WOMEN’S INSTITUTE: At the March meeting Shirley Wise returned to entertain us, this time with a talk called Aspects of Ilkley. In the course of her research into the history of Ilkley, she traced the town back into the 18th century.

The earliest mention she found was in a book dated 1798, when Ilkley appears rather poetically as “the Spring on the Moor”. Having been a teacher here for many years, Shirley was able to include in her talk her own memories, experiences and ties to our town.

Continuing the theme, our competition was for a photograph of an Ilkley landmark and was won by Mary Robinson, with Pat Gale in second place and Mary Hayes in third. Several landmark events are on the horizon. As the WI centenary approaches next year, a celebratory baton has already set off around the country and at the hand-over from North to West Yorkshire at the Cow and Calf on April 30 four of our ladies will be there, helping with teas. Our own WI celebrates its 25th birthday this May and we will be inviting as many founder members as possible to share our celebrations with afternoon tea at our meeting that month. As Yorkshire starts to get really excited about the Tour de France and the Grand Depart, our members have been busy knitting and we have sent some mini yellow jumpers to add to the Harrogate bunting display. Four of our members went to Grassington for the annual meeting and enjoyed getting together with members from other WIs in our Federation. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, April 10, when Jane Hollingworth will be talking about Victorian Glass and Decanters. The competition is for a piece of Victorian jewellery. As always, we meet at 2pm at Ben Rhydding Methodist Church Hall and extend a warm welcome to any visitors (£3) or prospective members who would like to join our friendly group.

BRIDGE CLUB: Results for Monday, March 31, five-and-a-half tables, N/S: 1 Judy Palmer and Philip Holdsworth 78%, 2 Melvin Blake and Donald Hill 49%; E/W: 1 Brian and Shirley Lee 59%, 2 Colin Graham and Brenda Beaman 57%. The club plays on Mondays at 9.45am at the Methodist Hall. For more details, call (01943) 466605.