Recently some of the Little Stanionettes joined around 500 other WI Ladies from around the country at the second ever Tea & Tents.
Tea & Tents is a camping weekend get-together, with a festival vibe, exclusively for WI members, run by WI members.
The inaugural Tea & Tents event was held in June 2014 in the Peak District, and due to popular demand the amount of attendees was doubled from 250 to 500 for 2015.
Tickets went on sale in November last year, and sold out within 24 hours.
On Friday 17th July, 500 women descended on Walesby Forest Campsite in Nottinghamshire, for a weekend of camping, laughter, learning new skills, and lots of Tea!
Leanne and Dawn set off for Walesby at 2.15, and the journey up the A1 took around 90 minutes.
We arrived, and the campsite was already filling up with lots of lovely tents, a yurt, a beautiful teardrop trailer, and some campervans and motorhomes.
There was also lodge accommodation available for those who didn’t camp, in two lodges on the site.
Faye and Jules joined us at around 7.30; we registered and got our wristbands, name badges and programmes, and headed for the Fuddle.
A Fuddle is a Pot Luck Supper, where everyone brings a contribution of food, which is shared amongst everyone – imagine a giant buffet!
The tables were full of every kind of food imaginable, and we filled our plate and sat outside Boadicea’s Big Top (the central meeting point), in the sunshine with lots of other ladies.
A key philosophy of Tea & Tents is that the whole programme is delivered by the campers themselves, with the smooth running of the whole weekend supported by more volunteers.
There was also the option to take part in some activities organised by Walesby themselves. So, on Saturday morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed off to our pre-booked activities at 10am.
First up was Archery. We weren’t bad, but Robin Hood needn’t worry.
We then headed onto the Assault course, which Dawn and Jules completed, and Dawn ticked it off her bucket list.
A quick stroll over a field and we were off to throw some tomahawks. It was harder than we expected, but Leanne managed to hit the target with her first throw. Unfortunately it was beginners luck, as none of the other throws hit the board – in fact, one went over the target, landing on the other side!
Fabulous Fenella hosted Jules,Dawn and Leanne on the Recorder Workshop. Since we’d not picked up a Recorder since Primary school, and aided by a tipple, we had a giggle, but weren’t star pupils.
Faye joined us afterwards, and we had our Cream Tea – kindly donated by Waitrose, Rodda’s, Tiptree and Yorkshire Tea.
It wouldn’t be a WI get together without cake, so there was a Bake Off competition, with lots of different categories to enter. The entries all looked amazing!
There was also a sewing bee challenge, which was something we knew about before the weekend so we had plenty of time to prepare. The challenge was to create a bag made from a pair of trousers suitable to hold T&T essentials. Dawn entered a lovely bag, made from a pair of cord trousers, lined in leopard print.
A group of members joined in on Yarn Bombing an area of the campsite. The theme was “We’re not in Kansas anymore” and was based on The Wizard of Oz. Volunteers knitted or crocheted a huge yellow brick road, Dorothy and all of her friends, and a melted Wicked Witch.
Other activities included rounders, quidditch, jam making, knitting, meditation, yoga and flower crowns.
We joined in on the Craft for Climate Campaign, by making bunting pennants.
On Saturday Afternoon there was a marketplace with stalls filled with crafty goodies made by WI members.
On Saturday night, we were treated to Artisan Marshmallows from Miss Millar’s, to toast on the campfire. We also made smores, which we enjoyed around our smaller campfire.
The atmosphere of the whole weekend was fantastic. It felt like a celebration of what it means to be in the WI, full of sharing skills, love, laughter, and meeting new people.
There was no pressure as to how much or how little you participated in. The committee who organised it did an amazing job and I know everyone can’t wait for next year to do it all again!
Tea & Tents is a camping weekend get-together, with a festival vibe, exclusively for WI members, run by WI members.
The inaugural Tea & Tents event was held in June 2014 in the Peak District, and due to popular demand the amount of attendees was doubled from 250 to 500 for 2015.
Tickets went on sale in November last year, and sold out within 24 hours.
On Friday 17th July, 500 women descended on Walesby Forest Campsite in Nottinghamshire, for a weekend of camping, laughter, learning new skills, and lots of Tea!
Leanne and Dawn set off for Walesby at 2.15, and the journey up the A1 took around 90 minutes.
We arrived, and the campsite was already filling up with lots of lovely tents, a yurt, a beautiful teardrop trailer, and some campervans and motorhomes.
There was also lodge accommodation available for those who didn’t camp, in two lodges on the site.
Faye and Jules joined us at around 7.30; we registered and got our wristbands, name badges and programmes, and headed for the Fuddle.
A Fuddle is a Pot Luck Supper, where everyone brings a contribution of food, which is shared amongst everyone – imagine a giant buffet!
The tables were full of every kind of food imaginable, and we filled our plate and sat outside Boadicea’s Big Top (the central meeting point), in the sunshine with lots of other ladies.
A key philosophy of Tea & Tents is that the whole programme is delivered by the campers themselves, with the smooth running of the whole weekend supported by more volunteers.
There was also the option to take part in some activities organised by Walesby themselves. So, on Saturday morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed off to our pre-booked activities at 10am.
First up was Archery. We weren’t bad, but Robin Hood needn’t worry.
We then headed onto the Assault course, which Dawn and Jules completed, and Dawn ticked it off her bucket list.
A quick stroll over a field and we were off to throw some tomahawks. It was harder than we expected, but Leanne managed to hit the target with her first throw. Unfortunately it was beginners luck, as none of the other throws hit the board – in fact, one went over the target, landing on the other side!
Fabulous Fenella hosted Jules,Dawn and Leanne on the Recorder Workshop. Since we’d not picked up a Recorder since Primary school, and aided by a tipple, we had a giggle, but weren’t star pupils.
Faye joined us afterwards, and we had our Cream Tea – kindly donated by Waitrose, Rodda’s, Tiptree and Yorkshire Tea.
It wouldn’t be a WI get together without cake, so there was a Bake Off competition, with lots of different categories to enter. The entries all looked amazing!
There was also a sewing bee challenge, which was something we knew about before the weekend so we had plenty of time to prepare. The challenge was to create a bag made from a pair of trousers suitable to hold T&T essentials. Dawn entered a lovely bag, made from a pair of cord trousers, lined in leopard print.
A group of members joined in on Yarn Bombing an area of the campsite. The theme was “We’re not in Kansas anymore” and was based on The Wizard of Oz. Volunteers knitted or crocheted a huge yellow brick road, Dorothy and all of her friends, and a melted Wicked Witch.
Other activities included rounders, quidditch, jam making, knitting, meditation, yoga and flower crowns.
We joined in on the Craft for Climate Campaign, by making bunting pennants.
On Saturday Afternoon there was a marketplace with stalls filled with crafty goodies made by WI members.
On Saturday night, we were treated to Artisan Marshmallows from Miss Millar’s, to toast on the campfire. We also made smores, which we enjoyed around our smaller campfire.
The atmosphere of the whole weekend was fantastic. It felt like a celebration of what it means to be in the WI, full of sharing skills, love, laughter, and meeting new people.
There was no pressure as to how much or how little you participated in. The committee who organised it did an amazing job and I know everyone can’t wait for next year to do it all again!