OUR President, Marjy welcomed members and visitors to our July meeting.

Mr. John Kendrick then gave a big thank you to all who had helped and contributed to Village Hall teas for the recent Open Gardens where he was pleased to announce a 20 per cent increase in visitors and a very successful weekend. Marjy then read her report of the inspirational National Federation of WIs Annual Meeting held recently in Liverpool

President Marjy Facer was pleased to welcome Mrs. Joan Bomford as our speaker for the July meeting. Joan is quite a local celebrity after her success in winning the BBC Countryfile`s farming hero award in 2015.

One of the many stories she recalled, was a meeting with HRH Prince Charles and Camilla when attending a meeting at Westminster with her son Colin. She was applying to a special charity for the provision of housing for retired members of the farming community at the time and was amazed and delighted when the Prince came and sat and chatted to her. Shortly afterwards, her son Colin sent her name forward for entry in the Countryfile competition and was quite “gobsmacked” when she was

eventually named as the winner, especially as over 400 had entered! Great fun was had by one and all when the film crew arrived at Moyfield Farm in South Littleton where Joan has run a popular riding school and with her late husband Tony ran the family farm for many years. She is now 85 years of age and her two sons Colin and Jo have taken over the majority of the work, but Joan still has her own herd of cattle and runs the riding school, where she teaches all ages and those with disabilities how to ride on the 70 horses in her stable.

Joan entertained us with her many stories, spontaneous humour and anecdotes. Her book “Up with the Lark” has sold many copies and still printing. It recalls her early childhood days on the farm and give a wonderful insight into how farming has moves on from horse drawn ploughs, steam engines and eventual “monsters” which we now see in our fields today. Her recipe for a long and healthy life is “plenty of hard work and a good healthy diet”. “I`ll never retire” she said. After answering many questions Joan was warmly thanked by Mollie Groom.

Next meeting will be in the afternoon on Tuesday, 1st August at 2.30pm and will be in the garden of Mrs. Jane Williams-Thomas. The speaker will be Jez Taylor, Daylesford Market Gardening Manager.

JEN CREESE