needs volunteers to help with group meetings for visually impaired people in Impington and Histon. These will take place at the Community Room, Homefield Close. If you can help, or would like to know more, please call Sheila Rayner on 420033. This year's Flower Festival Weekend will be Friday 21 August- Sunday 23 August. The theme will be Harvests around the World. There will be Cheese and Wine on Friday evening, stalls and a concert on Saturday, and Harvest Songs of Praise, with music from around the world, on Sunday. Make a note in your diary now! Barbara Coe, an Australian reader of the Impington News web page, writes: "My husband's family came from Histon to Melbourne in the 1850s, and I've been tracing the Coe ancestry for the last few years." Does anyone know of a Coe family in Histon at that time? Information to 232523 please.
© Impington News 1998 |
The
Institute celebrated its Golden Anniversary by giving a seat for Histon Green.
Another seat was put on the Green in 1987. In 1997, the 70th Anniversary was celebrated
by the planting of a John Downie crab apple tree, on open ground near the A14
flyover. At the same time spring bulbs were planted and these should give pleasure
for many years.