Last week the Market Harborough WI celebrated their Christmas Party with a lovely evening of crafting and chatting, a dutch supper with some free bubbly and a raffle with fabulous prizes. 

It has been a great year and we hope you enjoyed it all. Have a lovely Christmas and best wishes for a healthy and content New Year! See you all in 2026

If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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The run-up to Christmas is always a hectic time of the year, but the Market Harborough WI has been so busy in the last couple of weeks it is hard for the newsroom to keep up.

First up we had our November Monthly Meeting where the lovely ladies from Hannah’s Sugarcraft talked about all things chocolate – how it is made, the importance to the taste of cacao content in the mix and how the various items on display were produced.

The mother and daughter team, who have been running their business for 5 years, then proceeded to make a fantastic Santa Chocolate Display, which was raffled off to the WI members. Congratulations Pam – we don’t envy you the decision whether to eat it or keep it!

Then the Craft Club decided to go into overdrive in the Christmas Decoration department and produced some fabulous items at the November and December meetings.

A lot of these items together with donations from MHWI members were then used to decorate the Market Harborough WI Christmas Tree for the Christmas Tree Festival at St Dionysius’ Church over the 1st Advent weekend. 

Thank you to all the members that helped organise our tree – it looked fabulous!

And we are not finished with December yet – tonight is the Welland Valley Carol Service hosted by our sister WI in Hallaton and on Wednesday follows the MHWI Christmas Party. For details of all our events please see the monthly ‘Dates for the Diary’ post. 

See you soon! 

If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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The year is drawing to a close and we are looking forward to our Christmas Meeting next Wednesday. 

Clare will be leading a Christmas Crafting Session and we are planning a Dutch supper with a glass of free bubbly. There will also be a special Raffle with some fabulous prizes – tickets will be £ 1,- each.

So get your Christmas Outfits and Santa Hats ready, bring some scissors for the crafting, a plate of food for the dutch supper and some coins for the Raffle Tickets! We look forward to seeing you at the Church Hall in Fairfield Street at 7.30pm!

If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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At the November monthly meeting we will enjoy a talk by Hannah’s Sugarcraft about the origins of chocolate, and the production and tempering processes involved in producing the finest chocolate creations. There will also be a demonstration to produce a chocolate display for the raffleI. The meeting will take place as always at the church hall in Fairfield Road and start at 7.30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

And if you have any Christmas Tree decorations to contribute for the WI Tree at the Christmas Tree Festival, please remember to bring them along!

If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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December on the horizon already… We hope you are looking forward to a diary packed with seasonal activities and festivities in the run-up to Christmas. Here are a couple more dates to fill any gaps!

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Allotment – In Hibernation

The Gardening Girls have put the allotment to bed and hung up the tools until next Spring. But you don’t have to wait until then if you would like to join in – just contact Julie at Jusellars1960@gmail.com to get the details of the next planning meeting.

Craft Club – 4th December

This month the Craft Club will continue making tree decorations with Leslie and Maggie.

More details will be provided nearer the time through the WhatsApp group. Please contact Fiona at fegraham1@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the group.

Walking Group – In Hibernation

The Walking Group did their last walk of the season at Fox Wood in Lubenham. The group will get together early in the New Year to plan the 2026 list of walks, so if you would like to join, please email Fiona at f_tomlin@sky.com to be added to the WhatsApp group.

Welland Valley Carol Service – 8th December

The Hallaton WI will be hosting the Welland Valley Carol Service this year on the 8th December at St Michaels and All Angels Church at 7pm. Join members of our fellow WIs in the area for an evening of Carol singing followed by refreshments. If you have not signed up already, please do so at the November monthly meeting or send an email to marketharboroughwi@gmail.com

MHWI Monthly Meeting –  10th December

Our Christmas monthly meeting as usual is earlier than the normal meeting date. We’ll be celebrating with an evening of Christmas crafting, a special raffle with voucher prizes from local businesses and a good dose of chocolates and Prosecco/non-alcoholic sparklie. The meeting will start as usual at 7.30pm at the Church Hall of Our Ladies of Victories Church in Fairfield Road. 

Book Club – 17th December

The Book Angels Book Club will be meeting for their Christmas Lunch at Delight, the Turkish Restaurant, at 12.30pm on the 17th December. Instead of reading a book of the month, members should wrap a book they have read and no longer want and bring it along for a ‘Bad Santa’ game.

Please contact Valerie at vhitchcox50@hotmail.com if you would like to join in.

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The committee of the Market Harborough WI wish you and yours a very special Christmas and look forward to seeing you again in the New Year!

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We’ll be updating the ‘Dates for the Diary’ post on a regular basis, so keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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St Dionysius Church in Market Harborough is planning a Christmas Tree Festival for the start of Advent and we would like to add a tree from the Market Harborough WI to the exhibition.

Our thought is to showcase some of the arts and crafts the Womens Institute and our WI in particular has become known for.

