JUNE'S MEETING UPDATE

June's meeting was held on Tuesday 11th in Llanarth Village Hall. Our President Isabel introduced and welcomed Eleri Davies who gave the group a very interesting talk on old remedies, many of which go back to the 13th century and the works of the Myddygion Myddfai/Physicians of Myddfai. Most of the recipes for old remedies have disappeared as

they were handed down in an oral tradition from mothers to the youngest daughter and were kept secret - these wise women were often thought of as being witches.
There are different recipes for remedies in different areas. An old remedy for 'keeping fit' was:-

Get up early and do not stay up late. Wash in cold water and dry off with a coarse towel. Drink water and no alcohol. Eat early in the evening. Walk 10 miles a day. Eat plain food. One treat at a time i.e. bread and butter or bread and jam or bread and cheese but never put bread, butter and jam. Eat slowly. Stay in the open air. Go to work with a smile on your face.

One of the stories Eleri told us about was of a boy from this area that had bad psoriasis - the boy helped his father with a cow that was calving and while this was happening some of the placenta from the cow fell on his arm that had the psoriasis, which helped his condition get

better.


Some other old remedies were:-
Colds - soak feet in hot water with mustard.
Bad chest - goose fat and a red flannel.
Sore throat - take off your woollen sock, fill it with bacon fat and wrap it around the throat.
Hooping cough - drink more milk or go down a tunnel after a train (would no longer work now - very few steam trains these days!).
Worms - wear a necklace of garlic.
Arthritis - eat two sticks of celery every day.
Dust in the eyes -  lick the dust out with tongue.
Bleeding profusely from a wound - wrap cobwebs around the wound.

If you had a toothache and there was no local dentist, you would go and visit the local smithy and he would extract the tooth for you - ouch! 
A good tip for a cream for aftersun, cuts, dry skin and wounds - pick as many elderflower blossoms without the stalks as you can - in an old saucepan melt petroleum jelly but do not boil and add two big handfuls of the elderflowers to the melted petroleum jelly - leave to infuse for some time and then strain the mixture back into the jar. A similar cream for back or neck pain uses melted petroleum jelly with comfrey leaves.

We all found Eleri's talk most interesting and informative - Margaret V gave the vote of thanks. The competition for an old remedy for a cold was won by Denise and the raffle was won by Margaret V. Refreshments were provided by Isabel and Dianne.


 

JUNE'S MEETING

June's meeting will be held in Llanarth Village Hall on Tuesday 11th June at 7:30pm.

This months guest speaker will be ELERI DAVIES who will be giving a talk on OLD REMEDIES. Many of us no doubt have memories of remedies our parents and grandparents would give us when we were ill as children....who can forget the taste of Castor oil and malt.

 To continue the theme this months competition is OLD REMEDIES FOR A COLD - so bring along your remedies for a cold to the meeting to see if you can win.

If you'd like to know more about Llanarth WI or would like to join, please send us an email - email link can be found on the right hand side of this page. More contact details can be found on our posters in Llanarth Village notice board at the school or in the shop window of 'Awsome Pork' butchers.

MAY TRIP UPDATE

Delma giving advice on colours

A wide range of items to paint

Tuesday 28th May saw the group go on our Mystery Trip. We left Llanarth school car park at 5:45pm and headed south. Going through Synod Inn we carried on the road towards Cardigan. However when we came to Gwenlli, we took a right turn at the crossroads and headed towards Cwmtydu, going through the village of Caerwedros, finally stopping at the end of the village by the green tin shed that was formally know as Derw Stores and which is now

Denise working on her flowers

know as the "Pea Pod Junction".

Margaret W in deep concentration

The Pea Pod is a lovely vintage shop selling hand made soaps, brooches and quirky gifts. To the rear of the shop is a pottery studio where you can choose an item from a vast selection on display and paint it yourself - the possibilities are endless and there were plenty of ideas to inspire us in our painting. We all found it very relaxing and hugely satisfying. When our chosen pots, tiles or dishes had been painted they were left for glazing and firing. We were all given friendly help and advice from Delma their experienced potter.

The group at the Wellington Inn

Now that's what I call a Pavlova!!

 At the end of two enjoyable hours we were ready for our bar meal. It was just a short car ride down to New Quay and the Wellington Inn, where we had more than our fill of delicious food - a few of us even managed to have a desert!
 Melda won the competition of guessing the mileage to the first destination and a wonderful night was had by all.

