Chipperfield Afternoon WI had their New Year lunch in January, sixty-one members and guests tucking into a turkey dinner followed by John Wilsons talk on Wild life and natural gardening – a very successful afternoon. In December 2007 a few of our members paid a visit to the award-winning recycling depot at Cupid Green, Hemel Hempstead, and were made very welcome; wearing hard hats, our members were very impressed by the methods used and the huge amount recycled.

Chipperfield Evening WI started the year with talks on two diverse subjects, the first being Muppets, Puppets and Dr Who by local residents, Nigel Plaskitt and Paul Jomain. Nigel gave an extremely interesting illustrated talk about his former acting career and introduction to the world of models and puppets, including Spitting Image, childrens TV programmes and characters from Dr Who, many of which were made by Paul. Nigel also does ‘voice overs, for example Monkey, currently being used by PG Tips in their advertising. Members were able to examine, at close quarters, some of the puppets which Nigel and Paul brought to the meeting.

In February, Lesley Edwards, a Chipperfield Evening WI member, gave a talk entitled India – Past and Present. Lesley had been invited to attend the 125th anniversary in November at Daly College, Indore (a city in Madhya Pradesh, India). Lesley lived there as a child and her father was Principal of the College from 1938 to 1947. She was privileged to meet some former pupils of Daly College during the visit. Lesley also visited the Pasteur Institute in the foothills of the Himalayas where her grandfather was Director in the 1900s, researching the rabies vaccine and snake venoms. The Institute is now called the Central Research Institute and produces vaccines for cholera, yellow fever and plague for use throughout the Asian subcontinent.