In preparation, the craft club spent their session last week making tree ornaments which the crafting members are donating to the project. 

Whilst we made lots of decorations at the craft club session, we would like to ask all our clever crafters to donate something for the tree that they have made at a WI session over the years to show off the different crafting skills our WI members have.

If you have something you can give, then please bring it with you to the next WI Monthly Meeting on the 26th November. And if you can’t attend the meeting but would like to contribute please email us at marketharboroughwi@gmail.com and we’ll organise collection. All donations must be received by the 26th to allow us to decorate and deliver our tree in time.

Thank you for your help!

If you are not a member yet, but are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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At the Market Harborough WI Monthly Meeting last week Jo Golby – suitably dressed for the part – entertained our members with a talk about the life and tribulations of the typical Ladies Maid at the turn of the century.

Jo has spent years as a guide at both Warwick Castle and Calke Abbey and has contributed a lot of her knowledge as background to the makers of Downton Abbey. Jo’s talk this week used the career of the American heiress Mary Leiter and her struggle to be accepted into English Society after her engagement to Lord Curzon of Kedleston to show the challenges for both ladies and her maids in Edwardian society.

Mary was a good friend of Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (famously the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales) who helped her find her unique style and place in society – from finding the right dress maker to hiring (and keeping!) a suitable ladies maid.

Jo’s talk covered a variety of aspects of the life of ladies maids, who were the confidants of their ladies, were expected to work incredibly long hours and attend to their mistress’s every demand. Ladies could be required to change dress up to six times a day and required their maids to look after their dress collection and mend as needed. Maids also had to be proficient in making the typical remedies of the day for chafing corsets and a beautiful skin. And last but not least, Ladies maids were expected to keep their ladies’s secrets. One of Daisy Warwick’s challenges in life was that she wore out her maids, who then left with the knowledge of the true insider…

In return for their skills and loyalty ladies maids had a higher status than the rest of the ‘downstairs’ staff, were well paid and got to travel with their ladies. They were also given the (sometimes very valuable) cast offs to keep which added to their income. At the end of their working life they often were pensioned off with a living found on the estate.

Finally, Jo gave a demonstration of the ‘language of the fan’ – an essential for both ladies (and their maids!) and gentlemen (and their footmen!) to master. Who would have known that the change of a finger position could land you an assignation!!

Altogether, this was an enjoyable evening, great fun and very informative. And none of us is likely to look at Downton Abbey in the same way ever again!

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If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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In October the Market Harborough WI Craft Club got their fingers sticky (literally!) during an evening of cup cake decorating. Our own Fiona provided all the materials (including trays of home baked cup cakes!) and guided the group through the process with some fabulous results!

And the MHWI Social Event this months took place at Paint Pottle at the Eco Village where the spirit of Halloween also crept into some of the lovely pieces the group created. 

There is something about this time of year that brings out the creative side of our members!

If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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In October we will host Jo Golby who will take us into the world of upstairs/downstairs with tales of life as a ladies maid. .The meeting will take place as always at the church hall in Fairfield Road and start at 7.30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in what the Market Harborough WI is up to, keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

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While the days are getting shorter, the leaves are turning glorious colours and the first hints of Christmas can be found in the shops here are some MHWI events to look forward to in November:

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Allotment – Every Monday

The Gardening Girls are busy putting the allotment to bed for winter and are looking forward to our planning meetings during the colder season. But you don’t have to wait until Spring if you would like to join in – just contact Julie at Jusellars1960@gmail.com to get the details of the next meeting.

Craft Club – 6th November

This month the Craft Club will get into the Christmas spirit and make Paper Christmas Tree Bunting with Denise and Fiona.

More details will be provided nearer the time through the WhatsApp group. Please contact Fiona at fegraham1@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the group.

Walking Group – In Hibernation

The Walking Group did their last walk of the season at Fox Wood in Lubenham. The group will get together later this year to plan the 2026 list of walks, so if you would like to join the group, please email Fiona at f_tomlin@sky.com to be added to the WhatsApp group.

Book Club – 19th November

The Book Angels Book Club will be meeting at the Three Swans at 2.30pm. The book of the month for November is Silent Night by Sophie Hannah.

Please contact Valerie at vhitchcox50@hotmail.com if you would like to join in.

MHWI Monthly Meeting –  26th November

At the November monthly meeting we will enjoy a talk by Hannah’s Sugarcraft about the origins of chocolate, and the production and tempering processes involved in producing the finest chocolate creations.

There will also be a demonstration to produce a chocolate display for the raffleI. The meeting will take place as always at the church hall in Fairfield Road and start at 7.30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

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And if you are not a member of the Market Harborough WI yet why not take the opportunity and join us to see if you like what we do?

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We’ll be updating the ‘Dates for the Diary’ post on a regular basis, so keep an eye on the website for the latest news. Or you can subscribe by entering your email address below and you will be send the latest news automatically:

You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.