Other photographs of the evening

 

MAY TRIP

On the 28th May we will be having a 'Mystery Trip' followed by a bar meal. It promises to be a fun evening out, so if you're interested in going on this mystery trip please join us in Llanarth school car park at 5:45pm. The competition is 'Guess the mileage to the first destination'.
 
If you'd like to know more about Llanarth WI or would like to join, please send us an email - email link can be found on the right hand side of this page. More contact details can be found on our posters in Llanarth Village notice board at the school or in the shop window of 'Awsome Pork' butchers.

NEW AGE KURLING WITH ABEREAERON WI

On Wednesday 15th May, two of our members, Margaret V and Dianne joined Aberaeron WI for an evening of 'New Age Kurling'. Neither had done it before and didn't know what to expect, but after a wonderful evening of fun and excitement, they both have said they'll be doing new age kurling again.

Everyone had training for an hour on how to move the 'Kurling Stones' either by hand or by stick and then a knockout tournament was played out and Dianne got through to the semi final. 
Tea, coffee and biscuits were provided and a great evening was had by all. Roll on for the next New Age Kurling event.

MAY'S MEETING UPDATE

Our meeting was held on the 14th May, with Isabel our President introducing and welcoming Delyth Morris Jones as guest speaker to the meeting.

Mourning hankies

Delyth gave us a background to her talk on how her mother became a district nurse in the Devil's Bridge area in the 1930s. At the age of 13, Delyth's mother went to work in a dairy in the East End of London and found the poverty in that area so hard to come to terms with that she would give a little extra milk and butter to the families that had nothing. She soon realised that this life was not for her - she wanted a better life and also wanted to help the poorer families and people. She thought about nursing and started her training at the Plaistow Hospital. There she trained as a midwife and found the poverty of the area distressing - babies would be wrapped in newspapers and on many an occasion she was asked not to deliver the baby properly, which she resolutely refused to do. However she did try to help these poorer families by making little blankets for the babies. 

Delyth showing her

             mother's gloves

The poverty got too much for her and she longed for the Welsh countryside and so she applied for a post as District Nurse in the Devil's Bridge area and successfully got the job. It was a large area and she had to cover it just using a bicycle and in all weathers. She had five schools to visit - which meant it was one school a day.

Hat brushes

Delyth showed us some of the objects her mother brought back from London, they included mourning hankies and scarves. These would be worn for one year after a close relative had passed away - after the year you would then wear the purple coloured scarves. She showed us belts, gloves, handbags, one of which contained a small purse with a train ticket from Talsarn to Aberaeron inside. Also a dancing handbag, which was worn on top of the arm, two hat brushes and various items her mother would wear on her uniform. 

She could not afford a watch, so she used a small egg timer. Her wage was £1 a month and she would have to purchase her own uniform and equipment - there was one occasion when she broke three thermometers, which had to be replaced and the chemist Taylor Lloyd in Aberystwyth let her pay for the replacements over time. She showed us 'Thermagen Medicated Wadding', which would have been placed over a chest covered in 'Vicks' before wearing a vest and Liberty bodice! She also had two packs of the old 'Player's' and 'Senior

Player's & Senior Service packets

Service' cigarettes, as well as surgical gloves that would be used for more than one patient!
In 1936 she decided to buy a car, an Austen 7 - brand new for £50 - it took her eight years to pay for it. She worked for twelve years but gave it up when she got married and became a farmers wife.
Melda thanked Delyth for her interesting talk. A beautiful spread of refreshments was given by Denise and Audrey. Betty won this month's competition which was 'Family Baby Photo', Isabel came second and Melda third. Audrey won the raffle prize. 

MAY'S MEETING

May's meeting will be held in Llanarth Village Hall on Tuesday 14th May at 7:30pm.

This months guest speaker will be DELYTH MORRIS JONES who will be giving a talk on Midwifery in the 1930s. Many no

doubt have watched the wonderful BBC series 'Call the Midwife' and it will be interesting to hear if Delyth thinks the series was true to life.

 To continue the theme this months competition is FAMILY BABY PHOTO - so bring along your cute baby photos to the meeting to see if you can win.

If you'd like to know more about Llanarth WI or would like to join, please send us an email - email link can be found on the right hand side of this page. More contact details can be found on our posters in Llanarth Village notice board at the school or in the shop window of 'Awsome Pork' butchers.