Mawnan WI

12/06/2026

Sue Spence – Textile Artist – “My Surprising Second Career”

We were very pleased that Sue was able to come to our monthly meeting especially after the busy time she has just experienced along with other local artists during Open Studio week. In what now seems a previous existence Sue was Head of English at an independent secondary school. Then at a time when she could have settled for retirement, Sue embarked on a second career as a textile and mixed media artist. She confesses to be a compulsive embroiderer.
Sue told us how her love of needlework started at an early age. She was taught by her ‘elegant’ grandma who was a trained tailor. From felted needle cases to patchwork quilts (made for her bottom drawer!!) she now designs and produces intricate pieces of artwork which are exhibited locally, nationally and even internationally.
Using vintage fabrics and threads she creates amazing artworks, large wall hangings, framed pictures and brooches. Her subjects include landscapes, seascapes, maps, meadow flowers and birds.
She holds regular workshops which some members have attended and thoroughly enjoyed. Her next one is on 30th September 2026. It’s bound to be very popular!

07/06/2026

07/06/2026

Here are a few of the events organised by CFWI which may be of interest to you. More details are available in County News which you can view on line or pick up a copy at our Monthly Meeting on Thursday.

01/06/2026

Book Club November June - November 2026

Listed below are the six books which we have chosen to read next along with the dates when we will meet to discuss them. Please note that we are alternating venues, but all meetings start at 2pm.
All members of Mawnan WI are invited to join the book club - just turn up.

Wednesday 24th June: Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gayle SAMPY’S

Wednesday 29th July: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith TREBAH

No Book Club meeting in August

Wednesday 30th September: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton SAMPY’S

Wednesday 28th October: Miss Austen by Gill Hornby TREBAH

Wednesday 25th November: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley SAMPY’s

No Book Club in December

For the future:
We will be reading Maggie O'Farrell's new book "Land" when it comes out in paperback.

31/05/2026

It’s a quiet WI week coming up so maybe you have time to read the account written by our member Clare about the CFWI trip to the tulip fields in Holland a few weeks ago. She found out about it in County News and it sounds as if she had a fantastic time! You can read County News on line and we always have copies at our Monthly meetings.

I recently went on the Holland holiday organized by the Cornwall Federation of Women’s Institutes where the main visit was a fantastic day at Keukenhof. I was left very impressed by these magical tulip gardens. The visit to Keukenhoff was just one of the outings during the trip and I found the visits to be well orchestrated and with much variety.
We stayed overnight in Belgium visiting the city of Ghent and then the remainder of our stay was in Holland.
The hotels in which we stayed were comfortable and I found the choice of options available for the included three course meals to be fantastic. It was also great to enjoy meals with other members of Women’s institutes in Cornwall.
The coach driver was convivial and the journeys were made comfortable. I would definitely recommend a WI holiday especially if it were to be as entertaining and enriching as this one.

31/05/2026

A brilliant Trebah Military Day with glorious weather and a fantastic atmosphere. Mawnan WI ladies once again worked tirelessly to ensure the food and beverages side of the event ran smoothly. A great day and thanks so much to everyone involved.
Sally

28/05/2026

We are choosing the books which we will be reading in the next six months. All Mawnan WI members are invited to join this group which meets on the last Wednesday of the month excepting August and December.
If you would like to come along, please vote and have your say in what we will be reading. Choose 4 from the fiction section, 1 from non-fiction and 1 classic. I would appreciate your selections by Sunday, please.
Thanks
Gill

Suggestions for Future Reading

Fiction
The Spy and The Traitor by Ben Macintre
H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby.
Land by Maggie O'Farrell (out on 2/6 /26)
Gormanghast by Mervyn Peake
Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gayle

Non Fiction:
A Bit of a Stretch:The diaries of a prisoner by Chris Atkins
Normal Women: A history of women by Phillippa Gregory
The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman
Rising Hare by Chloe Dalton

Classic:
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

28/05/2026

Mawnan WI Book Club Report

"North and South" was serialised in 1855 by Dickens in his magazine Household Words. It is one of Elizabeth Gaskell’s best-known novels and has been adapted for television three times - most recently in 2004.

"North and South" uses a protagonist from southern England to show and comment on the perspectives of mill owners and workers in an industrialising city. The novel is set in the fictional town of Milton which is based on Manchester.

Margaret Hale is forced to leave her home in the unruffled, rural south to settle with her parents in Milton. She witnesses the impact of the Industrial Revolution seeing employers and workers clashing in the first strikes. She is sympathetic to the needy and among them makes some strong friendships; she clashes with John Thornton a cotton-mill owner who falls in love with her. The novel traces her growing understanding of the complexity of labour relations and their influence on well-meaning mill owners and her conflicted relationship with John Thornton.

We all really enjoyed this book and it gave us plenty to talk about as we sat outside in the sunshine at Trebah. Soon we will be issuing a list of the books which we will be reading over the next six months and we hope that new members will join our group.

26/05/2026

A group of us enjoying a relaxing coffee and scrummy cake in Jane's gorgeous garden this morning. Great to catch up and enjoy this glorious sunshine.
Sally